The only thing wrong with my trip to Napa this weekend is that it ended too soon. There was not a single thing I could complain about it other than it ended more quickly than I wanted it to. The Silverado was a fantastic place to stay. We had a little room with an outdoor patio that backed up to a nice green space with a fountain. We had a nice walk through the tennis courts and by the swimming pool to get to the "mansion" -- the main area with registration, business resource center, bar, etc. A short walk across the street took us to the lovely spa with free jacuzzi, sauna, and steam room. Laura and I spent a lovely afternoon at the spa enjoying the free amenities as well as a massage (me) and pedicure (Laura). We also enjoyed the free Friday evening Sterling wine tasting at the mansion and a great meal at Celadon -- a well known bistro that evening.Tough life.

The next day we managed to narrowly escape spending the day at urgent care for my sister when she was able to convince her doctor in Hemet to call in a prescription, thus freeing us up join our previously scheduled wine tasting tour. The tour was a highlight of the trip. The driver took us to 4 wineries, each quite different but sharing the fact that they are small, family wineries that we most likely would never get to try outside of the winery. They are boutique wineries that only sell at local restaurants and directly through the winery because they produce rather smaller numbers of cases. That doesn't mean that they aren't good, though. Our visit included:

• Haggatha -- a kosher winery that provides the White House with wine everytime they have a delegation to or from Israel. They showed great pride in showing the letters and menus from 30 years of being served in the White House, and they had just been served last week for the first time in the Obama White House during a White House seder.



• Reynolds Family Winery -- a splendid stop with very good wine and a very knowledgable and fun sommelier who made the stop extra special by letting us taste directly from the barrels to compare the unfinished to finished tastes. We ate a lovely picnic lunch by the pond at this winery.



• Jocelyn Lonen -- a fun stop at a winery started by an HP exec who quit to start a winery with his wife and then promptly died of brain cancer. The wife and daughter now run it in his name and provide a certain amount of proceeds to brain cancer research. They do their tastings by the pool (quite nice on a glorious sunny, 80 degree afternoon) on top of a mountain and include a driving range where tasters can try out their golf strokes as they lob balls down into the vineyards.



• Can't remember the name of the last one, but they distinguished themselves by their laid back manner, including the outdoor shaded tasting patio directly by the vineyards. Our server looked like he'd be more comfortable in a little town in Mexico, as he sipped his Modelo while serving wine.

After our great tour, we stayed in Yountville where the tour ended to try to find some interesting restaurants. We managed to get a spot at the bar to eat at Bottega, the hottest new restaurant in town. Great food and a lot of fun.

So by this time you're getting the picture of a weekend filled with great food and great wine. However, I must say the best part of the weekend was the great company. Spending time with my sister was like food for the soul. We talked about important stuff and frivolous stuff. We laughed a lot. I felt like I could share everything with her about my life and could have a good person to lovingly bounce ideas off of. We painted toe nails and went on wild goose chases for the nearest Starbucks. I returned feeling relaxed, fortified, and enlightened by spending a few days with my sister. Want to move to Alaska??