Napa has always been on my bucket list! Sipping on tons of delicious wines, gazing at hillsides of acres and acres of green vineyards, eating incredible food, I mean, I really just needed to stop at wine, because… WINE. Favorite. Neither John nor I had ever been, so we were anxious for a getaway, and a huge plus to meet up with my sister Jillian and her husband Brian out there!
John and I decided to fly out a day early to get a 24 hour glimpse of San Francisco, and we did it up right! We played total tourists and took the tour bus around for the day and hit all the hot spots, Fisherman’s Wharf, Lombard Street, Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, Union Square, and tons more! The bus was so much fun because you could hop on and off, which we took advantage of to get some pics and to eat oysters and scrumptious seafood and drink along the way. I’m so glad we did this because we were able to see almost all of San Francisco in one day!
shirt | pants | shoes
The next day, we met Jillian and Brian and we headed north to Napa! I couldn’t wait to see the acres and acres of vineyards! Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. The next four days of our trip in Napa were cloudy and rainy! It ruined our views but did not ruin our fun! And when the rain stopped, the fog was actually really beautiful across the land.
We stayed at the quaintest bed and breakfast in Yountville called the Oleander House. It was sooo nice getting a delicious hot breakfast in the morning before we headed out all day. That was our first time doing a B&B and I LOVED it!
Now onto the WINE! We went to about 3-5 per day, whew, so way too many to go through, but I’ll definitely hit on my favorites!
Our first stop was at the Truchard Vineyard, and it ended up as one of my FAVORITES! We really started with a bang! They own over 400 acres of land and have been in the business for over a century. In fact, they are grape suppliers for a ton of well known wines. Truchard is a very small family owned operation and we felt like we were part of the family right from the beginning! They brought us through the vineyard and into their wine cave where they store all of their wine barrels that was built right into the hillside, so neat! Sipping wine in that cave was proooolly the coolest thing ever and every wine was soooo amazing! Case of this, case of that… swipe it! :)
After that amazing first stop, I really didn’t think it could get better, but that was just the beginning! Another favorite was Failla Wines, an old 1930’s farmhouse turned into the tasting room. So cozy in there!
Next, we headed up Howell Mountain to Cade Winery. This is where I was really bummed about the fog because we were on top of the mountain and would have been able to see the whole valley, buuuut no, shucks! : / Next time, hehe. Anyways! Cade had some serious architecture going on! Totally modern and known for its use of renewable resources, very environmentally efficient. Oh, and, DELICIOUS WINES.
Another favorite winery was Schweiger Vineyards, up Spring Mountain. This view was finally pretty clear and it was soo beautiful!
Of course, a trip to Napa wouldn’t be complete without some castles and chateaus! We did the touristy thing a little bit and toured Castello di Amorosa, a 13th century inspired Tuscan castle and winery. It was stunning and absolutely incredible inside! And the outside vineyard wasn’t too shabby either! Such pretty views! A bit too touristy for us though, we like the small intimate family run wineries that pour us extra wine! ;)
We also toured and had a tasting at Inglenook, an 1887 French chateau. This was a favorite! The chateau was gorgeous, the wines were to die for, and we got to sit in an old parlour room with a cheese pairing while sipping wines. Our tour guide with the curly mustache was soooo fabulous!
Lastly, a trip to Napa would NOT be complete without food! For dinner, we ate at Red Wood, Bistro Jeanty, and Ad Hoc, and while all three are making me salivate right now just thinking about them, I LOVED Ad Hoc! It has a daily-changing four-course menu featuring classic American dishes that are all served family-style. Some serious casual comfort of home right in the restaurant! Each course was IN-credible and we were soooo full by the end! One of those meals where you reaaaally couldn’t stop eating it was that good!
I’d say we had a pretty spectacular first trip to Napa! I’m already so excited to go back sometime! Definitely could see this being another future trip, so many different wineries to see! But it was a good start and always nice to get a little vacay with the hubs :) And now our wine cellar is practically FULL!! Whoop whoop! Not for long though… haha! Until next time Napa!
