Good Morning!

I am excited to say we are staying home tonight and celebrating Valentine’s day by making a pizza and opening a bottle of Gridley 2006 Cabernet Franc. This wine is made by Andrew Gridley and we fell in love with it several years ago on a trip to Napa. We had been winetasting all day and on the drive back home to the bay, we stopped at a great place called Brix. It had been raining all day so we were seated inside and the server was so awesome, I think I would have tried anything he recommended. (Tip, if the weather is good, sit outside, AWESOME views of the vineyards).

We now make a point to eat there most everytime we are in Napa. Back to the night we first went, we were seated and the place is lovely and the server said the special was pumpkin and sage pizza as an appetizer and he suggested the Gridley Cab Franc. The earthiness of the wine and sage just set us off. We were loving life and having one of those moments that as a couple you don’t get often. Nobody mentioned the mortgage, the baseball games, the vet appointments or the neighbors parking in our spot. It was us connecting over wine and food, really this is why I drink and make wine, for those moments we all take a deep breath and remember, more things make us common than the things that make us different.

We followed up the pizza by splitting a steak with a blue cheese crust and mashed potatoes. The meal was a HUGE hit for us. On the way out, Brix has a retail area where you can purchase the wines or other wine country collectibles and we bought the last bottle they had on the shelf. A few weeks later I fired up the grill and put on some steaks and opened the bottle and of course prayed it would be as good as we remembered. It was…the next day I hunted down where I could get a case as a surprise for my main squeeze….I was a ROCKSTAR girlfriend when it arrived. I swear we will serve this at Little Billy BadAss’ wedding when that day comes!

Anyway, tonight it will be a low key night, we went out over the weekend like most couples…but we will be enjoying the Gridley and homemade pizza Monday night. I hope you will open something red or pink and clink your glass with a special someone or great friends or even if you are single, raise your glass and enjoy the relationship you might have in the future!

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi