I recently had the privilege to visit Napa and Sonoma with some of my IL and GA wine ambassadors and I wanted to share some of our experiences and highlights from our tours, tastings, lunches and dinners with my "Wine Buzz" readers.

Our trip to the wine country started on Sunday, Feb. 7^th (Super Bowl Sunday) with me and six of my Wildfire Wine Ambassadors arriving in Napa around 12:30pm. Wildfire Wine Ambassadors are servers who, during their shift, act as in-house wine stewards. In addition to waiting on their own tables, they go to other tables throughout the restaurant to discuss wine with our patrons, as well as assisting with wine education for other servers and bartenders. In short, they act as an extension of me since I can't be at all 8 Wildfire's at once! We began our trip with a "must have" gourmet burger and garlic fries at the highly popular "Taylor's Automatic Refresher". If you've never been to Napa Valley or to "Taylor's", realize that your trip will not be complete without a visit to this amazing semi-fast food concept! Don't let the long line discourage you- it's well worth the wait! The burgers, tuna burgers and variety of french fries are "sensational" and the wines by the glass and half bottle selection are unmatched. We all enjoyed a half bottle of Biale Zinfandel and a half bottle of Saxon Brown Pinot Noir with our burgers, fries and onion rings and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect 1^st meal and wine experience after a long travel day!

Our next glass of wine came during our dinner at Robert Mondavi Winery when we treated to the 2006 Robert Mondavi Reserve Chardonnay. This wine was a pleasant surprise because a lot of California Chardonnays are over-oaked and too buttery, but this wine would make anyone who doesn't care for this particular grape varietal rethink their opinion! This Chardonnay has citrus aromas and subtle acids supported by luscious fruit, a note of hazelnut and a long finish. The wine was paired with cured salmon, shaved fennel and apple and it was the perfect start to our 1^st evening in the Napa Valley. For the main course we were spoiled, to say the least, with a 1975 Robert Mondavi Winery Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon paired with a seared Sonoma Liberty Duck Breast, served with farro, roasted root vegetables, spring garlic, spinach & red wine jus. This 35 year old Cabernet surprisingly still had a nice amount of fruit and structure and the pairing with the duck was as good as it gets. Let's put it this way, one of my wine ambassadors who doesn't eat or care for duck, devoured all of his entrée and now realizes that he likes duck after all!

On day two we had a lunch at Franciscan that can only be described as "ridiculous"! We started with the 2008 Franciscan Chardonnay paired with a Dungeness Crab Cake and served with a celeriac-Granny Smith apple puree, lee-chardonnay coulis. The Franciscan Chardonnay has layers of lemon and Golden Delicious apple, pineapple and toasted oak and was a perfect compliment to the Dungeness Crab Cake- extremely yummy! The main course was a Wagyu Beef Sirloin served with marble potatoes, maitake mushrooms, rainbow chard tarragon & red wine sauce and was paired with two wines, the 2002 Mount Veeder Reserve and the 2005 To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon. Only one word comes to mind- "perfection"- and I'm not exaggerating! The 2002 Mount Veeder Reserve has big smoky aromas of blackberry, cured meat, wood spice and tea along with creamy flavors of blueberry, citrus, black pepper and semisweet chocolate. The 2005 To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon (available for purchase only at Mondavi Winery for $250.00 a bottle) has a rich, ripe, silky texture. The wine is balanced, complex, juicy & has a "please never let this end" finish! All I can say is I want repeat the entire food and wine pairing experience all over again before I die.

Following our afternoon of over indulgence, we took a well needed nap before going over to the Oakville house for a Ruffino Estate wine dinner. We had no idea what was in store for us when we drove up to the beautiful Oakville house. The evening started with my group quickly learning that the propane in the house went out.  Immediately one of my wine ambassadors happily volunteered his boy scout skills to help start a fire in the fireplace in order to keep the house somewhat warm and also to start a fire on the grill outside in order to cook part of the dinner. The chef that was preparing our dinner that night should have won a Top Chef or Iron Chef award for his improvisational skills- seriously! He miraculously managed to prepare and execute a huge Italian family style dinner by using one small Bunsen burner and the grill on the porch- extremely impressive! The wines that I enjoyed the most before and during the dinner were the Ruffino Orvieto and the Ruffino Romitorio. The Orvieto is made of 40% Grechetto, 20% Procanico and 40% other white varietals- Verdello, Canaiolo Bianco. The bouquet is very fruity and flowery with fresh notes of meadow flowers, citrus fruits, golden apple and fig. The wine is refreshing and smooth with a long and fragrant aftertaste and hints of fresh almond. The Ruffino Romitorio is made of 60% Colorino, 40% Merlot.  This wine has aromas that are surprisingly fragrant with notes of black currant, cranberries, and raspberries, accompanied by intriguing smoky spices, such as cloves, nutmeg and a cinnamon. The Romitorio is full bodied and elegant, with a massive structure and a long-lasting aftertaste that features notes of strawberries and coffee, hazelnuts and mint chocolate. I had a very difficult time sharing this bottle of wine with my wine ambassadors. The entire evening: the fairly chilly house, the challenged chef, the wine, the food, the stories and the laughs all contributed to an unforgettable winter night in Napa. Stay tuned in a few weeks for my next blog entry that details the last two days of my trip that took place in Sonoma, California.

Cheers to you, Brad Wermager