Connal Home

Back to April

Previous Page 

Next Page

April 23 - United States: Ukiah, CA

We tried our hardest to get out of the room early, but somehow we ended up sleeping in and checking out at 12:00.  Then we headed into Calistoga to hit our favorite wineries.  Since we only have a limited amount of space in the car, and a limited amount of money, we decided to only go to our three favorite places.

Frog's Leap Winery

The first stop was Frog's Leap Winery.  This is a favorite little place of ours, and we've always enjoyed the wines they have - especially the very yummy "Rutherford" line.  Since they're such a small winery, they offer tastings by appointment only.  They had a bottle of their Reisling open, so we had a glass of that and walked around the lovely gardens.  We bought just a few bottles before we left, and then headed to the next stop.

 

At Frog's Leap Winery

Vincent Arroyo Winery

This next winery is our all-time favorite winery: Vincent Arroyo.  Two years ago, Jon came to Napa for Matt and Sha Lepore's wedding.  I had been really sick with some horrible stomach thing I'd picked up in Turkey, so Jon headed west on his own.  While he was here, he placed a standing order for a case of Arroyo's Petite Syrah and a half case of the Cabernet Sauvignon.  The first of that order would be for the 1999 vintage, neither of which had been bottled at the time.  (This is what I get for letting Jon roam around Napa unsupervised.)  Later that year, the wines were bottled and the winery has had the case and a half in storage for us until we could come and pick it up.

  

So we came to collect our delinquent wine and to see what else Arroyo had going on.  This is a teeny tiny winery that sells only to private customers.  No distributors or restaurants.  This is one of the reasons we love it so much - it's small, it's exclusive, and of course it's absolutely delicious.

Barrel Tasting

We chatted for a while with a nice man who gave us a tasting of two of their bottled wines in the tasting room.  Then, when he realized we have a standing order, he took us into the back rooms to do some barrel tastings.  It didn't take us much longer to realize that the "nice man" was actually Vincent Arroyo himself.  This made our visit all the more enjoyable.  There's something so special about doing barrel tastings - where you can walk around and point at something and immediately have a taste of it.  And it's even more special when the person walking around the barrels with you is the owner of the winery.  

Vince Serving Straight From the Barrels

Vince, of course, knew so much about the wine-making business.  He's been in the industry for around 30 years.  And 18 years ago he decided that his vineyards - which had previously produced grapes for other wineries - grew enough delicious grapes that he could bottle them himself.  Little by little, his customer list increased as did his production.  Now he has a loyal following of people like Jon and me.  Some of these customers are so loyal, in fact, that they come from all over the country to volunteer during the bottling weekend.  This is traditionally the first weekend in August, when Vince rents a bottling machine and puts his volunteers to work bottling, labeling, and corking  There's also a BBQ and, naturally, endless amounts of wine.  This sounds like something Jon and I would LOVE to do.  We'll just have to add this to the list of "must do/go" for someday in the future when our bank account replenishes.  

After spending some quality time talking with Vince and tasting from various barrels, we collected our case and a half from their storage and headed toward the car to fit it in.  Now, we'd bought three bottles from Frog's Leap, so this meant we had three spaces in a case.  And that's a terrible crime.  So we told Vince that we needed three more bottles of wine, and bought two bottles of the Rattlesnake Petite Syrah and a bottle of the Zinfandel.  Vince - so sweet - he signed them for us.

The Kindness of Strangers

Then we asked if it was OK if we let our car trunk explode all over his driveway.  He laughed and said he didn't mind, so we proceeded to empty the trunk to make room for the wine.  Now, there was a case of Sam Adams in the trunk that we really don't need.  But Jon put as much as he could into our somewhat empty cooler and put the two cases of wine into the beer spot.  We had a six-pack of Sam Adams left over, so we contributed that to the Vincent Arroyo refrigerator instead of squeezing it into the car.  

The Little Beemer in the Arroyo Driveway (olive trees in the background)

For the next half-hour or so, we juggled things around the trunk to fit all our stuff.  Rob gave us a zip drive, so we could free up some of the dwindling space on the laptop, and the zip drive box was taking up a lot of room.  So we took out the drive and tossed the box.  This later prompted Vince to ask us about traveling with a laptop and digital camera, and he mentioned that he noticed the zip drive.  We laughed and said it was a donation from RJR Engineering in Ventura, but we'd just realized that it didn't come with a zip disk.  Vince said, "Do you want one?  I've got plenty."  What a kind gesture!  We didn't even know what to say.  

At some point during the tasting an hour before, I'd mentioned to Vince that Jon and I have developed a taste for port.  So not only did he give us a 250megabite zip disk, but he also came out with a bottle of Arroyo Port for us.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why we love this winery.  You just don't get this kind of personal feel from other places.  Vince's generosity made us realize that our cross-country trip has actually accumulated sponsors.  So, in honor of them, we've created a Connal Trip Sponsor's Page.

Dinner at Buster's BBQ and On the Road Again

We stopped off at the corner of 29 and 128 for Jon's favorite BBQ dive: Buster's BBQ.  There, we split a tri-tip sandwich on garlic bread with sweet beans on the side.  Yuuuuummmmmy!

Then we continued up 128 until it reached the 101, and began to drive north for an hour or two.  We saw an exit with a sign for a KOA Kampground, and decided to have a look.  The campground was about 15 minutes away from the highway, and we started to wonder if we'd ever get there.  Finally, we did.  It was on a large hill overlooking a lovely view of  the valley.  And the tent campsites were $30.  $30?!?!?!  You have GOT to be kidding me.  For $10 more we could stay at a Motel 6 or something and have a TV and a bathroom.  Forget that!

So we hopped back in the car and drove out to the 101 again.  But before we got there, we passed another "unique crossing sign" that Jon found very amusing:

Jon Called This: "Kevin Bacon Crossing"

Get it?  Kevin Bacon?  As in "Footloose"?  Hellooo?  The tractor race to some cheesy Kenny Loggins song?  Pop culture.  Gotta love it. By the way, we've created a "Unique Traffic Signs" page for your enjoyment.  Click here.

We stopped for the night in Ukiah, CA at a Motel 6 that - sure enough - was only slightly more expensive than the Donald Trump KOA Kampground.  And it had a bed, bathroom, and television.  You can't ask for more than that.

Connal Home

Back to April

Previous Page 

Next Page