A Visit to Napa

After a lazy morning we began the day with a visit to the studio of a potter friend of Rich and Arta's- Ross Spangler. Erika went with us and planned to meet up with Rich and Arta's youngest son, Thor and his companion Karin. We looked at some beautiful pieces and enjoyed seeing Thor and Karin.

And we were off to Napa. Since we got a late start we didn't travel to the more remote wineries as in the past. Being Satur

day we knew Napa would be busy and wild and it was.  

We stopped at the fancy grocery, Dean and Deluca, and got a lunch of cheese, fruit, crackers and nuts. We went across the road and bought a bottle of wine at V. Sartui's winery and settled in for a chilly picnic.

We moved on and tasted wine at Louis Martini. We didn't buy anything, but we learned that Louis Martini was making wine before and during Prohibition. During Prohibition there were three ways to make and sell wine. 

One was sacramental wine for the Roman Catholic Church. 

Second was for medicinal purposes. Martini had a physician on staff so you could stop by complain of being stressed or any other ailment and receive a prescription for a glass

 of wine or a bottle of wine. Pretty handy plan! 

Third was they sold grape juice concentrate which came with a warning label. If you add yeast, water and sugar this will turn into alco

hol. Even more clever!

We stopped, tasted and bought some wonderful wine for our dinner tonight. We were at Markham Winery. The old stone building dating from 1889 was interesting and the wine was delicious. 

We made a quick stop at Berringer's but found it was terribly busy and had gotten more commercialized than any of us liked. But Rich did take advantage of the Lift provided to let people by-pass about 10 steps. Looked like he got into a trash compactor so we were glad to see him safely emerge.

Our evening ended with a dinner, a return home to Berkeley, and a nice visit with Erika, Thor and Karin. As always, we are grateful for such a neat extended family.