Wine Down Weekend:Napa Valley

https://mochasandmimosas.com/wine-down-weekend-san-francisco/If you missed Part 1 please give it a read and find out how it went down in San Francisco.

On the day we were going to Napa it was raining in the morning and I was a little nervous that our plans would be ruined. However, by the time we got to Napa, the rain subsided, thankfully! Our first stop was Trefethen Vineyard.  When we got there we were told, their large tasting room was under renovation, but the smaller tasting room was open and they were able to squeeze us in. Tyson and I did a shared tasting of 3 wines. We knew we were going to visit more vineyards so we were trying to pace ourselves.  All of the wines were good, but the chardonnay was my favorite.Our next stop was the Cliff  Lede Family Vineyard. I wasn’t familiar with this brand, but I think that’s part of the beauty of driving along the vineyards and discovering a new wine that’s not commercial. The tasting room was decked out with funky guitars and music memorabilia but the landscape was so beautiful we ended up hanging out on the patio to enjoy our wine. Our tasting included six different wines. My favorite was a tie between the pinot gris and the pinot noir.We were hungry after those tastings and needed to refuel before our next tasting so we went to St. Helen for lunch. I had the fish and chips with a glass of sauvignon blanc and Tyson had steak tacos. Both were solid dishes and the wine was delicious. I’m telling no lies when I say I did not have a bad glass of wine on this entire trip.

Next was my most anticipated vineyard, Mums.  I made a reservation for this tasting, which included a tour of the vineyard,  4 full glasses of  champagne, and a souvenir flute. I mean you can’t have mimosas without Mums! For this one, I told Tyson he needed his own glass because I wasn’t sharing! The tasting started outside where we took in breath taking views of the vineyard and learned all about the history of Mums. We were then lead inside the distillery and got to see where all the Mums magic happens (if you haven’t caught on by now, I kinda have a thing for alliteration).  Our guide was very knowledgeable and personable. I felt like I was ready for the sommelier exam after our tour.  I really enjoyed all of the champagnes we tried but the rose’ was my favorite. You also get 10% off any wines you purchase after a tasting. I found the  most fragrant soaps at the vineyard that I could not stop inhaling. These are great gifts to bring back for non-wine drinking friends  (yes, these people exist). They smell divine.

We wrapped up our tour of Napa and headed to Sausalito for dinner. The drive to Sausalito is picturesque. Seeing one beautiful house after another perched in the mountains along the crashing waves of the Pacific, really had me reconsidering my life goals and trying to figure out how I can retire early and move to Sausalito. We had dinner at The Trident. We were seated next to the window and took in the gorgeous view as we enjoyed more wine (hello!) scallops, and sea bass. I was so full but could not pass on dessert after our waiter brought the dessert tray. Tyson and I split the creme brulee. I highly recommend the Trident. The view alone is enough reason to visit.   Just being able to relax, sleep in, and not have to tend to our regular obligations made this trip enjoyable. We ate, we drank, we conquered!