Our Week In Wine Country

We are mid-way through our week in Napa Valley, the wine capital of the U.S. It is also a food and dining mecca. Through some of Leslie’s food connections, we met up with a wonderful family who organized the week for us. Our first day included winery tours for Leslie and me, and then a cooking lesson for me, Will and Lydia: the menu included hand-tossed pizza on the grill, rack of lamb, beer can chicken and cream puffs for dessert filled with peaches picked by Will off their trees next to their vineyard. Leslie was free to look on. Part of my hope for this sabbatical is to learn how to cook – so I’m off to a good start. Yesterday we visited the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone here in St. Helena. We got a tour from its founder, a food colleague of Leslie’s.

Will turned 17 yesterday. The boy is growing up. I brought him his favorite, a pupusa, which is a Salvadorian tortilla he came to love from our time living in the D.C. area, bought at the St. Helena farmer’s market. Only in Napa would a farmer’s market include cooking lessons from a chef from the CIA.

The rows upon rows of vineyards are quite stunning and I am finding the Napa Valley quite beautiful. The temperature difference between day and night is 50 degrees – reaching into the low 100’s during the day. The differential moves the sugar up and down through the vine and branches and intensifies the flavor of the cabernet and chardonnay grapes for which the region is known.
Our week here is also a needed resting place for each of us to pause a bit and process this whole experience. We have seen so much already and we’re trying to just allow our minds and bodies time to take it all in.