Two Days in the Valley

Embassy Suites, as the name implies, is a chain of hotels that offers guests "suites" rather than rooms. For three women traveling together, this seemed like the perfect option. Our suite was located on the second floor, down an outdoor walkway which overlooked a courtyard with a fountain.

Even though I knew the room would be a "suite," I was pleasantly surprised at the spaciousness. Our door opened into the living area with a couch, chair, floor television, and a dining-room table which seated two. Facing the door was a wet bar with a large mirror (which became very useful later.) The bar area had a microwave and a small refrigerator. The decor was acceptable, though a little dated, but the rooms were clean. There was a door separating the living area from the back bedroom, which had another television, two double beds, a vanity (another mirror), dresser, and a wardrobe. Best of all was a sliding glass door which opened to a railing - almost a mini-balcony (though it did overlook the parking lot).

As I was the last to sign up for the trip, I was assigned the pull-out couch, which was already made and quite comfortable. The bathroom was fine; nothing special, but clean. For three girls getting ready in the morning, though, it was nice to have the mirror and sink behind the bar, the vanity in the bedroom, and the mirror in the bathroom. We got ready a lot faster at this hotel than the other two we stayed at.

The most memorable part of this hotel was the free breakfast. For breakfast, you could have a made-to-order plate of eggs, potatoes, French toast, pancakes, bacon, or sausage. There was also a variety of cereals, bagels, muffins, and fruit. Delicious!

Additionally, in the evenings from 5:30 to 7:30, there was a "manager’s reception" with free {alcohol and soda) drinks and light snacks.

Finally, the courtyard itself, with the two swans and the waterfall, was a great place to hang out after a long day of winery tours. Around the courtyard and in the lobby were many striking statues which added to the ambience.

Now for my complaints - I don’t have many. The room was loud at night, with noise from the parking lot on one side and the hallway noise on the other side. Even though there was a pull-out bed, the place seemed to be more made to accommodate two. The people in the bedroom had to walk into the living room area to get to the bathroom. There were only two chairs at the table and only two bathrobes in the closet. I fully believe, though, that if we had complained then they would have brought us an extra chair, or whatever. The front desk was quite friendly and responsive with any requests that we did have. This place was quite lovely, but expensive for us as well.

I had researched my trip extensively before I went to Napa and had read several positive reviews of this place. I have to say that overall, I was disappointed in the value, but the ambience almost made up for it. ZuZu is a tapas restaurant. Tapas are smaller "appetizer"-size portions, typically with an international flavor. Now, I have been to several tapas restaurants before, and the portions here seemed to be even smaller than normal for tapas. The guidebooks are misleading to label this as a low-cost place, because you will likely need to order at least two dishes per person to feel satiated. The cost of the dishes my two friends and I ordered ranged from $5 for goat cheese to $9 for summer tuna. Ultimately, with two drinks and five tapas dishes for the three of us, we spent $48 before the tip. Honestly, I was still hungry when we left.

If you are not at all cost-conscious and you want a cozy, candlelit, noisy restaurant, this is it. We arrived at 7:30 on a Friday night and were pleased to have no wait for a table. Several guests arrived after us, but we never saw a line.

The sourdough bread is a perfect sourdough representation (thus, you must like the crusty, chewy outside and doughy inside.) We liked all of our dishes, with the exception of the goat cheese ($5.00), which was mostly tomato sauce with a tiny dollop of cheese on top. The Flat Iron Steak ($8.00) was the best value, and deliciously spicy.

I’m sorry to say that the service was not up to par, as our waitress was a little skittish and would bring something and run away before we could request drink refills and the like. Still, all in all, it was a pleasant experience and a great way to end the day.

Should you choose to bring you own wine, as many in Napa Valley do, the cork fee is $10.

We ended up at Market- An American Restaurant purely by delightful accident. We were looking for a restaurant called Gail’s on Main, which had received good reviews. After walking past three or four times, we determined that Gail’s was no longer there. The waiter confirmed for us, Market had only been open since the summer of 2003.

What a lucky find! We were pleasantly surprised to be seated immediately on a Friday night, though we might have been out a little late for the Napa crowd at 9:30. The restaurant is one long room with high ceilings and an enormous Brunswick bar that has its own story on the menu. The building itself was built in 1890. Market bills itself as an "American restaurant", but I would describe it as upscale comfort food.

