Mommy Musings: Meade's Wedding Weekend

Dave and I lucked out as a good friend of ours planned his wedding in Livermore, CA. Given the close proximity to Napa Valley, we could not help but plan a short visit to our beloved wine country!

After an early morning, long flight and hungry bellies. We stopped at Paraduxx (pair-uh-ducks) for a tasting prior to checking in to our hotel. Paraduxx offered a gorgeous, relaxing tasting area in the backyard of the winery adjacent to vineyards and with a small area for corn hole (bean bags).

Dave and I using the fun reverse feature on my phone.

Cheers - this will be us in 30 years!

Checking out our next wine selections.

We split a tasting and a cheese/charcuterie plate - yum!

The picture does not give Paraduxx justice, but you get the idea...

For our one full day in Napa Valley, Dave and I decided to bike part of the Carneros region and stop at four wineries. Dave claims he hasn't biked in four years...

Dave and I prior to take off. What you won't see on the blog is a picture of us filling Dave's slowly leaking tire up with air. About half an hour into the ride, we noticed it went flat. Thankfully, we found a gas station, filled it up and it last for the rest of the day. By the time we got back to the hotel it was going flat again.

Our first stop - Domaine Carneros for some sparkling wine (remember, if it isn't made in Champagne, France you can't call it Champagne). It took us almost an hour to bike to Domaine Carneros (we think about eight miles) as the concierge from the hotel sent us in a round about way. We found a shorter route back.

The view from the balcony where we enjoyed our tasting. We each ordered our own sample this time.

Our sparkling wine tasting...delicious!!!

We bike another three to four miles to a winery called Bouchaine. We arranged ahead of time to have a lunch basket of bread, salami, fruit, pasta salad, and olives ready for us when we arrived. It tasted delicious. We ate while enjoy a tasting of their wines as well.

We enjoyed beautiful weather and scenery as we biked Carneros. We could not help but stop and try one (or two) grapes off the vine. They tasted amazing. I guess that explains why we love wine so much.

After Bouchaine we biked to Etude winery. They served us an amazing Heirloom Pinot Noir wine. It is possibly the best Pinot Noir wine I have tasted. They said the original vines came from France. Yum!

I took a quick picture of myself as Dave had to make a reservation for us.

I do not have pictures, but we visited Saintsbury to sample wines for our last stop. The most amazing thing about this visit was meeting a couple who knows a childhood friend of mine and plays golf with her now. It's amazing how it can be such a small world!!

For dinner, we went to our favorite - Bouchon Bistro. I enjoyed an heirloom tomato salad with fig and goat cheese. These tomatoes tasted amazing. They were full of flavor and so satisfying after a day of biking.

We both enjoyed specials for dinner. I had a homemade sausage and farro dish while Dave enjoyed fresh salmon.

For dessert, I enjoyed a special dark chocolate tart with homemade raspberry gelato and cocoa chips, but Dave...

had an AMAZING dessert!! He had Ill Flottante and soft meringue with vanilla creme anglaise and homemade caramel sauce. I can not say enough about how great this dessert tasted. I hope it is in my Bouchon cookbook!!!