Monday, January 11, 2010

Napa-Sonoma Explorations

We live only about 45 minutes from Napa and Sonoma counties, so we decided to wander around Yountville, Calistoga and Santa Rosa today. We started out by driving through Sonoma where we stopped to browse some art galleries and take "Edith Anne" inspired photos in these giant Adirondak chairs. As we drove from town to town we saw miles of vineyards. I was particularly impressed with the "green" mowing provided by these goats. They keep the grass trimmed, and they make yummy cheese. Perfect. Our next stop was Yountville, which is a teeny town best known for housing Thomas Keller's "French Laundry" restaurant. At $350 a person for dinner (before drinks, tax and tip) it's out of our league, but his MUCH less expensive restaurant Bouchon had space at the bar, so we grabbed a quick bite of pork belly and truffle fries.Bouchon the restaurant was good, but Bouchon the bakery next door was better. Brett loved the giant Peanut Butter Cookies filled with Peanut Butter frosting inside. After lunch we stopped at Rutherford Hill winery for some samples of Port, and our final stop of the day was Russian River Brewing company in Santa Rosa. They have the hugest sampler I've ever seen. Brett was in beer heaven with 14 different options to try. Definitely the way to start 2010

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