My wife is giving me a sour look over the table as if I’ve offered her something inedible instead of a virtuous and interesting wine with a story to tell. I implore upon her to taste it. It’s Charles Hendricks’ latest effort to expand the palates of us common folk with a varietal of hope & grace not found in your local grocery store.

She tries it, savors it, smiles, and so a relationship with something new emerges. Now mind you, Lagrein is something unusual, something to be savored and appreciated. It’s not a cab, not a merlot, it’s something else entirely. Entrigued? I was, so I started to dig further. Ask a sommelier what a Lagrein is like and you’re likely to get a mouthful of other Germanic wines that most in the United States have never heard of. The Legrein is an unusual breed, rarely making the jump across the pond to take root in an entrepreneurial vintners vineyard, yet here hope & grace is making this wonderfully new adventure.

Lagrein is a Tyrolean Wine. Wife gives me a blank stare as if I’m speaking another language… because I am. Tyrol is a historic region that spans Northern Italy and Austria squarely in the Eastern Alps and Dolomites. The region is now called Alto Aldige (www.altoadigewinesusa.com). The language spoken in the region is primarily German and not Italian and the white wine grown there will sound familiar; riesling, gewürztraminer, pinot grigo. Lagrein doesn’t grow in the Alps of course, but clinging to the hills and walls of the valleys of the southern region of Alto Adige. The grape is related to Pinot Noir, and Syrah.

Eric Asimov of the New York Times describes Lagreins as  “wines that can be deliciously plummy, earthy and chewy, dark and full-bodied but not heavy, with a pronounced minerally edge” The bright flavorful wine carries some acidity making it a perfect pairing with red meats, game, aged cheeses, and speck a regional version of a cured ham slightly smoky with a low salt content.

It’s another hope & grace wine that one happy club member explained, they would bring to a party put on the table among other standard “party wines” and watch people drink, just to see their faces go through the exploration of something new. Then almost always look at the bottle, and ask “what is this?” “where can I get some?”

Wife is on glass number two as I ramble on. What might she ask if she were more interested in historical references than purely enjoying an excellent glass of wine? She might ask “why haven’t I heard of Tyrol?” But, the answer is we probably all have. The Tyrolean Hat (Included image) is something that might look like a common hat from the Alps, paired with lederhosen , and so it is. Most have just never heard it referred to as Tyrolean. The Tyrolean hound, while cute, is also a breed rarely seen state-side.

This mysterious and interesting bottle of wine is now poured completely, my wife and I enjoying the new flavors we find. My wife asks if we will be getting more, will hope & grace wines continue to make this great new wine… to that all I can answer is, the future is uncertain, but we can enjoy the wine now. 

Dr. Rob Morgan

(Interested in trying some? Get hope & grace Lagrein Here)

The weather is nice, not warm, but that delicate spot between uncomfortable extremes where wine grapes like to live. I’m meeting Charles Hendricks (CH), the winemaker and co-owner of hope & grace wines for the past twelve years at a renowned local restaurant, steps from the Yountville tasting room, a perk of the tasting room location.

I always identified with Maverick from Topgun. There is a natural knowledge of how to do things… I joke that I come stupid to each vintage without pre-conceived ideas of what’s going to happen.

Charles Hendricks arrives promptly, dressed in a clean black t-shirt and tan cargo pants. He elicits a comparison to Dr. Drew from TV, crisp, and casual. His attire is functional while still expressing a clean aesthetic. He informs me he’s primarily working in the cellar today and won’t be in the vineyards.

He approaches the lunch confidently, he’s familiar with the menu, the dishes, and most importantly the wine; his Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir graces the list at this restaurant.

RM: When you eat somewhere where your wine is on the wine list do you order it?

CH: Not usually, I like to try something else, see what other people are doing.

So he selects a Russian river Pinot Noir as a comparison. After the initial pleasantries are completed and orders made I continue.

RM: Not taking into account any wine you personally have made, what is the best wine you’ve ever had?

Charles stops only for a second and responds with surety.

CH: ‘78 Domaine de la Romanee Conti Grands Echezeaux I think it was in 1992.

RM: Where were you?

