Howell Mountain, Angwin, and Cade Winery

I was drawn to a corner of Napa Valley I had not visited yet, due to an enticingly-low priced home in St. Helena -- but technically in Deer Park, near St. Helena Hospital which is up Deer Park Rd. to the northeast of Silverado Trail. This home was priced at $299k (extremely cheap for St. Helena, where average homes are $800k+) and was described as a fixer-upper, but I was curious to see what extent. Also, I figured even if the home was awful (it was -- horrible, horrible nightmare of a place, people clearly living in squalor there. And they still owe over $500k on the mortgage!!), I would make a day of it because, even though I turn onto Deer Park Rd. every time I drive to Calistoga, I am cutting west to 29, not northeast up into the hills.

It happens that this is the route up to the Howell Mountain AVA, an up-and-comer (like Atlas Peak) mostly known for some rich and fruit-forward examples of cabernet sauvignon. This is also the region of Angwin, a very small town known for Pacific Union College and a lot of Seventh Day Adventists. We drove around Angwin a bit, just to see what it was like, and to be honest it had a strange, eerie vibe to it... like a closed, conservative community that eyes strangers warily. I don't know. A very different, secluded, otherworldly feeling from Napa Valley; it felt like something out of a Stephen King novel.

On the way back down the mountain, we decided to try a winery we had passed: Cade Winery. The sign said Appointment Only, but we figured we'd give it a shot; a lot of the newer wineries post this "By appointment only" requirement but don't really stick to it. And isn't that a bit of a gray area, anyway?? What's to stop me from driving in, seeing if they have room for us, and saying "Hello, I'd like to make a reservation for a tasting 5 minutes from right now."?

Well, it turns out that Cade Winery takes the cold and pretentious stance when it comes to things. There were several overly pretentious visitors hanging out (all of them at least 50 years old), and when we announced that we did not have a reservation but were curious, if they had room, we got a very cold reception and were told "They are very strict about that here, it is part of the laws." To which I said "Well, can I make a reservation for just about right now?" Yes, she said, it was $20 per tasting, and were we okay with that.

No, no we're not okay with that. We're not okay with the pretentiousness of a new (3 years old), unestablished winery assuming they can charge $20 per tasting without having that fee applied to or waived with a purchase. Out of curiosity, I checked their wine list and noticed it was mostly cabs, with the cheapest being $60. So let me get this straight: I have to pay $20 for something which may or may not suck, and then if I like it I have to pay $60 more to get a bottle? No thanks.

So... we left. The view up on Howell Mountain is nice, and faces west overlooking the valley so it could be pretty spectacular at sunset. However, between the spooky reclusive communities and the pretentious and sparse wineries, I wouldn't see much of a reason to come back up here. Most of the wineries located up here either do not do tastings, or have tasting rooms down in the valley (like La Jota, which tastes in Oakville). And Howell Mountain cabs tend not to be as good as other local appellations (like Rutherford, Oakville, and Stag's Leap) anyway, so why shell out the dough?

Soda Canyon Rd. / Atlas Peak

While sheets of ice are attacking people in Dallas, a heat wave has been brewing here in California. Napa reached record high temperatures today -- 80 degrees! (in the middle of winter!) With weather like this, I just had to go out, drop the top on my convertible, and explore one area I had been curious about: Soda Canyon/Atlas Peak.

I drive past the Soda Canyon Deli and General Store every time I commute up and down Silverado Trail, and I've sometimes seen Soda Canyon Road and wondered what's up there... but then I never wander up to see. Meanwhile, I've been seeing more and more local wines tagged with the "Atlas Peak" AVA label (of local mountain regions in Napa, the three you are likely to see are Mt. Veeder, Atlas Peak, and Howell Mountain. For a long time I couldn't keep the different locations straight, but I finally understand where they are -- they sort of form an equilateral triangle surrounding Napa Valley, with Mt. Veeder to the west, Howell Mountain to the north/northeast, and Atlas Peak to the east.) However, my interest came to a head when we recently saw a listing for a nice and reasonably-priced (by Napa standards) home, a 2000-square-foot, 2.7 acre beauty tucked up on a hillside overlooking the rugged hills, with a pricetag of $479k (it had started at over $700k but dropped steadily over the course of a few hundred days, until finally somebody bought it at this price). This is still out of our price range and a little more out of the way than we'd like a home to be, but we were curious what kind of area and home you can get for that price, so today we decided to find out.

As soon as you turn onto Soda Canyon Rd., you are entering another world. You slowly but surely start ascending a very gradual (at first) climb into the mountains -- more tranquil and not as winding as the roads toward Mt. Veeder or Lake Berryessa, but just as primitive and otherworldly. The place is rugged and almost prehistoric looking; pale green lichens and Spanish moss cling to gnarled trees and jagged outcroppings of gray rocks. Combine this with the relative silence, lack of traffic, and relative paucity of buildings and vineyards and you have a feeling you are in the Land of the Lost.

Soda Canyon Rd. is one of two roads that wind their way into the 11,000-acre Atlas Peak appellation (designated in the 1990s), with Atlas Peak Rd. being the other road and Atlas Peak being the highest point at 2,663 ft above sea level. The roads are not connected and both eventually dead-end high up in the hills.

