Recession worries seemed to fade as wine lovers opened their wallets and raised paddles bidding up the prices at the 30th Auction Napa Valley, held over this past weekend. There was lots of good food and great wine flowing throughout the event. I went to the Taste Napa Valley and Barrel Auction on Friday, at Rubicon Estates. I love this annual event, and it’s a great one to go to even if you don’t make it to the live auction on Saturday. Dark skies and cool temps threatened rain, but it held off. At Taste Napa Valley, wineries pour whites and rose´and many of Napa’s top restaurants dished out bites. You could nosh on anything from chickpea fries to pulled pork sliders from BarBersQ and watermelon sorbet with chocolate chips (for seeds!), topped with fleur de sel. Martini House served up a creamy mushroom soup that was an inspired pairing…