CH: I was in San Francisco at the restaurant of a friend and I was bemoaning the fact that I couldn’t find any good pinot noir and I was going to write off the whole category, and the chef goes ‘no you’ve got to try this.’ She pulls something off the shelf in their wine cellar and it’s this bacon fruit bomb that overtook my whole system from mouth to belly, everything was echoing those flavors; it was ethereal and I still remember that… and I said ‘ok I’ve got it now’ and it laid out where I want to be.

RM: And nothing has stood up to that since then?

CH: Nope (no hesitation).

RM: You talk passionately and eloquently of wine, is that what you want to be since boyhood?

CH: Growing up all I knew was veterinary medicine… my dad was a veterinarian and when an animal was injured in the middle of the night he’d wake me up and we’d go down to the veterinary hospital and I’d be doing treatments with him or helping with a surgery… I liked it, I liked to make them better and work in the animal hospital. It was very fulfilling.

RM: And how did you go from that to the wine world?

CH: Coming from Anaheim, CA there wasn’t a wine culture at that time. And UC Davis was the only school with a veterinary medicine program so I applied there and got in. In college everyone took ‘Introduction to Winemaking’ because you got to drink the wine… but after I took the class it struck me.

RM: What was your favorite part of the class… besides drinking wine?

Charles chuckles, he has a calm and friendly air about him. The staff have recognized him and we are graced with a salad compliments of the chef: Artichokes two ways, shaved and fried with an anchovy vinaigrette. He is gracious in his acceptance and he digs into the salad as we continue.

CH: The agriculture really appealed to me. I took a year and two thirds under my physiology major and I changed my major to viticulture… and then I was kinda one of the first that wrote my own major that included the viticulture and the winemaking courses. The programs had not yet been integrated because of politics. Back in the ‘70’s the grapegrowers and the winemakers were always fighting each other. The grapegrowers were trying to put the peddle to the metal and make the highest yields possible, to hell with the quality, and the winemakers were reading about Bordeux and low grape yields… so they didn’t understand each other.

RM: You were interested in the viticulture… what do you think drove the division?

CH: Back then the grapegrowers were paid on sugar points and the higher the sugar content the more they got paid, as opposed to now. It showed that there weren’t the common goals of today. Today when you contract with a grapegrower you contract for tonnage and you develop a relationship, some of my wines I’ve been sourcing from the same growers and the same vineyards since almost the beginning. The grower knows what you want and knows he has to provide clean fruit of high grade.

RM: You were at UC Davis which is now world-renowned for their Food and Wine Institute, but you were there before that… how did you learn what you know now?

CH: Yeah I was there in the dark ages… (Charles chuckles). In the California wine world back then it was an active time of experimenting trying to figure out what we had… it took us 5-6 years before we found out the Text Books had lied to us. Everything was technically correct but we discovered that it doesn’t work that way in real life.

RM: Where did you learn your secrets then?

CH: Trial and error… probably 10 years experimenting with different problems in wine. Working at different wineries that each had unique issues, barrel issues, cellar issues, etc. I got really good at working with difficult wines.

RM: You’ve worked in a lot of places with a lot of different people in the industry, how would other winemakers describe you?

CM: That’s a good question… probably a cowboy, (Charles smiles feeling comfortable with this idea)I don’t keep the best notes. I always identified with Maverick from Topgun. There is a natural knowledge of how to do things… I joke that I come stupid to each vintage without pre-conceived ideas of what’s going to happen. I’ve watched larger companies try to computer model when the grapes will be ready. I never made wine from a laboratory model… you just have to be out there in the grapes doing it. I don’t follow a textbook or a computer model and that’s where the cowboy comes in…

… to be continued.

The use of cover crops and legumes planted in the rows between the vines provides fertile, nitrogen rich soil allowing for healthy vine growth. Later in the season, the cover crop is tilled into the soil providing a second burst of nutrients in the mid-season. The promoted biodiversity encourages growth of beneficial flora and fauna and fosters a wildlife habitat for native animals. Ladybugs, beetles and lacewings which can call this habitat home thrive and consume potential natural pests to our vines. Any chemicals that are used sparingly in the vineyard are organic approved & considered reduced-risk pesticides. This results in a higher fruit quality thus allowing Charles to make a more natural wine.

This is a commitment that our growers make not just on earth day but all year. When you open the new 2010 hope & grace Pinot Noir from the Santa Lucia Highlands, please feel good about the decision you made knowing that you are supporting the work, craft and respect of our winemaker and growers and their dedication to the environment.

Quick Tip: Two things to remember when buying and serving a large format bottle. First, part of the purpose of a large format is the drama, so pour straight from the bottle without decanting. Second, aim for a bottle in the double magnum size and never above a Joroboam, anything larger and you will be unable to suavely pour. 

In wine bottles we mean. Did you know that the large sized wine bottles are primarily named after kings, royalty, and other notable figures of the Middle East? Those history buffs out there know who Methuselah (said to have lived 900+ years), Nebuchadnezzar, Rehoboam, and Balthazar are (For a brief history lesson), but for those of us in the wine world they hold more meaning as sizes of large-format wine bottles. To confuse things more, there are different standards if you’re referring to still or sparkling wine. So, for the purpose of this short post, we will be talking about still wines (hope & grace style!). For the airplane industry and the avid pic-nicker there are the small bottles. Most popular on your next flight or in your hotel room bar are the Piccolo or Chopine sizes that are 1/8 and ¼ respectively. You can pick up a bottle of the hope & grace Santa Lucia Highlands in a Demi, ½ bottle size at our tasting room and pair it with a couple Govino logo glasses for your next out-door adventure. Most people are familiar with the full bottle that is universally known as 750ml (Not a full liter). Then we start talking about the big-boys. Luca De Ferrari of Poderi Boscarelli noted “Producers and drinkers are always attracted by the larger formats of wine bottle, such as the magnum, for an added element of ceremony” and it has been observed that the large format bottles slow the aging process allowing the wine to age with elegance in comparison to smaller bottles. At hope & grace we keep a select number of magnums (double bottles) in the tasting room for discerning guests. Then we start getting into the names of old kings and leaders. A Jerobaom is equivalent to 6 bottles and an Imperial/Methuselah is equivalent to 8. Primarily bottles above that size are sparkling, although it has become more popular (and somewhat of a status symbol) for wineries to produce very limited large size bottles for events or publicity. Have you seen the one at Beringer? It’s called “Maximus” and holds 173 bottles of wine and in 2004, the Guiness Book of World Records dubbed it the world’s largest bottle.

Liters                         Name                                      Bottle Equivalent

0.375L                        Demi-bottle                           ½

0.75L                          Bottle (duh!)                          1

1.5L                             Magnum                                 2

2.25L                          Marie Jeanne                         3

3.0L                             Jeroboam                               4

4.5L                             Rehoboam                             6

6.0L                            Imperial/Methuselah          8

9.0L                            Mordechai/Salmanazar     12 (A Case)

12.0L                          Balthazar                                16

16.0L                          Nebuchadnezzar                  20

18.0L                          Melchior                                24

Many people don’t know what “coopering” is. Coopering is the age old process of producing a cask for the transport of dry or wet goods (each needing a different level of sophistication). Around 225 BC the first wood containers were developed for the transportation of liquids. You might also hear people talk about “toasting” which many equate to a morning ritual with coffee and eggs, but in the wine world refers to lighting a fire and putting an unfinished barrel over it, thus “toasting” the interior. Another vocabulary word for the day is “stave” which is what the individual curved pieces of wood that make up a wine barrel. For what may appear to be a very simple wine barrel there is a long and often times secretive process that each cooperage uses. From the origin of the oak down to the specific forest in a specific country, to the amount of aging pre-toasting of the barrel “staves.” Check out Seguin Moreau Napa Cooperage that has a detailed description of the long and complex process that goes into each barrel.

Inspired by the end of a “winter”(I use this term loosely as not to offend anyone) season and the beginning of a new growing season, I dished out a can of Urbani Truffle products to each of the hope & grace team members. The assignment? Concoct the perfect, decadent and soul-warming pasta recipe… Let’s say goodbye to “winter” and welcome spring! Use either season as an inspiration…

Here are two of my colleagues unbelievable truffle/pasta recipes…. Special Thanks to VICKIE AND CINDY!!!!!

