 Nick and Sarah were a little sad to leave their hippie hotel, but were ecstatic about looking for fine wines and fine diamond engagement rings in Wine Country, California. They had seen the names on so many bottles before. Calistoga, Napa Valley, Sonoma, Glen Ellen, Oakville, Kenwood. They were the holy grails of American wines. So they set off for the town of Rutherford, California. Sarah had picked it not only because it was in the middle of the Big Three: Napa, Sonoma, and Calistoga, but because Rutherford, New Jersey is the town her Dad grew up in. She figured it was a good sign. Nick steered the Jeep to 180 Rutherford Hill Road, Rutherford, California, 94573 to the Auberge du Soleil hotel. It was much more expensive than a lot of the places they normally stayed in, but it was beautiful and Nick knew that it would make Sarah happy to be in Rutherford. Besides, it was centrally located for their wine tours and tastings. The less driving they had to do after days of wine-tasting, the better. Since it was early enough in the day, they decided to begin their wine-tasting experience right away. Why so many of these wine tastings and tours began in the morning was a mystery to both of them, but they figured it offered them more time to try more wines. They checked into the hotel, which was a stunning Mediterranean-style place, from the color scheme (earth tones and terra cotta) to the restaurant menus. Their room had a terrace and a plasma screen tv, although they couldn’t imagine spending enough time in the room to watch the latest incarnation of “Survivor”. They decided to start out at Frog’s Leap Winery. It sounded fun, and it was described as a great place for wine novices to start learning. Although they both had some experience with wine, they didn’t know that much about the process of making it. They programmed Bob-the-GPS for 8815 Conn Creek Road, Rutherford, CA 94573. The winery not only was proud of maintaining its sense of humor and family feel, but also because it was a “green” facility. The winery is 100% solar-powered and uses geothermal energy to heat and cool the building. On the tour, the guide told them all about maintaining an eco-friendly business, and how the sustainability of their operation would allow them to continue even in an energy crisis, and would, hopefully, help to avoid such a crisis. Of course, Nick and Sarah also got to visit the frog pond on the grounds. The wine-tasting began at about noon. Nick and Sarah tried everything from their famous Frogenbeerenauslese (Frog’s Leap’s version of a German wine) to zinfandels to merlots. The tasting gave them quite a bit of a buzz, so they relaxed for a while by the frog pond before they left for their 3:30 tour and tasting at Rutherford Hill Winery. Before they left, they bought two bottles of the 2006 Frogenbeerenauslese, which was described as having the tastes of caramelized peach and fig, with some vanilla and florals as well. They also got a few bottles of the 2007 Chardonnay. They got to Rutherford Hill Winery in time for their tour and sufficiently sobered up. The winery was fascinating even for someone who knew a lot about wine-making. Known for their amazing cabernets, the winery was relatively unknown, but totally different than anything they expected. Since the winery was built on a hillside, they were able to use caves as an ideal place to store wine, since they were dark, cool, and slightly damp—all qualities that help the process of aging fine wines. As it turns out, Rutherford Hill was one of the first wineries in Napa Valley to build caves, which serve year-round as a place to store over 8,000 French and American oak barrels to age wine in an ideal environment. Recent renovations even made the caves themselves aesthetically pleasing for events. “This is so cool,” Sarah told Nick as they were led through the caves. “It would be awesome to have some kind of a party here.” Whipping out a little journal he carried with him at all times, Nick said: “I’m writing this in as another one of the definite do-overs.” After going to the wine-tasting room, and sampling several different wines, they bought a bottle each of the 2003 Merlot Reserve , the Sangiovese—after Sarah’s insistence that the hint of chocolate made it irresistible, and the 2005 Winemaker’s Blend. Then they headed back to the hotel for a short nap before dinner. They drove to Napa for dinner. Bob-the-GPS led them to the Bounty Hunter Wine Bar and Smokin’ BBQ at 975 First Street, Napa, CA 94559. They sipped a Russian River Syrah and ate the famous Smokin’ BBQ ribs that the restaurant was known for. Nightlife in Wine Country seemed to revolve around, justifiably, wine, so they took their time and drank the Syrah and chilled out.
It turned out to be one of the most romantic nights on their trip. “This is incredibly relaxing,” Sarah said as she put her feet up on Nick’s lap. He started to rub them to warm them up. “I like it here. Even though this place is total chaos, it’s like a relaxed chaos,” he told her. She snuggled into her seat a little more. “And the people watching is awesome,” she said. “Different than anywhere else in California.” When they returned to the hotel room, they were both sleepy, mostly from the wine. They actually turned on their big ol’ plasma screen and snuggled in to watch about 2 minutes of a CSI rerun before they both fell into a deep sleep.
