Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Napa: Lunch at Meadowood, followed by the visits to Realm and Herb Lamb

We arrived to Napa and met with friends at Meadowood for lunch. It's a beautiful estate nestled in the valley of St. Helena. There were 9 of us and we had a rather quick lunch in the private room of The Grill there.

Since the big dinner was awaiting this evening, we had a light lunch there.


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Yellwtail fish tacos, mango salsa, and jicama salad (Jason's dish). I had Dungeness Crab Salad Chopped Romaine & Radicchio, Creamy Lemon Vinaigrette, Cherry Tomatoes & Avocado. Very nice!


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1979 Vega Sicilia, Tinto "Valbuena". The tannins were smooth and it had the nice roundness.

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After the lunch, we all drove to Chateau Boswell Winery. They have the beautifull wine cave, where they share the winemaking facilities and cellar with a few other wineries including our friend, Juan Mercado's Realm Cellars.

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Juan took us to his cellar and guided us to the tasting of his current vintage as well as some barrel samples. Realm Cellars is a young winery, yet it's already receiving high-acclaim from wine connoissseurs. He makes big yet sophisticated Cabernet-based wines from such prestigeous vineyards like To Kalon and Dr. Crane.

I was so impressed with his line-up!

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We also did the tasting of Chateau Boswell's lineup. They make really big wines, including "120% new French oak" cab! I liked their Jacquelynn Cuvèe Blanc, which is a Bordeaux-style white blend (50% of each Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon).


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After leaving the winery, we drove to visit Jennifer and Herb at their house up in the mountain of St. Helena. They are the owners of Herb Lamb Vineyards, and there is a huge waiting list for their wines among the wine collectors.

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They kindly hosted an afternoon at their beautiful house surrounded by nature. Both Jennifer and Herb were so sweet and we had a great time over their wines, dishes, and even mint juleps!