Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Staycation day 12 of 16 and vacation day 3 of 5. Illy espresso for Patrick from a machine in our room. Complimentary breakfast in the room: three kinds of quick breads (sunflower-seed- encrusted pumpkin; banana; lemon), decaf, coffee, Mandarin oranges. We also shared a banana that we brought from home. Later we visited Castello di Amorosa with a great tour and tasting (The Diamond Mountain Estate and Wine Tasting) by the charming Alexander S (who reminded both Patrick and me independently of our friend Chris D). In the castle we saw farm animals, detailed metalwork for various fixtures, a catapult, the chapel, the great hall, the reconstruction in progress of a building that had burned in a recent fire, metal wine storage and processing tanks, hundreds or maybe thousands of wine barrels stored in many underground passageways and rooms, an armory, a torture chamber, and many amazing murals. Outside we felt and heard in the distance two large trees in the process of being felled. We had the first public tasting direct from the barrel of the 2021 cabernet sauvignon which was delicious. At our tasting we we each tasted five wines, or up to ten if sharing glasses with a partner. I liked everything I tasted. We bought 12 bottles of various wines, which automatically enrolled us in their wine club. Afterwards we drove to and lunched at Model Bakery (1357 Main Street, St. Helena): chicken asiago panini and raspberry milk tea for Patrick, turkey and brie on cranberry walnut and black tea latte for me. We bought six english muffins to take home. We dropped the english muffins in the car then walked to, visited, and enjoyed the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum (1490 Library Lane). We drove to, visited, and enjoyed the 1881 Napa Wine History Museum and Oakville Grocery (7856 St. Helena Hwy, Oakville). We returned to Mount View Hotel. Rested. I drove us to dinner at Fleetwood (1880 Lincoln Avenue). Cocktails: Patrick had a spicy prickly pear margarita (blanco tequila, prickly pear puree, jalapeno syrup, fresh lime juice), I had a pearfectini (grey goose pear vodka, fresh lime juice, orange liqueur, simple syrup). We shared fried olives with marcona almonds $9; seasonal chopped salad (oak grilled onion, salami, blue cheese, mustard dressing) $17; hen of the woods pizza (thyme, fontal, truffle oil) $23. Service by Sarah was excellent. I drove home. To bed early.