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The Salt Lake Tribune Sunday, March 18, 1984 T5 Oakville The grapenuts tour of California wine country by Horace Sutton Calif. OAKVILLE, Sniffing, swirling and sipping California wines at the wineries sprinkled over the countryside is supposed to be the reason for an excursion to Napa Valley. Truth is, it is more than the glory of the grape that coaxes people to embark on the drive from San Francisco. It is the inns and picnic groves, the restaurants and beaneries, the shops and spas that make Americas wine country worth a detour or a weekend. There is, too, the faint essence of early California history covered with a coating of kitsch. Where else in the nation would one come upon a restaurant called the French Laundry, a shoppers center called the Cement Works, and assorted delicatessens named the Andrews Meat Company, the Napa Valley Olive Oil Manufacturing Company or Nunns Cheese Barn? The Laundry, in an unmarked old nouse on a back street in the town of Yountville, serves hour-and-a-h- one-entre- e, fixed-price- five-cours- e, dinners d Wednesdays to Sundays. A choice of appetizers could include such exotica as poussin livers with walnuts on arugula, or curried chicken mousse with apricot chutney, or wild rice soup with watercress. Booked Months Ahead Patrons who can wangle a reservation - the Laundry is often booked months ahead pay a flat $28 for dinner, plus wines, local of course. Andrews meatworks, in an old brewery in Napa, puts up sandwiches for picnics, but those who have immediate hunger pangs can take the edibles to the second-floo- r dining room and terrace. Oakville Grocery, on the St. Helena Highway, and clearly marked with a 1930s Coca-Col- a sign, stocks all manner of picnic gear, from the makins to the paper plates. If you dont know what to put in the basket - they also peddle a book called turn towards American cuisine. Associated with Baron Philippe Rothschild in Robert Mondavi is working closely with Hilton International to bring American wines to Hiltons 90 hotels, located in 45 foreign countries. We should have a representation of our countrys quality wines on our Pic- nics for Lovers. The big scene in Yountville, named for George Yount, the first American settler in the valley, is a collection of boutiques, eateries, wine-makin- g, greeneries and assorted visitor attractions called Vintage 1870. Built around the old Gottlieb Groetzinger winery, the center is about to get its first lodging. Opening in April, on the train tracks- - that ran to the Groetzinger winery, is the Napa Valley Railway Inn, with accommodations in suites built into old freight cars of the Sacramento Northern and the Fruit Growers Express. Sinful Sweets wine lists, says Charles Bell, Hilton executive vice president. We are, after all, an American hotel chain. All the Yankee Doodling aside, there are also some heavy French accents both in Napa and Sonoma. Domaine Chandon, in Yountville, makes bubbly in the fashion of its It mother company, Moet-Chando- also sports a spiffy French restaurant at the winery. Conn Creek on Silverado Trail in St. Helena has a French partner from Haut Brion in Burgundy. And Chateau Petrus Pomerol, the famous label from Bordeaux, is on the way west, too. Any visitor who tires of the n connections and all the grape talk can look in on the Cement Works in Calistoga, where the Fox and Hounds is a reasonable facsimile of a British pub. What's more, right in the center of the wine country, it pours beer on tap to go with the fish and chips and the bangers and mash. Blasphemy! French-America- Those who put up here will find it handy to dine elegantly at La a few yards away, nibble on sinful sweets at Fantaisie au Choco-la- t or shop at Randolphs for crockery embossed with colorful scenes of the Napa Valley. Travelers who actually get down to tasting wine might look in at such fanciful wineries as Beringer in St. Helena, where visitors are received in their fabled Rhine House, a mansion built to resemble the home the Beringers left when they