My birthday was spent in Napa Valley. We had lunch at Mustards, a restaurant that provides a gourmet twist on roadside diner food. The menu provided covers one side of card; the wine list is in a ring binder and has over 750 options.
After lunch we strolled across to the winery next door, took part in the tasting which via a Foursquare check in was half price. Then onto the oddly named Plumpjack, which offered the best wine of the day. We stopped at Paraduxx, where the tasting was paired with cheese and we could sit in the warm January sun and take our time. The penultimate stop was at Hagafen. Our final stop was at Luna, producer of my wife’s favorite Napa red, an excellent Sangiovese. The tasting was complimentary after the purchase of two bottles of the aforementioned wine.
The vineyards are very actively using social media, both through Foursquare offers and by responding to tweets. Paraduxx sent me a Happy Birthday message in response to a tweet that said we were enjoying a birthday taste in their gardens.
There may be roads with better scenery, but I know of no other road that brings more pleasure than the vineyard to vineyard crawl down the Silverado trail.
