NAPA VALLEY
After the vibrant, busy, hectic, non-stop-fun of San Fran we headed north to California wine country into Napa Valley – California wine is some of the world’s best wines – If you’re doing Napa Valley right, you’ll be seeing red, in the bottom of your glass hopefully! Cabernet is king in this wine country. The climate and land are perfect for the Bordeaux grape that allows Napa Valley winemakers to produce some of the world’s most highly prized Cabernet Sauvignon.
Wine is not the only thing that attracted us to Napa, after the tall buildings and busy roads of San Francisco, Napa is complete contrast. The beautiful rolling valleys of vineyards and wineries. The fresh, clean air! Clear blue skies! Big beaming sun. This place is enchanting and more importantly; this place was peaceful! Within seconds of arriving we felt more relaxed that we had in ages – with all the planning of the wedding and then all the fun and adventures of San Francisco this is JUST what we needed. Despite being in the worst drought California had seen in years, they place lush and GREEN.
GETTING THERE
From our hotel in San Fran we took a cab to the airport where we had arranged to pick up a car. When we booked our trip, we had a choice of categories – from compact to monster truck. We decided to go for a small car, looking back we may have been better off going for something a little bigger, this wasn’t because the car wasn’t big enough for us and our luggage, but when you are on the American roads filled with cars as big as a 3 bed semi-detached house; a ford fiesta can seem a little, well LITTLE! Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself – we got the airport and processed all the paperwork, we were then told to go to -parking lot (Carpark) and we could pick any car we wanted – as long as it was in the car category we had paid for. We chose the fiesta, lovely new model- It was in automatic, I can’t drive – I was born to be chauffeured – so it was up to Ben to get us from place to place in one piece. Ben had not driven automatic before, so one of the members of staff at the car rental place gave him a little lesson and briefing – we then took to the road, the drive from San Fran took us over the bay bridge on to the 101 and then your pretty much there – the journey was simple and took just over an hour.
ACCOMMODATION
We stayed at Napa Winery Inn. Situated at the southern gateway of the Napa Valley; the Napa Winery Inn is conveniently located near dozens of Napa wine country’s most famous and highest quality local wineries and restaurants. Near to Highway 29 on the outskirts of downtown Napa, the Napa Winery Inn is convenient to the Napa Valley’s most enticing wineries, culinary delights, and exciting attractions. Provides a boutique hotel atmosphere for guests to experience and enjoy attentive service. The staff at the hotel was delightful, I have to give a big shout out to Kadie, such a beautiful person who made our stay that much better. She was super friendly and so accommodating – the perfect hotelier. The hotel is not a large one and I think that is what added to the relaxed atmosphere. The room was wonderful, clean, and spacious with a nice big comfy bed. The hotel had a pool – not a massive pool but it was perfect for having a dip and cooling off, we seemed to be the only ones around the pool, I guess that everyone else was out getting drunk – I mean – “tasting wine”! Next to pool was a … Jacuzzi, or as the Americans like to call them – “a Spa” - it was just what we needed… although the spa was very warm – okay it was hot and in the 40 degree heat it wasn’t ideal – but come the evening with a glass of wine - it was divine!
GETTING AROUND
We had the car, but to be honest – we didn’t drive while we were in Napa, everything we needed was within walking distance, but if you were to drive about the roads were super quiet – but if you’re in wine country we drink wine – no drive.
THINGS TO DO
There are many wine tours you can take, and a convenient shuttle bus picks you up in the morning and drops you back drunk to the hotel. We just wanted take the time in Napa to chill out and relax, plus with the knowledge that in a couple of days we would be doing 3 days of hiking in Yosemite we needed the rest.
Next time we come to Napa, I will defiantly want to do the following:
This tour tour allows you to taste through the best of Napa Valley while exploring
downtown in one afternoon. Along the tour, you will also learn more about the history and growth of Napa through the years & discover how and why it’s become a mecca for great food and wine! For those looking for an alternative from traditional wine tasting, this tour is for you; explore all that downtown Napa has to offer beyond the vine!
