Wine Tasting in Napa, CA (Bougetz Cellars & RD Winery Asian Food and Wine Pairing)

Hello, welcome back to the vlog. If you're new here, I'm Ashley and I make travel and lifestyle content. And today we are back in Napa Valley. I know the cacti might be throwing you off. It is such a gorgeous day. We have been in a heat wave. It's like 70 right now and I am living for this. So let's go do some wine tasting. We're meeting up our friends and we'll see you in there. So we drove into Napa for the day and we went over this bridge that's going over the Sacramento River and I thought it was so lovely. So I took a video of it for you. We first met up our friends at the Monticello Deli. This was across the street. I thought it was interesting. And here is the place we met up. This is like a little market and they have a deli counter. They make sandwiches and also burritos and tacos here. And I think salads too. It was really close to the winery we were going to. So we picked up some lunch to bring with us to the tasting as well as some snacks. They had a lot of interesting things that I hadn't seen in other places. So I took a little video. Then we headed over to the winery and it was literally just around the corner from the market. So we've never been here before. I think we're on the Silverado Trail but I'm not quite sure. This is cute. It's like a co-op. So there's multiple different wineries on this side and on the other side of the parking lot. It is super cute. And they let us bring our own food which is unheard of in the Napa area. So I'm really excited. And here's a look at the outside and the parking lot with the seating of the place we were at. So you can see there's different wine rooms all right next to each other which was really interesting because usually in Napa or at least the places I've been to every individual place has their own room. So this was really cool to see. They reserved a table for us outside and it was really nice. Like I said, the day was lovely and the temperature was so perfect for being outside. We did the top tasting, I believe and they did pour us some extra pours as well which was very nice of them. And here's a look at the sandwiches we got at the deli. They were delicious, very big and filling. It was such a good spot to grab a meal to take with you. And here's Teresa with her chicken. They have fried chicken there. You have Grant? It is a sausage burrito. I always go with this whenever it's on the menu. Is it a breakfast burrito? Yes, yeah. I love a breakfast burrito, nice. So this is a family owned wine room, Bougette Cellars and it's run by a husband and wife. They focus on the Bordeaux varietals from the Napa Valley. So Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cab Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. We got to try all of those, I believe. We came here because Grant and Teresa are members. They came here, I believe on the wine trolley and they liked it so much they signed up to be members. Our wine tasting room associate was amazing. She was so friendly. She was telling us all about the wines and the events they have here. And she was also telling us about some delicious pairings, food that you could make to go with the wines, which I really liked because she was giving like really unconventional to me suggestions like pairing it with chili or a casserole. And I thought that was awesome because most people just say like a white fish or a steak. So I love hearing the different foods that you can pair wine with. She even mentioned that they were looking for volunteers to help with bottling day in the upcoming week. So I'm not sure if Grant and Teresa came back to do it, but I guess stay tuned to their channel to find out if they did or not. I know I'm gonna look for that video just in case they made it. We were busy, so we would not be able to attend that. But yeah, it was just a really lovely tasting and fun conversation. Black cherry, pepper. How about the other? Yeah, get some side-by-side. A little bit brighter, like blackberry instead of cherry. The finish is different. I think I like the other one, the second one, yeah. So that was Destin talking us through a side-by-side tasting. These are always so interesting. We tried two different wines that were just grown at different elevations, the same grape, and the soil is vastly different based on where they were. The lower elevation one got a lot more water. The climate was just a lot nicer. It's easier growing. And then the higher elevation one did have to struggle a bit more to grow just because of the climate and the soil up there. So it's always interesting to see what you can taste in the different elevations, even with the different weather, how it affects how the wine comes out. And here is just the inside of the tasting room. I went in there to show it to you. It's super cute and they have a lot of product. This art was so beautiful. It was actually on the cover of a magazine. In the same parking lot as this wine tasting room, they also have an art gallery. So I think art is really important in this area. And here is some beautiful photography. And I was floored by this huge wine rack they had. I'm a little jealous. Maybe I want one of these for my house. They also have their merch there. So if you wanted to do a wine tasting inside, this is what the room looks like. And it was really cozy. I really like how they have all these different rooms in the same spot. We got to try this wine that had that art that I was talking to you about. It's featuring the mustard that grows in the Napa Valley. If you go to Napa in late winter, early spring, like January, February, you can see mustard everywhere. And it is really beautiful. So I really like that artwork. We are at Artie Winery in Napa. This is like the gateway to Napa, the cusp of Napa. It's right at the beginning. And we've been here a bunch of times, but my besties here today. So we'll see how much I can actually film. I don't think I've actually ever filmed it for you, but these trees outside, if you see the ones to the left are actually cherry blossom trees. And they are absolutely stunning in the spring. So if you come to Artie, March, April, you see these beautiful pink cherry blossoms everywhere. It's so stunning. And then here's me showing you that my friend, Mai Lin, who is the CEO of this winery was in a book. It's a beautiful indoor space. They have lots of art from Vietnamese artists because it is a Vietnamese owned winery. And they also do the first and I believe only Pan-Asian wine pairing tasting in Napa Valley. So you get an assortment of different wines and then you get a bunch of bites and you can choose to pair the bite with the wine that's like placed in front of it or they actually tell you that you should mix and match and just see what you like. This is a very accessible winery. They don't like having a bunch of rules or whatever. They think that wine should be accessible and welcoming to everyone. That's one of the things that really draws me to this winery and keeps me coming back. I really like the lack of pretension and the eagerness to open their space to all folks and just really welcome everyone into wine because it's a drink. It is for everyone. So, well, everyone ages 21 and up or whatever the legal age limit is where you live. They have three different lines of wine here, Fifth Moon, which is more accessible, Hundredth Knot, which is more mid-range and then their Kwai line, which is a bit more higher end. And here's a look at the food that pairs with the wines. It does change seasonally. So this was their summer. Offerings, it will change in the fall. Hi guys. I just want to tell you how obsessed I am with these puffy stickers that are re-stickable. You can swipe up to get them from my Amazon shop. That's a wrap on our day. To follow me more in real time, check out my social media pages and please like and subscribe for more. We'll have lots more videos coming. Thanks for watching. Bye.