Appetizers range from $5 for Roasted Sugar Pie Pumpkin soup to $9.50 for a vegetable platter. My friend described her pumpkin soup as "spicy with a little bit of bite on the end." She continued to gush about it for several minutes offering up comments like, "Soooo good" and "full-bodied spicy flavor that tastes of Fall." Ok – so I think she was a bit dramatic – let’s just say she liked it.

Main dishes ranged from $8 for a Portobello sandwich to $19 for Delmonico Steak. There was also a section on the menu called "American Classics" with items ranging from $9.50 to $13.50 and menu items such as: a burger, a pork sandwich and "A Very Adult Mac and Cheese" with Hobb’s bacon and creamy fiscallini cheddar cheese sauce ($10).

I’m not one to gush about food, but the Mac and Cheese was the best that I have ever had. At first glance the portion seemed small, but the dish was so rich that it was quite filling. We inspected it, trying to discover the magical ingredients, and I think the fresh chives definitely made the dish.

My culinary friend had a chopped salad and was quite pleased to find quite a variety of vegetables including sweet snap peas, carrots, onions, blue cheese, bacon, broccoli, etc.

Desserts included apple pie ($6), homemade butterscotch pudding ($5) and ‘smores for two made at your table ($10). I ordered the ‘smores and was disappointed. The graham crackers were very thin and kept breaking. While it was fun to roast the marshmallows over the little fire, the whole thing was such a mess and not worth the money or the effort.

Additionally, our server was pleasant but rather ‘off’ – we sat for long periods of time with empty drinks and dirty dishes. He would not split our check (though there were only three of us) because he had ‘already typed it in the computer.’

Never mind about the service, though, go to Market for the atmosphere and the food and you will not be disappointed. Cork Fee: $15.

I don’t have children, but my friends and I still went to the factory and had a great time. It's no Wonkaville, but when you get to One Jelly Belly Lane, you can't help but think that it would be very cool to work for a candy company. The employees agree. Located just 20 minutes south of Napa, the Jelly Belly factory is easy to find. Directions are available on the website www.jellybelly.com or call 1-800-JB-BEANS (1-800-522-3267).

Free tours are available every 15 minutes, seven days a week from 9am to 5pm (except holidays). Even on the weekends when they aren't making the candy, tours are conducted with a knowledgeable tour guide using video monitors so you can see what it would be like. I never really appreciated the fact that every Jelly Belly bean has the company logo on it until I saw the process in action. After the tour, we received a 2-ounce bag of complimentary Jelly Bellies and a small sampler bag of the new JBz candy. In addition to free candy from the tour, you can taste all the flavors for free at the tasting bar, and the bean-bartender will even recommend some. (Pass on the tabasco-flavored cinnamon unless you really like tabasco).

The gift shop has everything and anything Jelly Belly, and the highlight is the 2-pound bags of Belly Flops, which go for $6 a piece or "buy two, get one free." That’s $3 a pound versus $7 a pound bulk at the store, or $8 a pound if you buy your beans packaged. These are the "rejects" from the factory – two stuck together or no name on them. The Flops bags don’t have every flavor in them, but if you look around enough, you can find a bag with the flavors you like. You can ship anything from the factory store except the Flops for the UPS shipping rate plus a small surcharge. You might not think about this, but beware, Jelly Bellies are heavy – I paid the "overweight" fee on my luggage on the way back.

There is also a cafe with hamburgers and pizzas, but we didn't eat there so I can't say if it was good or not. But honestly, if you eat the candy first, you probably won't feel much like eating lunch.

I had never been on any kind of factory tour before, but even with my high expectations, this place was great fun. Oddly enough, it is not well advertised, so that made it even more of a "find" when we happened upon a brochure in our hotel lobby. Go, go go!

Everyone has eaten a grape before. But have you ever plucked the sweet, juicy, plump, purple fruit straight off the vine? The Robert Mondavi tour is an incredible way to learn about the grapes that are turned into wine, the wine-making process and the wine industry. This should be your first stop on your wine-tasting adventures. Oh, did I mention that I hate wine? It doesn’t matter. The tour is still quite fascinating due to our often humorous and very knowledgeable tour guide, Ralph.

A cautionary note for the non-wine drinkers, if there are any who are crazy enough to go to Napa in the first place (like me)… The tour, including three tastings, will still cost you $10 – even if you don’t want the wine. As it turns out, though, the tour is well worth it, and as this is our first stop, my friends are more than happy to drink my wine in addition to their own. The tour lasts about an hour and a half including the tasting.

