My spouse needed a vacation and so one night, as we were drinking wine, he said to me, “Let’s go to Napa.” Who am I to say “no” to that? So we bought airline tickets, booked our hotel and reserved a car. And this weekend was the time to head out west.

Our trip was different than the last time we were in Napa. Last time, our kids were home. One went to Australia so we had our youngest daughter with us. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law both lived in San Francisco that time and they offered to watch her. It was a great opportunity to bond so we said “yes”.

This time, we were empty nesters. We still had our contact in the food and wine industry to steer us in the right direction. Last time we only asked for wine recommendations. This time we wanted great wine and great food. Our insider didn’t disappoint. She led us to a wonderful restaurant called “Torc“. I made reservations for our first night there.

Oh. My. God. It was so good. We didn’t want the food to stop coming. I had white truffles for the first time in my life. I wish I had tried them earlier! We were so stuffed that we didn’t even ask for dessert. And everyone knows that you eat dessert on vacation!

The next day, we headed out for the main purpose to visit Napa-wine!

One of the lessons we learned from last time was to 1) pace yourself, and 2) you don’t need to have your own flight every time.

So with that knowledge, we shared flights of wine and also spit out wine after a taste. At first, it hurt our souls to do so but we knew we were in for the long haul. The concierge at our hotel warned us to not join the wine clubs but we couldn’t help ourselves. It’s easy to join when you buy a case of wine-they throw the wine club in for free!

Another great thing we did while out there was stomping grapes. How can you not? I felt like Lucy during the “I Love Lucy” episode where she is invited to stomp grapes herself. I dragged my spouse and it turns out that he liked it too. We stomped grapes, drank wine and got a shirt to prove we were there.

Later, we revisited some of our old favorites and learned some new ones. What Alain and I found fascinating was that we didn’t always like the wines we once did. We also learned some new wine facts. We knew that the wine cork needs to stay moist. That keeps the wine from “skunking”. We didn’t know that aging wine is a personal thing. I may like the wine after 2 years and you may like it after 5. And we both may like it best after 10 years.

We were smart, though. We bought wine we can drink right away as well as some we will save. There are wines for company and wines for us. But don’t worry, we bought enough to last for awhile either way. So stop by and have a glass with us.

Salute.