In a moment of absolute intraweb dw33b self admiration, w00t! One of my photographs of Mike’s 993 has made its way to the official Work Wheels USA product page for the Work Meister SP1 3-piece. *gloat*
-Wallace
We awoke Sunday morning to a multi-course brunch at Ad Hoc in Yountville; 1) Panna Cotta topped with House Granola and Pineapples | Mixed Berries w/Mint Bits. 2) Pastries - Croissants and Danishes w/House Cherry and Berry Preserves 3) Entree (Steak & Eggs for Crystal | Classic American for Myself). Then I gave Crystal a walking tour through the fabled town - Bistro Jeanty, Bouchon Bakery, Bouchon Bistro, and finally the French Laundry.
Sunday was much warmer then Saturday, the sun finally burnt through the haze so we took a rest opposite of the French Laundry to take it the scenic views, crisp air and plod barefoot through the French Laundry Gardens which supply much of the produce used at The French Laundry, Bouchon Bistro and Ad Hoc. I could probably do this on a daily basis and never grow tired.
On our way back to Ad Hoc (Where I left the car), we strolled through Yountville’s Father’s Day Classic Car Show - Here are a couple of my favorites:
Ferrari 330GT - how often does one catch one of these in the wild?
DeTomaso Mangusta - a stunning color on a super rare car.
After we make our way back to the Shelby, we find our way onto the Silverado Trail and mid-way through a chase down Oakvill Cross Road with a new Mercedes SL63 I put the Shelby’s brakes through its paces to make a sharp right into Plumpjack Winery.
Really pretty winery and almost humble compared to its namesake resort and San Francisco restaurants. I also applaud their efforts at CADE winery further up north and we did enjoy all of their wines, as well as grounds. Recommended if you want to escape the Highway 29 crowds.
The surprise of the weekend was about to come up. Deciding that we’ve gone as far north on the Silverado Trail for the day we hesitantly turned back down south, on the pathway down - not far from Plumpjack, was Miner Family Wines.
It’s building was gorgeous. Ivy found its way not only up the walls but through the ceiling, framing one of the most spectacular unobstructed views I’ve seen in Napa Valley. Their tasting has also been one of the mind boggling - I really did not enjoy their viognier and rose, but absolutely loved their reds - especially the 2005 Oracle.
One other notable item at Miner was the atmosphere - people were in a celebratory mood and in general in high spirits. We’ll gladly return, despite the less then stellar whites (although the chardonnay was alright in my opinion).
We finally had a small picnic at Robert Sinskey’s Gluttony & Gastronomy patio. Beautiful view, delicious Dean & Deluca offerings and not a better way to end a memorable Napa Valley Weekend.
Places we visited on Day 2:
Ad Hoc Restaurant
6476 Washington St
Yountville, CA 94599-1294
Plumpjack Winery
620 Oakville Cross Rd
Napa, CA 94558-9740
Miner Family Winery
7850 Silverado Trail
Napa, CA 94558
Robert Sinskey Winery
6320 Silverado Trail
Napa, CA 94558-9747
Also - My photoset of the weekend on Flickr.
Hope you found these entries helpful in planning your next trip to Napa. If you are a Club Sportiva member, please contact us prior to your departure. I have negotiated a discounted rate with Silverado Resort for all of our members.
-Wallace
Wow. What a week, first we lose Ed McMahon, then this morning Farrah Fawcett and at approximately 2:30pm - Michael Jackson. I don’t know one person who has not been influenced by Michael Jackson including myself - attempting the moonwalk as a child, then again during Super Bowl XXVII, singing along to Bad, Rock With You, or Smooth Criminal, and in more recent memory - celebrating to Billie Jean at a local bar. Finding myself in a lack of words, I will remember Michael through his videos. Godspeed.
Thriller
Smooth Criminal
Billie Jean
Bad
Rock With You
You Are Not Alone
-Wallace
“You two are always in Napa,” has been a common comment with anyone following our travels and although somewhat true - the truth is that tasting wine is an excuse to escape our professional lives. It’s been the dessert of our livelihoods. We’re also only in Napa maybe twice or thrice a year, but if you combine that with Sonoma, Healdsburg, Carmel, Lodi, and even our own backyard (Ridge & Picchetti), then yeah…we’ve crossed leisurely to excessive.
