Taylor's Refresher

After we left Bennett Lane winery we stopped at Taylor's Refresher (now called Gott's Roadside) and had fresh off the grill burgers with totally carbolicious fries. This all came with fresh ranch made at Gott's. I about died and went to grease heaven.

This place totally takes me back to the 1960's...well it took my mom back to the 1960's. I wasn't alive then. This place throws all Micky D's in the water. I just like that they make everything fresh to order. Simple idea right? Makes all the difference.

Here are some burger loving pictures from this roadside stand.

Bennett Lane Winery

Bennett Lane Winery is located in Napa and is close to Dutch Henry. Bennett Lane sells itself on being Napa's "Friendliest Tasting Room." This statement is not far from the truth. Mark, who worked at the winery and poured wines for us in the tasting room was very knowledgeable about wine and many other topics. He was very friendly and I could tell he really enjoyed working at the winery.

Bennett Lane makes a really great wine called Maximus. We tried the 2006 Maximus and it was great. The blend on this is 65% Cab Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 10% Syrah, and 5% Malbec. It is GOOD.

A few more Dutch Henry Winery pictures

Belong are a few more pictures from Dutch Henry .

CALIFORNIA WINE COUNTRY and DUTCH HENRY

I have so many great posts on the awesome wine experiences that we have enjoyed while being out in Napa, Sonoma, Healdsburg, and Paso Robles.

The weather out here is amazing. Foggy and cool in the morning and then clear skies and warmer weather in the afternoon. We couldn't have asked for better weather. It is a great change from the Florida heat.

First off -- I received my blog business cards in the mail a few days before coming out here. I love them. They are from Moo.com. (if you are interested) They are smaller than most business cards and I was able to put pictures from our trip to France on them.

Our first stop in wine country was at DUTCH HENRY. I just love the vibe and grounds at this place. Dutch Henry is located along the Silverado Trail, on the way to Calistoga. When we arrived we passed a crossing sign for airedale dogs. I thought it was a joke, but immediately after this a dog jumped in front of the car. She proceeded to greet us by jumping and licking the arm that was hanging outside the car window. I later found out that the two airedales are named Sadie and Minnie.

We were greeted inside by Gary Koehler and Floyd (a.k.a. the friendliest left shoulder loving black cat). I think Floyd jumped on my shoulder twice while I was there.

Gary was super nice and gave us a tour of the caves plus some tastes from the barrels. The caves at Dutch Henry were a feat to build. We got to see how thick and dense the rock is and that explosives were eventually used to help construct the caves. Three times a year Gary puts on "Cave Ins" where he collaborates with other artists to put on a concert in the Dutch Henry caves. The room where these concerts are held is awesome, and I want to someday make it out for one of these events.

I am glad we decided to make this our first stop in Napa. This is a friendly winery with great people working there. Make sure to stop here for some wine tasting and even for some bocce ball.

Sunday night dinner

I am posting pictures from two dinners that I made using mostly ingredients that can be found in Tuscany. First are pictures from the italian dinner that I made. I had garlic/herb infused artichokes and bruschetta with ripe tomatoes on tuscany garlic bread. That dinner was filled with garlic. Too much of it probably. lol We paired this with a 2005 Caparone Aglianico. Hearty red wine that goes great with italian food.

In the picture above is the garlic tuscan bread from Publix. (yes publix!!) And my mom's amazing bread cutter. I want one.

The other pictures are of a salmon dinner with grilled eggplant and salad. It was also pretty amazing. My mom made a nice shallot/butter saute on the salmon. This is probably more french than italian. We paired this with a 2007 Pahlmeyer chardonnay.

This chardonnay is totally amazing. I don't even like white wines that much and this knocked my Kinos (sandals) off. I know this chardonnay is not cheap, but it is worth the $50-70 splurge. (sells for different amounts at different places) This is the most expensive chardonnay that I have ever tried.

Loose Wine

Finally, a chapter about wine!!!

