I went to Robert Craig with all good intentions of loving their cabernet sauvignon.  After a day of moving rugs around followed by a lovely long lunch at The Pear my friend Stacey and I decided to stop by Robert Craig’s “tasting salon” in Napa in a very strange little industrial area over near Walmart.

Well mistake number one.   You must have an appointment!  Well lucky for us there were only two other people in sight so the hostess said we could take a seat and join them at the bar.  I of course then asked if they had “Napa Neighbors” specials.  Well… of course not today as it was Valentine’s day weekend and they were doing a special chocolate and wine pairing. Ok, we’ll bite.  So we committed to the $25 tasting.

We first tried their chardonnay.  Very ordinary.  Then moved on to their cabs — first the 2010 Affinity (a $50 bottle)  and then the 2010 Howell Mountain (an $80 bottle).  I was hoping to be blown away by the Howell Mountain but found the Affinity to be a much nicer albeit lighter cab.  Maybe the dark chocolate with Himalayan salt it was paired with helped it along a bit.

What I did not expect was to love love love their Zinfandel.  I used to drink zins all of the time but haven’t for quite awhile.  This one was outstanding.  A 2010 Howell Mountain that was big and peppery has kicked off a weekend of zinful behavior.  At a $50 price point it will unfortunately be an occasional treat rather than a bad habit.

I must also mention their St. George Cuvee that was a good buy and quite drinkable at $30 a bottle.  Plus with the purchase of this bottle the hostess waived the tasting room fee and we left quite happy after a bit of a rocky start to today’s adventure.

I zinned again later that night at 1313 Main wine bar — they have a house zin that they make that was the perfect nightcap to another fun Napa day.

Count to date: 7 and 7