Tricia and I are in the Napa Valley. This area is georgous, our hotel is tucked into the hills with a cool view of the valley. I have never seen so many people so excited about food and wine. Hey I love food and I love wine, but these people are passionate about it. I really don’t know much about either. I know what I like and I know what I don’t. We had an amazing meal Tuesday night, probably one of the best meals I have had in my life. I wish I could explain it like the waiter did, but I would botch it up. Anyway, I have to tell you about a place Tricia and I went to yesterday. It is called the Frank Family Vineyard. It is the only vineyard we went to and have no desire to go to any of the others. When you drive through Napa, St. Helena and Callistoga, you see these huge, fancy, opulant winereis. They are intimidating. I don’t know that I could enjoy myself at one of these places. Just to fancy and stuffy for me. Fortunately, one of the valet guys recomended a vineyard that was a 5 minute drive from the hotel. It is call the Frank Family Vineyard
http://www.frankfamilyvineyards.com/index.jsp And there is nothing fancy about this place. Tricia and I loved it. It is a small little place, that is said to make some of the best wines in the world. We bought a few bottles. What was amazing is how laid back everyone was, how welcoming and educational they were. Jerry was the guy that helped out our little group, he told us about the wines, where they come from, what to expect when you taste them, etc. Most of all he made us laugh. One of the other people in our small group told us that he and his wife stopped by the Opus Vineyard and said that it was incredibly stuffy. You are expected to have an appointment, it cost $25 to taste one small glass of thier wine, all in all he said it was a miserable experience. The Frank Family Vineyard reminds you of small old home. They do not charge you to taste and you don’t need an appointment. We got lucky in that Rich Frank, the vineyards owner stopped by to say hi. He walked in after spending 7 hours with the city council. He was trying to get them to approve a new tasting room. It was the culmination of a 2 1/2 year struggle, he said they got 98% of what they wanted and he was happy. What he really wanted was a drink. ‘Ol Jerry poured the boss a big glass. He then went around the room and introduced himself to everyone in the room. I noticed some gold record on the wall from Disney. I asked him what his connection to the record business was and he told me that he was the President of The Disney Studios for 10 years. We talked radio and many other things. What a wonderful man. I did a little homework when we got back to the hotel. Put it this way, if you have a Disney DVD at home it is because if this man. If you ever watched Cheers, it was in big part to this man, he also lauched the USA Network and many other things. You can read all about him in the family section of the link above. In the past I have cracked jokes on the air about guys who have where they work on one side of their shirt and what their name is on the other. I will never make that joke again. Rich had on one of those shirts. I think he is one of those rare guys that never let success change him. He seemed like a real roll up your sleaves kind of guy. He only has 35 employess at the vineyard. He introduced Tricia and I to the head winemaker and the companies CFO. He even gave us a bottle of Champage. I think the guys really liked Tricia. What’s not to like, she is hot. If you ever take a trip to Napa, you have to go to The Frank Family Vineyard. It epitomy of the old saying, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”
Heather Rivera
