Camp Napa Culinary—Celebrating Our 21st Year!

July 15-20, 2012
July 29-August 3, 2012
September 16-21, 2012
September 30-October 5, 2012
October 14-19, 2012

Join us for our special program celebrating 21 years conducting these exclusive 6-day cooking, food, and wine programs in beautiful Napa Valley. Limited to just 16 attendees, this is an “insider’s” tour of Napa Valley’s elite small wineries, great kitchens, and homes. Hugh is your teacher for all the participation cooking classes and your host for every event throughout the week. All the recipes are based on Hugh’s 15 cookbooks. This year’s theme centers on visits to private estates and to family-run wineries acclaimed for their wines and open only by invitation. The owners personally welcome us. As we taste their wines matched with appetizers, we’ll hear their stories about how they transformed a passion for wine into a way of life.

The programs are created for independent travelers wanting to combine a learning vacation with free time to pursue their own interests while in Napa Valley. That’s why more than 1,700 food and wine lovers have attended “camps” during the last 20 years, and many are returning “graduates.” Between our scheduled events, you’ll have time to take the “cure” at a luxurious spa; visit artists’ studios; explore the historic towns of Yountville, St. Helena, and Calistoga; or choose from Napa Valley’s fine restaurants for a romantic dinner. Join us for an opening night party at our home, and then treat yourself to five more days in one of the great wine and food regions of the world.

How to Get Here: Napa Valley is approximately 50 miles northeast of San Francisco. If you fly into San Francisco (or Oakland or Sacramento, the closest airports), we recommend you rent a car at the airport. We will provide you with hotel information and directions.

Class Itinerary

Sunday: Reception and Dinner at Hugh and Teri’s Home. Tonight Hugh and his wife, Teri, host a reception and dinner at their home set in an olive grove and surrounded by the vineyards of Napa Valley. Among the dishes that Hugh will cook are smoked baby pork back ribs, chilled shrimp with spicy pineapple relish, pan fried dumplings with citrus glaze, and coconut chocolate chip ice cream.

Monday: Cooking Class at Cakebread Cellars; Appetizers and Wine at Auberge Du Soleil. This morning Hugh teaches the first of three participation cooking classes at Cakebread Cellars. Jack and Dolores, their son, Bruce Cakebread, and their families are much loved in Napa Valley, and we are fortunate to be their guests at the winery. Virtually every top chef in America has cooked in their wonderful kitchen during the annual Cakebread Harvest Workshop. Each class is full participation and utilizes recipes from Hugh’s cookbooks. Aiding us in the kitchen is long-time Cakebread winery chef Brian Streeter, whose unique skills include two Cakebread Cellars cookbooks. The afternoon is free. In the early evening, we meet at one of Napa Valley’s most luxurious retreats, Auberge Du Soleil. Perched high in the hills overlooking all of Napa Valley, we’ll gather on the outdoor terrace and enjoy appetizers and wine in the spectacular setting. Your evening is free.

Tuesday: Far Niente Winery; Evening Cooking Class at Cakebread Cellars’ Dancing Bear Vineyard. This morning we have the rare opportunity to visit the beautiful Far Niente Winery. Restored in 1981 by Gil Nickel, the winery is famous for its Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and its premium dessert wine, Dolce. We’ll tour the historic main building, be led on a tasting of their current releases as well as tasting their older vintages, and conclude by seeing Gil’s extensive classic car collection. Owners Beth Nickel or Eric Nickel, if not traveling, will welcome us. Following our visit, you are free to make your own lunch plans. This evening we have been invited by the Cakebread family for a cooking class with Hugh and dinner at their amazing Howell Mountain property, Dancing Bear Vineyard. This property is never open to the public, and here we’ll have the opportunity to do a full-participation cooking class followed by dinner overlooking all of Napa Valley.

Wednesday: Cooking Class, Wine Education, and Lunch at the Robert Mondavi Winery; Visit to Ovid Winery. No one has played a more important role in transforming the American wine industry than Robert Mondavi. This morning we gather for a private event at the winery, hosted by Executive Chef Jeff Mosher (formerly Chef at Campton Place Hotel and Copia). Under his direction, we’ll pick vegetables from the winery’s extensive vegetable garden and complete “the prep” in his kitchen. Then while Jeff is putting the final touches on our lunch, we’ll experience a unique wine education program matching music with wine appreciation. You’ll never think about wine the same way again! From here, we’ll move to the beautiful Mondavi dining room to enjoy lunch with “wine and food appreciation” as the theme. If Margrit Mondavi is not traveling, she will come by to say “hello” during our lunch. Afternoon free. Late this afternoon we visit a winery never open to the public, Ovid Napa Valley. Under inspiration from owners Dana Johnson and Mark Nelson, the winery produces a Bordeaux-style red wine of extraordinary quality. The rocky 15-acre vineyard perched 1,400 feet above the Napa Valley floor overlooking Oakville was planted in 2000, followed soon after by the completion of the winery. Designed by renowned architect Howard Backen, it is here, in the Great Room, that we will taste the wines. Your evening is free.

Thursday: Argentinean Cooking Class and Lunch at Whetstone Winery; Afternoon Visit to Stony Hill Winery. This is going to be another exceptional day. This morning we meet at Whetstone Winery, located in a historic stone building overseen by owners Michelle and Jamey Whetstone. The winery is a small boutique producer of vineyard-driven wines that are recognized for their outstanding quality. Our cooking class this morning is led by Chef Morgan Robinson, who worked at The Ritz Carlton/Aspen, Bistro Don Giovanni, and Domaine Chandon. Acclaimed for his Argentinean food, we’ll discover what makes Argentinean food unique and the secrets of its great barbecue tradition. Then we’ll gather around a long dining table in the stone building for lunch hosted by the winery owners. Afternoon free. It is a special honor late this afternoon to visit Stony Hill Winery, which has been creating great Chardonnays since the 1940s. Owners Peter and Willinda McCrea will be present to greet us unless traveling outside of Napa Valley. For many years they have created wonderful Chardonnay at a small winery and home nestled in a mountain setting just north of St. Helena. Never open to the public, we’ll meet the long-time winemaker, Mike Chelini, taste current and older vintages, and learn why their wine is one of the few California Chardonnays that improves for decades. Your evening is free.

Friday: A Unique Wine Experience and Lunch at Elizabeth Spencer Winery; Graduation Cooking Class and Dinner at Cakebread Cellars. Located in the town of Rutherford, Elizabeth Spencer Winery is owned by Elizabeth Pressler and Spencer Graham, a husband-wife winemaking partnership. They have strong ongoing alliances with premiere grape growers in Napa, Sonoma Coast, and Mendocino County to create consistently great wines in limited quantities. The winery’s flagship wine is its Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, a Bordeaux-style wine first made in 1998. Small appellation-specific bottlings of Cabernet Sauvignon from Rutherford, Oakville, Mt. Veeder, and Howell Mountain are available only at the winery. This morning Elizabeth and/or the winemaker will lead us on a unique interactive wine evaluation program, as we compete in teams, with many surprising insights and amusements! Then we’ll enjoy their great wines matched with “a wine country lunch” created by one of Napa Valley’s top chefs. Afternoon free. This evening we’ll gather for our final participation cooking class and graduation dinner under Hugh’s direction at Cakebread Cellars. We’ll feast leisurely into the night with great foods and Cakebread wines, take farewell photographs, and reminisce about the week.

Saturday: Napa to Home. After last-minute morning adventures, those with flights depart for the airport, or you may stay on to enjoy the many other activities available in the Bay Area. We look forward to your visiting us again in Napa Valley.