I do however, have an excuse for this weekend’s road trip - we went up for Glendy & Andrew’s mainland reception. It’s already been 6 months since they tied the knot in Oahu, and now it was time to gather those who were unable to travel during the holidays. We figured in addition to dinner we’d make a weekend out of it, so with the help of Club Sportiva and Silverado Resort we were on our merry way.
First off, the car, we took a 2007 Shelby Cobra GT and it turned out to be a great choice. Those of you who have not been in a Shelby Cobra might just write it off as another kitted and lowered Mustang GT, I know I thought it would be - however I was quite wrong, I soon found out that I really enjoyed this car. It makes 320 hp which one controls through a Hurst short throw shifter and out through a stiff but supple suspension. I was able to catch up quickly and smoothly to a new Mercedes SL63 which was also pushing it through Oakville Cross Road. My favorite thing about this car was that Hurst short shifter - short, quick, confident, and who doesn’t like a retro plastic ball knob? The next best thing was the exhaust note followed by the trunk space, being as this was an overnight trip the Gallardo made no sense.
Everytime we’re in Napa we seem to visit the same wineries, almost always up Highway 29 to see and taste the grand, and the grander. This time, because it was only the two of us - we were more flexible and aside from a trip to Turnbull and Cakebread (both of which we cherish), we visited quite a few wineries that have either been on my list forever now, or places that people have recommended the week prior.
On this particular day my favorite winery had to be Peju Province Winery, their grounds were just immaculate, well more charmed then impressive. My second favorite was Opus One, yes…it’s true although I’ve sampled their wine on more then an occasion I’ve never made it up to the fabled winery. We’re usually in Napa or Sonoma in rather large groups so getting rsvp’s for everyone is a bit difficult, not to mention wresting the necessary $50 needed per person for the tour, with two people it’s rather simple - I think I could get used to this format.
So we worked our way up HWY 29 again, but this time stopping by wineries that we often passed up. We gave up Mondavi, even though they rolled out the red carpet for us last time, V.Sattui and even Sterling in favor of the likes of Trefethen, St. Supéry, and Del Dotto. For lunch we made a quick stop Dean & Deluca; bleu cheese stuffed olives, dry sliced salami, bouchon loaf, asparagus salad, and chicken tenders. I’ve never said no to fried chicken. A couple more wineries and we were off to the Martin’s.
The Martin’s owned a fabulous home tucked into the foothills of St. Helena. As with most homes in the area, Mr. Martin kept a humble vineyard and a pruned grove of olive trees. Crystal adored the small greenhouse and the use of bathtubs as an incubator for plants. According to Glendy they have spent the better part of the past 3 weeks setting things up and preparing for the 90 or so people who rsvp’d.
We really enjoyed ourselves and loved the relaxed atmosphere. The flowing wine, beer, san pellegrino sparkling beverages and not to mention the grilled shrimp, drumsticks, quiche, cheese platters, and the mish mash of American & Asian symbolic of not only their union but of Hawaii. Thanks again for having us, we had a fun time.
Unfortunately pollen attacked me later in the evening, causing a mad panic to get back to our resort. Thank goodness for Claritin and we dozed off to sleep.
List of Wineries we visited on Day One:
Trefethen Family Vineyards
1160 Oak Knoll Ave
Napa, CA 94558
Opus One
7900 Saint Helena Hwy
Oakville, CA 94562
Turnbull Wine Cellars
8210 Saint Helena Hwy
Oakville, CA 94562
St. Supéry
8440 St. Helena Hwy
Rutherford, CA 94573
Peju Province Winery
8466 Saint Helena Hwy
Napa, CA 94558-9732
Del Dotto Estate Winery & Caves
1445 St. Helena Hwy South
St. Helena, CA 94574
-Wallace
I neglected to mention that I actually had the pleasure to photograph a few special vehicles in addition to Mike’s Work’d 993. One of those is Bobby’s 1968 Porsche 912 in Ossi Blue. Bobby and I met over this car actually, I reached out expressing interest in photographing this car, and referencing Rick’s Penske Mule as part of my credentials, or lack there of. Anyways, finally caught him at Club Auto Sport’s 24 Hour of Lemans viewing party and he swung by the Club again on Friday so I could shoot his gorgeous 912.
