Birthday: 2016.

I had the pleasure of having another birthday today, whoo hoo!  I turned 29, again - it's a birthday miracle!
Really good day; good pressies (even got a gopher trap), good food, good drink (including two bottles of bubbles) and good weather.
I did a tiny bit of work (in the vineyard); had lunch out (at the Oxbow); went wine tasting (Goosecross Cellars); did my favourite walk with V2 (down at the Napa River); had dinner out (Ca' Momi, Napa).  Busy, busy having fun, thanks to Vinomaker.

Oh...and Happy Birthday John Toshack.

Vinogirl loves birthdays.

Coffee break.

The third of four bottling events took place today: Vinoland's Cabernet sauvignon and Syrah are now recovering from bottle shock down in the cellar.  It was thirsty work, so Thud, family OTW and I went down to the Oxbow Public Market afterwards for a well deserved cup of java from Ritual Coffee Roasters.  And a very nice cup of coffee it was.

Photograph by Princess OTW.

A crumb of cheese.

I love cheese, and when confronted with this veritable wall of blue cheese at the Oxbow Public Market today, whilst cheese-shopping with Vinomaker, I nearly passed out with excitement.

The Oxbow Cheese Merchant's selection of coagulated milk products may not be the most extensive I have seen, but it is nonetheless impressive - and the staff are very attentive and knowledgeable.  As I stood salivating over the Colston Bassett Stilton, the resident cheese-monger (why wasn't cheese-mongering a career choice offered when I was in school?) interrupted my reverie to point out Stichelton Dairy's blue cheese made from unpasteurised  milk.   Hadn't had it before, had to have it now!   

Other cheeses selected included one called Challerhocker chosen by Vinomaker (which means, perhaps appropriately for a winemaker, 'sitting in the cellar' - which he does on occasion), and I couldn't leave The Oxbow without a cheese called St. Foin which promises to be irresistible when paired with Champagne.  We'll see.
Jacob Marley better not get between me and any crumb of cheese, otherwise he may end up looking like "an undigested bit of beef."