Trip to the Napa Valley Wine Country - Hendry Tour
September 18 to 19, 2003

For this trip to Napa we decide on an overnight stay in Calistoga. We are traveling with goods friends, a couple we have known since our college days. The main purpose of our trip is to participate in a special tour at the Hendry winery. Hendry is hosting a series of two-hour tours during the harvest season. Our tour is scheduled for 11:30 am on the 19th.

We book a room at the Comfort Inn in Calistoga. Mid-week price is $104 per night. We won’t be spending much time in our room, so we are not looking for anything extravagant. This is a great deal when you consider most rooms in the Napa Valley are priced over $200 per night this time of the year.

On our way to the Napa Valley, we call ahead to the Oakville Grocery and order sandwiches. We know the Oakville Grocery is a busy place and calling ahead will save us time. We pick up our sandwiches and other goodies around noon and then head north on Highway 29 a short distance to Rutherford Road. We turn right on Rutherford Road and head to the east side of the valley to the Silverado Trail. We make a left at Silverado and almost immediately turn right up the hill to the Rutherford Hill Winery. We pay $5 each to taste four wines, and that includes a signature wine glass. We taste the wines and decide on the Gewurztraminer, a dry but fruity wine that will work well with our lunch. The Rutherford Hill Winery has several picnic tables on a hill overlooking the valley floor. It is a very nice spot for a picnic.

We had intended to take the 1:30 tour at Rutherford Hill, but unfortunately for us the tours are cancelled that day. We finish our lunch and head north on the Silverado Trail and visit the Clos Pegase Winery. We like this winery very much because of the stunning and very different architecture. We also think the wines are all very good. Although the wines are on the expensive side, we think they are good values.

We hit a bit of luck at Clos Pegase with the tour. When we arrive, the 2:00 O’clock tour is just beginning and we are able join in. The tour lasts about 30 minutes. It is an informative tour, but nothing too exciting as winery tours go. Following the tour, we pay $10 to do the special wine tasting. By far and away, the Clos Pegaso wine is our favorite. It is a blend of 50% Zinfandel, 30% Petite Syrah, and 20% Merlot. At $21 per bottle, the wine is a great value.

For dinner, our first stop is Brannan's Grill. We stop there for an appetizer. The décor is very inviting and the bar area attractively arranged. Afterwards, we walk across the street to eat dinner at the All Seasons Café and Wine Shop. The decor is less appealing than Brannan's but the food is fabulous. All four of us agreed that this is one of the most delicious dinners we have had in a very long time. We rate All Seasons at 5.0 on our 5 point rating scale. We highly recommend it.

Day Two
The next morning we eat a continental breakfast provided by the Comfort Inn and then drive South towards Napa. Before we head to our 11:30 appointment, we stop at Niebaum-Coppola Estate Winery. Our friends have never been to Niebaum-Coppola and they want to take a look at this famous and historic winery. At 10:15 on a Friday morning the winery is already busy with visitors. The winery has probably the most extensive variety of merchandise of any winery we have ever visited. To get to the tasting area, one needs to wade through a number of displays full of items for sale. It is a bit much, but the ancient buildings and the beautiful grounds are worth a visit to this winery.

Our next stop is the Hendry winery. The tour turns out to be much more than we expected. The tour leader is owner and winemaker, George Hendry. George is a throwback to another era. His passion and love of winemaking are evident in every aspect of the winery. From the vineyards to the barrel, everything is carefully planned and skillfully executed.

George takes us out to the vineyards and gives us a short course in vineyard management. At the Malbec vineyard block, he chews on grapes and seeds and quickly pronounces that the grapes are sweet but are not ripe as yet. One more week on the vine and these grapes will be ready for harvest. After an hour’s time, we return to the winery and the new winemaking facility. George gives us a primer in winemaking. Again, George Hendry’s attention to detail is evident everywhere in the production of his wines.

The final portion of the tour is in the tasting room. First, we taste a flight of four wines: Pinot Gris, two vineyard designated Chardonnays, and a Pinot Noir all delicious wines and complex with aromas and flavors. The next flight are reds: two vineyard designated Zinfandels, a Cabernet, and a Primotivo. Again, all delicious and excellent. George, as you might expect, gives us complete information about each wine and how it was made. No doubt, this has been the best winery tour we have ever attended.

Next, we head for lunch at the Bistro Don Giovanni. The Bistro is just off Highway 29, about 4 miles north of Napa at 4110 Howard Lane. From Highway 29, the Bistro does not look like much, but once you turn into the parking area, you quickly get the idea that this is quite the spot. At 2:15, the bistro is jumping. We sit in the outdoor patio section and have a wonderful lunch discussing the Hendry Tour. Don Giovanni rates a 4.5 on our 5 point scale.

We head back home after having a wonderful experience of dining and wine tasting in the great Napa Valley Wine Country.