CALIFORNIA, Day 9, June 29

Dear Ones,

I am posting this a little later than usual, since my blog froze on me the other night and I am just now catching up. I guess the blogsite was not used to anyone as verbose as myself creating a blog of the length of mine. I hope this is not going to be a trend, as I have much to say and need a format which will allow me to make use of as much space as is required.

Today has been another one of those red-letter days of sightseeing. We started off getting things together and going to little downtown Calistoga for breakfast at a French bakery, enjoying almond croissants and good strong coffee. Calistoga is a charming town "upvalley" and had been recommended to us by Linda King, one of my colleagues at St. John's. Good work, Linda. Calistoga began its history in the 1860s, when a millionaire from SF purchased a square mile of land at the foot of Mount St. Helena and began a new development. It is a town that retains the feel of an older Napa Valley, and is one of America's Dozen Distinctive Destinations, as designated by the National Trust for Historic Preservations. It is also known since the late 1800s as the "Hot Springs of the West," and has hosted generations of guests who have come to "take the waters" of its mineral-rich volcanic hot springs, famous for their purifying, rejuvenating and relaxing effects.

Our first winery stop was the Chateau Montelena, just north of Calistoga and one of the valley's oldest and smallest wineries, with an impressive medieval facade and a reputation for first-class Chardonnays. It also has a lake, two pagodas on little islands, where wine-tasting is often done for groups; a resident swan, ducks, and herons in the lake, and gorgeous plantings of roses, peonies, and foxglove. The sun was still struggling to make itself known when we were off to our next winery, Clos Pegase, a flamboyant, high-profile winery that draws a link between fine wine and fine art, with an excellent sculpture garden. This artistic winery is the result of a design competition sponsored by the SF Museum of Modern Art, in which 96 architects participated. The award went to the world-renowned architect Michael Graves. The emphasis, wine-wise, is on Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Chardonnay. We skipped the taste testing, since each round would have cost us at least $15, and we were more interested in the grounds and the art collection than in necessarily sampling the wine.

Our third stop was the Castello di Amorosa, the "Castle of Love," a magnificent Tuscan stone winery in the western hills just south of Calistoga. It contains all the elements of a medieval castle, including 107 rooms and four underground stone cellars with vaulted ceilings of old handmade brick. Towers, ramparts, drawbridge, stables, church, courtyard, escape tunnels and torture chamber make it a most remarkable winery. It took more than 13 years to build. All the wines from that winery are only sold at that winery--nowhere else. Again, we were not necessarily interested in a tour of the house but in its grounds and the most incredible vision of a Tuscan castle that could have been jutting out of one of those Tuscan hill towns such as San Gimignano or Siena. Interesting foretaste of Italy to come!

Our fourth stop were the Markham Vineyards. In the 1870s, a Frenchman from Bordeaux built a winery just north of St. Helena, from locally quarried stone. Today, Markham ages its premium wines in French oak barrels in the same century-old stone cellar. It is one of Napa's oldest stone wineries. There were Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon to be tasted, and this time, we both tried a Chardonnay and a Sauvignon Blanc. Maureen bought a 2009 Chardonnay. Very interesting was an exhibit of "Rolling Stones" covers over the past years, featuring such familiar faces as Janis Joplin, Little Richard, James Taylor, Mick Jagger, Jimmy Hendrix, and George Harrison.

In the town of St. Helena, we also stopped briefly at the CIA, the Culinary Institute of America, walking the grounds and looking in some of the classrooms and lecture halls. It is the sister institution of the CIA in Hyde Park, NY, which Alexandra and I had visited when she was a student at Vassar. It occupies a magnificent site overlooking the valley and vineyards below.

Our final winery before lunch was the famous Beringer Vineyards. In 1876, Jacob and Frederick Beringer established what is today the oldest continuously operated winery in the Napa Valley. The tasting room is located in Frederick's mansion, the Rhine House, and is elegantly decorated with stained glass, carved oak wainscoting, slate roof, and wood floors. The gardens around it were immaculately kept, and the plantings and fountains offered a pleasing site to the eye and a pleasing sound to the ear.

By this time, we had worked up a hunger, as we reached the town of St. Helena, in the heart of Napa Valley. We parked downtown and walked the whole perimeter, finally settling on a deli, where we had great herbed turkey sandwiches. Afterwards, we patronized some of the specialized local stores, some selling local lavender products, others olive oil from the area, and one featuring artisanal chocolates. I had an amaretto hazelnut concoction that was particularly tasty.

Our last winery for the day was the Mondavi winery, on the way to Napa. This time, we did not enter the tasting room, but simply, once again, walked the grounds, admired the plantings, and photographed some of the unusual sculpture. Then it was on to the John Muir Inn in Napa, a lovely little hotel where we are ensconced for the evening. Across the street from the hotel, there is a restaurant called Fume, specializing in California dishes. We just had a Margherita pizza and some asparagus, and are currently making plans for a foray into downtown Napa tomorrow before returning to Mountain View tomorrow evening.

Another great day of sightseeing. Thanks to all of you who have commented so far, and I look forward to hearing from many more of you! As ever, Sylvia  P.S.  Dear Alexandra--no need to call me about this problem--a little fancy footwork solved this.  Between Maureen's Apple and my PC, things were not copacetic.  But there are other ways to skin a cat, and the blog has been finally posted!!!!!  Triumph!