5th March 2008 - 20th March 2008

Napa, California

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Napa Valley, California - The Silverado Trail.

I had been invited to Freemark Abbey on Saturday, 15th March, for the release of a wine vintage and after arising from my slumber, we departed around 08h30. The event had been arranged for members of the Freemark Abbey wine club by invitation, despite Saturday being business as usual in the wine tasting room. The winery is located on the Calistoga side of the junction of St Helena Highway and Lodi Lane. Before we left, I got to meet Barry's brother, Bryon, whom I hadn't seen since the good 'ole days back in Cape Town. The weather was sunny and warm and so I excused myself and after loaning Barry's car, drove the length and breadth of the Silverado Trail, taking photographs of the vineyards, until my return around lunchtime. And so, on an empty stomach, I spent the rest of the day sampling the truly astounding wine of this estate and the delicacies on offer. A young guitarist Barry had "unearthed" sang a selection of well-known folk songs whilst accompanying himself on the guitar - he was good. Inexplicably, I managed to stay sober which can be more than one might say for one young Reiki therapist who got a bit out of it and rather presumptuously assumed I was only there to photograph her. I got chatting to a fascinating woman with German roots and an uncle who visited Germany regularly. I mentioned that I had always been interested in researching my own family roots and suggested she ought to take the opportunity (via her uncle) and do likewise, as "a matter of urgency" - this amused her greatly.

We returned home and Barry rustled up something supper. Barry's son, Carter, had grown since I had last seen him. So had his hair! In fact, his face was barely visible, sporting a long ginger fringe. One cool dude!  Kim was away on business winding up an estate in Valejo, as part of her moonlighting activity.  Barry and I watched some English football (soccer) and reminisced, washing down the conversation with grand servings of stock from his personal wine cellar. I enjoyed his company and good humour immensely and I suspect he did mine too. I discovered that Americans have an absolute fascination for Simon Cowell's innovation, American Idol. Personally, I cannot stomach the man and regard him as obnoxious, though I can understand Barry's fascination for the show. On Sunday accompanied Barry to his local First Baptist Church. It was a celebration of Palm Sunday which coincides with the Jewish Holiday of Purim. Barry's love for music is legendary and he has developed into a really good musician. I jokingly suggested his guitar work was better than his singing. He does both for the gospel group playing Sunday morning church services and I thought the songs were really good. The pastor had invited a Jewish guest to talk about Purim. It was generally quite interesting but I later confessed to Barry that I found the address disturbingly political for the occasion and overtly one-sided and pro-Israeli, attacking muslims.  On that topic Barry and I agreed to disagree.  Nevertheless, the service was quite different to any I had been accustomed to. We returned for lunch before driving to visit Kim in Vallejo. On the way back we stopped at a convenience store for groceries, as a barbeque had been arranged. Coincidentally, Barry and I bumped into a one Karen Brewster, whom Barry had last seen around Christmas Eve in 2005, also whilst we were on a Napa shopping expedition! The barbeque did not materialise, much to Carter's annoyance, so Barry made dinner. More of that sumptuous Napa wine.

Napa County is located north of the San Francisco Bay Area. The county seat is Napa. Napa County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. The word napa is of Native American derivation and has been variously translated as "grizzly bear", "house", "motherland", "fish^". Of the many explanations of the name's origin, the most plausible seems to be that it is derived from the Patwin word napo meaning house, although local residents will often cite an urban legend that gives the translation as "you will always return". Napa County, once the producer of many different crops, is known today for its wine industry, rising in the 1960s to prominence with the wine regions of France and Italy. Napa is warmer in the summer than Sonoma County to the west or Santa Barbara County, a wine-producing county in southern California. Thus, the Napa wineries favour varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon, while Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are more the specialty of Sonoma wineries and Santa Barbara wineries.

Napa Valley, California - The Silverado Trail.

So who is this putz anyway?