Recently I returned from my first trip to Napa Valley and really enjoyed it. After watching so many programs on the Travel Channel about the region I thought that I knew what I was doing… but once I got there I found it a little more difficult to find all the areas the I wanted to see. I mistakenly had thought that Napa was a town and everything was there… Napa is a town yes, but it is also a Valley (duh) and is only a small part of the whole wine experience.
We had a basic idea of what we wanted to do and see. Before we left I had logged onto a site that gave you some different driving routes to see Napa Valley that ranged from a quick tour to an all day drive. With my printout in hand and our Nuvi GPS system we set out. I must tell you, we brought our own GPS but if you are ever renting a car in an unfamiliar area and the car rental company offers a GPS by all means RENT IT! We used our to navigate those impossible streets in San Francisco, it was a lifesaver! We also used it to find local restaurants and some night spots. Best idea Matt ever had!! (besides the idea that I am the most wonderful girlfriend in the world).
We toured quite a few of the vineyards just by driving by and through their parking lots, trying to find the best ones and eventually we chose Robert Mondavi Vineyards as our first. Not that either of us was necessarily a fan of their wine but their vineyard was large and beautiful and we did leave much more impressed than when we arrived. You could take your taste and walk around the outside courtyard area sipping and enjoying the wine and beautiful roses and they gave you very large portions and glasses that you could keep after the tasting! The gal that gave us the tasting was also very informative about the area. She gave us pointers on places to eat and other vineyards to visit. Rutherford Grille was one of her suggestions and I had also heard about it on the site that I printed the route map out on so we decided to eat there. Food was reasonably priced $$$ and you could bring your own bottle in with no corking fee! I had an awesome tuna and Matt had ostrich, so you can see the menu had something for everyone!
After lunch we wandered over to another new vineyard she had told us about, the Castello de Amorosa. It had an Italian castle theme and was gorgeous. You could take a tour of the castle and learn how it had been built or just take a wine tasting. We did just the tasting (naturally!) The wine was good but the tasting was pretty pricey for the portion sizes.
All of these sights were in the St. Helene and Rutherford area, we had yet to find Napa so we set off with our GPS programmed. I had seen on the Travel Channel a piece on Copia, The American Center for Wine, Food & The Arts which houses Julia’s Kitchen (Julia Child). We arrived pretty late but paid our $5 entrance fee which gave you one free taste of the featured wine for the day. There were gardens to look around and various displays on wine making along with gift shops, but we were running out of time so we headed straight for the wine bar! The gal behind the bar was also very personable and gave us a lot ideas for things to do in the area. She highly recommended Sonoma when asked where was a good place to go for shops and tastings. Back in the car we went and headed out for downtown Sonoma (so yes, we actually never saw the town of Napa proper)… but when we arrived in Sonoma we wished we had started there!
A cute square surrounded by shops, after a quick question of where is a good place to taste wine, we found ourselves standing outside what looked like a store (and actually was but much more) The Wine Exchange of Sonoma which houses a great little bar in the back full of local ambiance (similar to Cheers) where everyone knew everyone. All the prior tastings we had had ranged from $20 and up… depending on how many wines we had wanted to try. At the Wine Exchange of Sonoma you paid by the ounce so we could taste for $1 an ounce (some were $2 an ounce).. the selection was wide and the bathroom was close by so we had found our spot!
While we had only planned 2 days in the area (we still had one night in San Francisco coming up and then 4 nights in Las Vegas) we wished that we had planned more time there and will definately be taking another trip to the region soon!
Please, feel free to add your comments or suggestions to this post, if you have been to area, live in the area or have heard anything at all about the area that you would like to share we welcome your input. If you have a favorite picture to add, just send me it via email and I will attach it to your comment!
