Everybody has to have a goal in life. Or a hobby. Sometimes they just evolve out of the simplest, most stupid things: Like a blog. Like a New Year's Resolution.
I've started walking the roads which bisect the Napa Valley. Today I picked another one: Mee Lane. I don't think anyone has ever really walked this lane. Not much excitement happens there. And I discovered it doesn't bisect the Napa Valley, as it doesn't continue across the Valley to the two connector byways (highway 29 and the Silverado Trail). I walked it anyway.
Thoughts? Not much. A sleepy lane that not too many tourists turn on. Perhaps that is it's beauty? I did run across one rather provincial house (and vineyard). I'm sure some multi-millionaire lives there. I walked the road until it ended. Then I walked on the dyke that saves this most precious Real Estate from floods.
Back to the car.
The Alpha Omega Winery resides at the end of Mee Lane on Highway 29. One trick I have learned is that you can get free tastings if you just drop into a winery and announce you are local. I did this and got a free tasting from the nice tasting room employee. Result? They have five wines that they let you taste. Four of the wines for fifteen dollars--and an extra ten dollars to taste their last ultra premium wine.
The Sauvignon Blanc certainly was not worth the price of the bottle. The 2006 Chardonnay was quite excellent (and expensive at $48 a bottle). The finish was so long that you could have still tasted the wine ten minutes after taking a sip. Big. Buttery, but not obnoxiously so. They must have used the very best oak to make this wine, as the oakiness was present without being over the top. I'd give it a 9.5 on Allan's 10 point scale. Impress your friends. Buy this bottle of wine.
I shared the room with some obnoxiously yuppie twenty somethings. Do men really still wear those pink Ralph Lauren polo shirts?
Their Napa Valley Cab was also notable. Never quite tasted anything quite like it. Lots of tobacco flavor with lots and lots of tannin.
I left the tasting room having not bought a bottle of wine. Usually I do, but the wines were just too expensive for my wallet. If you have a bit of money, pick up the chardonnay or the Cab and ease my conscience. Okay?
I've started walking the roads which bisect the Napa Valley. Today I picked another one: Mee Lane. I don't think anyone has ever really walked this lane. Not much excitement happens there. And I discovered it doesn't bisect the Napa Valley, as it doesn't continue across the Valley to the two connector byways (highway 29 and the Silverado Trail). I walked it anyway.
Thoughts? Not much. A sleepy lane that not too many tourists turn on. Perhaps that is it's beauty? I did run across one rather provincial house (and vineyard). I'm sure some multi-millionaire lives there. I walked the road until it ended. Then I walked on the dyke that saves this most precious Real Estate from floods.
Back to the car.
The Alpha Omega Winery resides at the end of Mee Lane on Highway 29. One trick I have learned is that you can get free tastings if you just drop into a winery and announce you are local. I did this and got a free tasting from the nice tasting room employee. Result? They have five wines that they let you taste. Four of the wines for fifteen dollars--and an extra ten dollars to taste their last ultra premium wine.
The Sauvignon Blanc certainly was not worth the price of the bottle. The 2006 Chardonnay was quite excellent (and expensive at $48 a bottle). The finish was so long that you could have still tasted the wine ten minutes after taking a sip. Big. Buttery, but not obnoxiously so. They must have used the very best oak to make this wine, as the oakiness was present without being over the top. I'd give it a 9.5 on Allan's 10 point scale. Impress your friends. Buy this bottle of wine.
I shared the room with some obnoxiously yuppie twenty somethings. Do men really still wear those pink Ralph Lauren polo shirts?
Their Napa Valley Cab was also notable. Never quite tasted anything quite like it. Lots of tobacco flavor with lots and lots of tannin.
I left the tasting room having not bought a bottle of wine. Usually I do, but the wines were just too expensive for my wallet. If you have a bit of money, pick up the chardonnay or the Cab and ease my conscience. Okay?
2 comments:
Allan,
Yesterday you discussed walking/running and its benefits to our mental health. Today you put together an interesting ramble about a place people seldom notice. I find them both equally appealing.
I like how your blog consistently finds a perspective. That can't be easy, yet each walk reveals something a bit different. Nice work!
Walk On(ward),
Larry
Thanks Larry :)
I set out on these walks with the intention of noticing something. Later, when I sit down to write it, things sometimes come together. Thanks for reading it!
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