Monday, September 02, 2013

Yesterday we drove over the mountain between Sonoma and Napa counties. It was the windiest road ever.














Then we went olive oil tasting.






























After that we drove back to the airport and turned in our rental car. We stayed at a hotel near the airport because our flight leaves very early.

I'm waiting at the gate to board the plane to Chicago. We woke up at 2:45 this morning. I'm hoping to catch a few z's on the plane.

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Saturday, August 31, 2013

I love hot stones-es
Rubbing muscles and bones-es
This morning started out with a hot stone massage. Now we're lounging by the pool.
These are just some views of the inn where we're staying.




















Here's my view from my lounge chair.



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Friday, August 30, 2013

Wine tasting

Today we went wine tasting. The first stop was Repris Winery, the site of the old Carmenet vineyard. It was pretty cool to learn that the Dynamite Cabernet, Moon Mountain Merlot, and Moon Mountain Syrah we drank so much of and that we still have in our cellar came from this property.












We actually got to taste from the barrels!
























Then we took a Polaris ATV into the vineyard.
























The views were amazing!
























Then we had a tasting at the Hamel Family Winery.








Then another tasting at Stone Edge Farm.












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The French Laundry

Last night was amazing. It's the next morning and I'm still full. Everything was excellent and tasted so good. This is a picture of the vegetarian tasting menu, which we did not have. I took the picture because across the top it says Happy 25th Anniversary Ellen and Robert.




Course number one was caviar. I had the oysters and pearls and Robert had the Ossetra reuben. I tasted both and I preferred the oysters and pearls. It was warm and the tapioca and caviar burst with flavor in your mouth. I love oysters and these were especially delicious.








The next course was salad or pasta. I took the Salad of Hawaiian Hearts of Peach Palm. The dish had a lot of contrast between sweet and acidity. The sweet peach was delicious.




And Robert took the Hand-cut Buckwheat Tagliatelle with Ris de Veau and Black Truffle. I tasted this and it was earthy and warming. The picture is basically a pile of shaved black truffles. They brought out the truffle lock box and let us look at them and smell them before they shaved one onto the plate.




The next two courses were fish. The first fish was Pacific Sablefish otherwise known as Black Cod. It was sweet and perfectly cooked to a medium rare. Pickled vegetables balanced the dish with some acidity. There was even a small beet for Robert. He enjoyed it.
I know my parents raised me right but I am still a bumpkin when it comes to fish knives, especially when there is more than one at a time. They presented us with the regular kind of fish knife but also a flattened spoon shaped one. It was confusing. I don't know if I used them properly, but whatever.




The next fish course was fricasee of lobster claw, poached in butter. I hate to say it but although the lobster was delicious and had a nice crunch on the outside, I remain a lobster purist.




The next course was rabbit wrapped in bacon. This was sublime and one of my favorite dishes of the evening.




The second meat course was a choice of lamb or American Wagyu beef. I took the lamb and Robert had the beef. The lamb was delicious but the beef was absolutely mind-blowing. I've never tasted anything close to its deliciousness before. It was aged 100 days.








Cheese course. By now we have drunk 2 half-bottles of wine and I'm smashed.




We had an Austrian TBA for dessert wine. It was sweet but not too heavy. So good. This picture is of a huckleberry custard that I forgot to photograph before I started eating, so there are bites taken out. I was smashed.




Coconut ice cream on macerated strawberries with a hint of basil.




Chocolate marshmallow.




Chocolate anniversary cake.




Coffee mousse semi freddo.




Candied macadamia nuts, doughnuts, macaroons and handmade truffles came next.




Shortbreads to bring home.




Here's the actual menu we had:



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Location:Roble Viia,Kenwood,United States