Ms. Yoga made her appearance and it brought moments of youth in a couple of ways.  The logistics of her trips here are anything but prosaic and I think even her slate of appointments are constantly changing.  For me, it was one of the shortest times, but she did get a lot more time with my Bride and that is good, since they go back long before I got into the picture.  She flew in and we met for a quick lunch and then they both had to go back to work, so I was the only one to have a glass of wine, and I know that was terrible of me, but I was off that day.

One of the highlights is that I have a photo of maybe a true rarity among wine lovers.  We were all at Duckhorn Vineyards together years ago and through a customer of mine, we landed a private tour of the estate during harvest time.  Duckhorn was so new, that the tasting room facilities were not totally functional and we actually did our tasting sitting on cases of wine in the back of a semi-trailer, and one of the Duckhorn sons was actually opening up the cases, then opening up bottles and pouring wine, not tastings, I might add.  It was one of our best memories in Napa.  I mean we left with plenty of Merlot, and yes, I am always touting Merlot, even during the dark years of Sideways.  We left with Three Palm Vineyards and Howell Mountain Merlot bottles like they were going out of style.  It was Ms. Yoga, or I should say her son, that got the real rarity.  I mean Ms. Yoga was traveling with her family and an au pair; and her son was a perfect gentleman in a venue that was not truly children-oriented and he was given a genuine Duckhorn Vineyards Duckhorn, not that we went hunting afterwards.

That gift was given so long ago that her son has now attained the age of majority and has been known to partake in a bottle of wine with his date.  So, can we sing “It’s a small world after all” and I will let that song and refrain permeate in your brain for a day or two, as I know it will in mine.  Why do I mention that song?  After we parted after lunch Ms. Yoga went on some business calls and even met some clients for some refreshments, and when she showed up at our house, she brought a bottle of wine to share with us, as if we don’t have any wine here.  Just stick with me, and maybe it will make sense, beyond my thoughts.  We were drinking a bottle of Frank Family Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2015.  The estate was originally Larkmead Winery in 1884, and later it became Kornell Champagne Cellars.  The tasting room is an old stone edifice that is listed as a point of historical interest in the State of California.  In 1992 it was bought by Rich Frank, the former president of Walt Disney Studios.  This is an estate grown wine with fruit from their two vineyards and the while the wine is eighty-six percent Cabernet, it is rounded out with some Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc.  The wine has been aged for twenty months in French Oak of which a third was new and yes it was delicious.  While the wine had a great nose, an awesome taste and a nice long finish, I think it even gained more points, just because of the company that we were tasting it with.  It is not too often that I can write a wine article that has a juvenile theme running through it.