Vickie’s White Truffle, Porcini and Lamb Risotto

Braised Lamb
1 ½ lb  lamb shanks, not trimmed
½ cup dry red wine (or more)
2 heaping T Dijon mustard
2 t sea salt
1 t freshly ground black pepper
½ head of garlic
½ yellow onion
olive oil to brown onions, garlic and lamb
Chop garlic and onions, add to olive oil in frying pan, brown.
Remove lamb shanks from pan and deglaze pan with red wine, adding mustard as well.
Place lamb, and sauce from frying pan in slow cooker.  Cook approx. 3 hours high, 3 hours on low.  May take less time.

Risotto
6 tablespoons butter, divided
16 oz Arborio Rice
4 cup hot vegetable broth
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
6.1 oz can Urbani White Truffles and Porcini sauce

Melt 3 T butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add rice, stir 1 minute. 
Add 1 cup hot broth.  Simmer until broth is almost absorbed, stirring often.  Repeat, using remaining broth, 1 cup at a time.  Stir and simmer until mixture is creamy, about 20 minutes longer.  Stir in remaining 3 T butter, parmesan cheese, and Urbani White Truffles and Porcini sauce.
Add braised lamb to risotto, garnish with parsley and serve with 2008 hope & grace Russian River Pinot Noir.
PS.  I would add asparagus next time!

Cindy’s Truffled Pasta

1 can Urbani Tomatoes Truffle Thrills
4 Tbsp. Tomato paste
3 Tbsp. finely sliced shallots
3/4 cup sliced shitake mushrooms
1/4 cup sliced baby portobello mushrooms
1/4 cup dry red wine
1 tsp fresh chopped oregano
1/2 tsp fresh chopped rosemary
3 Tbsp Olive oil Plus  additional to finish
1/2 cup water or stock

Heat olive oil until shimmering, add shallots and sauté until barely tender, add shitake and portobello mushrooms, sauté until they release their liquid. Sauté until pan is almost dry, kick up the heat and deglaze the pan with the wine. Sauté 4 minutes, add the oregano and rosemary, let cook 3 or 4 minutes. Add Urbani tomato Thrill, and tomato paste. Stir together, add 1/4 water or stock if very thick, bring to a simmer. Simmer 12 minutes, watching thickness and adding water or stock for desired thickness.
Serve over warm parmesan polenta or cooked pasta of your choice! Enjoy with hope & grace 2009 Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir.

As we swap books and recipes we are always looking for great staples that can be tweaked to our fancy to elevate the delicious elixir in our glass in hopes of reaching “Napa Nirvana”. The ‘Seasons in the Wine Country’ features recipes from the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone provides wonderful recipes that ensure perfect results from their easy to follow directions. With a few practice rounds(yes my job is soooo hard… haha) you can start to elaborate and unleash that creativity and make it your own….

This recipe was perfect with our 2009 hope & grace Santa Lucia Highlands Doctor’s Vineyard Pinot Noir… Sweet, savory, salty and succulent! So delicious the dogs won’t have a chance to taste even a morsel!

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with apple bacon compote-Recipe by The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, Cate Conniff, Seasons in the Wine Country -

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Mince 8 of the sage leaves and reserve until needed.

2. Bring the tenderloins to room temperature and dry completely with paper towels.

3. Place a roasting rack on a baking sheet. Season the pork with 1 teaspoon of the salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. In a large sauté pan or skillet over medium-high heat, heat the 2 tablespoons of oil until a sheen develops and oil begins to separate. Add the pork and brown well and evenly on all sides, turning occasionally, about 2 minutes per side.

4. Remove the pork from the pan (reserve the pan) and place the pork on a roasting rack. Place the pork on the middle rack in the oven and roast until the center of the meat reaches and internal temperature of 145°F for medium-rare( pink in the middle), about 25 minutes, or 150°% for medium, 30 to 35 minutes.

5. While the pork roasts, add the bacon to the reserved pan and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes, stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until aromatic. Stir in the onion, minced sage, and thyme and sauté stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan for browned bits, until the onion is tender, about 4 minutes. Add the apples and sauté, stirring often, until lightly caramelized and tender, about 5 minutes.

