Road Trip Part VII - Napa Valley, Day 3

After breakfast the next day, we went to our tasting appointment at Storybook Mountain. We were given a tour by a little German woman who was the wife of the winemaker. This winery specializes in zins, so we bought 4 bottles of our favorites before going to lunch at Taylor's Automatic Refresher. Taylor's is a small gourmet hamburger stand that is very popular. You go up to the window to order, and then sit at one of the many picnic tables and wait for them to call your name so you can go pick up your order. We had burgers, onion rings, sodas and a chocolate shake. It was about $35 in total.


We went to Mumm's after lunch and enjoyed some sparking wine on their outdoor patio overlooking their vineyard (picture at right), bought some white wine for an upcoming party and then went back to the inn to relax before the social hour. For dinner we dined at a local favorite called Cook. The place was packed with people who obviously all knew one another, and at one point I think Steve and I were the only non-locals there. The food was great, and not very expensive at all. We shared a corn soup to start (delicious), then I had a risotto with shrimp and pesto and tomatoes (a special for that night, which was also tasty), and Steve had a pasta bolognese (the winner of the night), and we shared a flourless chocolate cake for dessert (very decadent and good). We had yet another wine we brought from home, a Chateau Montelena Zin from 2004, which was delicious. We spent $125, including tip and $15 for corkage.