At a recent party at Palmaz, we were talking about the Napa Valley Mustard Festival kick-off party (in photo) and someone asked, “so where are the best parties?”

My favorite has always been casual private al fresco dinners with 6-12 people at someone’s Napa, Marin or Sonoma home.  We all bring food or wine to share. Sometimes they have a theme, like bring a Rosé. Other times the hosts provide sumptuous food & we open lots of wine.  Surprisingly, wine is not the topic of conversation usually, of course there is some industry gossip, but mainly it’s an opportunity to escape from our careers & talk about everything else that’s important in life.

I learned a long time ago that it’s not where you go, but who you travel with; the same goes for parties, it’s the people that make it fun.

Tags: dinner, mustard festival, napa, palmaz, party, wine