Our year is starting off with a bang as we head up to Napa for wine tasting and relaxing. We are heading up with two other couples and staying in a house in Sonoma. The plan is to go out tasting and exploring during the day and cooking at home and playing games at night.
I've never been to San Fran or Napa but I've been assured that we will fall madly in love! Any last minute musts for us? We are staying in Sonoma but we will be visiting Napa, Healdsburg, Russian River Valley...the whole kit and kaboodle!
sounds beyond heavenly!
ReplyDeleteSo jealous... you know my love of Napa pumps aggressively through my veins.
ReplyDeleteI love Russian River beers!
ReplyDeleteWell Napa and Sonoma are unbelievable...but go to Russian River Brewing if you have time (and make your way north)...amazing beer.
ReplyDelete(But...the WINE!)
Yours trip sounds absolutely amazing! I visited SF last year to see one of my best friends and we made a day trip to Napa. I would highly recommend checking out St. Supery Winery, it was by far our favorite. Russian River Valley is known to have great oaky and buttery Chardonnays.. my favorite! Can't wait to hear all about it!
ReplyDeleteV. Sattui in Napa!
ReplyDeletehttps://mobile.vsattui.com
Hope you're having so much fun! Already jealous via your Instagram pictures :)
ReplyDeleteIf you enjoy red wines, you must visit Hall. We went to Napa a few years ago and randomly (it's a long story) ended up in their tasting room in Yountville (I think?). At the time, you had to make an appointment to visit the vineyard and caves, but it was amazing!! Beautiful art, AWESOME chandelier and fantastic wines! Far Niente has beautiful grounds and Alpha Omega also has some really great wines.
ReplyDeleteWe just honeymooned in Napa this past June...loved it there. Your planning of exploring during the day and hanging at home at night is spot on because nothing is open after 5/6!
ReplyDeleteI found V Sattui to be a bit over-hyped. It was nice but not any nicer than a lot of the places out there.
Calistoga is a cute little town with shops and spring baths (wish did one of the spring baths somewhere). Also, there is the geyser there. Touristy but we got beautiful pics there. The garage winery was recommended to us but we didn't get to stop. It literally is an old car repair/garage turned into a tasting bar. It is off the main road when you drive all the way up to Calistoga.
Mustards - most hyped restaurant...I would say skip. We had an awful meal there and it was way over-priced.
Requires reservations and pricey but the Wine Train is a must in my eyes. (comes with a meal and depending on what tour you do you stop at a winery for tastings). Also, the Oxbow (I think that is the name) public market is right next door to the station.
San Fran - We only spent a few days here so didn't get to explore as much. If you want to do Alcatraz you need tickets in advance (we didn't know about this and missed out). Muir Woods (outside of San Francisco) was beautiful (drive up there was scary though).
oh, and I forgot to add...we found that we liked Sonoma a lot better than "downtown Napa". A lot more cute shops, everything within walking distance. Worth a stop on the way home.
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