Napa Valley – June 27-28

We left Davis, California, under sunny skies and headed west to the town of Winters and then over winding, scenic roads to the Napa Valley.  Between Davis and Winters we passed almond orchards, strawberry fields, peach orchards and large fields of sunflowers.  This is a very fertile part of California and as we crossed a mountain pass and entered the Napa Valley, the only crop to see was grapes.  It was a bit cooler in the Napa Valley but it was in the 70s with clear, sunny skies.

We arrived at Razi Vineyards and were instantly greeted by old friends, Fred (Farhad) and Kathy Razi whom we knew in Teheran, Iran, many years ago.  After a quick lunch they showed us around their new tasting room, wine barrel storage area, and where the grapes are crushed and bottled.  At the Tiki Bar by their swimming pool we sampled their main crop, Chardonnay.  We also met their daughter-in-law and grandchildren.  Their black labrador, Shamsi, wanted to play and chase her toys in the swimming pool.  Fred and Cathy’s vineyard is a small boutique winery with about 15 acres planted in Chardonnay grapes  but Fred buys red grapes and bottles red wine (a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Shiraz) under his label.  We sampled several bottles over the afternoon.

Fred grilled chicken and vegetables on the barbecue while Cathy prepared delicious Persian saffron rice with the crunchy bits called tadik.  We stayed up talking, eating, and drinking into the evening.

Tuesday morning we all woke to a steady, cool rain which everyone assured us was unusual this time of the year.  Everyone said it was like Napa’s winter weather.  Rita and I drove the Silverado Trail north through Yountville, Rutherford, St. Helena, and Calistoga which covered most of the Napa Valley.  We returned on parallel highway 29 and stopped in Napa for a cup of soup, which fit the rainy weather.  The Razi Vineyards are close to the Stags’ Leap Winery and we saw many of the famous Napa Valley Vineyards such as Opus One, Mumm (Champagne), Charles Krug, Beringer, and Mondavi to name drop just a bit.  

In the afternoon we returned to the Razi’s house and ordered in pizza for dinner.  We opened several more bottles of Razi white and red wines to make for an interesting evening of conversation.  We won’t forget our visit to Razi Vineyards soon even if some of the visit is a bit hazy.