Snooping around Napa

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So this was my route out here when all said and done. Out of curiosity of my MPG and in case anyone was planning a similar trip in a '03 Ford Ranger 2.3L 4 Cylinder 2WD truck; here are my totals for gas and such:

Average Price: 3.807375
Total Quantity: 150.033
Total Cost: 565.71
Total Miles: 3714
MPG: 24.7545539981204

Here are some pictures from water skiing, we went out again on Wednesday afternoon. This time I felt much better on my legs. Once I got the feel for it, it was a lot like snow skiing and I was able to cut back and forth across the wake and even get a lil air! Near the end of the day I started trying to slalom but was not quite able to get up, but it was close.



Wednesday morning Marie and I headed out to Calistoga to visit some wineries and check out the scene. Many were close to her house so we packed a couple of bottles of Neyers Merlot to tip especially cool people and took off on bikes. The first, and by far the best that we visited, was Envy Estate. Their only white was a Sauvignon Blanc done the in the fume style (a little bit of oak) and were nice. Their reds, thought, were great. Petite Syrah, Cab, and a Bordeaux Blend. The guy who showed us around just walked in from the cellar with dirty hands and all, I love it. We gave him a bottle.

The second was Vincent Arroyo, tiny little place who only sells from their cellar-no distribution. Nice atmosphere and the wines were very nice.

The third was August Briggs. First a note about tasting rooms: some are just open hours and anyone can show up, the rest are by appointment only. The first two and the last (Storybook) were by appointment while August Briggs was open. To get a more personal experience, I highly recommend the appointment wineries.

Last was Storybook. The story behind this winery is that it was originally built way back in the day by two brothers named Grimm. Yep, the same Brothers Grimm. Anyway, it burnt down and then was re bought by some other guy who liked the history and so he incorporated it into the name and label of the winery. The engraved barrel below is also the logo/label for the wines. The vineyards are also from here, amazing views of the hills and mountains from this winery. One interesting thing is that they coated all their barrels with a "Non-toxic, breathable anti-fungal coating" because "if you are going to spend $1300/barrel, they might as well look good". To me it looked like a lacquer or wax coating. I am curious as to how this affects the wine, sure it is "breathable" but I doubt as breathable as bare wood. And whats wrong with the classic mouldy cellar? Some places are just meant to be messy.