{"id":479,"date":"2011-08-04T01:34:31","date_gmt":"2011-08-04T05:34:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fornobravo.com\/pizzaquest\/2011\/08\/04\/wine-food-gardens-bocce-and-dinner-parties-we-are-in-love\/"},"modified":"2011-08-04T01:34:31","modified_gmt":"2011-08-04T05:34:31","slug":"wine-food-gardens-bocce-and-dinner-parties-we-are-in-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fornobravo.com\/pizzaquest\/wine-food-gardens-bocce-and-dinner-parties-we-are-in-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Wine, Food, Gardens, Bocce …"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note from Peter: Wes Bailey, a good friend of Brad and Jeff’s, was on his way to a long vacation with his family to Napa Valley.\u00a0 After hearing about these plans, Brad suggested that Wes keep an eye out for a quest-worthy story or two.\u00a0 Wes sent us this reflective essay that seems to capture the essence of the dichotomy of living<\/span> the quest, as opposed to the idea of documenting <\/span>it.\u00a0 We can certainly relate, and thought it would be fun to share it with you. <\/strong><\/p>\n

*Feel free to send us your own journey or quest stories, where you set out in search of that elusive “aha,” or you stumbled upon it.\u00a0 If you’re like Brad, you may have followed the signs – tracking down a memorable pizza served in someone’s Tyrolean basement restaurant, or like Wes, made a grand plan and found something you didn’t know you were looking for.\u00a0 Either way, we would love to hear from you and have you share your stories because they all help to define what Pizza Quest is about.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

You can write to us at info@pizzaquest.com.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wine, Food, Gardens, Bocce and Dinner Parties!\u00a0 We are in love!!<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n

By Wes Bailey<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Almost six weeks ago, I headed to the Napa Valley with my family for the longest vacation of my lifetime.\u00a0 A year in the planning, we had rented a home near St. Helena, where you will find the heartbeat of life in picturesque wine country.\u00a0 Over a month to seep into the local culture, mix with the natives and soak up life a world apart from the madness of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

But of course, I brought ulterior motives.\u00a0 I packed in my Canon 5D Mark II, an incredible camera capable of shooting both professional quality images, as well as stunning HD movies.\u00a0 Napa Valley would be the backdrop for a new project: a travel website, with informative videos to take the viewer inside the lifeblood of wine country.\u00a0 No, wait.\u00a0 Maybe a winery review television show, where viewers could feel like they had really been to many of the legendary wineries. Or maybe…well, I wasn\u2019t sure.\u00a0 But it would be beautiful, it would be awesome, and it would catapult<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

to the top of search engines around the world!\u00a0 Of course, as the dream went, I would be afforded VIP status wherever I ventured–first in wine country, then around the world.\u00a0 Chefs would leave their stations to check on my meal.\u00a0 Winery owners would send cases of wine for me to consider featuring in the next episode.\u00a0\u00a0 Napa Valley would be my oyster…<\/p>\n

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It doesn’t get much better than playing Bocce in Napa Valley.<\/p><\/div>I wasted very little time getting started.\u00a0 Every night is Bocce Night<\/em> in Crane Park in St. Helena, and I needed footage.\u00a0 People would love to see this. The park boasts eight regulation bocce courts and the park was packed when I arrived.\u00a0 Every picnic table was a makeshift potluck, and the wine flowed like water.\u00a0 Some teams had bowling shirts or matching T-shirts and most had creative names:\u00a0 \u201cJoanie loves Bocce,\u201d \u201cTipsy Moonshiners,\u201d and the \u201cHoly Rollers\u201d come to mind,\u00a0 the latter being a team of local clergymen and women.\u00a0 Crane Park has everything a modern Mayberry could want:\u00a0 Baseball fields, tennis courts, children\u2019s play areas, a skate park, and of course, the valley\u2019s most competitive bocce courts.\u00a0 The vineyards that surround the park are most likely unnoticed by the competitors, but I was still awed at how the evening sun illuminated the grape vines, holding onto a perfect day for just a little bit longer.\u00a0 My camera rolled and I hoped the viewer would be able to grasp the beauty that I was filming.<\/p>\n

There is such a passion here for quality local ingredients.<\/p><\/div>I kept the 5D with me wherever I went.\u00a0 To farmer\u2019s markets, where I watched local farmers chat with the townspeople; to wineries, where I tried to capture the majesty of some of the most prestigious wines; down country roads, lush and green.\u00a0 And through vineyards that boast the soothing balance of endless, structured rows that try to subdue the untamed, twisting reach of the grape vines.\u00a0 I saw it, and I filmed it and I tried to think how I would bottle and sell the beauty that I was taking in.\u00a0 It had only been a week.<\/p>\n

In the second week, I had been forced to buy a backup hard drive to download the footage.\u00a0 I was even fuzzier now on what my finished product would look like.\u00a0 Especially important to me was trying to communicate the pace of life in the Napa Valley.\u00a0 People really seemed to be in a different mental state than my LA counterparts.\u00a0

