Wine, Beer, Food, Music …

Had me some kicks at the Taste of Napa tasting this last Sat afternoon. Hot as hell. Hate wearing a hat, but donned a SF Giants ball cap to protect my bald spot. One of the joys of getting older, losing your hair. Ha Ha!!!

There were some excellent wines there, but it was so hot I couldn’t help but gravitate to the beer garden tucked away in the corner of the tasting. Most outdoor wine tastings rarely feature craft beer, but Taste of Napa had a beer garden with several local northern CA craft breweries that were a perfect compliment for the soaring temperature. They were all good, but my fav, and this is no cheerleading, Napa’s Tannery Bend Beerworks had a terrific, refreshing pale ale.

For the food, there was no mystery why Napa’s Tarla restaurant had the longest lineup for its very rich, tasty mushroom risotto. And for my second pick, Hop Creek Pub’s A Hi Poke, yellow fin ahi tuna, tossed in house poke sauce with crispy wonton chips with pickled ginger and wasabi, paired nicely with Bouchaine Vineyard’s 2014 Chardonnay.

And finally, it was a kick to sit in Mercedes’ latest 321 model. I’m not much of a car guy, you get me there, I’m happy… but it was very nice to sit in that car and imagine driving it off the lot. Some day! Shout out to Michelle Voss -Patron Concierge – at Taste of Napa for taking care of me. Cheers!