Happy Holidays!

Our best to you and yours this holiday season.

Mucho Nacho

Ah, tis fall, yet our garden continues to grow. We continue to be very excited about our pepper plants this year. We have 16 different varieties, from Serrana to Jalepeno to Mucho Nacho.

Here are a few pics. Enjoy.

Pottery

One of the things I like best about The Wine Country Inn is the terra cotta pottery we have at various places throughout the property. Kate Sands, who designs the interiors of the rooms, and Mrs. Smith have selected most of the pieces. Anyway, the next time you're here, be sure to check them out. Simple, rough, a little beat up (the pottery, not Kate and Mrs. Smith), I like em all because they have CHARACTER. Here are a few pics. Enjoy.

Happy Halloween!

Ah, fall is in the air at the Inn. Most of the grapes in the surrounding vineyards have been harvested, the leaves are turning their fall colors, and the flowers around our grounds continue to bloom, bloom, bloom. Yes, the rain will be arriving shortly, but for now we're enjoying YELLOW--in the leaves, from the sun, on the flowers.

Come visit us if you need some more "yellow" in your life.

Napa Valley Color!

Fall has arrived in the Napa Valley! You can see it in the vineyards:

...and around our grounds:

...and in our gardens:

We hope to see you at the Inn soon!

The Other Napa Valley Harvest: Olives

While most of the Napa Valley right now is focused on the Napa Valley grape harvest, here at the Wine Country Inn we're also paying attention to another pending harvest: of the olives off of our 25+ olive trees.

So far, this year's crop looks excellent. Normally we harvest the olives in November, so we will keep you abreast of what's going on. If you're visiting the Inn between now and late November and want to learn more about our olives, ask for me, Maury, at the front desk, and I'll be happy to show you around.

Bird Houses

At a place as fabulous as The Wine Country Inn, we're going to have a lot of bird friends (especially because we're so close to the vineyards, and especially at this time of year, with the grapes becoming ripe). To help our feathered friends, we've added several birdhouses throughout the property. Ah, what says the Napa Valley better than beautiful singing birds (well, other than a great Cab!).

Those Wierd Vineyard Signs

Many people ask me what those little signs are for posted on various stakes within Napa Valley's vineyards. They serve two purposes, of which one is particularly important this time of year during the Napa Valley grape harvest.


One, the signs can indicate to the vineyard workers and winemakers a different clone of the same grape. For example, the entire vineyard might be entirely Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. However, there might be three or four (or more, or less) clones--different types of Cab Sauv grapes. The idea is that each clone has a particular characteristic which the winemaker wants to highlight.

Secondly, the numbers serve as a simple way for the vineyard workers to keep track of the work they are doing in the vineyard as a whole, whether it's pruning or picking. It sounds funny, but the vines really do look the same (!) so this numbering system helps keep things straight.

In the picture above, the "2" represents the clone (type 2) and the "31" represents the row number. Simple, simple, simple...but needed, needed, needed!

Anyway, that's my info for this post today. Enjoy!

Garden Variety

Our expanded gardens are overflowing at the moment! Not only do we have larger quantities, we have variety too. On the grounds of the Inn, we have 17 different varieties of heirloom tomatoes (including Early Girl, Green Zebra, Caspian Pink, Oregon Spring, and Black Crim), and we have more than 15 types of peppers (including Relleno, Yellow Hot Wax, Anaheim, and Thai Dragon). The next time you're here, ask for me, Maury, and I'll give you a personal tour.

Green Zebras



Jim, time to make more salsa

Greetings

Greetings and salutations friends, and welcome to the Wine Country Inn's Gardens blog. Many people have been positively commenting about our grounds appearance and atmosphere. I felt setting up a blog would be a good way to discuss our gardens and to answer any questions.
I will start by saying that every season spent here in the Napa Valley is a beautiful one. The Inn wouldn't be the same without its country setting. We are surrounded by Napa Valley vineyards, and have one of the best views in the area; including scenes of vineyards, farmhouses, rolling hills, distant mountains and big blue skies.
Our gardens are equipped with cobbled walking paths that escort you through soothing annual flowerbeds, whispering 80-100 year old olive and oaks trees, flowering scrubs, creeping vines, and our own vineyard. If serenity is what your spirit is in search of, a trip to the Gardens is the perfect fix. Hope to see you soon!