California Mille

It's been a while since posting a blog (a few in the works, but I also just returned from a trip to Italy -- Naples, Pompeii, Amalfi, Sorrento, and Capri), but I just saw some wonderful Italian-style racing cars circa 1930 or so, filling up with gas in Calistoga, so I had to investigate what that was all about.

They had numbered labels on the sides of the cars that said "California Mille" (mille means "one thousand" in Italian), so I looked it up and... sure enough, this week Calistoga is the hub of the 21st California Mille driving tour. As their press release notes, "The Mille (MILL-leh) honors Italy’s famed Mille Miglia (thousand mile) race that ran from Brescia to Rome to Brescia from 1927-1957. Only cars that could have qualified for the Italian event may participate in the California tour--not a race but a demanding drive."

Cool!

[Sadly, I didn't get a photo but will keep my eye out for them tomorrow!]

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?

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)

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.