Musings of the Great Gonzo

So, there I was neck deep in hot mud. Before I knew it a small woman came from no where and painted a light-colored, cool mixture onto my face and placed a cool cloth on my forehead. Hardly a dignified position for a man of my stature, but DAMN did it feel good. Alright, the mud did feel kind of weird as one lowered themselves into it – kind of squishy and gritty at the same time. And if you sank to low in it got really hot (talk about hot buns!). But, if you let the mud support you and just sort of floated on it, it was quite relaxing – it was all warm and kinda tingly. I’m describing today’s first activity, a mud bath and massage at Golden Haven Spa in Calistoga on the far northern end of the Napa Valley where they are blessed with geothermal springs which heat mineral heavy water to nearly 150 degrees. As experiences go it was an interesting one, mud got into places I didn’t know I had; I would not have missed it for he world, however it is not something I am likely to line up...

It’s hot here in California, uncharacteristically hot. The weather reports say that the temperatures reached nearly 102 in the valley; the locals say this is very rare. Most of the time the summer-time temperatures hover in the mid to upper 80’s, tomorrow they say it will be hotter – leave it to us to bring a heat wave. But, all in all, the heat isn’t that bad; it’s very dry so it is bearable. We started our second day of tasting rushing to make the first tour at Mumm Winery. I wanted to see how sparkling wine was made and, we just made the 10:00 AM tour. Karri walked us through a small demonstration vineyard and explained the varietals used in Mumm’s champagnes. Surprisingly they use a variety of grapes in each type of wine they make; this insures the consistency of flavor one expects. We walked the production area and learned how the grapes are harvested, juiced and how only the first few drop of juice from each grape is used to make the wine anything after that is usually mor...

Greetings from road again dear readers. This week I have taken my lovely wife on a week-long adventure to Napa Valley and San Francisco. As I write these very words I sit in our hotel room as she naps of the afternoon's tastings. Today was our first day in wine country and our first impression as we drove up valley from the town of Napa to St. Helena were that this is one beautiful place. Napa itself is the largest town in the valley and is still postcard perfect. But, as we traveled through some of the small towns we noticed that this area is all about remaining small town while still serving the tourists, gourmets, and wine-loving public. Our first stop this morning was at the Oakville Grocery, a tiny little store not much larger than your average convenience store. But, there wasn't Frito-Lay brand in sight; this place was all about gourmet foods from imported olives to hand-made stuffed grape leaves. We settled for an apricot bar for me and turtle cheese cake for her (hey, ...