Alas, Wine Country...

Today was spent in the oft mentioned, much famed Napa Valley Region of California.

It was one of those days that you just want to soak in. The day was slow, methodical and very relaxing. It started around 7:40 this morning for me. It's funny, since I've been here I've now twice awoke at the same exact time on two different days.

We went to Denny's and grabbed a gourmet breakfast, then we hit the road. On the way to Napa, we stopped at a few nice little antique/boutique/consignment shops. It was great. Tons of knick-knacks, all of them too expensive. I won't mention the clothes! Okay, I will. A really queer looking black shirt with polka dots, or something akin to that--for a whopping $235! No, it gets better! Canali corduroy pants: $195. Another pair of dress pants-$675.

Enough guts to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all--PRICELESS.

I had some nice parting words for the chaps who worked there. I said: "Alright fellas, when I'm a billionaire and own the world, I'll be happy to come back and buy a shirt."

I happily popped off my mouth a few times today, in the service of some great moral cause that struck me at that particular moment.

On to the wines. The first vineyard we went to and actually the only that we actually patronized was called Darioush Estates. It was pretty nice, as it was started by a Persian guy in the late nineties and focuses on the greatness of the Persian Empire. The wine was pretty good too.

My cousin Mack and I both had a flight. The flight, a course consisting of about 5 or six wines. It started with a Viognier, a nice white wine.

Following that was a the red table wine, something like 64% cabernet and the rest some other grape.

Then came the Merlot, which was pretty good. After that, the Shiraz, which was really nice.

It ended with the Cabernet Savignon. That was a very nice finish. As for the winery itself, it was pretty and had nice decorations, but it was rather small and it provided only little room to view the actual winemaking process.

After finishing up that nice visit, we continued onto other wineries, where we proceeded to steal grapes.

IT was hilarious! My cousin Mack, armed with a pocketknife, would pull up to a vineyard. We'd get out of the car, sample the grapes on the vine, then he'd proceed to cut of a bunch of the grapes. We now have Robert Mondavi's grapes in a bag. Thanks Bob!

And a few others.

All in all it was a wonderful time. I couldn't help cracking up. My cousin is so funny!

I have lots of descriptive pics of which I hope to share quite a few of them with you sometime soon.

Some of the towns we visited were: St. Helena and Calistoga. Quaint little towns, nestled under the wine hills and vineyards. Slow pace. Happy faces. And a rich, relaxing, romantic time.

I definitely can't wait to take my wife there sometime. It's so far away from civilization, so quiet and surreal.

We capped off the evening with a nice dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Pacifico. Also the name of a Mexican beer.

It just so happens that we showed up on the one night that the Mariachi band was playing. It was about a six-piece band, consisting of guitars and trumpets. They sang songs in Spanish, had on the tight, trinket-covered pants, boots and the whole bit.

It was fantastic. As was the light, crisp breeze that gently visited us as we feasted on dinner. Oh, and the Jasmine-kissed iced tea. Delicious!

That's it for now. I hope I whetted your palate.

Satisfy it! Come to California and tour wine country. It will be well worth your time and money.