By Duane Harris
Lift-off was smooth and hardly noticeable. The only sound at that hour of the morning was the propane-fired jet burners sending a stream of heated air into our balloon.
Yes, it was early, arriving at our balloon departure point at 5:45 a.m. Hot air balloon rides in Napa Valley, California only occur in the morning since afternoon winds from San Francisco Bay are typically too strong. After signing the required “I promise not to sue you” agreement, and enjoying coffee and breakfast snacks, we boarded the bus for a 10 minute ride to our balloons.
A birds-eye view of sunrise over Napa Valley
A hot air balloon ride has always been a goal of ours and on a recent trip to California that was checked off our list. And since we were in Napa Valley and love wines, we also visited the tasting rooms of several well known (and some not so well known) wineries and dined at some wonderful restaurants during our stay at the Villagio Inn and Spa in Yountville.
Our balloon ride was well worth the wait! Carol had selected Napa Valley Balloons since this was the company that had taken Opra Winfrey and Chelsea Clinton aloft. She figured their security personnel had thoroughly checked this company’s safety record.
We climbed into the balloon basket at 6:15 with eight fellow passengers from around the world. We were positioned next to the pilot and enjoyed listening to his radio commentary with other of other balloons in the sky that morning. At 1,000 feet we caught prevailing southerly winds. After moving in that direction for a while, our pilot descended to 500 feet and we caught northerly winds.
An estate tasting at Duckhorn Vinyards
Apparently balloons don’t typically travel too far north and don’t have landing agreements with vineyards in that part of Napa Valley. So when we dropped down into an unfamiliar vineyard the angry owner approached us. With no damage to his vines and with a cold bottle of champagne offered in appreciation for his understanding, ruffled feathers were smoothed and Napa Valley Balloons had made a new friend. We returned to our takeoff location and enjoyed a wonderful champagne breakfast before striking out to explore wineries.
At the recommendation of our concierge, we visited Peju Winery–a 25-year old winery that produces some fantastic, award-winning reds and a great sauvignon blanc. (We enjoyed them so much we joined the Peju Wine Club.) Traveling north, we selected Heitz Cellars for our next tasting. Heitz is well known for its cabernet sauvignon and unlike most of the wineries we visited does not charge a tasting fee.
Carol in front of Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen; Our balloon floats over a vinyard
We began our next day at Markham Vineyards–praised for producing some of the best merlots in the world–where we enjoyed tasting the 2001 vintage merlot and a wonderful 2004 Cabernet Franc. Both wines are produced in very limited quantities and sell out as soon as they are bottled. At the suggestion of the folks at Markham, we enjoyed a great lunch at Cindy’s Back Street Kitchen in St. Helena. Cindy Pawlcyn is a world-renowned chef, cookbook author and an institution in Napa Valley, having opened three outstanding restaurants there: Mustards Grill, Cindy’s Back Street Kitchen, and Go Fish.
After a wonderful lunch, we headed for the Frank Family Vineyards in Calistoga. When we told our server we were from St. Simons Island, he pointed to another group in the tasting room and we were delighted to meet Chris and Christy Jordan, Ben Jordan, and Thomas Jordan, sons and daughter-in-law of Beth and Randy Jordan of Sea Island. We enjoyed talking with them about restaurants and wineries in Napa Valley as well as family back home. As they were leaving, a group from Atlanta arrived: Brian Jackson, owner of Jax Beer and Wine in Cumming, and David Abes, Operations Director at Here to Serve Restaurants in Atlanta which includes Prime, Goldfish, Noche, Twist, Shout and Strip. At their invitation, we joined them for a private tasting of estate wines, enabling us to sample some phenomenal Frank Family Vineyard wines. It truly is a small, small world.
On our last day in Napa Valley we enjoyed an Estate Tasting at Duckhorn Vineyards in St. Helena. The tasting included a tour of the winery and tastings of five red wines paired with food. I wish we had a lot of money as I would have bought cases of wine at Duckhorn. But, alas, we only ordered a few bottles for future enjoyment.
Much too soon our trip came to an end. Our final meal in Napa Valley was at Go Fish where, once again, Cindy did not disappoint. We returned to St. Simons full of great memories and the desire to return to California’s wine county with its balloons, wines and fine dining in the near future. Perhaps we will see you there!