The car is in a strange state; on one hand it’s absolutely beautiful, and on the other it needs a bit of work. It’s a driver, there’s no doubt about that - this thing definitely was not a ground up restoration, but not a car one would want to modify away from it’s humble beginnings. Putting a RS kit or anything aside from driving and maintaining it as is would be short of sacrilege. It’s a car that Porsche purists can look at with admiration and spin the gears of the outlaw group.
Under certain lighting the Ossi Blue just pops. It’s an insane color that I find incredibly attractive. Almost fly to light attractive. Personally, if I wasn’t so set on a moddable 964, this would be in my garage. If you’re interested let me know. Bobby wants $15,000 for it.
More on my Flickr.
-Wallace
Mike finally got his Work Meister SP1’s fitted onto his Porsche 993 C4S, so naturally since we’re both fans of the RWB style Porsches I had to shoot his car.
These are flat black anodized centers with a polished step lip and polished hardware. It’s a look that keeps growing on me, especially as he zipped out of Club Auto Sport after the photoshoot.
Wheels make the car, or so the saying goes. Although I kept nudging Mike to lower the car just a couple centimeters more - this C4S is so mint and loaded that a paint chip would be an emotional experience all in itself, or as most of us know as, ‘when stretch fights back.’
The rest of the set can be found on my Flickr.
-Wallace
Many people believe just because they have a blog, they are all of a sudden ‘important’ - and when they rave or rant they expect to change the world. I’m obviously not one of those bloggers, otherwise I would have protested the cancellation of Life, Thief, and other minuscule haphazards of my life. However I do believe in voicing strong objections or opinions when the subject is more the trivial, and borderlines passion.
This past January, California State Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that due to California’s current budget deficit and unfortunate situation he is proposing that we shut down a portion of California’s State Parks, the original 48 has now ballooned to some 220 and counting.
“Great. So how does this effect you or I?” If you never plan on visiting California or are perfectly content living in the middle of a metropolitan this doesn’t effect you at all, but for the rest of us who have grew up enjoying, and somewhat taken for granted, our State Park system this is a major loss. Those of you who have gone on many a camping trip with us, or have gone on our annual Sykes Hot Springs trip will no longer be able to continue such adventure. It will be the end of a legacy.
“Ok, I’m sold - how can I help?” If you wish to keep our State Parks open, and continue going to Parks such as Big Basin Redwoods or Pfeiffer Big Sur, here’s what you can do:
1.) Educate yourself on why our state parks are closing : Save Our State Parks
2.) View the list of proposed park closures for yourself : Closure List
3.) Take Action! Sign the online petition: Here and write to your local state legislation.
4.) Promote your cause via your blog, facebook, myspace, networks, et cetera.
You and I together will be able to Save our State Parks.
Wallace
A Big Thumbs Up for Manual for sending me photos of his completely stock 1995 Porsche 911 GT2, or as us Porsche nuts often refer to as “993 GT2 Evo 2.” This is by far one of my most favored cars, and something I’d consider a dream vehicle. I can only imagine the fun Manual must have driving this on the never ending country roads within Spain.
Enjoy the pictures.
-Wallace
This weekend started with plans to grab some red meat, a couple cigars, a bottle of port and a fresh bottle of scotch. Somehow I ended up boarding Caltrain to meet Crystal to crash her girl’s night out at Opera at the Ballpark. Big thanks to Olivia for setting things up and saving a spot for us just off second base. “Get some culture in your life,” was the words of my boss and colleague Joe earlier that day, well… I made it through two acts, and added my own soundtrack to act three. I mean, who else can say they fell asleep on AT&T Park/Giant’s outfield?
