Napa Cabernet: 2008

Friday, December 26, 2008

Champagnes Anyone?

So, if you're going online to get your champagnes for the new year, you might as well get them at personalized wines. This place will customize your wine with labels that say anything you want them to. You can even customize your own personal label with graphics. They ship to most wine destinations, and their website is very comprehensive. The good life at a great price, what could be better?

Monday, August 25, 2008

On Blogging

Have you read a good blog post recently? Why not help another blogger out with traffic by giving a review and a link to their post? This will gain you good karma in the blogging world, and let readers know that you want to provide them with the best content, regardless of whether you were the one to produce it.

OK - This thought was courtesy of http://kikolani.com Thanks for sharing

Wi-Fi Hot Spots

Just this morning I was wondering where to meet my girlfriends where we could get a minute of free wireless access. Where to go? First thing to do was to search current hot spots in downtown Napa: http://jiwire.com - plug in your zip code and viola! They give you maps with pins or lists with websites. In planning our trip across country on a train, we'll have this in our favorites and I think it will really come in handy.

Also, I could register my own hot spot. If I signed up to register my service (if I activated my account) as paid wi-fi access, people would have the option to pay ME to use the internet while they were in my space. Just trying to think of ways for little dollars to find me. Also, jiwire has a free download that works with Skype.

travelling.grannie (my skype name)

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Blogging the Train

Yes, we were thinking of taking a train across the USA and blogging it on the way, kinda like a Travel Channel for the Internet - YouTube style videos, GPS, etc. I'm on the test run, going from Napa Wine Train Station to the Hanford/Lemoore Station on the San Joaquin Valley Train. It's nice! I have a great bus driver that doesn't mind talking to me all the way down to Martinez.

Really helpful people and especially patient with old ladies like me. Now arriving in Antioch. Nice day, by the water. We have that bay breeze thing happening. I might have to move cars, there's an overwhelming smell of cheap men's cologne. Guys, when you ride public transportation with other people, PLEASE lighten up on the scents.

Orchards, grapevines, a lot of agriculture in this valley. This time of year, the corn is REALLY big, up past the windows in some places. Real estate by the tracks isn't always attractive. Only certain kinds of people can live by railroad tracks. That's why it makes sense to have agriculture by all that noise, but as you get closer to city centers, you look into where backyards go to die.

So I call this guy in Chicago, at the Amtrak media relations department and I asked permission to blog the train. He was so nice to me, even giving me his number and telling me to call if I need anything, sent me a letter of introduction in case anyone asked for it while I was underway and live blogging. Yep, we'll be blogging our way across the USA! I want to have maps, with pins online. What a way to go.

Fresno Station, WOW! I didn't realize how hot it was out here until I got off the train for a smoke. The train is cool, air conditioned, so menopausal old ladies can ride in comfort, gazing out on the hot fields. And before you know it, it's time to disembark. My trip just flew by. I have never encountered an unfriendly Amtrak employee, they're all just so nice that it must be a requirement. Even the passengers seem nicer than the general public, babies and children really love to ride the train.

And! For your viewing pleasure, we're going to have a train video on YouTube with footage from trip. Stay tuned, I'm also going to post more on the return trip. This is just a practice post for when we're REALLY bloggin the train.

Friday, August 15, 2008

The LOVE Basket

Champagne & Truffles

1 Sparkler, Truffles, Chocolate & More

Surprise your special someone a wonderful gift basket featuring champagne and chocolates!

Show your love or send your thanks with rich, dreamy truffles, dark chocolate squares, a mint chocolate bar, chocolate hearts and a bottle of bubbly. This Stone House champagne shows its class in lots of toasty notes, pear and lemon buoyed by smooth, soft bubbles worthy of someone special. Perfect for Graduations, Weddings, Birthday's or just because!

Let the champagne flow!

Price: $79.95 - Shipping: $5.

Stone House Brut

North Coast, California

Champagne keeps getting more and more popular - people are discovering that bubbles are for more than just celebrations. At the same time, vineyard land in Champagne is maxed out, limiting the supply of grapes, and other parts of the world are proving that they, too, can make top-flight bubbly. The North Coast of California, for example: the cooler valleys and fog-chilled coasts make for the perfect conditions for sparkling wine. The Stonehouse Brut 2001 shows what they can achieve: lots of toasty notes, pear and lemon aromas, and a smooth, soft feel to the bubbles all live up to the standard set in France.

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Artichoke Flower & Antique Fire Truck

The trucks were outside the museum being washed when I caught engine number five in all it's glory. This truck is OLD, amazing that it still has the old black and yellow plates from back then, but I've never seen one with the official "E" on it!

And then I have an artichoke flower, it's that season. I just liked the fuzzy purple hairs on it:

Friday, July 25, 2008

Want FIRST DIBS?

2005 Opus One Napa Valley ~ PRE-RELEASE, we expect shipments to begin September 1st 2008 - order 6 bottles or more for special price, $159.95/bottle or get one for $169.95 I know, it's expensive, but it's Opus. It's not just fabulous Napa Valley red wine, it's an investment, it's art, history in a bottle.

BUY IT NOW

Friday, June 27, 2008

Simple Email Marketing

You know those pretty e-cards you admire that come to you in your email? A lot of them are coming from here, Vertical Response. You can go online and play around with their creation wizard and sent a test to yourself.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

I was walking down the street in Napa one day...

when I had to stop. Several seconds went by before I realized exactly what this was. Several more had to pass as I overcame spontaneous hysterical laughter. There is was, mounted atop a lofty post. One photo just won't do.

Fish head on a post. This is the detour route by the Oxbow school and the fairgrounds, Third Street, the OTHER side of the wine train tracks. Two photos just wouldn't do. Let's get a close up.