Matthew’s Birthday & Wine Tasting: Day Two

Napa, CA

We had a full day of wine tasting and sight-seeing planned for today. We started at the Frank Family Vineyard with some delicious wines and some fabulous stories told by our guide. Turns out the vineyard is owned by a man who has been very involved in the Hollywood Film business and whose father was Patton’s driver in Germany during WWII. Our guide used to be a roadie with several famous bands and musicians including Elton John, David Bowie, and the Rolling Stones. What a fun morning! Again, we wound up buying a few bottles! 🙂

We then drove a short way into the town of Calistoga to pick up some sandwiches at the Palisades Market before heading to visit Old Faithful (NOT the one in Yellowstone!). It was cool to see the geyser and to picnic while waiting for it to erupt. Definitely one of those things to do once in your lifetime!

Next we headed to the Biale Winery as recommended by the Davises. It’s a small winery with a beautiful outdoor tasting area. Our guide, Thomas, was a font of information, giving us a full history of the Biale family and their decision to stick to growing Zinfandel grapes instead of selling out to the more profitable Cabernet grapes.

Matthew wasn’t feeling 100%, so we went back to the hotel for a little downtime before eating at Bistro Don Giovanni right up the road. The food was okay but nothing I’d recommend. Matthew was still feeling iffy, so we called it an early night.