Olive Oil Tasting at Round Pond Estate

Who says that the Napa Valley is all about wine? True... wine factors pretty heavily in our way of life and it's the main reason people visit our little corner of the world, but it's not all that we've got going on. Case in point: I took my mom to a fabulous olive oil tasting at the Round Pond Olive Mill in Rutherford over the weekend.

Now I've done some olive oil tasting in my time (most memorable being the one I did in Mendoza, Argentina), but the Round Pond tasting was by far and away the best I've ever experienced. It started out with a walk through one of the estate olive tree groves, moved on to a tour of the state-of-the-art Italian mill, and then transitioned to a sit-down, guided tasting of their estate olive oils, vinegars and syrups. The tasting was then followed by a pretty lavish spread of gorgeous food, where we were free to try different combinations of the goods with complementary fruits, vegetables, cheeses and bread. (And don't despair - tastings of Round Pond's award-winning wines were also available... we can veer from the wine path around here, but we can't exit completely!)

I learned so much during the tour and tasting - but I won't divulge too much because you really should come and do the tour yourself! But a few nuggets:

• Save the extra virgin olive oils for dressing salads or enjoying straight from the bottle as a finishing oil - just don't cook with it! Heat raises the levels of oleic acid in the oil, making it bitter. Use a virgin or regular olive oil to cook with, since you won't be paying the premium required to produce the low levels of oleic acids in the extra virgins.
• It takes about two trees worth of olives from the Round Pond groves to produce one gallon of extra virgin olive oil.
• Coughing when tasting olive oils is considered a compliment. (You cough when the oils hit the back of your throat.)
• The best way to sample vinegar is to pour a few drops over a sugar cube, then suck on the sugar cube before it dissolves.

At any rate, the whole experience at Round Pond was stellar. Come up and give it a try sometime - I'll go with you!

Tacos + Tequila

So there I was, wandering lost in the hard alcohol section of the adult beverage market, and I find myself in front of the Tequila selection. I stare. I know nothing. I wonder to myself what the heck all of the various terms on the labels mean: reposado, gold, silver, anejo. It's a mystery. I move along. Someday I'll learn, I tell myself. Someday.

Well wouldn't you know it. That someday has come.

Literally, within a day of my market musings, an inviting invite arrived in my email inbox, subject line: Tacos + Tequila. I knew before I even clicked it open that I would accept said invite.

Turns out that the invitation was from Tout Suite Social Club, a fresh take on social networking/lifestyle branding/technology and just plain fun interactivity based here in Napa Valley. I'd been hearing the buzz about Tout Suite for a bit, and had been hoping to check them out in person before I fell sorely behind the times. Finally, Tacos + Tequila gave me a real excuse to go and meet some new people, indulge my inner social networking geek, grub on some good food, and inform myself on all things tequila. Sign me up!

I won't go on and on about Tout Suite, but I will say this: check them out. Become a member. Enjoy all of the content that they are creating for folks just like you. It's a really cool platform to introduce you to todays influential tastemakers. In a nutshell, they host casual, irreverent, funny events at their St. Helena studio (Meet Your Maker, Tasting in the Dark, Tout Socials and others); get a variety of guests to come meet, mingle and nosh; and stream it all online for your viewing pleasure (and archive everything for future viewing in case you can't catch it live). It's like an interactive dinner party with some educational (and, let's admit it - marketing) elements. But I love it, and think even if you're not in the room for the party, the episodes are entertaining enough that you'll want to investigate.

My marketing geekiness aside, I really truly was there for the Tacos + Tequila. A girl's gotta eat, right? The evening did not disappoint.

Tout Suite's in-house chef, Paul Wiggins, dished up huge platters of taco makins, including grilled albacore, repollo picoso (a spicy cabbage slaw with tomato, lime and oregano), an Argentine chimichurri, and a sweet bay scallop ceviche that was my favorite (made with agave nectar, zucchini, jalapeno, avocado, red onion, tomato, cilantro and loads of citrus... delish).

The food was meant to be paired with the Los Osuna 100% blue agave spirits, brought by Jesus Padilla whose family has been making the libation in Mexico since 1876. I learned that this particular brand can't technically be called a Tequila, since like a true Champagne or Port, the name Tequila is reserved for those spirits actually made within a specific region. See? Learned one thing new right there, before I even took a sip.

Jesus walked us through a tasting, teaching us that like wine, Tequila has legs. Also like wine, there are nuances and flavors on the nose and on the palette. And all of those descriptors? They mostly indicate aging and the time that the Tequila has spent in whiskey barrels. The longer the aging, the deeper the color, and I suppose, the more complex the flavors. And those Tequilas marked Gold? Turns out Gold is code word for "filler." No wonder those college margarita-slash-shots-on-a-dare days hurt. Bottom line: spend the money for the good stuff.



Since it was a Tout Social, there were many new people to meet, many new Twitter accounts to follow, many new blogs to explore. In short: my people! I had a great time, learned lots, and hopefully made some new friends. Mission accomplished Tout Suite!

Going Mobile: Gas Station Gourmet

If you ever find yourself on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada, say, after a couple of days of rock climbing in Yosemite's Tuolumne Meadows, there really is only one place to head for grub: the Mobile gas station in Lee Vining. I'm sure there are other places, but whenever I find myself in this neck of the woods, I never make it anywhere else. Neither does anyone else, apparently. The line is always out the door at the famous "Whoa Nelllie Deli" tucked inside the gas station's convenience store.

