LA DOLFINA

Art, Wine & Design  in the Napa Valley Ma(i)sonry is a living gallery... a destination where guests can appreciate art and furnishings that encompass a variety of works from 16th century European craftsmen to contemporary artists and designers, all while savoring limited production, boutique wines.   Ma(i)sonry's portfolio of collective wines evolves throughout the year.     You can enjoy a wine tasting experience in one of three private rooms in the historic house or the outdoor gardens, which are landscaped around architectural remnants, contemporary sculpture and a stone fire pit.   After the Tour de Cour we met up with my step-sister who lives in nearby St. Helena. We ordered a Chardonnay tasting flight.    Tasting flight is a term used by wine tasters to describe a selection of wines, usually between three and eight glasses, but sometimes as many as fifty, presented fo...

Recently when Napa Valley vintner Perry Butler counted his wife, Carolyn's, pairs of shoes, he stopped at 500.  Obviously, she had a passion for more than making fine wine.  He thought, "Why not combine both passions, which involve high style and world travel?"  While Perry is tasting wines for his label, Juslyn Vineyards, in London, Milan, New York and Paris, Carolyn could meet with designers on the Left Bank or its equivalent.  And so, Footcandy was born.  The elegant shoe shop now sits squarely in the heart of Napa Valley wine country, in the quaint village of St. Helena.  Despite its country locale, the tone is decidely upscale and international. Carolyn's buying philosophy, "I am the consumer, I sell to myself" Footcandy opened a second store in Walnut Creek down the street from Filthy Gorgeous and right next store to one of my favorite consignment clothing stores, Labels, which I will do a ...