migrated from Germany in the 1870s. The expansive Robert Mondavi winery in Oakvillfe, on the other hand, is built in Spanish hacienda style and looks out on endless rows of vines. Wine tours and tastings are conducted regularly, but special tours of the vineyards and the explorawinery leave on three-hou- r tions every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Mondavi has been a prime mover in associating good wine with good food. The Great Chefs of France programs - week-lon- g jamborees that include cooking classes, tastings and will soon take a entertainment Char-donna- y, th - Spring savings in the Caribbean For visitors to the Caribbean, spriag means savings. The savings on accommodations begin on May 1 and will linger until On Barbados, for example, an oceanfront twin room at the Southern Palms is scheduled to drop from $114 to $62, European plan; on St. Barts, El Sereno Beach will reduce the winter rate of $146 double, with breakfast, to $74, although the rate from July 16 to Aug. 31 will be $92; in Aruba, the Holiday Inn cuts its rate for a superior double room by 47 percent, to $80, European plan. Along with these reductions come various bonuses and incentives souvenir handcrafts in the Dominican Republic; a free Madras bag, with samples of perfume and rum, on Martinique; in the British Virgin Islands, a free hotel night for each seven nights paid. June 2 to 16 in Puerto Rico; the Reggae Sunsplash, Aug. 7 to 11 in Jamaica; the Merengue Festival, July 20 to Aug. 4 in the Dominican Republic and the Steel Band Festival, in October in Trinidad and Tobago. More details, including a list of hotel rates and a calendar of events, are available from the Caribbean Tourism Association (20 East 46th Street, New York, N.Y. 10017; A word of warning however. The French island of Guadeloupe has been experiencing terrorist bombings at several of its hotels. The posh Le Meridien was bombed several weeks ago while the hotel was full to capacity. Three people were injured, one seriously. Very liitle in the way of warning potential tourists has been announced. A Napa or Sonoma wine tour inevitably threads its way through stacks of barrels in which the grape juice ages into wine. Boutiques, restaurants and quaint inns enliven visits to America's largest and oldest wine country. Among the attractions scheduled are the Pablo Casals Music Festival, lihrtbuB Pill Presents SPECIAL TEMPLE TOUR ST. GEORGE, ARIZONA, LOS ANGELES & OAKLAND Tour Includes: Session at each temple Pageant "Jesus the Christ" at Mesa Temple Grounds Disneyland Hearst Castle Tour pays for all admissions Tour pays for 17 meals Apr. 25 r. MOR P Dbl- - Person Occ. LOUISIANA WORLD FAIR & DEEP SOUTH TOUR June 9 1 Includes: All Air & Bu Transportation, 2 days at Fair, 2 days at Dtsnay World & EPCOT, Tampla Session at Atlanta, Admission to Grand Ola Opry, much, much 25 Meals, All Admissions paid I Dbl. Per Person 1300 Occ. CUM0RAH PAGEANT & CHURCH HISTORY TOURS 6 July July 21 Aug. 7 22-Au- -- Air I. Bus Bmi Only Includes 28 Meals 1150 CANADIAN ROCKIES & TEMPLE TOUR 25 Aug. ODU Per Person OW. Mckides Occ. 22Meafs TRAVEL FESYimiL84 Mark your calendar now to attend the debut of TRAVEL FESTIVAL 84 1 st March 31 in the Salt Palace featuring: EXCITING Salt Lake City st-Ap- booth exhibits live ril travel films entertainment major prize drawings Advance Ticket Cost: $2.00 with proceeds donated to the Shriners Burn Treatment Centers ($3.00 at door) Children 12 and under, admitted free when accompanied by adults. To order tickets in advance use coupon below AUSKA CRU fs E T0U R Aug. 20-Sep- t. Mail form, along with check or money order for full amount to: El Kalah Shrine Temple 1 All Air I. New Ship Included FALL FOLIAGE TOUR Sept 23-0c- L 11 hclude 26 Meals P.O. Box 520291 Salt Lake City, Utah BLACK HILLS PASSION PLA July Only 10-1- 5 300 84152-029- 1 For Froo Srochun Phape or Writo FUN TIME TOURS Wilbur Webb 278-310- 1 or 486-014- 1 2380 Evert re an Ave., S.I.C.. T UT. NUMBER OF TICKETS ORDERED at $2.00 TOTAL AMOUNT DUE MI09 rtn.iU St.,. n iter' imi m XL f-- 3 |
