Wine Country - Wine Train, Merryvale, Taylor's Refresher

These three seemingly unrelated topics got lumped together because mum and dad saw them at around the same time. It's now difficult to disentangle the three.

The wine train is a 3 hour slow-train journey from Napa to St Helena and back. You are served lunch or dinner inside the train while you enjoy the views of the wine country. Mum and dad did not try the wine train, but their journey did get delayed by the wine train while waiting for it to go past.

Merryvale is a beautiful vineyard at St Helena, but they didn't spend much time there except buying a map poster that they haven't seen elsewhere.

The main attraction for them was in fact Taylor's Refresher, a famous burger joint with a steady stream of people lining up and waiting for their names to be called after they have ordered their choice of burgers. The seating are open-air and is located right across Merryvale. It has been serving burgers from the same roadside spot since 1949. The grease and fat in all the menu items were the best ingredients to line up your stomach before wine tastings.

Wine Country - Rubicon Estate

Some wineries are worth writing about because of the famous wines they produced, some vineyards have spectacular views. In this case the winery, Rubicon Estate, has a famous owner, Francis Ford Coppola and an almost theme park like atmosphere.

When you first enter the winery, the word "grand" comes to mind and that word will keep hitting you until you leave the estate. The wine cellar is located in a Victorian house surrounded by perfectly manicured garden with a few fruit trees dotted around the pathways. You can imagine Mickey and Minnie walk down these paths with their entourage following closely behind. The theme park settings continue inside the Victorian house where you would see some of Coppola's playthings being displayed including a car from an old movie. It's definitely worth stopping by just to experience the different atmosphere this winery imparts.

Wine Country - time to go, Healdsburg

After a simple continental breakfast with excellent fresh orange juice in Madrona Manor and a quick morning swim, it was time to say goodbye to the lovely town and hotel. Before heading south back to Napa, they made one last pit stop at downtown. Broad daylight didn't take any quaintness away from this little town. Shops were like they were from Disney movies in the 70s. Powell's, the candy store, was like it's taken out of the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Mum and dad also bought us some bright red harnesses as souvenirs from Fideaux. We would have preferred the Foie Gras Dog Biscuits, but c'est le vie. They also met George, the white mini Schnauzer, waiting quietly outside Fideaux for his round of treats.

Wine Country - Cyrus, Healdsburg

After a late afternoon swim and a shower, they felt refreshed and headed back out to downtown Healdsburg to have their third Michelin starred dinner in as many days. It was almost dusk and most of the shops were closed with not a huge amount human traffic. A woman went past and somehow they got into a quick chat with her. As soon as, she realized that they were going to have dinner in Cyrus, she started raving about the place. The Healdsburg locals are probably quite proud of their famous restaurant.

Cyrus is located inside Le Mars Hotel right at the heart of Healdsburg downtown and you can read all the rave reviews on its own web site. While not as fiendishly difficult to reserve a table as the French Laundry, it was full house the night they dined there. The dress code was not as strict either, but most of the diners dressed up for the occasion. The decor was a bit aloof but the staff were mostly approachable and very knowledgeable as they found out during dinner.

It's difficult not to make comparison between the two restaurants as they were dining there almost back to back. Perhaps, it was the season, some of the theme dishes, ingredients and even the style were quite similar between the two. You might care to compare the two attached menus. Of course, most foodies would not line up their restaurants visit in such a way.

Overall, all the dishes were delicious and perfectly cooked. The desserts were particularly good and so was the bread selection (but then Robuchon in Macau is still the one to beat in this category). The cheese trolley offered a mesmerized array of choices made easy only the "cheese sommelier". The "rare and fine" wine pairing was definitely a worthy education process and experience.

People debate if these expensive restaurants are worth visiting. If they know the number of ingredients that go into each dish and the number of steps in the production of each, their question might turn into, "How do these restaurants turn a profit?" Especially if you have tried making some of these concoctions at home.

