So many wineries, so little time!

Oh my goodnes what a fun day we had!  Didn't start out so well with a thick fog covering San Francisco and a huge traffic jam on the road heading into southern napa.  We thought we would never make it to our first appointment which was at the Hess Vineyard at 10 am.  Luckily though the sun broke through and the traffic eased up and we were just fine.  Hess has a nice chardonnay which I really like.  We tasted that in addition to several other variatals.  We also got to view Mr. Hess's private modern art collection and take a tour of the winery with Carlos, a very entertaining young man!  Our next stop was the town of Yountville where we had a lunch reservation at Bottega owned by celebrity chef Michael Chiarello.  Joel had cavatelli with lobster and I had rigaotni with rabbitt.  Dad may be right about putting on some pounds:)  We just had to stop into Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery for a little sweet afterwards, of course.  On the road again northbound to St. Helena where I was on a mission to try Starmont chardonnay at the Merryvale Vineyard.  Bob Reynolds has a bottle waiting for me back at his shop, which I can now say is going to be great!  Got to try it and then some other whites and reds that suited Joel.  The pourer liked us so she treated us to two extra tastes that the owner had only opened up that morning for friends.  Saw on the map that Trinchero Vineyards was not far away so we contacted Tom to see which of their reds is his favorite.  He told us that the petite verdout is like a dream in a bottle.  We tried to get the pourer to let us take a taste but that was not on the "menu" for the day.  He actually told us that cases are limited so Tom should order some more for Kikkos grand reopening in two weeks!!  Okay, so now it is 4 pm and we feel like we should head to our bed and breakfast to rest up a bit before dinner.  Our GPS took us the long way there, however, and as luck would have it we drove right by Rombauer Winery.  Made a quick u turn and snuck in a tasting right before they closed.  Isn't it always the unplanned adventures that are the best?  We got to see old Mr. Rombauer toddering around.  We got to not only taste their award winning and expensive (right Adam and Maria?!) chardonnay, but our pourer gave us two free wineglasses and waived the tasting fee AND poured Joel a glass of  a fabulous red and me more chard just cuz.  Gotta love Rombauer.  Now it was off to the b and b where they offered a happy hour on the patio from 5 to 6 with more wine and cheese and crackers.  Met some nice folks from all over doing the same type of touring as we are.  Fun!  7:15 dinner reservations at the Wine Spectator Greystone Manor which is the west coast CIA.  Thought of our friend Mila who is studying hard and doing well at the CIA in Hyde Park.  Our servers were excellent as was the food and the atmosphere.  By 8:30 though the wall came down.  Done, done, done!