Livermore Valley Wine and Olive Oil

Meg and Olive

After a thoroughly enjoyable, but pocket book straining wine tasting trip to Napa Valley, Meg, Olive and I went in search of an adventure on the less traveled roads of Livermore Valley Wine Country. Wine country indeed. There are over 40 wineries nestled in this little valley located just a stone's throw from Dublin (head east on 580). In honor of our adorable little dog (and because we love tasting rooms of all sorts), we started the day with olive oil at Victorine Valley Farm. You can't actually visit the farm, but we stopped in to their tasting room in downtown Livermore.

 Tasting Room in downtown Livermore

The tasting room is small and cozy and one can taste any of the plethora of olive oils and delicious balsamic vinegars lining the walls there. 

Olive Oils and Balsamic Vinegars

We tried a myriad of "straight up" olive oils and some flavored ones too including Blood Orange, Harissa, and Butter (yes, I said butter). Pssst, the Butter Olive Oil is supposed to be delicious on popcorn. We also tried a smattering of balsamic vinegars such as Black Current, Vanilla, and Pomegranate and some mixes with the flavored olive oils too. The Blood Orange and Dark Chocolate mix was super delicious and left me dreaming of grilled pound cake. All those bread cubes had us feeling quite thirsty, so we decided it was time to check out the wineries. After stocking up on picnic goodies at a local deli, we headed out with a local wine map in hand.

Scenic Livermore Valley

The hard part was making a short list and then picking which one to visit first. We ended up hitting five in total, but our favorite spot this trip was the Steven Kent and La Rochelle property which hosts tasting rooms for two wineries in one location. 

Our favorite winery on this adventure

La Rochelle is the more upscale winery and offers a higher end, "sit down" wine tasting with cheese pairing. It was a little pricey, but the pours were generous, the wine divine and the cheese outrageous. My favorite was a smokey smooth pino (2008 Pinot Noir, Dutton Campbell, Russian River Valley) paired with the St. George's brie. Heaven on a Saturday afternoon.
Our trip to Livermore Valley was too short. So many wines, so little time. Olive, Meg and I will definitely be back!

Napa Valley Day Trip

My father always wanted to write a book.  Unfortunately, despite the pages and pages tapped out on his old Royal, it never happened.  I wonder what dad would have thought of blogging?  One of his favorite books, and oft quoted, was Travels With Charlie by John Steinbech.  This is how I came to name my blog.  Travels with Olive is a blog about our day trip adventures with our dog, Olive.  My accomplice, cohort and confidant is my wife, Meg.

Traveling in comfort

Travels with Olive

Together, we explore the San Francisco Bay Area seeking out adventure and artisans who spend their days pursuing their love of food, beverage, art and craft.  My love of adventure comes from my mom.  She dearly loves to travel and many of my favorite childhood memories are of day trips we took exploring the bay area. There are so many wonderful things to see and do here.  And today, a plethora of food and wine artisans populate the many nooks and crannies of this very special place.  So many so that we decided to dedicate this blog to those unsung artisans.   I grew up in Napa, but have not lived there in many years. This seemed like the perfect place to start

Delicious baked things at Sweetie Pies

Sweetie Pies festive decor

our blogging adventures.  First stop on our day trip: Sweetie Pies Bakery at Historic Napa Mill.  Sweetie Pies seems to do a great business.  The place was plenty packed when we arrived mid-morning.  Inside we found a cute little cafe and cases full of beautiful cakes and other tempting baked goods.  Our assessment: a sugar rush and crash worth taking.  We "fueled up" on Moon Pie (over the moon sugary deliciousness) and a piece of Almond Brioche Bread (a super thick piece of crunchy almondie outer crust with an inner, sweetly soft  middle).  Yummy.  Sweetie Pies offers plenty of real fuel for those who seek it,  from "AM Glory" muffins to full on sandwiches and salads.

Beautiful Napa Valley

The sculpture garden at Cliff Lede

Cliff Lede's resident wine cat

The next leg of our adventure took us up the less traveled Silverado Trail for a little wine tasting.  Our favorite stops on this trip were Cliff Lede Vineyards and
Rutherford Ranch Winery.  Although there were lots of folks in the tasting room at Cliff Lede, it didn't feel crowded given the the spacious, comfortable and casual setting. One can sip one's wine in large stuffed chairs in the wine living room whilst visiting with the resident wine cat, enjoy the airy outside patio, stroll the lovely grounds, wander through the sculpture garden or peruse the art gallery.  Our favorite wines here were the 2010 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc and the 2008 Stagg's Leap Cabernet Sauvignon.  At Rutherford Ranch Winery, we were very pleasantly surprised by the $10 tasting fee (compared to the standard $25 at most other places) and the scrumptious wines. We found the wines not only delicious, but reasonably priced.  We enjoyed them so much so that we decided to become wine clubs members on the spot.

Gott's Roadside Burger and Fries

Inside the Oxbow Public Market

Annette's Chocolate's by Brent

All that wine tasting had us quite hungry, so our  next stop was Gott's Roadside (formerly Taylor's Refresher) near downtown Napa. This is Meg's favorite burger joint.  We really like the location in St. Helena (charming in an upstate New York meets California hip kind of way), but the one in Napa proper is usually less crowded (if only a little).  They make a burger and side of fries that totally satisfies.
After lunch, we hoofed it across the way to the Oxbow Public Market to see what was going on. This is a groovy, little indoor market.  Sort of a mini version of the Ferry Building Market Place in San Francisco.  It was here in the Oxbow where we found our  featured artisan: Annette's Chocolates by Brent. I learned from the very nice young woman behind the counter that Brent, Annette's brother, is the chocolatier. Annette does the books. Brent learned his chocolate craft from the chocolatier at the former incantation of the store, Partrick's. As a child growing up in Napa, Partrick's was my Willie Wonka Factory (without the Umpa Lumpas and Gene Wilder's hair).  It was the magical place my mother used to take us for holiday goodies and the far too occasional "special treat" ice cream.  I remember standing in front of the glass counters at Partrick's, holding my mother's hand, trying oh so hard to pick my one delicious treat.  I would carefully mull over every piece of colorful confection, but I always picked the same thing.  The Mint Truffle. And now, standing in front of the glass counter at Annette's little annex shop at the Oxbow, the young woman behind the counter lifted a glass bell jar, pointed to a small pile of square chocolates and announced "This this our signature

Annette's Mint Truffles - "to die for"

Mint Truffle".  I felt a little dizzy.  I remember these truffles as heavenly, chocolaty, minty, melt in your mouth, devine goodness.  And I was not disappointed by Brent's take on them.  In fact, we sampled several of the chocolates and enjoyed them all immensely.  While we haven't been to the big store on Main Street, I know that the chocolates we tasted at their annex shop were devine.  It isn't hard to imagine that Annette's Chocolate shop is, for many folks, young and old alike, a modern day and much fancified Willy Wonka Factory.  If you are in the vicinity of Napa proper, this is a chocolate shop not to be missed.