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.