Napa Valley and Beyond
Wine country at its finest!
Yes, there are other wine regions in California and yes you can find some good ones, but nothing is as extraordinary as the wines from the Napa Valley regions.
We live about 1.5-2 hours from Napa and go 3-4 times a year to sample and enjoy the amazing juice produced in Napa. These trips usually last one to two days and we usually come home with a trunk full of wine bottles to share with our friends. Our latest trip had us spending 4 days in the valley (mostly Yountville area). What a treat that was. We stayed at the Villagio. The accommodations were great and the service was top notch. The hotel has a spa and is centrally located and guests can walk to all sorts of wine bars, restaurants, and activities.
We made visits to Turnbull and Louis M. Martini (a Gallo affiliate). We were impressed by all the wines we tasted. The experience at Turnbull was top notch. Alex, our host, made us feel appreciated and shared his knowledge and favorites with us.
Other wineries we have enjoyed visiting over the years in the Napa/Sonoma/Healdsburg areas include: Chimney Rock, Silver Oak, Far Niente, Nickel Nickel, Flowers, Rochiolli, Pine Ridge and Larkmead just to name a few. The restaurants in the area also rate among the top in the state and range from gourmet, to farm to table, to grilles, to cultural. On this trip we ate at Mustards Grill, Bistro Don Giovanni and La Calenda. We loved all of them and are eager to return. Other Napa area favorites are Cole's Chop House and Rutherford Grill.
On every adventure, we try and do one new thing that might be a little out of the box for us. So, we did a Bike and Sip excursion. We were on the bike for about 12 miles (mostly flat roads) and made 2 winery stops. It was a lot of fun and would be a great excursion for a group of friends. You can rent bikes to create your own trip or join a guided trip that is pre-set. Napa is great to visit any time of the year; however, I highly recommend August so that you can see harvest in action. Some of the wineries will even include the process on their tours. The Napa Marriott is also another great place to stay.
www.napavalley.com/blog/most-beautiful-wineries-in-napa-valley/
Cheers and happy food, drink and travels,
What’s your favorite Napa Wine? Let us know in the comments below!
