After some much needed sleep in the most comfortable bed ever Wes and I woke up early on Friday to enjoy "the best hotel breakfast in Yountville"
(The Vintage Inn had a wonderful brunch and omelet station complete with bread pudding, cowboy casserole, make-your-own-mimosa's, and tons of fresh fruit.
I give it an A+
We enjoyed our breakfast out on the patio by the pool with the beautiful views below.)
(Yountville inspring time = beautiful flowering eutopia)
(We spent the rest of the morning being lazy and strolling around Yountville checking everything out.)
(Naturally I had to stop and have a photo shoot at least once...)
(There was a lot of interesting art around Yountville as well.
This is the stone mushroom garden outside of the local post office...)
(The sticker on the side of the post box on one of the side streets.)
(Wes checks out a vintage Banana Republic hat.)
(For lunch we headed to Hurley's.
Super yummy food and an excellent patio.)
(After lunch we headed out for our first winery tour at Chimney Rock!)
(Wes and I started at the wrong winery. Only because this was our favorite place!)
(So Wes and I made a last minute reservation for a tour here and we ended up being the only people that had scheduled for that time.
(FYI Friday is one of the best days to do wine tastings since most people are at work!)
So we got the complete VIP treatment on the tour.)
(In the faux barrel room that Chimney Rock uses for events. This is terrible lighting, but it's the only picture I have of the two of us here.)
(Chimney Rock is in the famed "Stags Leap" district of Napa Valley.
A winery from the same district won the 1976 blind tastings in Paris and officially pushed California red wine into the global win scene.)
(Wes and I visited two other wineries that afternoon; Darioush and Baldacci Wineries.
What I found very interesting is how much the heritage and cultural preferences of the winery owner influenced the design, look, feel, and taste of the winery grounds, tasting room, and wine.
Darioush is owned by a Persian, so everything was breathtakingly over the top.
Baldacci is owned by a French family (related to the author) and looks much like a small country house with a side wine cellar.)
(After the three tours Wes and I rushed home and changed in the nick of time to grab a bottle of wine and a cheese platter and Domaine Chandon.)
(Watching the sunset over these grounds truly felt like a dream.
Domaine is known primarily for their sparkling wine, but since Wes and I aren't huge fan of
the bubbly unless it's New Years Eve or in a mimosa, we opted for some very nice Pinot Noir.)
(Wes and I on the grounds before dinner.)
(Dinner at Etoile. What an experience.
This was by far the most composed meal of our trip and also prompted Wes
and I to cancel several other reservations in favor or more relaxed meals.
Although the food was good, it wasn't particularly either of our styles.)
;
(As you can see the presentations were absolutely beautiful. This was actually a 5 course meal
(I forgot to take some pictures my bad.)
And by the time they brought the dessert out I just wanted to go to bed!
We were seated just after 6:00pm and started our walk home a little after 9:30pm
that is a long meal.)
After that much food there is nothing left to do but go to bed.
Until next time...
Looks like you are having a wonderful time! Have a glass of red wine for me! So jealous and miss you!
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