The following Saturday we started off checking out Sunset’s Celebration Weekend. Every year I see them setting up these beautiful rows of glistening white tents but forget by the weekend. This year we made it down and I’ve never seen so many people in such a concentration within Menlo Park. Carol and her new boyfriend Neil surprised us with a visit and in Carol’s words, “a dozen beers before 2pm,” it was a fun afternoon. I can now tell you that I’m a superb interior decorator and a floral arranger.
In an attempt to recapture my manhood, we attended the Club Sportiva party that evening. Amongst the mass of metal they were giving club members spirited test rides in an Lucra Cars LC470 Leister. 700hp LS7 packaged in a tubular framed and carbon fibered skinned package - stunning. Other vehicles on hand were a Lancia Delta Integrale, or the infamous Evo 2, an Aston Martin DB6, McLaren F1 Prototype, various Porsches, a Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing, and many, many more. Not to mention the new addition of the Superperformance 427 Coupe.
Silver Creek Country Club invited us to participate in their annual charity drive and show - we arrived early and brought down five vehicles; a Ferrari F430 coupe, Lotus Elise, Aston Martin DB9 Volante, Lamborghini Gallardo and Audi R8.
It’s no secret that I adore this car, like everyone says it just does everything well. It doesn’t pack a ludicrous 900hp motor, or an ostentatious paint job, or even a flamboyant metallic skin - but the Audi R8 is an incredible machine. The car keeps a low profile, enough to crawl around town without attracting a crowd or every other BMW driver trying to drag race you, and is a car Crystal will voluntarily get into any and every time.
However if one had a heavier foot the R8 turns into hyde - fierce, unforgivable, and blistering fast. It also has that ‘if you’re not careful I’ll kill you’ feeing that the Gallardo lacks.
…and how about the company? That’s a Mercedes x McLaren SLR behind me, and Matt of Silicon Valley Auto Group in the Orange Gallardo.
Here’s the team in front of the Silver Creek Country Club Clubhouse. Left to Right - Wallace, Brendon, Rick, Dean and Kevin.
Another fun weekend, but I’m glad it’s over and I’m back to rocking through the work week. Thanks to a bunch of you who made it out Saturday evening, hope you enjoyed yourselves! With that I leave you with my favorite photo of the weekend. Rode shotgun in the Ferrari F430 on 101N - it allowed me to snap a few frames, and this turned out to my liking. Check out the rest of the photos in my Flickr below.
Sunset Celebration Weekend 2009
Silver Oak Elementary Charity Drive
-Wallace
So I might as well admit this now before any more of you point this out - I have an unhealthy addiction to shoes and bags. That’s right, call me a girl - by the way, it’s a good thing that Crystal definitely has more pairs of shoes then I do, but I think I have more bags.
Anyways, I’m yet again looking out for a new work bag, and with all the recent weekend trips a weekender bag. The work bag is the tricky one, up till now I’ve been primarily using synthetic messenger bags - they’re rough, tough, urban and well…have no place in the business world I’ve decided. My maybe 6 month old Chrome bag is dirtying up as I expected (It was one of the pure white limited editions) and my Timbuk 2 just looks so g33k. Enter the Ecsotype Presse bag - it’s a mixed material build utilizing leather and canvas to create a utilitarian look that’s almost too busy in my opinion but for some odd reason I dig it. Would dig it more in a cognac.
Next up is a new weekender bag. I have a very well used Victorinox that I’ve had for the past 4 or 5 years - it’s beat up and I keep imagining that if it was leather it would have an awesome patina on it by now. However, since I am unable to find the Brit cut and clasp bridal leather bag I lust after these are two great substitutes. A.P.C., always great about finding that balance between function, fashion and status has released their version of their 2009 Weekend Bag only to sell out as soon as it was released.
Marc introduced me to KillSpencer, and up and coming design student who turned to purpose driven reclaimed material design. I really dig this recycled army truck tarp bag - problem is…well it’s a stylized tarp. Not sure if I’d enjoy carrying a tent bottom around - looks awesome though.
Well, if you come across anything cool, neat, or just fresh - send it my way.
-Wallace