Ok. Perhaps there is a way to beat playing Bocce in Napa Valley.<\/p><\/div> They strolled leisurely through Sunshine Market, a small but legendary grocery store that is the antithesis of everything that we know in an urban supermarket.\u00a0 Sunshine sources local growers, organic farms and provides only foods that are in season.\u00a0 Their friendly staff takes time to talk about the products they carry and the farmers that provide them.\u00a0 Shoppers at Sunshine have bought into the Napa Valley\u2019s strong push toward \u201cfarm to table\u201d cooking and can explain why they avoid GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms)–something I had never heard of before this vacation.\u00a0 I found myself looking at everything in the store as I would a bottle of wine: I wanted to know its story before I bought it.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t sure how to capture this on film, so I just shot a bunch of pictures of fresh vegetables and fruit and decided to think about it later.<\/p>\n

Napa Style Potluck!<\/p><\/div>For the rest of the week, I found myself shooting a little bit less each day.\u00a0 My uncertainty about the project, whatever it was, made it more difficult to pull out that camera at each stop.\u00a0 Besides, it was feeling heavier.\u00a0 My wife and I had planned our first dinner party at our rented home and there were some wine and foodie types coming, so I was sure that inspiration would return.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Sure enough, I was inspired.\u00a0 The spread that my wife laid out for our guests was not only picturesque, it was delicious.\u00a0 I fired off a few frames and made sure to incorporate some cool focus changes–I would need that when I started editing the, uh, project.\u00a0 People began to arrive and conversations flowed along with fine wine.\u00a0 I soaked up local stories of a region that was, and always has been, a tangled web of interconnected stories.\u00a0 The Valley is simply too small and gossip travels fast.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t help but wonder if this was the place that first inspired the term \u201cheard it through the grapevine.\u201d\u00a0 We laughed as we listened to stories, often involving more than one person at the table and we toasted to anything that we could think of.\u00a0 There were winemakers, farmers, a minister, and food writers…and us.\u00a0 I was struck by how easily the party fell together.\u00a0 Everyone pitched in, brought something to eat or drink.\u00a0 They made themselves at home quickly and found conversations easily.\u00a0 So enchanted was I that I forgot to shoot more than a picture or two for the rest of the evening.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t sure that the project needed pictures of my dinner party; besides I was lost in conversation.<\/p>\n

I began to let go…<\/p><\/div>Week three brought a strange mental turmoil and guilt.\u00a0 Why was I so unmotivated to shoot footage?\u00a0 I needed more shots of farmer\u2019s markets–after all, we all know that\u2019s great television–however I really didn\u2019t feel like carrying around the camera.\u00a0 The week before I had discovered Annie the Baker\u2019s cookies and I was salivating just thinking about them.\u00a0 Annie boasts that they are for people that love cookie dough as much as the baked cookies, and she finds the perfect balance between the two. That suddenly seemed more important than shooting pictures.\u00a0 I \u201caccidentally\u201d left the camera in the house and headed to market with the family.\u00a0 We strolled from stand to stand examining the wares.\u00a0 Without camera in hand I looked less for great shots and more for great produce.\u00a0 Annie the Baker was there of course and I gobbled up some cookies while we chatted lightly.\u00a0 She remembered us from the week before and the conversation had less to do with cookies this time and more to do with the Valley.\u00a0 By chance, we ran into a friend from the dinner party and we walked through the market with him as he pointed out some of his favorite stands.\u00a0 For a moment, I realized what good TV this might make, but I let the thought go…and the weeks went by.<\/p>\n

Life had taken over my quest…<\/p><\/div>So, here we are.\u00a0 Just a few days left in this magical vacation and I have filmed nothing else.\u00a0 The 5D has gone along on many day trips, but it has captured only one family–my family–traipsing up and down this picturesque valley.\u00a0 I know it seems obvious to say, but there are things that you miss when you are looking through a lens.\u00a0 So for now, I am putting the camera down and refocussing on the experience of NOW rather than a future project.\u00a0 Someday, who knows, maybe that creative bug will return and I\u2019ll once again dream of taking my experiences to TV or web, but not now.\u00a0 After all, it\u2019s farmer\u2019s market tomorrow and Annie the Baker will be there!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note from Peter: Wes Bailey, a good friend of Brad and Jeff’s, was on his way to a long vacation with his family to Napa Valley.\u00a0 After hearing about these plans, Brad suggested that Wes keep an eye out for a quest-worthy story or two.\u00a0 Wes sent us this reflective essay that seems to capture the essence of the dichotomy of living the quest, as opposed to the idea of…Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":363,"featured_media":470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c45-guest-bloggers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWine, Food, Gardens, Bocce ... - Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fornobravo.com\/pizzaquest\/wine-food-gardens-bocce-and-dinner-parties-we-are-in-love\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wine, Food, Gardens, Bocce ... - 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