The reason you would explore back here would probably be to enjoy the cruise itself -- ideally in a convertible or a motorcycle on a nice day like today. However, there are several vineyards and some wineries tucked back here, although some are closed to the public and the rest require you to call ahead for tasting appointments because this place does not get the drive-by casual traffic of Hwy 29 or Silverado Trail.

You can learn more about this region and AVA -- including maps, wineries, and history -- at AtlasPeakAppellation.com

The Riverfront in Carneros

I decided to take a little drive today, a scenic detour to a part of Napa I didn't even know existed: a peninsula of wetlands, vineyards, and riverfront homes nestled right where the Napa River widens and deepens.

I found out about this area -- located south of Hwy 121 (which runs between Napa and Sonoma) by taking Cutting's Wharf Rd -- through my current house hunt in Napa County. There are several homes for sale on Milton Rd. right on the riverfront at the southern end of the peninsula.

I grew up near water (in Maryland, near the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay) and I love it. I love boats and would absolutely love to own a home on the Napa River, but particularly where the river is a little more secluded and is boat-accessible. This is that area.

The drive south is like another world -- flat, marshy fields with flocks of waterfowl silhouetted against the sunlight glinting from shallow pools of water and mud. There is an occasional cow pasture, and still plenty of vineyards, such as Etude (this is, after all, Carneros -- an AVA prized for the temperate cooling breezes and fogs that waft up from the Bay and the river, a territory loved by pinot noir and chardonnay) -- but now there are also boat launches and small harbors.

The strip of houses is different -- gone are the Victorians and craftsman homes so prominent (and beautiful) in most of Napa Valley. In their place are a motley hodgepodge of what can only be described as "beachfront" homes, vintage 50's-70's. It is not a place of staggering wealth, but seems to be a neighborhood of down-to-earth folk who just happen to love the seclusion (and plenty who want the water, replete with boats "out back" on the river)

To me, it's paradise. (Unfortunately, the homes are still too high out of my price range -- apparently nobody's told these folks that the real estate party is over and it's time to come back to reality. They are trying to sell homes for $500-$700k, when they are valued at $300-$500k on Zillow and Eppraisal)

Sunrise in the Valley

I'm willing to bet many people do not have the fortitude (or insanity) to wake up at the crack of dawn in Napa Valley. Actually, in the summer I am willing to bet many of the vineyard laborers do get up at the crack of dawn and hit the vineyards to tend to the vines and grapes in the morning before the 100-degree days set in.

However, in the cooler off-season months, the entire Valley seems quite quiet and asleep, empty like a ghost town in the wee hours of the morning when I wake up to head to work. I'm sure most tourists certainly don't rouse themselves at sunrise after eating rich dinners and drinking plenty of wine (possibly more than they should have, they may think in the morning) the previous day.

This is sort of a shame. People are missing out. Dawn is often one of the most serene, ethereal, beautiful scenes I have ever encountered. Sometimes there is dense fog, enshrouding everything in mysterious halos and giving true scope and depth to the valley scenery. Other days are crystal clear, with pale pastel hues slowly lighting up the sky and highlighting the silhouettes of sparse trees, undulating mountains, and century-old buildings.

And then there are days like this morning, which are magical hybrid of both of the above -- wisps of fog creep and settle throughout the nooks of the valley like sleeping phantoms, while meanwhile the sky is crystal-clear and morning hues can be seen taking hold. Lights glow -- of towns, of hot air balloons firing up and inflating -- yet the darkness is subsiding.

It really is one of the best times to get out for a car ride, a photo expedition, or even just a walk and a breath of fresh morning air.

Silverado Trail

The Silverado Trail sounds like something you might hike (or at least take a mule ride along), and indeed this was probably originally the case in the late 1800's when silver miners came here to seek their fortune. Now it is one of the two major roads that run through Napa Valley. The main road, with which most people are familiar, is St. Helena Highway/Hwy 29, which runs north-south along the west side of the Valley. Highway 29 is home to some of the most-known names in the Valley: Mondavi, BV, Grgich, Franciscan, Schramsberg, Behringer, Sutter Home, Rubicon (Francis Ford Coppolla's winery)

Silverado Trail runs more or less parallel to 29, but on the opposite (east) side of the valley. It gets less attention probably because the wineries are not nearly as dense and plentiful on that side... however, what it lacks in quantity (and trust me, there are still plenty) it makes up for in quality. Silverado Trail has some big, well-known names too, the most famous probably being Stag's Leap (whose cabernet sauvignon won for best red in the "Judgment of Paris" wine tasting in 1976, featured in the film "Bottle Shock") and Mumm (sparkling wine). This side of the valley is where some of the best cabs are to be found, especially in the Rutherford and Stag's Leap AVAs. Excellent cabernets we have had from the Silverado side include Caymus, James Cole, and Chimney Rock (all of these wines were about $75/bottle)

Personally, I use the Silverado Trail whenever I drive to work, mostly because it is close to where I live and has less traffic than 29 -- this is especially true when dealing with St. Helena. However, I also drive Silverado in my convertible when people come and visit during the summer, because I feel like this part of the valley has the best natural scenery that can't be beat.