Travel to Napa Valley

The beauty of Napa Valley

Just a few weekends ago, my husband and I visited Napa where we got to visit wineries and their tasting rooms, eat at top restaurants and take in the breathtaking views. We stayed in Napa during thanksgiving weekend and it was busy filled with crowds in wineries, restaurants, and hotels. We loved our stay in Napa and we are already planning to visit the wine country soon because there is so much to see and a weekend isn’t enough to take in the beauty.

We started our mini-vacation by driving across the Golden Gate Bridge and on the Highway. The traffic wasn’t bad and it took approximately 1.5 – 2 hours to get to Napa from SF. As soon as we got to the wine country we felt an amazing vibe here in the premiere-wine making region, where drinking, eating and celebrating nature as well as the arts all come together. There are over 450 wineries that can be found in Napa, Sonoma Russian River, Dry Creek and Sonoma Valley as well as eat at top restaurants in Yountville and St. Helena. Therefore, its hard to get all the things you want to do done in one weekend that’s why I encourage you to pre-plan and select specific things you want to see. Also, make reservations for wine tours and dinner because they tend to fill up quickly especially during the summer.

My husband and I started our journey by checking in at our hotel called, Maison Fleuire, located in Yountville, a short drive from Napa, this area is packed with top restaurants and hotels. We loved our bed & breakfast hotel and the hotel is priced very well. But if you want to splurge I highly recommend staying at Auberge du Soleil or Meadwood Hotel located in St. Helena.

The hotel we stayed at is walking distance from Bouchon, one of Thomas Keller famous Michelin star restaurants. We had brunch there and everything tasted delicious. If you eat here and like onion soup, I highly recommend it as it is their signature dish. If you are a fan of Thomas Keller, I also recommend checking out Ad Hoc famous for the fried chicken.  But, if you are short on time, you can visit Bouchon Bakery and get the famous macaroons. We tried a dozen and they were all so good.

French Laundry farm

Brunch at Bouchon

Brunch at Bouchon

After we ate plenty of food we drove to our first wine tour. We visited Castello di Amorosa, an Italian winery in a medieval style castle with stunning chapels and secret pass ways. We did the building and wine tour it was wonderful.

Our next destination was Culinary Institute of America – the West Coast headquarters of the country’s leading school for chefs. As foodies, this place was like Disneyland.  On the ground floor you can check out the museum and browse a shop that has tons of cookbooks and appliances for the kitchen.  And go upstairs to see the vintners hall of fame. We noticed some artwork and projects from chefs we adore such as Chef Grant Achatz from Alinea is an alumni of this institute and we got to see his schoolwork which was integrated and the dishes we ate when we dinned there a couple years ago.

We concluded our first day by having dinner at Auberge du Soleil. The restaurant is so romantic, service is top notch.

The next day we visited Hall, the award wining winery that’s famous for their Merlots and Cabs wine. The entire tour was amazing from the views, art gallery, technology used to make the wine as well great explanations on how to drink wine.

 

Hall – the stunning views and yummy wine!

 

Post tour we did a lot of driving around and exploring small towns. We concluded our journey in the wine country heading back home but before we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, we stopped in the Marin Headlands to watch the sunset.

Xo.

Esty