Tucked behind the racks of t-shirts and postcards, next to the beer coolers and the stacks of firewood for sale, the deli churns out amazing fare that not only satisfies ravenous outdoor adventurers, but gourmands alike. Their food goes beyond the expected burgers and sandwiches (all of which look incredible), but the menu includes the likes of veal osso bucco, elk chops, slow-roasted pork ribs with huckleberry barbecue sauce (enjoyed by my climbing partner Matt, top), fish tacos (enjoyed by yours truly, below) and more.

There's not much more to say, really - except "go there now." They've got live music several nights a week in the summer on their packed outdoor seating area, ever-changing menu specials, and gas for your car and a dumping station for your RV. Seriously genius.




Some views of the climbing...
(I'm not a very good climber, and usually I'm scared out of my wits on exposed multi-pitch routes, but there's just something about it that keeps me coming back. Mostly it's thanks to Matt, my longtime friend and climbing partner who keeps me safe and knows and respects my limits. But then there are also the views... ahhh.)

Winters, CA: I think I'm in love....

That's it. I'm moving to Winters, California. Winters, California... here I come!

Ok ok.. that may have been said in haste (I'm not moving anywhere), but man... I recently discovered this quaint little town and I am SO tempted to give small(er) town living a try. (Instead, I'm putting the squeeze on my mom to pack her bags and relocate there... mom - have you called the realtor yet?).

Anyhow... Winters. I've had the opportunity to explore this hidden-in-plain-sight gem a couple of times in the last few weeks. Once, when Ran took me on a weekend getaway and we stayed in a cabin nearby, and a second time when I dragged my visiting mom back over the river and through the woods to explore her future retirement community. It's a mere 35 miles from my home here in Napa, but obscured from view by the strip mall sprawl of Vacaville along I-80.

I really did fall in love with this place on first look. Not only is the town itself cute as a button, laid out around a small town square (complete with white gazebo and town clock - straight out of a movie), but it's obviously family-friendly (I counted no fewer than four parks with playgrounds and ball fields), VERY affordable (the realty listings nearly made me cry), and surprisingly diverse (in my two trips, I've seen people of all colors and persuasions). It's also surrounded by stunning acre upon acre of meticulously groomed farms, orchards and vineyards, and is within a stone's throw of a variety of outdoor recreation (cycling, whitewater rafting, boating, fishing, hiking...). All of that is well and good, but what does my budding love affair with Winters have to do with this blog? It's the food, of course!

I had the chance to talk to loads of locals - some new to town, some long-timers - and everyone agrees: there is not a bad place to eat in Winters. Along the main drag, Railroad Avenue, you'll find everything from a cyclist-clogged coffee shop to a trendy tapas bar. There's the requisite small-town diner with the line out the door for its hearty breakfasts; a candy shop and soda fountain; a steakhouse complete with taxidermy animal heads mounted on the wall and portion sizes of beef to match... and likely much more. There's also two - soon to be three - wine tasting rooms within a two-block radius, one of which is also home to the Winters Cheese Company.

I was there on a Saturday night, and I tell you - the place was hopping. Putah Creek Cafe was churning out blistery thin-crust pizzas from its wood-burning pizza oven on the street corner; Cody's Restaurant was grilling tri-tip and chicken on the sidewalk a half a block down the street; the Turkovich Family Winery tasting room was open late and bursting at the seams with a young, hip crowd; the Opera House was gearing up for a night of live music, and The Buckhorn Steakhouse was packed with a 45 minute wait to get a table. People were out, the scene was lively, people were laughing and talking to each other, friends and strangers alike... it was awesome.

Winters will not remain a secret for long. Indeed, the very week following my initial weekend trip, the San Francisco Chronicle highlighted the town in its weekly Street Date feature (I gasped when I opened up the paper, and there was "my" Winters, its charm exposed for all to see!). So, I suggest you get on out there to take a look around and enjoy all that Winters has to offer before the tour buses start descending. If you can't get there, here's a photo tour - go ahead, live vicariously!

Scenes from around and about town...

The Buckhorn Steakhouse - big flavors, big portions. Their website has a great list of 20 reasons to visit Winters - make sure to check it out!




Putah Creek Cafe - the quintessential small town diner. Bakery cases overflowing with house-made goodies, counter space for when you can't score a hard-to land booth, and good, good food. My mom opted for breakfast for her mid-day meal (the thick-cut applewood smoked bacon was amazing); I went for the homemade pezole. It was an excellent choice.





Putah Creek Cafe fires up its wood-burning pizza oven in the afternoon and keeps it going well into the evening. Fresh, piping hot pizza, right there on the street corner.


One of the tasting rooms in town, Turkovich Family Wines. The room is casual and elegant, and stays open late on weekends to take advantage of the people out and about. the buzz is lively, and you'll find all of Winters newest young residents bellied up to the bar, with out of town guests in tow (and in awe). In addition to their lineup of wines, they also pour and sell a champagne imported from Argentina (the winemaker's father-in-law is the Argentine winemaker).

The Winters Cheese Company shares a tasting room with Turkovich Family Wines. As it should - the cheesemaker and the winemaker are brothers. Seems as though the whole family is involved in the shop - there's mom behind the cash register, and a cousin behind the bar. I bought loads of cheese, but I should have bought the shirt too!

The other tasting room in town, Berryessa Gap Vineyards.

Breakfast at Cody's - nothing fancy, but pancakes to order and the chef knew pretty much everyone by name. Those that she didn't know by name, she came out personally to greet, as she was carrying a customer's baby on her hip - giving the babe's mom a chance to eat her meal kid-free.

...and later in the day, Cody's was grilling up a storm for the dinner crowd.

Rootstock, a brand new gift shop and soon-to-be tasting room in Winters. When the tasting room is up and running it will represent three different Yolo County wineries.

Views from along Putah Creek, the river that runs through the center of Winters.