Not exactly a bargain, but a very good, bold bottle of red wine in a style that Parducci mastered long ago. Calls for red meat, barbecue and pasta.
Gutsy and bold, but just refined enough. Deep colored, full-bodied, with lots of grip in the texture from tannins, and lots of blackberry flavor to balance it out. Hints of smoke and black pepper add complexity.
Napa Valley's dining Mecca
Restaurant-rich Yountville is an ideal base for visitors
By Jim Gordon
Napa Valley Lodge, one of
many very good hotels
Noted U.K. wine writer Oz Clarke often stays in Yountville when he visits Napa Valley. Plenty of good hotels are available, but it’s Yountville’s restaurants that particularly excite him. "Every time I come, I make it a little farther down Washington Street to try the next restaurant. And each one seems better than the last."
It's true that this small but upscale mid-valley town has a great lineup of restaurants. For one thing, this is the home of The French Laundry, one of the best restaurants in the country, not just in wine country. It's a destination dining spot that requires reservations far in advance, yet most people find the wait worth it when they sit down in an elegant setting to enjoy a nine-course dinner created by owner-chef Thomas Keller and his meticulous staff.
Bistro Jeanty brings French flair
to Napa Valley
Then, on Washington Street alone you'll find excellent California cuisine at Hurley's, delicious Parisian cuisine at Bouchon, rich and filling French country fare at Bistro Jeanty, and contemporary American cuisine at the new Redd. The longest-running fine restaurant in Yountville is the Restaurant at Domain Chandon, across Highway 29 from the town proper.
Yountville civic leaders about 15 years ago observed that their small town (population 3,000 today) was going to grow and change one way or the other because of the visitors lured to visit and taste wine at the ever-better wineries in Napa Valley. They watched St. Helena eight miles to the north fight off developers who wanted to build hotels, resorts and restaurants, and decided they would welcome them instead, if they were done right. Yountville was ideally situated on Highway 29, the valley's main thoroughfare, but in view of the hills and vineyards to provide a real wine-country experience. All of the valley’s wineries are within a 40-minute drive from here, and numerous landmark wineries like Opus One, Far Niente, Robert Mondavi, Cakebread, Silverado Vineyards and Stags Leap Wine Cellars are less than 10 minutes.
French Laundry culinary
gardener Scott Boggs
Yountville's calculated growth policy helped the town's restaurants to thrive, but the biggest impact was on lodging. Today Yountville is home to three sizeable high-quality hotels and numerous other inns nearby. Villagio is the town's lodging showpiece. Humming with national sports figures each summer for the V Foundation Wine Celebration, Villagio offers Mediterranean style décor and a quiet sense of luxury that seems well suited to Napa Valley. Its sister property, the Vintage Inn, was built a decade earlier in a more country French style.
Among many small luxury inns and B-and-Bs, the newest is especially worth noting. The Poetry Inn perches ideally on the eastern hills overlooking Yountville with a spectacular view, spa facilities and dining for guests. Cliff Lede, who bought the former S. Anderson Vineyard on the east side of Yountville, also bought an aging inn property just across the Silverado Trail (the valley's alternate, less-crowded two-lane highway) and revamped it totally as a luxurious but not ostentatious inn.
Yountville is not the place to find bargain lodging, and there are few quick in-and- out lunch spots except for Gordon's Café and the Bouchon Bakery, but visitors to Napa Valley who want to retreat to a non-corporate hotel and enjoy several memorable meals will find this small town charming and welcoming. – J.G.
YOUNTVILLE DINING
Bistro Jeanty
Chef Philippe Jeanty ran the kitchen at the more formal Restaurant at Domain Chandon for many years before opening this cozy place of his own that features dishes and ambience reminiscent of his native France. Look for rib-sticking dishes with lots of meat, well salted, tender and satisfying. Jeanty makes veal kidneys (served with green peppercorn sauce) and a rousing steak tartare or rich coq au vin.
Lunch and dinner daily. Entrées $15-$25. 6510 Washington St., Yountville, CA 94599. 707.944.0103.
Bouchon
A faithful reproduction of a Parisian bistro down to the zinc bar and paper cones to hold the pommes frites, Bouchon is the brainchild of chef Thomas Keller of the French Laundry who opened this alternative restaurant for a more casual dining experience. The place really hops most evenings and there’s a lively mix of local Napans and visitors either drinking or dining. Look for classic French dishes like a grand plateau of seafood and boudin blanc (white sausage with potato puree and sautéed prunes).
Lunch and dinner daily. Entrées $16-$29. 6534 Washington Street, Yountville, CA 94599. 707.944.8037.