See Napa Valley from a fresh perspective. Relax on a 50-foot Catamaran Yacht as you enjoy a 4-course meal by Tarla Grill and Chef Kadiye. The owner and winemaker of AUM Cellars will be aboard to pair his wines with each course of dinner. You will enjoy a delicious dinner and a personal tasting with a charming winemaker while taking in the beautiful views of Napa. The Napa River will reveal history, ecology and agriculture. Along the river banks, you will find vineyards, cows, birds and have distinct views of the Mayacamas and Vaca Mountain ranges
Offering a variety of experiences including bar tastings, tours, and private tastings. Reservations are not required for tastings at the bar.
SHOPPING
This part of the trip was not for shopping, it was for relaxing, drinking wine and eating food! There are a few shops around and we headed out to shops 5-10 min walk away and stocked up on cheese and antipasti from the grocery store called Lucky’s. Close by is a CVS and Walgreen; good for that all important sunscreen – while we were shopping I discovered “Easy Cheese” this is an acquired taste and I can’t say that it tastes like cheese – its more like the take of a cheese puff, but rest assured on the package it says – “made with real cheese” – slightly worrying that this product made from real cheese also states on the can that there is “no need to refrigerate” but I don’t care squeeze this amazing bright orange cheese paste over a melba toast cracker and you’re on to a winner!
EATING
We didn’t spend enough time to sample all the delights, but Kadie (hotel extraordinaire/ new friend) told us to try a little bistro called Fume – just so happens that this bistro was 60 second walk from our hotel… we thought we would give it a go – and I’ve got to say I am so SO SOOOOO happy we did.
Fumé Bistro has great food, seasonally inspired menus straight from the farmer's market and regional growers. We were greeted by friendly staff into a welcoming atmosphere. The restaurant felt very European, with beautiful décor and a wonderful terrace – this is where we chose to sit, we started off with some wine (when in Napa…) our server recommended the Black Stallion Winery Estate Chardonnay 2012 so that’s what we had – this wine was sooooo good, I have been looking all over the world wide web to get my hands on a bottle to enjoy at home , but I cannot seem to find it anywhere – every bottle of chardonnay I have had since doesn’t even come close to how much I loved this wine!!!!
Note to readers: if you know where I can get a bottle of had a bottle of the Black
Stallion Winery Estate Chardonnay 2012 please let me know!!!!!
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Anyway, apart from the wine, which, to be honest was so good I wouldn’t have cared what the food was like… but I didn’t have to worry about that because the food was AB-SO-LUTELY DELICIOUS! We ordered a salad and a pizza and did as ben and I so often do – we had half of each. The pizza was cooked in their wood burning pizza oven and the salad was fresh and crisp both were perfect. One thing I noticed in America, once you have eaten, well, sometimes while you are eating – you get handed the check (American for bill) I think this is partly to do with their culture and partly to do with the fact that they want to get your tips and get the next customer in - this was not the case for Fume, after dinner we sat and enjoyed our wine on the terrace had a chat with the staff and once we were done we headed all the way back across the street to the hotel.
I’m no food critic or expert in any way – but if I were – this would be in my top 10 – no, TOP 5 places to dine! If you ever find yourself in Napa – head down to Fumé – you will not be disappointed.
NIGHTLIFE
I’m sure there is some nightlife about – in fact, The Amazing Kadie aka hotel receptionist said there was a few good bars but we wanted to enjoy the calm, eat food, drink good wine and chill out.
Napa wasn’t something we originally thought we wanted to do, it was our Kuoni Travel expert, Nicole that suggested it and we are happy that she did. Napa Valley is charming and This place is the place to relax and take a step away from a fast paced life. We could have happily spent a couple of weeks here but after a couple of relaxing nights and a few chilled out days, we were off to YOSEMITE...
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