Sfuso in Italian means "loose wine." Most italian farmhouses/vineyards produce a house wine for themselves and friends. Most tuscans make their own wine. (like my college friends making their own grain alcohol...yet somehow different)

Frances and her husband make a trip to Montepulciano. (which is one of my favorite areas for Italian wines) They take their glass demijohn to be filled with wine. To protect the wine they put olive oil on the top so it forms a seal and then close it with a cork.

The most notable wines produced in the region are chianti and brunello. (yum and double yum) Another wine is Vino Nobile and it is primarily made from the sangiovese grape. The Vino Nobile started being produced in the 1300s, but sangiovese grape has an even older history. Sanguis is latin for "blood." Picture of Montepulciano below.

Frances and Ed buy their wine from the Avignonesi vineyards. I wonder if this vineyard was started by the french papacy in Avignon..hmmm.

Here is the quote from their website;

"Quality is made by men: made by their dreams, by their experience, by their dedication. This is why you must know their history and their passions. This is the only way that you will understand where the quality of their work springs from."

I hope this is an old antiquated quote. Quality can also be made by a WOMAN Avignonesi vineyards. Welcome to 2010.

Frances discusses a wine made at Avignonesi called vin santo. This is a smooth, nutty after dinner wine. Vin santo is also known as "holy wine." Why? It has a historic use as a wine at mass, where sweet wine (over quality wine) was preferred. An early reference to this type of wine was made by renaissance wine merchants of Florence. Stories emerged of a friar who could cure diseases with this wine. (I'm sure drinking enough of this could at least cure a sweet tooth...still it is too sweet for me)

Even more history on it --> When the Turks took over the island of Santorini, they introduced vin santo. It was eventually exported to Russia and used predominantly in the Russian Orthodox masses.

Here is the Avignonesi website if you are at all interested.

I like that Frances includes the law here...."He fills our jugs from a hose attached to an enormous vat. By law he must seal the jugs and dutifully record our names in the computer."

(almost like buying fireworks in FL and recording the purpose as scaring birds)

I like the quote at the end of the chapter...a wine quote has a special place in my heart.

"Wine is light, held together by water." - Galileo

Artichokes and more artichokes

BELLA TUSCANY (Pg. 13- 22)

Both Frances and her husband manage to buy 25 artichokes each, separately, in the same day. That is 50 artichokes people!! I know I know...they were the "small" artichokes. I could still pack away some butter with 50 small artichokes. That is my favorite way to eat artichokes, the large ones at least. Melt some butter and dip the leaves in and heart at the end. This veggie never gets old for me.

I grew up being a VERY picky eater. We'll get to that another day. Let's just say I had a childhood love affair with McDonalds Chicken Nuggets. (and children...this was before the all white meat nuggets). Who knew what type of chicken byproducts I was eating. Gross. Moving on.

It seems the "small" artichokes are popular right now. Why? I think it's because the entire thing is edible. You don't have to spoon out that hairy part in the middle.

Frances says all the restaurants in Camucia have fried artichokes on the menu. That just sounds delish. Fried anything sound amazing right now.

The market also sells "rape." (both syllables pronounced) This is a type of flower. I don't think I've had this. Maybe I have...not sure. Frances says this is like the untamed cousin of broccoli. On the list of things to try.

The italians even put nettles into their risotto or pasta. Nettles...aren't those weeds? Even if this is prompting my gag reflex...i'm sure the Italians manage it well. A picture of a nettle is below. I really had no idea what they resembled until this moment.

Here is my favorite part of the evening -->

In the late spring afternoons in Tuscany, women walk with bags and sticks to gather wild greens for their dinner salads. These women take a bunch of wild greens from Frances' property. She calls it, "insalata mista for the taking."

HA!! Can you imagine? In America, the equivalent would be people stealing baked fruit pies that are cooling in an open window. (of course that was the 1950s and no longer really happens) (or does it?)

The chapter ends with one of the garden walls falling down and a stranger telling Frances that the house is haunted. The stranger says a small child fell in the well and drowned. The stranger says, "all old houses are haunted." That seems to be true.

Here's to the summer and baby artichokes.

-M

A picture of the food market in Cortona, Italy.