6. Turn the heat to high and add the cider to deglaze the pan. Scrape any remaining browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Lower the heat to medium-high and reduce the liquid to a thick glaze, stirring occasionally, 4 to 5 minutes. Season with the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt and the ¼ teaspoon of pepper. Remove from eh heat and keep warm.

7. Remove the pork from the oven and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Let stand 10 minutes. The internal temperature will continue to rise by 5 to 10 degrees.

8. While the pork is resting, hear the 1 cup canola oil in a small sauce-pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is warm enough so that the sage sizzle without smoking, fry the remaining 16 sage leaves until crisp, 10 to 20 seconds. Remove the sage leaves and drain on a plate lined with paper towels.

9.Cut the pork into ½-inch-thick medallions. Arrange the medallions and border with about ½ cut apple and bacon compote per serving. Place 2 sage leaves on each plate and serve immediately.

As always, we encourage you to try this recipe than make it your own… we always like to go a little barbeque with everything. Throw together some cayenne, smoked paprika, dry mustard, salt and pepper and add something extra to your pork. It’s great with the apple bacon compote…

You won’t stuff this pork into the couch cushions that’s for sure! Bon Appetit!

More often than not a huge garden will be planted and all summer long friends are generously dropping off baskets of tomatoes by the variety, jalapeños, padrone peppers (not as spicy as Kung Pao chicken), habaneros, red and green bell peppers, corn, zucchini and squash, swiss chard and kale, carrots and more, which are offered over a neighbors’ balcony with a smile. The abundant crop yields also make us creative as we strive to make use of every piece of produce provided…

As a child, summer vacation meant at least 1-2 weeks commitment in the production line of my mother’s kitchen helping with canning and freezing. When the tomatoes were in, they would get blanched, peeled and then frozen in quart containers to use all year long (My favorite part was the BLT lunch around mid-day)…The blackberries and raspberries meant jam and jellies(although we tried to eat as many berries as possible)… and then there was the Red Pepper Jelly…

The plethora of jalapeños, red bells and green bells would be sliced, seeded and finely chopped… For us kids that was the extent… The picking, seeding, and then thorough hand washing in an attempt to make sure my brother didn’t burn his face…. Again… from there Mom would take over…

The Red Pepper Jelly was sweet, a little spicy and delicious on cream cheese and crackers, roast meat sandwiches and more… The best was the last jar of the season we saved for Easter. So simple, delicious as it basted our Easter Ham and perfect with pinot noir….

Red Pepper Jelly

My mother followed the science of canning and still uses the SURE.JELL® Hot Pepper Jelly recipe…it’s a keeper.

Ingredients

2 medium red peppers, seeded, finely chopped (about 1-1/2 cups)

2 medium green peppers, seeded, finely chopped (about 1-1/2 cups)

10 large jalapeño peppers, seeded, finely chopped (about 1 cup)

1 cup cider vinegar

1 box SURE-JELL Fruit Pectin

½ tsp. butter or margarine (optional)

5 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl (See tip below.)

Directions

1. BRING boiling-water canner, half-full with water, to simmer. Wash jars and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.

2. PLACE peppers in 6- or 8-qt. saucepot. Add vinegar. Stir in pectin. Add butter to reduce foaming, if desired. Bring mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn’t stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 min., stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon.

3. LADLE immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with 2-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. (Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.) Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 10 min. Remove jars and place upright on towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger. (If lid springs back, lid is not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.)

Roasted Red Pepper Jelly Easter Ham

Cook time: 1 hour and 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 (5 pound) ready-to-eat ham

1 jar of Red Pepper Jelly (recipe above)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2. Score ham in not pre-sliced and place ham in foil lined pan.

3. After 40 minutes, pull the ham out and spread/brush the ¾ of the Red Pepper Jelly generously all over the ham and bake for an additional 35 minutes.

4. Baste ham every 10 to 15 minutes with a little more jelly.  If it doesn’t have a nice glaze and a little crisp, turn on broiler to caramelize the jelly for the last 4 minutes. The ham should read an internal temperature of 140 at this point. Remove from oven, and let sit a few minutes before serving.

