Last night’s wine was a 2007 Chappellet Malbec Napa Valley purchased at the winery.  Carissa Chappellet’s artwork titled “Fineus Dei” labels the bottle.  It’s an unusual drawing that is sophisticated, colorful, and fun.  It is one of the illustrations in her book ” Dragons of Pritchard Hill”.

We enjoyed the wine with a dinner of  Risotto with Butternut Squash, Leeks and Basil. Our daughter Allie is home for a stay so we’re testing our skills with vegetarian dishes and fortunately this one worked!  Thanks John for preparing it!   It was a lovely match of flavors.  Best of all, the Malbec married nicely with the meal.

We had the pleasure of visiting the Chappellet Winery at Pritchard Hill two years ago thanks to Chris and Amy Hunsberger. We toured the winery, the mountain and had the most incredible picnic on Pritchard Hill with Cyril & Blakesley Chappellet.   We were wow’d by their installation of a solar energy system that takes the winery off the grid and has the additional power to run the entire valley surrounding them if only the local utility would allow it to be shared.

If you have the chance to visit this family winery, don’t pass it up!