Day 2 in Napa

I didn't manage to compose an entry to the blog yesterday because we started tasting wine fairly early in the day, had a delicious beer with our lunch, then drank more wine with our dinner last night.  Our first stop yesterday was at Mason Cellars tasting room . ..the lady in charge wasn't quite sure she wanted to let Sparta come in because she had just steam mopped the floor . . . .she gave Jon a towel to wipe Sparta's face and then reluctantly invited us in.  Sparta stretched out on the floor and went to sleep.  The lady kept mentioning our beautiful, peaceful dog and then after we made our wine purchase she suddenly leaped up and pulled out a bag of "dog cookies" and said she wanted to feed Sparta a cookie outside . . . she ended up totally charmed by our beast who stayed on her best polite behavior, even gently accepting the treat and then slowly savoring it . . . we had to laugh.

 Our next stop was a few streets up where we had a free tasting at Vintner's Collective.  They poured lots of fabulous wine . . . we ended up only buying 2 bottles, both by Vinoce (an excellent sauvignon blanc and a fabulous proprietor's red).

We walked by this shop and thought of Molly  (Sparta likes her Amuse Bouche too)

Excellent wines though on the high end for the red

Our view from Joe's Brewery and Restaurant

Enjoying time in the tasting room

OK, folks . . . I've had enough of lying around . . .let's do something fun!

 Our lunch spot was just a good smelling restaurant we passed on a corner (Downtown Joe's Brewery and Restaurant) . . .  the food was good, the beer excellent, and the view of the river perfect for spending a relaxing time.

For dinner we dined at a local hot spot called Zins Valley . . . the spring roll was scrumptious, Jon's shrimp pasta dish average, but my chicken Marsala tasted like they had reconstituted some Chicken Ramen Noodle Soup Mix, added sliced mushrooms and then topped it with a huge, dry piece of very tough, bland chicken breast.  I ate the "noodle soup" and fed the chicken to Sparta.  I didn't want to complain because our young waiter was such a sweet young man and I felt like I could survive it.  I highly recommend avoiding this restaurant . . . goes down on our list as very poor . . . perhaps OK for appetizers . . .their wine list is quite over-priced for what they offer.  (Sometimes I can be so plain-spoken about being served bad food.)

We slept well last night in our little nook with the windows open.