So simple for a large crowd or fabulous for the family and leftovers the rest of the week. We love it paired with the 2008 hope & grace Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir…

The ham and cheese sandwiches the next day will be a treat for the family… no complaints!

We understand that each and every wine tastes different and has a unique aroma, mouth feel, texture and expression. We understand the role that the soil, climate, vintage and élevage all have on this elixir…. Yet, we have never had a concrete visual expression of wine.

Our winemaker, Charles Hendricks passion for the science of the wine industry lead him to Sondra Barrett, a Bay Area artist, who explores the molecular expression of vitamins, minerals and even wine! Sondra has used a microscope with a prism to capture the molecular expression of our 2008 hope & grace Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir and our new 2008 hope & grace Cuvee Amor…

Sondra Barrett, PhD, a biochemist, first used the microscope to photograph human cells while developing diagnostic tools for human leukemias when on the faculty at UCSF Medical School. However, an exhibit of brain chemicals photographed with a microscope enticed her to explore the artistic beauty of molecules. Soon she began photographing chemicals of life – vitamins, minerals, and hormones – to teach science with art and give “inner space” slide shows to children with cancer.

Applying for Sterling Vineyards’ artist-in-residence program, she photographed her first wine – a 1978 Sterling merlot.  When the winemaker said the ‘picture looked like the wine tasted’ she became intrigued with the many possibilities of the inner world of wine. Working with winemakers and looking at Napa Valley wines she began documenting winemaking from the inside out uncovering distinct shapes and patterns that wine maestro Andre Tchelistcheff called ‘the jewels in wine.’

She has photographed thousands of wines, worked as a harvest intern and released her first book Wine’s Hidden Beauty. Sondra’s compelling photographic portraits visually capture moments in time of the personality, character and expression of a wine’s exciting life stor

(The pictures above are more of her amazing photographs of our Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon)

Please visit us at the hope & grace tasting salon at 6540 Washington St, Yountville, Napa Valley to see the exhibit and explore this new world….

That was the case for me last week, the Yountville Kiwanis Annual Crab Feed Fundraiser  packed up the town community center with a whopping 350 people for this annual fundraiser. As a prominent winery here in Yountville and a supporter of our community, we of course found a way to make this a company outing by getting a table and gorging on salad, pasta, Dungeness crab and fabulous wine. We enjoyed several bottles of hope & grace 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, 2009 Chardonnay, 2010 Dry Riesling and our 2008 Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir…and we all had an absolute blast. I would tell you more but the story now goes, “What happens at the Yountville Crab Feed STAYS at the Yountville Crab Feed”. Just this once… I will break the rules with a few pictures (our secret)…

OHhh… You thought it was going to be incriminating?! (Chuckles)

After such a wonderful evening some of us desperately need sustenance in our bellies for obvious reasons. My biggest craving is a cup of Joe and some piping hot donuts* from the Boon Fly Café located at the Carneros Inn.

When I was younger it was all about the Krispy Kreme Original Glazed donuts. They would turn on the “HOT NOW” red sign which meant that at that very moment fresh original glazed donuts were coming off the belt glistening from a recent bath in that sugary glaze….

In California, there were trucks which would go around to each neighborhood offering fresh baked treats from the back of their vans such as bread, muffins, cookies and donuts. I hear the Helms Bakery Truck in Southern California would charge a nickel per original glazed!…”Three Times Around the World Everyday”…

The only place to go for donuts near Napa is Boon Fly Cafe…These delectable treats are a must for any table. A perfect softness and lightness, these little donuts are smaller and more elegant in size(makes it okay to eat more) with a good dusting of cinnamon sugar. This is a much more adult like treat than what I gorged on in college… These perfect little treats can be ordered individually for a dollar each or as an little starter… 4 donuts and a cuppa joe for $6.75(some of my favorite coffee). If you have a large group or even a partner in crime just get the baker’s dozen for $9.75…

Joe DiMaggio wasn’t there… but in his honor…

Perfect breakfast the morning after all that beautiful wine and dungeness crab… Ready to Start the DAY! Make it a great one!

*(National Doughnut Day is the first Friday in June…throwing it out there)