Wine Country - Madrona Manor, Healdsburg

After the light lunch in Buchon Bakery, they decided to head for Healdsburg and looked for a place to stay for the night. Hotels in downtown Healdsburg, which is a tiny area, have rack rates which are challenging for the budget conscious. A simple room in the boutique Hotel Healdsburg is displayed at a rate of US$360. And the Relais & Châteaux certified Les Mars Hotel starts at US$545 and the only room left for the night was asking for US$775. And there wasn't much of a last-minute discount. After checking at a few places and thought they were not worth the price, they went outside downtown to Madrona Manor.

Madrona Manor is an hotel with accommodation in the main building as well as some small lodges outside it. One of the lodges, Meadow Wood East, was available and they managed to negotiate a good rate for it. The lodge was divided into a sitting room and a bedroom. The decor was very Oriental. The main door opened out a small porch overlooking one of the many gardens.

The weather was so good that they managed to have a swim before dinner. But to mum and dad, the best part was picking raspberries and toybox tomatoes from the garden which supplies produce to the Michelin one star restaurant within the hotel. Mum even took and ate a bright red heirloom tomato. Her excuse was she wouldn't want the tomato to drop on the ground and get rotten. Hmm.......

Located less than one mile away from downtown Healdsburg, Madrona Manor is definitely a lovely place to stay if you are looking for a sanctuary with peace and close to mother nature.

Wine Country - Buchon Bakery

They picked up a light lunch at Buchon Bakery before leaving Yountville to head for Healdsburg. The beef brisket with rye bread was full flavored and the macaroons were great value at US$2 a piece. The lemon tart was delicious but still couldn't beat the ones they tried in Paris or from Joel Robuchon when they first opened in Hong Kong.

Buchon Bakery is worth a separate entry because it also sells Foie Gras Dog Biscuits!! Maybe mum and dad will find the recipe and bake some for our next birthday. Yahoo!!

Wine Country - more vineyards and wineries

You might ask what is the biggest difference between the vineyards we saw in New Zealand and the ones we saw in Napa. The answer is - "Not a lot!". But in Napa, mum and dad saw rows and rows of ripen wine grapes hanging on the vine waiting to be picked. It was the harvest season after all. There were grapes on the vine and there were also crates after crates of harvested grapes. A special aroma permeated the air, especially around the wineries. It was the smell of grape juice, not red wine. The hand picked grapes were transported in crates holding half-a-ton of grapes each to grape crushing machines spewing out the juice and leaving the grape skins and branches out. You would not imagine a US$100 bottle of wine started with such humble beginning.

The economic climate probably created a surplus of grape production. There was a cardboard sign saying - "20 tons Cabernet Sauvignon grapes for sale". These are the independent growers who own vineyards but have no wine producing facilities selling to wineries who don't have their own grapes but pick and choose from others. As these grapes are perishable, they would go to waste if they can't find buyers. And this is precisely what's happening this year in Napa. Take a look at this weblink to see the predicament facing the grape growers this year.

Wine Country - Bistro Jeanty

If you look at their travel itinerary, sometimes wonder where mum tugs all her excess fat away. Nothing seems to happen in between eating and drinking for them. Unless you count spending several hours in a factory outlet mall near Napa.

Even though Bistro Jeanty is also a Michelin starred restaurant, the atmosphere is completely different to the other Michelin starred restaurants during this trip. It is very casual and gives you a feeling that you have been transported to a bistro in the heart of Paris.

The menu is full of classic, simple French dishes. Definitely no over-engineered dishes, what you see is what you taste and what you get. But what you get is dish after dish of warm comfort food expertly cooked that you would love to get near your doorsteps.

They had soups as starters. The cream of tomato soup in puff pastry was definitely the most memorable dish of the day. The silky smooth soup was overflowing with flavors and would be the perfect start to any dinner especially in a cold night. If you can get the same fresh ingredients that they have you can even try making it at home. Here is the recipe. The onion soup was very good but the tomato soup was better.

Next they had a fried bone marrow, which was beautifully cooked and finger licking yummy. They were going to share a steak tartare but mum decided against eating more after one bite of what resembled raw beef burger to her. While dad kept stuffing himself with raw egg and raw beef, mum ordered an egg-white leek tart which was the special of the day.

