Day 8 Sonoma, Healdsburg and through Napa Valley

  Sonoma, California, United States
Friday, May 23, 2008

Day 8 Around Sonoma, up to Healdsburg and Old Faithful  

Breakfast at 9, on the road 915. Stopped off for petrol/gas on the way up as we had less than ¼ of a tank. Couldn't get anything out of the machine - doh, a notice to say pay cashier first. I had no idea how much needed to go in so I paid $60, It turned out it was full at $43. It's about $4.05 a US gallon here. Back at home the equivalent amount is about $8.50 a US gallon! And you think you have it bad!

Healdsburg Plaza

Carried on up to Healdsburg and parked in the Plaza square. We had come here to visit the Gallo Tasting Rooms but they were closed till 1130 so wandered around the Plaza while waiting. There we discovered the Oakville Grocery. A superb deli/café where we bought food to do us for our lunch. Tina, behind the deli counter, made us up a plate of assorted meats, cheeses, olives and grapes, and sliced an olive bread from Artisan Bakery for us to take away. We added a jar of Apricot & Fig chutney that we had with our meal last night to go with this. Plastic cutlery, napkins etc. are also all supplied for you to take your picnic away, great service and good value. 

The Gallo tasting room had opened by then so we went in there for a tasting.Catriona likes Gallo wines - Turning Leaf being her favourite "treat" wine. However, she was disappointed with the tasting that she received. The wines did not live up to their reputation nor quality/value. She was disappointed with their wines. It such a great shame that a lot of the smaller, independent producers in Napa/Sonoma cannot get their wines out to an international market as I think they would do very good if they could.

Luchtime Picnic

We then drove up the 101 up to Frances Ford Coppolas Vineyard,  Rosso & Bianco where we did a wine sample, bought a bottle Reserve Chardonnay, Catriona got a glass of Rose and we sat outside on the supplied picnic benches and ate our Oakville cheese and meat platter. A great way to spend a lunchtime whilst looking out over the vineyards. The weather seemed to be closing in, with clouds coming in and blocking the sunshine, with maybe a chance even of rain.

Old Faithful

Next stop was Old Faithful, Calistoga. We stopped off here and duly waited for the spout of superheated water to pop up (every 40 minutes or so). We expected some big jet of water but it was a bit of an anticlimax. They jet itself lasted a good few minutes, however. Afterwards we wandered round and fed the goats, looked at the strange 4 horned sheep and tactfully avoided getting within spitting distance of the llamas (I've been gobbed on by them before in Majorca!).  

After that, we drove down the Napa valley and off to the Stags Leap winery. Catriona sampled the Napa Valley selection. They were not as good as some of the wines we had tasted yesterday, despite them being more expensive and more award winning. It just goes to show the taste of wine is all about what you like and not about price and awards. 

We then joined the general rush hour back into Sonoma and back to the Inn.

Dinner this evening was at The General's Daughter. We are managing to do the top 3 Trip Advisor restaurants during our visit here.  

We arrived early so we could sit in the bar and enjoy a cocktail before our meal. Chris, the barman, said a friend of his (Jackie, who was our server in the Girl & The Fig) had told him we were going along there tonight. She also must have told him it was our 25th Wedding Anniversary, because at the start of the meal we were served a complimentary glass of Champagne each!

We started the evening with cocktails - A Taste of Spring and Southern Belle. We went through for dinner at 8pm as booked. The restaurant was busy but didn't seem full. It is a very elegant setting with black tablecloths. A sign of a posh restaurant - when they relaid the tables they used a cordless steam iron to smooth it out! Ramsay would have been proud of this place.

The menu is laifd out so that you choose a 3, 4 or 5 course fixed price. We had already decided that we would have a wine pairing (where they serve a glass of wine with each course that matches the food you are being served) with our meal. It was an additional $25 for 3 glasses which we felt was not unreasonable. It turned out to be a very good idea.

Amy was the Sommelier for the restaurant and she served us our wines and explained the details of the wines. We asked if we could have a note of them and that was no problem. Wine pairing is something we had never tried and probably would have thought was just some kind of gimmick. However, as we ate the meal and drank the wine we were very surprised at how the taste of the wine changed compared to drinking it before eating the food and then drinking it after. Winos - what do we know! 

Starters were Cream of Young Corn soup with truffle oil & sherry and Ahi tuna tartare on a bed of avocado and crispy fried shallots.

We were then served with an additional complimentary course (with wine) again for our wedding anniversary.
We had Shrimp and Grits, andouille, leeks, tabasco butter, and Cauliflower Risotto, carnaroli rice, extra aged gouda, maple vinegar

Our third course was Homemade Porcini Cavatelli, foraged mushrooms, green garlic, parmesan and Loster Risotto

Main course was Mushroom Stuffed Breast of Quail, crispy garlic polenta, snap peas, natural jus and Lamb
Ribeye, lentils, pancetta, lemon, with crisp garlic.

The General's Daughter

We finished off the evening with coffee and a chocolate selection. There is no way we could have managed a pudding. The total meal was $216 inc tip plus an additional tip to Amy for her superb wine selections. We would have expected to be paying more in the region of $300-400 for such a meal. The additional complimentary drink and course because of our anniversary only enhanced the additional service the restaurant goes to to please their customers.

All in all we can see why The General's Daughter is the no.1 on Tripadvisor. It is not fair to compare here with The Girl & The Fig. They are two different restaurants catering for different clientele. The Generals Daughter is high end elegant cuisine where as the Girl & The Fig is bistro, low key high quality food. I cannot choose between them. 

My concern with the Generals Daughter was about the snootyness. You know what some high end restaurants can
be like - they can make you feel belittled for even turning up and daring to even sit at their table. The Generals's Daughter did not feel like such a place. Yes, it is high end dining and I think you should be expected to turn up
in a shirt and trousers rather than a t shirt and shorts. But it is not so bad as to require a smoking jacket and tie and full flowing ball gown, not in the slightest.

My recommendation - stay two nights and go to them both!! 

15 mins walk back and collapse in our room for the night.