Domain Chandon
One of Napa Valley’s longest-running successes, this elegant French restaurant is on the grounds of the contemporary Chandon sparkling wine facility. Though chefs have come and gone in recent years the restaurant still offers a comfortable, quiet ambience for special occasions, and currently features Asian and American touches on the largely French menu under Montana-born chef Chris Manning.
November-March, lunch Thursday-Sunday and dinner Thursday-Monday; April-October, lunch and dinner Thursday-Monday. Entrées $18-$33. One California Drive, Yountville, CA 94599. 800.736.2892.
The French Laundry
It really
is
as good as they say. For a rare dining experience in which the food, the wine, the service, the ambience, the impeccable quality of the whole package comes together with precision, plan to eat at The French Laundry at least once in your life. Thomas Keller’s small Yountville restaurant offers course after course consisting of precise, delicious bites of carefully grown, harvested and prepared foods, with all the trimmings of a great wine list, careful doting service and plenty of time to enjoy them. It comes at a price – $210 per person without wine – but it’s worth it for people who appreciate exceptional dining.
Lunch Friday-Sunday, dinner seven days. Prix fixe nine-course or seven-course meal, $210 per person. Reservations are accepted two months in advance by calling 707.944.2380. The reservations desk is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Reservations can also be made online through OpenTable.com. 6640 Washington Street, Yountville CA 94599. 707.944.2380.
Gordon’s Café
Visitors who go a bit farther north on Washington Street than most of the action will enjoy the quaint country atmosphere and high-quality food at Sally Gordon’s. Great for a wake-up latte, a full breakfast or casual lunch, Gordon’s is a favorite stop for valley residents. Look for fresh pastries, creative salads and a small wine bar with new and rare offerings.
Breakfast and lunch daily. Entrées $5-$14. 6770 Washington Street,
Yountville, CA 94599, 707.944.8246.
Hurley’s
Veteran Napa Valley chef Bob Hurley has his own restaurant now, where the ambience and the food are contemporary wine country, but with a Mediterranean flair. Look for take-offs from tradition, like rock shrimp and roasted fennel ravioli, grilled prime rib of lamb, and horseradish-crusted salmon.
Lunch and dinner seven days. Entrées $18-$29. 6518 Washington Street, Yountville, Napa Valley, CA 94599, 707.944.2345
Redd
A new dining spot opened in late 2005 as a home for chef Richard Reddington, formerly of nearby Auberge du Soleil. He calls the contemporary American cuisine “Napa Valley food” and relies on fresh local ingredients as much as possible. Chef’s tasting menus range from $60-95.
Lunch and dinner daily, brunch on Sunday. Entrées $20-$28. 6480 Washington Street, Yountville, CA 94599. 707.944-2222.
YOUNTVILLE LODGING
Napa Valley Lodge
Mid-sized premium hotel in town with Spanish style architecture and a complimentary sparkling wine breakfast. Rooms $252-$362, suites $445-$475. 2230 Madison Street, Yountville CA 94599 707.944.2468 or 800.368.2468.
Poetry Inn
Small luxury inn with breathtaking views, two miles from Yountville. 6380 Silverado Trail, Napa CA 94558; 707.944.0646;
visitus@poetryinn.com
;
Villagio Inn & Spa
Incorporates 112 guest rooms in Italian style two-story building clusters. Full-service spa, breakfast by the pool, and a mini-vineyard to explore. Rooms $230-$575, suites $345-$1,165. 6481 Washington Street, Yountville CA 94599; 707.944.8877.
Vintage Inn
Sister property to Villagio and the shopping complex called Vintage 1870, the Vintage Inn goes for a romantic French feel in its clusters of two-story villas. Rooms $230 to 575, villas and mini suites $345-$610. 6541 Washington Street, Yountville CA 94599; 707.944.1112.
Reviews & Scores
We rate wines on the 100-point scale, which is widely accepted by consumers
and the trade. Our goal is to recommend the very highest quality wines, plus
those wines with extra attributes: the most distinctive, most affordable,
most age-worthy, and those of high quality that are also widely available.
We have devised an ancillary score field to recognize these additional criteria.
The reviews come from our own blind tastings led by Jim Gordon, editor and
co-founder of CaliforniaWineWeb.com, assisted at times by other experts. Jim
has been a wine journalist and professional taster for more than 20 years.
CaliforniaWineWeb.com's 100-Point Scale
95-100 World-Class
90-94 Exceptional
85-89 Very Good
80-84 Good
70-79 Average
Below 70 Poor
Extra Attributes
= Great Value.
=
Especially Distinctive
= Available Widely
= Cellar
Choice
= Great Value.
=
Especially Distinctive
= Available Widely
= Cellar
Choice
