When we touched down in Oakland last Friday morning I turned to look at Brent and grinned. Not only was it his first trip to California, it was my first trip to Napa. I’ve been dreaming of Napa for almost as long as I can remember. Other than a long anticipated trip to Europe, Napa has been THE place that I’ve been longing to go and finally, to celebrate my sister’s 40th birthday, we were doing it!
Traveling with a group is always full of fun and funny experiences. This trip was no exception after we solved the too much luggage + too many passengers for our rental car debacle, we were off. Oakland is not cute. I’m sure that doesn’t come as a surprise to too many people. As we got closer to wine country I expected it to get much more scenic. Not so much. Even after we turned onto HWY 29 we were still in what seemed like strip-mall California urban sprawl hell. I found myself slightly disappointed, but found some humor as I laughed at the irony of state hwy signs threatening $1,000 fines for littering. The signs were surrounded by grassy shoulders thick with dirty diapers, fast food wrappers and other discarded trash. These were not the rolling grapevine covered hills that I’d been dreaming of (I was picturing something much more Keanu Reeves in A Walk in the Clouds).
I concentrated on the promise of lots-oh-wine and the grand time I was having laughing at a car load of cranky travel-weary people attempting to fight the traffic blues with some sarcasm. We checked into the Marriott in Napa and I’d yet to see one stinking vine. The hotel was nice and so was the free wine hour in the lobby at 5:30. We parked ourselves in some comfy couches with our wine and waited for the rest of our 14-member birthday party to arrive. Once the group was there, we ventured into downtown Napa for the evening and for a yummy (as in Brent was giving praises) dinner at Tuscany. There was a gorgeous wine country mural on one of the walls in the restaurant. Brent leaned over to me mid-way through dinner while pointing at the painting and said – “that’s a little more what I was expecting.” I nodded and smiled. Me too – Keanu Reeves would have been right at home in that painting.
I’m happy to say that we were worried too soon. Bright and early on Saturday morning the party bus showed up to shuttle us during our day of tasting. We headed to our first stop – Domaine Carneros and suddenly there we were – driving through fields of wine making paradise. It really is gorgeous – think fields and fields of vines covering rolling hillsides and peppered with palm trees. We had such a beautiful time and only encountered strip malls coming and going from the hotel. I wish that I could do this vacation at least twice a year. We ate so much wonderful farm to table food, drank so much delicious wine and met so many incredible characters full of stories that forever change the way you think about the wine that they make. Sigh…I loved it there. This post could turn into a novelette, but I’ll try to be brief. Here are the highlights – just a snippet and I’ll dedicate a part II post to our evening in San Francisco. I would LOVE vineyard recommendations for our next trip (already secretly planning), so leave your comments with must-visit places.
Domaine Carneros

Honestly – the building and the view are the coolest parts about this place. The sparkling wine was ok, but Schramsberg is better. We sat on the terrace for our tasting and it was BEAUTIFUL even though there are wooden cut-out sheep in the field across the hwy (random). This place was the most pretentious of all we visited. And I think that so much of the experience has to do with the host. Our guy didn’t exactly get it, but it was a good place to start. The day got better and better from here.
Regusci

Love. This was one of my favorites. It’s an old property, one of the oldest still operating as a vineyard. I was surprised (even though it makes sense) to hear how much prohibition affected the history of the area. Most of the places we visited told stories about surviving that “dry” era. Interestingly, Regusci operated as a farm and slaughter house during prohibition and into the 40’s. We were able to check out the slaughter house and antique farm equipment on the grounds. They also grow olive trees, limes and lemons. The wine was oh-so yummy. Their 07 cab was my favorite.
Pine Ridge Winery

In addition to just tasting, we had a tour of the property and the caves where they barrel and store their wine. In addition to being very educational and ending with tasting in their Chihuly room, we loved the wine. Their 07 Merlot was my favorite. We learned fun factoids like that they plant roses at the end of each row because disease and bugs will get the roses first. It’s an indicator that there’s a problem so they can save the vines. We also learned what a bung hole is. It’s the hole in the side of the barrel. Many, many Beavis and Butthead jokes ensued.
Brix Restaurant

The best part about Brix is the garden. We saw an awesome sunset while sipping champagne (Schramsberg) in their garden. The entire experience was something you read about in a travel magazine. We had our birthday celebration dinner in their wine cellar. The food was once again outstanding and it’s just plain amazing to eat vegetables from the backyard while you’re at a restaurant. So good.
Trefethen Vineyards
I love the courtyard at Trefethen. It wasn’t my favorite wine, but the setting was postcard like. That + the cork tree and the fountain entrance make it a must visit. The building is on the national historic registry. The place oozes romance. I like that.
Oakville Grocery

I’m fighting the urge to start all these descriptions with the word love. Sorry, but it’s hard. I loved so much about this trip. I need a new word. Oakville Grocery is a place I will never get tired of visiting. Think of all the things you think are good about a country market and roll them into one. This place is awesome. They also have fresh vegetables and herbs growing in their garden. That would be the garden that sits in between a field of vines and their country store. The store is packed full of all things yummy – baked goods, cured meats, cheese, wine, olive oil, coffee, fresh bread. Here’s another word: heaven.
Biale Vineyards

Ah Zins. I love them. On Sunday afternoon we pulled up a chair on the back porch at Robert Biale Vineyards and drank some lovely zins (+ some other goodness) and were charmed by stories of bootleggers and black chickens – well actually pollo nero which was the code word to get a bottle of illegal wine delivered with your farm groceries on Friday. The wines were fab and the characters pouring even more interesting. This is a big taste 7 or 8 wines and the tasting fee is waived if you buy a bottle. All of this = another place to love.
Martini House

Our group shrunk by more than half on Sunday and after two fabulous dinners on Friday and Saturday night, we needed something special. We had an intimate dinner at the Martini House in St. Helena. On a side-note, I’m OBSESSED with St. Helena. It’s super cute and quaint and there isn’t a strip-mall for miles. This is the type of wine-country town I’d been dreaming about. I want to stay in St. Helena on our next trip. So, Martini House – ambiance was off the charts. The outdoor seating area is fabulously romantic. It was a little bit too cold for us to sit outside, so we had a cozy corner table in the bar. The mushroom soup and my scallops were to die for and our waitress put our experience over the top. It was the perfect last-dinner in wine country.
We drank some unbelievable wine and ate some amazing food on our trip. I was trying to get Brent to pick his favorite restaurant. Instead he opted to pick a favorite meal. Here’s our perfect meal, by course, chosen from the meals we ate on our trip.
I loved Napa. I knew I would. I’m already looking forward to our next trip. What are your favorite Napa Valley places to visit?
You can check out all our photos in the Napa 2010 folder on Facebook.