Firebelle Lil’ and the wines of Larkmead

Being a fellow fireball, spitfire, scrappy New Yorker at heart, I immediately bonded with the historical figure behind Larkmead Vineyards, Firebelle Lillie Hitchcock Coit (yes, of that Coit). Good God this gal was a feminist, decades before the “movement,” having been named the first female member of a fire company way back in 1859. Somehow fitting that she would make her way from San Francisco to little old St. Helena. My wine induced romp down memory lane was abruptly halted with a mere swig of Larkmead’s 07 Firebelle Blend, a slow seduction of a wine. A bawdy brew, much like the vino’s namesake. Love at first swig. The intense yet plush layers of this silky delight threatened to make me cry. But I resisted. I didn’t want any of my salty mushy tears to muck up this damn fine wine. I chided myself for cursing about this wine in public, but then I thought better of it. While I only know of Lil from the literature I’ve read, I suspect she would applaud my boisterous side, especially when spewing expletives about the merits of Larkmead wines. The 07 Solari Cab with a scant bit of Petite Verdot was a knock out, too. So lush, so fruity, it knocked me right off my pa-tootie! So go ahead, get off your rump and roll down to Larkmead Lane so you can revel in how good it is to live in the Napa Valley, and if you don’t live here, trust us, and enjoy some of this fine wine. Wacky WineSense Rating: 4.7 Grapes!

Napa Valley - more than just great grapes

While wine and farming have always been a way of life in Napa Valley, there is much more that lurks amidst the grapevines, with traditions of food, adventure, and wellness – waiting to be uncorked. Known as one of the “Great Wine Capitals” of the world this fertile and geographically compact stretch, while only a mere 30 miles long, boasts a multitude of things beyond the vino bottle, to quench your thirst.

Napa serves as the gateway to world class culinary traditions that fork out from Napa and Yountville to St. Helena and Calistoga. Whether you crave the perfect pasta to pair with your wine or perhaps you’ve always yearned to poke around in the kitchen and learn from the masters at the Culinary Institute of America, the Napa Valley is guaranteed to feed your fix.

If you’re feeling adventurous, leave your car back at the hotel and opt for peddling your way through the valley. Many hotels like Solage and the Bardessono Inn offer complimentary cycles to their guests and several bike outfitters will customize tasting and town tours read more.

When it's not volcanic, Lava(vine) is a very good thing

Nothing could be finer than finding another hidden wine gem that's just a quick pedal away from Calistoga. While people have been known to flee from red hot lava, except when rubbernecking at Hawaii's Volcanoes National Park, I urge you not to flee from Lava Vine (the winery), and here's why. Sweet indulgence. While I love a good cupcake as much as the next gal, the only thing that trumps that sugar high, is port. We can't technically call this wine a port, but Joe's non-vintage dessert wine isn't fooling this wine scribe. Much like a lamb in sheep's clothing this wine is a port dressed up as a dessert wine. Regardless, this baby sang as it slid down my wine tube. Lightly sweet, yet supple. Well, it made me feel supple while drinking this delight. A hint of this, a hint of that. All I know is that this mish-mash of vintages swirled into one bottle, is divine. The best of many worlds. Joe wouldn't tell me much more than that, but I lost interest in the semantics and gained interest in scoring my own case of this juice. I'd recommend snatching up some of the Cabernet Franc, too. A spicy, bawdy counterpart. The vibe in this tasting room is casual-friendly, with soulful tunes wafting in the background, and vintage photography (the pink caddy photo would do The Boss" proud) pinned to the walls. A good time is prime for the picking at this joint. Wacky WineSense rating: 4.5 Grapes

Bacon Becomes an Art Form

I’m not embarrassed to admit that I am in no way a pork lover; in fact I avoid pig meat at all costs. It could be that I was marred at a young age. My most vivid Xmas memories are of Wilber, cooked and sprawled out on our dinner table, kicking up his poor unsuspecting back hoof. The apple artfully placed in poor porky’s mouth didn’t help. I have avoided pork ever since, until now. But I’m in a safe zone because this plate of bacon is actually an art exhibit, premiering at St. Helena’s Silverado Brewing Company (excuse this redention of the photos, they were taken on my phone with blinking tree lights in the background, you'll have to check them out in person to get the full affect). And while bacon specials are abounding at the brew co in concert with the exhibit, that is not what’s got me excited, it’s the art of the self-dubbed “Bacon Girl,” Bigi Voix. This vegetarian turned pork fiend had a life altering brush with bacon that forever changed her and the local art scene. Bigi accidentally fell off the vegan wagon over a bacon-binge weekend which led to her inspiration for this whacked out (in the best possible way) art exhibit that pays homage to pork, in strip form. Bigi has become all bacon, all the time, turning her exhibit into a calendar that is due out in 2011. Even I, who avoids pork, couldn’t keep my eyes in their sockets in the presence of these portraits. Who needs a muse when bacon is in the picture? The photos go as broad as a fifty’s pinup pool girl with a bee-hive hairdo done up in bacon, to a reincarnation of Bruce Springsteen’s classic Born in the USA album cover, where bacon is stuffed into the Boss’s back pocket instead of a baseball cap. And if that is not enough to wet your arty and pork-filled appetite, some of the more racy renditions feature Bigi and her “unmentionables” sloughed over in bacon. What I love most about this ingenious collection is that it exudes the very essence of what art means to me. All night long I couldn’t stop talking about these off-beat photos. The visuals and their creative concoctions left my mind lingering on the memory of each long after I’d left the exhibit. Who would have thunk it? That someone as anti-pork as me could grow to see pig in a brand new light. So whether you love bacon, hate it or yearn to bring a little of Bigi’s bacon to a home near you, you don’t want to miss out on this one of kind display of art in the making—bacon. Check it out at Silverado Brewing Company for the month of December. Wacky WineSense Rating: 5 Grapes!
(The actual exhibit version of these photos were shot by Robin Bordow)

