A Raw Foodist in Napa Valley

Well I’m back in Chicago as of late last night (due to a flight delay) and am back to report an awesome 5-day vacation in Napa Valley and San Francisco.  We really hit the jackpot in terms of weather too.  It was abnormally warm last weekend and it turned out that the majority of clothes I packed for the trip were far too warm for the weather!  Oh well.  Better warmer than colder ☺

On the way into Napa Valley we stopped by Trader Joe’s and stocked up on salad veggies, water and avocado.  This is how our hotel fridge ended up looking like after stocking it up with raw foods:

With the help of some Lara Bars and fruit that I brought from home, and salads and snack veggies that we bought there, I think we spent $30 on food altogether for that Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning in Napa (that was the receipt total at Trader Joe’s).  How can you beat that?  Although money spent on wine, wine tastings, tours, and spa treatments was another story…haha.  Everything was SOOO worth it though!

I definitely drank more wine than I have in a long time.  I usually drink 1-2 glasses max but I definitely had more than that in Napa (although it was spread throughout the day).   I do love wine!  All sorts too ☺  I drank plenty of water inbetween tastings though and ate throughout the day so no hangovers ☺  Just plain ole fun!

<–I ate some raisins (with seeds) I found left on some grape vines :)

The two things that I really don’t like about drinking though are 1) it really stimulates my appetite, causing me to feel hungry when I normally wouldn’t and to eat more usual (although this is fine as long is it’s veggies or something), and 2) it tends to dehydrate and therefore constipate so I need to drink massive amounts of water with the wine, before I go to bed, and even throughout the night.  Is this worth the good-feelings that come from sipping wine in the beautiful sunshine or dusk with great company and views?   For me, the answer was yes.  Maybe years down the road it won’t be anymore.  But who knows?

The winery tours in Napa Valley were a real learning experience.  I know so much more about wine and the wine making process than I ever have before and have so much more appreciation for all the work that goes into it.  We learned that the highest temperature wine is heated to is 85-88 degrees Fahrenheit.  So yes—wine truly is raw and full of phytochemicals and antioxidants.  I also realized that making wine is A LOT like making kombucha.  (I’ll do another post just on this later this week).   I really understood a lot of the chemistry involved in fermenting, bottling, and storing wine due to my kombucha making experience.

We also learned that sulfites are both naturally occurring in the fermentation process as well as added in to help preserve the wine by killing off any mold that could have been on the grapes when picked.  This is a good thing, I think, since we don’t want to drink any moldy wine.  Even organic wines can have some sulfites added in.  The level is so low though that it is not a threat to your health.

It both amazed and shocked my boyfriend how close to the main highway and roads the grapes were grown.  The picture on the left was taken from the car while driving.  Too close for comfort almost.  (It didn’t stop us from drinking the wine though.  That’s what detoxing is for, right?)  I’m afraid that these grapes are definitely full of exhaust fumes from passing cars.  Too bad.  You’d think the growers would be more conscious of something like this since they’re so concerned with taste and quality grapes.

We did get to check out one organically winery: Frog’s Leap.  They don’t actually produce organic wine per se but they do grow organic grapes.  There is a difference because they add in sulfites in the wine making process.  This was one of my favorite wineries because they had a little farmers market going on (see pics below) and they really encouraged us to help ourselves to it as well as their persimmon tree once they saw how much I loved the persimmons they had all over the place.  This was my highlight of the day!!!! They also had a beautiful herb and veggie garden that I was just loving ☺  Frog’s Leap is one of the only wineries that has a full time staff on benefit plans and everything, meaning everyone involved in the wine is fully vested with the company.

On the way out of town, we did actually find and visit a small natural health food store that made juices and smoothies.  My boyfriend asked if they could make a green smoothie with the parsley that was on the juice menu and the lady was totally lost with that request.  She actually told him something like “no…I don’t think so.  It would get tangled up in the blender.” And they had a Vita-mix!  How funny (and sad that they didn’t know about green smoothies).

Isn’t this a heavenly sight?

The Raw Foodist in San Francisco recap is up next so stay tuned…

Related posts:

1. How to dine out at a regular restaurant if you’re a raw foodist
2. A Raw Foodist in San Francisco
3. New York Inspiration
4. Another Raw Thankgiving
5. Turkey Day Tips!