Cheese and Wine

Sunset and cocktails the top of the Shangri-la on my birthday

Oy, once again, time has gotten the best of me and I find myself weeks behind in my blogging  with several post ideas to write.  In my defense, I have been crazy busy- July was packed with visitors, trips, and my 27th birthday. I have not, and will not, have a free weekend until the end of September.  I'm not complaining, but this schedule leaves very little time for retelling all the action packed fun. In order to ease my burden, I'm using this post to kill two birds with one stone by combining two of my favorite July events which happen to feature two of my favorite things in the world: Cheese and Wine.

The cheese comes in my favorite form; mac and cheese. This year, my birthday party was a mac and cheese tasting hosted by my friend Danielle at her apartment. Guests were asked to bring a variety of mac and cheese to share and everyone at the party tasted the dishes and voted on their favorite.  I felt like a very lucky girl as many of my friends, new and old, showed up with various combinations of cheese and noodles. Even Joni and Sean made the trip up from San Diego!

My creation, Chorizo Mac and Cheese, surrounded by all of the
delicious contributions of my party guests.
Pure heaven.

Though everything was absolutely delicious, in the end, there could only be one winner...

The honor went to my friend Stephanie, who creative combination of cheese in a very classic form had everyone wanting more.

Miss Stephanie with her prizes!
Her fabulous pasta is on the bottom left of the collage.

Overall, I had a wonderful birthday and enjoyed spending a low key and fun evening with my friends and my favorite comfort food. Thankfully, I had two weeks to give my stomach some rest before the next endevor: wine.

If you have read my blog at all... ever... it is no secret that I LOVE wine and that I have been looking forward to visiting California wineries since before I officially moved here. My inaugural wine tasting trip was more than epic; James, Emma, Michelle and I went to Napa to celebrate Michelle's birthday!

After flying up to San Francisco on Friday night, we chartered an SUV to drive us to Napa where we enjoyed 5 fabulous wineries and lunch before heading back to the city.

Cakebread Cellars

Cakebread has been one of my favorite wines for a long time and this stop did not disappoint. We have a private tasting for our group and got to learn a lot about the wines and the vineyard. I especially liked their focus on pairing their wines with food (they have cooking classes!) and walked away with their signature cookbook in hand.

Opus One

A true gem of Napa. Opus One only produces one blend of wine, hence the name. They do one thing and they do it well. We were offered two vintages of the signature blend and both were easily the best wines of the day. However, the price was steep ($35-40 per glass). Not a winery for first timers, you must love and respect wine to get your bang for your buck here. That said, don't be shy about sharing a glass between your group.

Beaulieu Vineyards (BV)

After first trying to enter the VIP tasting room, we joined the other commoners for our last tasting before lunch. BV had really great wines, solid and classic.  Best of all, they weren't shy about pouring us extra tasting and chatting about their product. They also make a killer chocolate syrup that goes great with their port.

Rutherford Grill

Rutherford Grill was right next to BV and a natural choice for lunch.  We enjoyed yet another delicious wine and some of the best food I have ever eaten. I ordered the butternut squash and white cheddar enchilada; couldn't get enough of it.

Paraduxx

Paraduxx had come highly recommended to our group from both friends who had been to Napa and locals we had encountered throughout the day. Not only were these wines some of the best of the day, the atmosphere was amazing. We were escorted outside to our own section of patio furniture and all of our tasting were brought out to us on a tray at once. We were then able to taste, relax and enjoy the day at our leisure. Bonus points for extra pours and lawn games!   

Stag's Leap

Our last winery of the day was an oldie but a goody.  Stag's Leap wine was well known to our group; a favorite that is plentiful in Southern California and that we have enjoyed while chatting at Emma and James' house many times. Enjoying quality and familiar wine at the end of the day was the perfect way to "wine" down before heading back to the city for a light dinner and calling it a night. 

While Napa was enough of a trip on it's own, we still had almost the entire day on Sunday to take in the sites of San Francisco. We chose to head to Fisherman's Wharf to enjoy a crab themed brunch with Irish coffee and explore one of the biggest tourist spots in the city.  Highlighted below is a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Ghirardelli, among others sites around the Wharf.

After several epic weekends, I have been launched into August and cannot believe it is already half over!  My sister is currently visiting, Krystal was here for a few days last week, and Mark the week before that. For a recap of Mark's trip, visit his blog and enjoy his photos. Up next for me is lots of traveling to all of my favorite places! Don't expect my blogging lag to improve anytime soon...