When Ralph introduces himself, he tells us that "wine is the second most complicated liquid." He plays along as guests ask about the first and the third (blood, milk). In fact, he plays along quite well throughout the tour. He’s good. Really good. He’s candid with us and admits that he has to lead us to the gift shop and that he sometimes drinks cheap wine. He talks about "Robert" (Mondavi) as if Mr. Mondavi was an old friend rather than the boss. Sometimes his stories are completely off track, but we are in wine country, surrounded by beautiful fields and a warm sun, and suddenly it doesn’t matter.

For the first part of the tour, we are seated under a gazebo amongst a field of grapes. It’s an intimate setting, as there are fewer than 10 people on our tour. We then move into the winery and Ralph allows us all to grab a bunch of grapes. (Grab a small bunch – they’re good, but with 23% sugar, they are too sweet to eat in large quantities). We proceed through, around the big barrels and the fermentation and machines, and as I said, I’m not a wine drinker, so I daydreamed through this part. At the end of the tour, in a private little room, we have our own little wine tasting with Ralph at the table telling us all about the different wines and wines in general and what you should eat with what.

The grounds: If you’re not doing the tour, Mondavi’s grounds are disappointing. There was a big rope around the grass and the statues as if to say "Don’t touch."

General Advice:
Make reservations for the tour (888/766-6328, extension 2000).
Tour starting times range from 10am to 4pm but may change during different seasons.
Bring wet naps for the grape-eating.
Don’t buy RM wine that you can buy back home.
Website: www.robertmondaviwinery.com

As the designated driver, my opportunity to judge a winery is based on how much there is to keep me occupied while my friends drink. In this case, I have to say PlumpJack was rather small, with not much to see on the grounds or in the gift shop. Still, their 2000 PlumpJack Cabernet Sauvignon got a 91-point rating, and the wine pourers were friendly, so I bought a bottle to take back home. My friends would have me note that a tasting was $5, which I believe was for three samples.

Hours: Open 10am to 4pm Monday - Sunday
Website: www.plumpjack.com

Best Treatment of Designated Driver: Niebaum-Coppola was the only winery (of 12) which had anything other than water for the designated drivers to drink. They offered me a free soda. I was very grateful, as I was sick of drinking water all day.

Most Entertaining Wine Pourer: Gary at Sterling Winery. He was very friendly and was quite entertaining with stories of guests that he has had through the years working at the winery. Look for him and ask him to tell you the story about "the guy from New York," which I can’t repeat here.

Best Views: While several of the wineries had beautiful vineyards, Sterling had the best view overall, with a look down into the valley (you ride a tram to the top of a hill to get that view). Mumm came in a close second.

Best Winery Gift Shop: V. Sattui had a grocery/gift shop attached that could have kept me occupied for an hour at least.

Best Winery Building: Oh, of course this is perfectly subjective, but I fell in love with the building at Mario Andretti. I wanted to move in. With Spanish architecture and no crowds, it was almost a spiritual moment where we just stood back and said, "This is Napa Valley."

Best Spot for a Kodak Moment: Clos Pegase is worth seeing just for the statues alone. We were disappointed that there was a forklift parked in front of the building, but the rest of the grounds were prime spots for pictures. If you stand in front of the entrance and face away from the building, there is a great shot of hills and trees and vineyards. Additionally, there are sculptures all over the place. Don’t miss the big thumb sculpture.

Second Best Spot for a Kodak Moment: Just south of St. Helena on Highway 29 is the "Welcome to Napa Valley" sign, which is a cheesy photo spot, but fun nevertheless. There is a turnoff in front of the sign so that you can park.

Best Value for Tastings: Well, you can’t beat free tastings at V. Sattui; however, my friends said they didn’t like the wine there. Second best value was Cosentino, where a $5 generous tasting will also get you a free glass.

Most Knowledgeable Wine Pourer: This honor would have to go the Robert Mondavi tour guide, Ralph. Extremely smart, but also funny, he would have to be my favorite.

Secret Find: Open for only a few months, TwoMey was a pleasant surprise. Though they only poured Merlot while we were there, my friends liked the wine so much that they each bought a bottle. TwoMey is on Dunaweal Lane in St. Helena off of Highway 29, the same street as Sterling and Clos Pegase.

Worst Treatment of the Designated Driver: This would have to go to Sterling, because the tram ride up the mountain was $10, which included wine tasting, and they did not give any discount to non-drinkers (though the underage rate was $5.)

Most Crowded Winery: It was very difficult to find a parking space at Sterling, though once we got to the top of the hill, it didn’t seem to be as busy. The tasting room at Peju was very crowded at the end of the day because they were open later than other wineries (6pm), and so it seemed as if everyone got there at the same time.