Update on Healdsburg Wine Tasting

Wineries off of Dry Creek and West Dry Creek Road in Healdsburg that I like:

• Preston Farm and Winery.  Great old farm and tasting room.  Veggies for sale.  Sunday mornings they have “jug wine” for sale which is my favorite and only sold on Sunday. My favorite place to by far.

• Unti.  Our favorite wine.  Don’t be afraid of the Rose…it’s foo foo, but really good on a hot summer day.  Also love the Sangiovese and Barbarosa.

• Raffanelli. You may need to call ahead…not very commercial.

• Dry Creek Vineyard.  Most commercial of all the places we go, but I still like the wine and the scene.  You may need to pay for tastings here.

• Nalle on Dry Creek Road. Very good, big jammy wines.  Red zinfandels mainly. This guy is a farmer.  Open when he feels like it and maybe a couple of regular windows here and there. There’s a small sign on Dry Creek Road on the right…small dirt driveway.  Pay attention or you’ll miss it.

• Bella Vineyards and Wine Caves.  Good enough wine and fun to taste in the wine caves.

• Truett Hurst – Nothing special, but you can get a glass and sit near the creek. They are also open until 5pm so it’s a good place to slam a glass at the end of the day

• There are many many more, but these are our “regulars.”

• Town square for picnic or Tuesday night music from 6pm to 8pm

• River rafting on the Russian River…very very fun and the put-in is just a mile or so away from down town.  Highly recommend this especially with the big winter.  3 – 5 hour trip.  Bring lunch and stop half way.  PBR, Coors light or Miller light or Bud light are mandatory IMO.

• Farmers Market on the weekend is very very strong

• Chalkboard for food in down town Healdsburg

• Dry Creek General Store – soak up the wine with a  good sandwich

To do and Food:

Good Neighborhood to Stay in While in Paris and a Bunch of Restaurants Too!

A friend of mine is heading to Paris for the first time.  And I have another American friend who has been living in Paris for the past few years with his wife and kids...

So the questions were:  

1) What neighborhoods in Paris would you recommend trying to stay in (our plan is to rent an Airbnb)?
2) Are there any must-try restaurants you would recommend? We’re both pretty active so are open to seeing the city on foot, and in terms of food we love everything from nice and fancy to casual and tasty.

And my friend Michael answers:

1)  Stay in the 6th, by Jardin du Luxenbourg. Magnifique.
2)  Restos...hmmm

• Monsieur Bleu, ask for outside. No brainer.  It's our go-to!
• Frenchie get reservation now (or Frenchie Wine Bar if you cant get rezy at main. Same alley. It's no reservation. Get there early and wait a bit.
• Spring
• 404... Great Moroccan
• Hotel du Nord (supper club I love)
• Hopefully the outdoors is set up.  Places on The Seine will be set up. Wine at "Flow" is special
• L'Avenue is always good

So there you have it!  Bon Appetit while in Paris!

Baseball Stadiums I Have Traveled to...

Just a quick list for posterity on all of the baseball stadiums I have been.  A list to brag about I guess...

1. Candlestick
2. AT and T
3. Oakland Coliseum
4. Dodger Stadium
5. Anaheim Stadium (Angels)
6. King Dome
7. Safeco Park (Mariners)
8. Chase Field (D-Backs)
9. Metrodome (Twins old park)
10. Arlington (Rangers)
11. Old Comisky
12. New Comisky
13. Wrigley
14. Old Busch Stadium (Cardinals)
15. Kauffman Stadium (Royals)
16. Coors Field (Rockies)
17. Camden Yards (Orioles)
18. Land Shark Field (old Marlins)
19. Old Yankee
20. New Yankee
21. Shea
22. CitiField (Mets)
23. Fenway
24. Progressive Field (Cleveland Indians)
25. Citizens Bank Ball Park (Phillies)
26. Turner Field (Braves)

50% of 7 Footers are in the NBA

My friend Brad usually lies about everything.  But today he said something that sounded like a lie, but for once it turned out to be true!  50% of 7 foot men in the US between the ages of 20 - 40 are in the NBA...go figure!

Places to Eat and Stay in Napa

I work with a few folks who know the Napa Valley pretty well and here's their list(s) of high-end-she-she places to eat and stay in Napa. The recs and comments are from my co-workers...Sadly, I have not been to any of these hip-she-she places. Enjoy!

Restaurants
Terra – Lovely stone building on a side street in St Helena. Nice place to take your wife and good food
Cook - Casual, where all the locals go. Main Street St Helena.
Bouchon – Thomas Keller of French Laundry and Per Se fame. This is his "casual" place. 6534 Washington St, Yountville 707-944-8037
Ad Hoc - 6476 Washington St, Yountville 707-944-2487
Redd – Newer and very well reviewed. Currently the hip place to go. 6480 Washington St, Yountville 707-942-2222
Tra Vigne – Nice Italian. Good buzzy place. In St. Helena
The Restaurant at Meadwood – new chef, beautiful location
Market – Casual. In St. Helena.
Taylor’s Refresher – Super casual. Burgers, fish tacos with great wine and beer list. In St. Helena
Wine Spectator @ Greystone – the Culinary Institute of America – nice deck looking over the valley, great for lunch and dinner, very cool store if you like to cook.


Hotels
Calistoga Ranch (an Auberge property) - Rustic, but totally charming. Fabulous restaurant open only to guests. Like Auberge de Soleil - expensive
Meadowood – if money is no object (www.meadowood.com)
Auberge Du Soleil – ditto on the money comment
Solage - pretty simple and basic.
Milliken Creek Inn and Spa
Villagio - Yountville

A Cold Summer's Weekend of Movie Watching

It’s summer in Belmont, California, which is kind of like winter in Eastern Washington. During slow summer weekends here in Belmont, the Krozek family makes a fire, pulls the bed out of the sofa, curls- up and watches movies.

This weekend I saw three movies, two adult movies and one family movie. I would recommend all of the movies for certain, but most significantly, and strangely, the movies featured characters who lost an arm. I didn’t know there were so many recent movies made about lost appendages.

127 Hours is about the guy who got his arm stuck between an 800 pound boulder and the side of rock-wall for 5 days before chopping it off. Soul Surfer is about the 14 girl who got her arm bit off by a Tiger Shark while surfing one day. True Grit is about a 14 year old girl who seeks revenge for her father’s murder by hiring a US Marshall to track down her father’s killer and ends up losing her arm after getting bit by a rattler snake.

I like all these movies – perhaps there’s something about arm-losing-movies that I like more than regular movies. Maybe I am more sympathetic to arm-losing-movies. I rank the arm losing movies I saw this weekend in the following order: 1. True Grit 2. 127 Hours 3. Soul Surfer.

All worth watching.