Taste of Travel-Say Yes to Yountville

By Charlene Peters –

Biking alongside the setting sun, past Stag’s Leap to a tasting at Cliff Lede vineyards, or walking the glorious one-mile expanse of Yountville’s epicurean enclave and you’ve entered nirvana, especially when at the same time, you get to taste fine vintages in the luxuriating comfort of such wineries as Domaine Chandon, Girard Winery and Silenus Vintners.

Yountville’s annual Moveable Feast is a culinary adventure that offers a quintessential exploration of the quaint town in Napa Valley, California.

Sporting six Michelin stars among 15 restaurants, including Bistro Jeanty, Bottega Ristorante, and Hotel Luca’s Cantinetta Piero, Yountville attracts the best of the best chefs, drawn to an area that boasts The French Laundry, Bouchon and ad hoc, three of famed Chef Thomas Keller’s famous restaurants. It’s no surprise that town locals refer to Yountville as “Kellerville,” especially knowing that he’s willing to share the crops grown on his 48 plot organic garden.

Dining is almost as important to Yountville’s economy as wines are, and due to Keller’s success, and the likes of Domaine Chandon (the only winery with a Michelin-star restaurant open to the public), the best young chef’s flock to the area to tout their craft.

It doesn’t matter that there are only 3,200 residents living in Yountville, and it doesn’t matter that half of those residents are retired veterans. Tourism is thriving with foodies and oenophiles heading to hills of wine country every month of the year. And through February, Moveable Feast features the town’s 11 hotels and 15 restaurants that encompass the 23-acre town, concentrated with restaurants and wineries that offer a walk-able visit.

For those who prefer not to walk the 10 minutes it takes through town, there’s the option of Napa Valley Bike Tours, or you can jump on a free trolley to take you wherever your taste buds beckon.

Visit Yountville.com for more information and to get your passport to savings. And in the meantime, Brussels sprouts are the vegetable du jour, and Dungeness crab is the seafood of the season, so here are a few recipes worth whipping up to get a taste of the valley.

• Shaved Brussels Sprouts and Asparagus Salad
• Dungeness Crab with Shaved Fennel and Madeira Gelée

Located north of Boston, Massachusetts, Charlene Peters has spent years experiencing spas, food and wines of the world. She enjoys sharing tales on the best stops in her travels, and hopes readers will follow the footprints she leaves behind via her reviews. To reach Charlene, e-mail: charlenepeters@comcast.net.