Napa

This past weekend I finally took the trip I’ve been dreaming about for years. I went to Napa!!

It was such a great weekend full of great food and lots of wine! If you haven’t had the chance to go I highly recommend you go. 2 days is plenty although I wish I had a few more to see Sonoma and even a day to explore San Francisco…this will have to be another trip. Let me tell you about my top spots and why they made the list.

1.Chandon, this was our first stop and very memorable. Starting the day at 10am seemed a little early for wine (I know, even for me), so having bubbles to start off was a great call! We tasted 4 of their champagnes with the addition of 2 bonuses. They filled our glasses to the brim and were able to walk around their beautiful property and take in the stunning views Napa has to offer. Everyone was very welcoming and all in all, a great place to start my Napa weekend!

2. Cakebread, great experience here! We got the grand tour of the vineyard and facility, tasted about 6 fabulous wines and got some great information about wine making and aging. (Don’t quiz me on particulars…I didn’t take notes but I know I learned something!)

3. Duckhorn, such a tremendous place! I’ve been looking forward to this one since I had my first glass of Duckhorn a few years ago. We sat outside on the deck and tasted about 8 wines, one better than the next! It was magical!

4. Round Pond, was a winery I heard about through a friend and I have to admit was maybe my favorite spot the whole trip. First of all, the views from this winery were stunning and the wine was phenomenal. The cool thing they did here was pair a bite of food with your flight of wine. The food was amazing! Pairing food with wine made the wine that much better and made the experience far more memorable. This was a longer stop than the others, but after refilling our glasses a couple times I would say it was worth it!

5. Peju, had the most entertaining “vintertainer” take us through our tasting. He rapped, he cracked jokes, he sang, and all the while talked knowledgeably and passionately about the wine. It made the whole experience fun!

I made it to 12 wineries in 2 days and would love to give you more details or suggestions, just send me a message!

It’s recommended to call ahead and make reservations but we also learned many vineyards are happy to have you and will accommodate if you just drop in. It’s tough to have reservations throughout the day and be on a tight schedule, so if your open to getting a few rejections, I’d suggest going with the flow and finding some fun places along the way.