This Michelin star meal came at a much lower price tag, really helpful staff and immensely enjoyable dinner. Highly recommended if you go to Napa Valley.

Wine Country - Joseph Phelps Vineyard

A short drive along Oakville Cross Road, where Silver Oak Cellars is located, takes you to Silverado Trail a scenic stretch of road where you find many of the famous and so famous vineyards. Having shared a tasting between the two of them at Silver Oak, they decided its time to line their stomach with some grease and protein before going to the next winery for tasting. They stopped by Oakville Grocery to look for their lunch. Oakville Grocery is nothing like your everyday grocery but more like a delicatessen where you find expensive dressing oils, delicate seasonings and table wines. The closest comparable in Hong Kong is Olivers in Prince's Building in Central.

They shared a beef-and-cheese chimichanga in the Audi Q7 and then headed for the next stop. Joseph Phelps Vineyard. It sits right at one of the junctions along Silverado Trail and comes highly recommended by some Californian wine cognoscente.

The tasting was casual. Six different wines were introduced, while you enjoyed the expansive view of the vineyards and the magnificent weather. No wonder, they got hooked on to buying 10 bottles of red wine which they ended up lugging around the rest of their trip.

Wine Country - Silver Oak Cellars

There are more than 400 wineries within the Napa area and you won't go to all of them. Even if you want to, you might not get access to some of them. Mum tried to arrange visits to both Harlan Estate and Grace Family before the trip and got turned down by both. But why is Silver Oak Cellars worth writing about? They know the name and have a few bottles of its wine in their Eurocave. It was the first winery, they visited in Napa Valley. And above all, they sell dog clothes and leashes. Of course we get our fair share of souvenirs wherever they go on holidays.

Wine Country - First meal, the French Laundry

Unlike the first meal in downtown San Francisco, their first meal in the wine country was much anticipated and the table was reserved 6 weeks in advance. And above all, strict dress code is enforced in the restaurant. If not for the suit jackets they have on loan, dad would have to bring one specially from Hong Kong.

The French Laundry sits at a quiet corner of a residential area along a quiet stretch of Washington Street. I will spare you with all the accolades but you can find it all in the attached link. Due to planning restrictions in the surrounding residential area, the restaurant's sign is inconspicuous and one would probably miss driving by. Despite the manic rush, mum and dad managed to get there on time. The restaurant's decor tried to impart a cozy ambience
but the formal greetings at the door took some of the warmth and ease away from the coziness. The jacket imposed by the dress code didn't help matters for dad.

The French Laundry serves 2 different fixed price menus of US$240 per person (service inclusive), one of them being the vegetarian. The two carnivores never considered turning vegetarian, especially not at this night. One wouldn't expect anything less than perfection in terms of presentation and flavors from each dish and it managed to live up to expectation with some sparkling display of cooking. Even so, the meal was missing the "wow" factor for them. Something that really challenges your taste buds and makes you remember for much longer than just the course of the meal.

Maybe having been to Per Se before took some of the novelty out, as both restaurants share some of the same signature dishes. The canapes, "Cornets" - Salmon tartare with sweet red onion creme fraiche, and the appetizer, "Oysters and Pearls" - Sabayon of Pearl Tapioca with Island Creek Oysers and White Sturgeon Caviar were both delicious and delivered intense flavors in two small packages. But they had the same signature dishes in Per Se just under 2 years ago.

Still it was a superb meal with some of the best beef (Snake River Farms whose cattle are crosses between Japanese Wagyu and US Black Angus) cooked to perfection and fish seared with a delicious crispy skin.

Another highlight of the night was mum continued her streak of encountering foreign bodies in Michelin top rated restaurants. The culprit was a small piece of black fiber. The prize for finding that in her dessert was she got a new one made at once and dad got a different one, since he finished his already and Guillaume, the waiter, didn't want mum to eat alone and dad to eat the same dessert twice!!

The final, final dessert was a doughnut and espresso semi-freddo, which had great presentation, but it was a bit too sweet for their liking. It's an all American dessert after all.