Girard = Glee in a bottle

Gleeful. Yes. And I'm not talking about the TV show, though almost as entertaining as a good wine. I'm speaking of how I felt after a mere sip of Girard's 08 Petite Sirah. A deep dish berry pie of a wine. Boisenberry comes to mind. As does the chill that this fine wine sent down my spine. I love it when a wine gives me goosebumps. And this little gem did just that. The wine was as bodacious in flavor as the crowd was lively at this year's Yountville Festival of Lights. It was hard work, but the WineSense crowd, had to troll the streets scooping up as much sampling as our ticket allotment would allow. And after searching far and wide for the top wine of the night, Girard will be the "star" atop my wine tree this year. Make someone merry with some of this magic juice. Wacky WineSense Rating: 4.5 Grapes!

A "Back Room" that rocks while the wine rolls

DOWNTOWN NAPA'S ROCKING BACKROOM WINE SHOP MOONLIGHTS AS A TASTING BAR TOO. WE CAN GET BEHIND THE SIP AS YOU SHOP PHILOSOPHY AS WELL AS THE STORE’S CUSTOMER SERVICE MANTRA “WE LISTEN TO WHAT YOU LIKE, HEAR WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR, AND MATCH YOU WITH THE PERFECT WINE.” YOU'LL FIND SOUGHT-AFTER AND HARD TO FIND VINO AS YOU SIP AND SUCK DOWN FEATURED WINE FLIGHTS AND CHEESE PAIRINGS THAT ARE EVER-CHANGING DAILY. LINGER AT THE TASTING BAR OR SLIDE ONTO THE COMFY COUCH AS YOU GIVE YOUR TONGUE A WAKE UP CALL IN THE WINE COUNTRY WAY. SLURP YOUR LATEST INDULGENCE WITH CLASSIC ROCK TUNES BOPPING IN THE BACKGROUND. THEY ALSO HOST SPECIAL TASTING EVENTS (CLICK FOR DETAILS) JUST ABOUT EVERY THURSDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT SO YOU CAN KEEP YOUR GOOD TIMES ROLLING RIGHT ALONG WITH THE FINE WINE, MUSIC, AND COMPANY. WACKY WINESENSE RATING: 4.5 GRAPES!

Bears that Dance Wine that Sings – Cakebread’s Dancing Bear Ranch

While you have most certainly heard about the legendary wines of Cakebread, firmly planted into the Napa wine scene for over 35 years and counting, you may not be aware of it's other half. Perhaps due to its “up the mountain” locale, but there is another Cake in town, and boy is it a dandy, well actually a Dancing Bear Ranch. Just a short jaunt up Howell Mountain and its hugging twists and turns will park you in the middle of nowhere, quite wonderfully so. Imagine a Napa Valley without throngs of inhabitants crawling all over our streets. Just pure countryside and roads in their most native state. Close your eyes (after you’ve driven safely up the mountain, of course) and that is exactly where you will have landed in the Dancing Bear Ranch. Infamous bears have been known to dance for their meal of sweet, plucky-delicious grapes found only on this mountaintop. But who could blame them. After one swig of this beyond bodacious 2006 red blend of a wine, well a lady never reveals her secrets but dancing may have ensued. This wine is as hefty as those dastardly bears that once scooped up their fair share of grapes (until Dennis Cakebread, resident bear whisperer/head honcho, showed them who was boss), yet as elegant as a New York ballerina dancing her way through the Nutcraker. One sniff will reveal sweet scents of fig, chocolate and so much more. One sip will knock you off your seat, with the only foreseeable reason to get up being to slog down some more of this wine. But a little more about what one visit will grant…. A)You might bump into a black bear, how cool would that be? Wine country gone wild! B)This 200-acre sprawling vineyard is eye candy for the visually inclined. Steeps, flats, stellar views of the valley below, bird’s eye glance at a lake, and C) for you nature-preservationist out there, this ranch has been dubbed and awarded with the certification of “Fish Friendly Farming Vineyard” – translation they are not only respectful to the art of winemaking but also to the land that is responsible for delivering this special wine. Hats off to the Cakebread clan. You have done oh-so right by this wine swill’in gal. So get off your rump this harvest season and hop on up the hill to see some of the most spectacular views of this valley and enjoy some damn fine wine in the process. Wacky WineSense Rating: 5.0 Grapes!