When they woke up, they showered and dressed, preparing to go looking for an engagement ring in Sonoma, California. The whole area was so full of expensive, beautiful boutiques and shops that they knew they would find a gorgeous diamond engagement ring in Wine Country. They headed out for West Napa Street to go to a very well-respected, long-standing jeweler there. They walked in and were a little put off by the salesperson, who seemed to be a little bit full of himself. They knew this was likely to happen at some point in their travels. They steered themselves toward the engagement rings, and Sarah began looking at more brilliant stones, since she had been on a step-cut run for most of the trip. The man walked over and asked if they would like to see anything in particular. Sarah pointed through the case at a few rings, all variations on the round brilliants. She chose a few with side stones, a few solitaires, and a few that looked way-too-modern for her taste. The salesman placed them all in a display on the counter and hovered as she tried them on. “Are these designed in-house?” Sarah asked. “We work with several different designers who sell their work through us,” he responded. “We aren’t from here, although we are getting engaged,” Sarah looked doe-eyed at Nick. “If something should happen to the ring, can we still have it repaired by your store?” “Of course,” the man said, “We guarantee all of our engagement rings. Should something happen that is because of a flaw in the ring, or if a stone comes loose, something like that, we will absolutely fix it.” Nick piped in: “And do we just ship it to you? Do we need to include some kind of receipt?” Nick paused. “Please understand that we are only asking because we are from the East Coast and driving here for a repair would not be possible.” He was trying to soften the salesman up a bit. “You can call us any time to let us know that it is coming, and you just ship it with the receipt. We can Federal Express it back to you as soon as the repair is done.” The salesman began putting a few of the rings that Sarah had rejected back in the case. “And how long does that take?” Nick asked. “It depends on the jewelry designer,” the salesman responded. “Some take longer than others, but we try to always have it back to you within two weeks.” Nick put his arms around Sarah, who was now wearing a round brilliant-cut 1 carat diamond engagement ring with ¼ carat round side stones. “See anything you love?” Sarah smiled. “I see a few things I love.” She kissed his hand. “This one is lovely. So sparkly. It catches the light beautifully.” She looked at it again and then took it off. As she handed it to the salesman, she said: “I have to think it over. This is a big decision.” The salesman, of course, tried the various subtle ways that jewelers have of trying to close the deal. Since Nick and Sarah were familiar with all of them, they were able to extricate themselves without offending the man any more than they already had. As they walked to the Jeep, Sarah laughed. “I feel like we’re trying to use light sabers or something to deflect the closing pitches,” she said as she pretended to wield a Jedi weapon. Nick unleashed a fake light saber as well, only he added the sound effects. They fake-battled their way back to the car, then stopped at the Black Bear Diner to get some giant burgers and fries before they went on their next trek: a canoe trip down the Russian River. Burke’s Canoe Trips of Forestville, California, promised them a beautiful day on the river. It was a ten-mile canoe trip, and Nick and Sarah brought along a few of their new bottles of wine. They knew they’d have to replenish their supply before they left Wine Country, since so many people they knew would love gifts from there. They climbed into their canoe and started paddling. After a while, they saw a nice little beach, and pulled their canoe up onto it. Stripping down to their bathing suits, they lay out in the sun, poured a few glasses of wine, and relaxed. They were surrounded by redwoods and nature completely. “This is perfect,” Nick said. “So perfect,” Sarah answered. Nick reached for her hand. “If I didn’t already want to marry you, I would propose now.” “And I would say yes,” Sarah told him.
They were quiet for a few minutes. Then, Sarah spoke. “You are the best thing, ever,” she said. “No,” Nick responded, smiling. “You are.” After a while, they continued their paddle down the Russian River, seeing turtles and birds all along the way. When they spotted some otters playing in the water, they stopped paddling to watch without disturbing them. They sipped wine out of their plastic cups along the way. When they arrived at the end of the ten-mile paddle, a little tired and sunburned, there was a shuttle to take them back to Forestville and their Jeep. Their last stop was the Plumpjack Winery, which promised them the funkiest, coolest wine-tasting room in the area, and it was located right next door to Rutherford. They let the hotel arrange a shuttle for them to go to and from the Winery, as they wanted to celebrate their last night in Wine Country in style. Or, rather, they wanted to drink themselves silly on great wine. They started by touring the vineyard and sampling from the variety of cabernets that were the pride of Plumpjack’s production. Then they headed for the Boon Fly Caf?, where they could drink Plumpjack’s finest while going against all convention and eating reubens, onion rings, and a deep-dish chocolate chip cookie that Sarah, once again, offered to marry. Nick leaned over the table and told her: “You are the Elizabeth Taylor of desserts.” Sarah smiled, placing a dollop of whipped cream stuck on the end of her nose. “I simply cannot commit to a sweet thing,” she said. She paused. “except, of course, you, my Sweet Thang.” Buzzed on wine and carrying their various wines, they stumbled to the waiting shuttle and headed back to the hotel to crack open another bottle and behave like drunken teenagers. With Sarah jumping on the bed, singing along with “And All That Jazz” after finding the movie ‘Chicago’ on television, another hotel guest complained. Nick and Sarah received a polite visit from the hotel manager, who asked that they keep the noise down. Nick offered him a drink of Napa’s finest, but he declined and started down the hall. “All the more for us,” Nick shouted down the hall before he slammed the door shut. Magically, they were not thrown out of the hotel. “We are total rock stars, babe!” Sarah shouted as she kept jumping. He pulled her down, reassuring her that they were, indeed, rock stars. Only they didn’t trash the room and they passed out well before midnight.
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