Where It All Began: The Appellation Trail (Round 2 + 2)

Last year, I launched The WineTastic Weekend after attending an inspiring event in Napa. The Appellation Trail, part of Flavor! Napa Valley, is an amazing food and wine adventure through the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. It was so wonderful in 2011, I could hardly imagine that this year would be able to meet my expectations for a second time. There was a little bit of additional pressure this year, because we had convinced two of our closest friends to fly up from San Diego to join us. Sean is a real estate guru with a passion for pinot, and Lisa is a fashionista and fashion blogger (LisaPriceInc.) who has a slight obsession with the bubbly. We had hyped up this event so much over the past year, we had to promise our friends that they would attend with no regrets.

Tasting through 100 of Napa's best wineries and over 30 incredible restaurants later, the consensus was that there were definitely no regrets! This annual event which is held the week before Thanksgiving is still the best event that I have ever attended in Napa. The price of the tickets are $150/person, and the caliber of the wines poured and food offerings well exceed the expected value of the ticket.

Wineries were pouring their nicest bottles, and there were many highlights throughout the evening. In particular, I was extremely impressed with Schramsberg and their offerings of J Schram Sparkling Wine and the fabulous J Davies Cabernet Sauvignon. I also was very impressed by the Coombsville wineries, specifically Ackerman, which was pouring their 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon. Food-wise, we tasted everything from Redd to Farmstead, and unfortunately didn't make it to Morimoto in time to taste his small plate offering. The funny thing about Morimoto's booth is that last year, he wouldn't really engage with the crowd because he was so focused on the dishes. This year I was able to steal him away for a quick picture (all though I don't think that he was too happy about it), but I had to take the chance!

One of the best things about attending an event like this is discussing the wines and dishes with your friends, and discovering their likes and dislikes. We ended up running into our favorite innkeepers, Jim and Jamie, from The Inn on First and spent our last hour laughing and tasting with them while planning our next trip to the inn. This was such a great night and we will definitely be back next year, hopefully along with our partners in crime! Lisa even posted a great blog here about dressing for Napa, that I highly recommend reviewing if you want to dress it up a little bit but still remain wine country chic. Needless to say, she was dressed perfectly for the event.