Well, Craig drove on up to Healdsburg to pick me up at the Bishop's Ranch after my conference ended. CREDO is a wonderful, but intense eight days. I was ready for some relaxing and enjoying this beautiful part of the world.

We stopped for lunch in Healdsburg before heading out. We drove over the hills to Calistoga. It is, as I understand it, the town on the north end of the Napa Valley. Everywhere you look, there are grape vines--different types, some vineyards flat, some lining steep hills.

The drive wasn't too long, and we checked into our hotel with plenty of time for a couple of visits to vineyards. Craig has been here before and recommended Clos Pegasse to start. This is an incredible facility and well worth visiting. There is no charge for the tour, and our tour guide was superb. The owner of Clos Pegasse is a lover of both wine and art, and the facility reflects both of these, with one of the most amazing private collections of art on public display. Of course, we ended our tour in the tasting room. Good stuff.

We then went just across the street to Sterling Vineyards. This is a much larger, and somewhat more commercial-feeling operation. But the facility is impressive in different ways. One boards a lift up the hill to begin the tour. This one is self-guided, with excellent videos along the way. It also costs a bit, but the cost includes a wonderful variety of wines to taste. It ends, of course in the tasting room for the last three of the five wines (two are presented along the way in the tour), and the view is just exquisite.
Of course, leave it to Craig to find the perfect restaurant to end the first day of our little journey. We dined at Tra Vigne in St. Helena, just about fifteen minutes away. We had an aboslutely amazing meal, including braised short ribs and pasta with rabbit. The staff recommended a rather unique wine to accompany it: Orin Swift's The Prisoner. This is a wild, creative blend of many red grapes. It was a unique and fitting pairing with the dinner.

So, after eating way too much, we headed back to Calistoga to crash, sated and sleepy.