When I turned thirty, Mick asked what I wanted to do for my birthday. I said I wanted to go somewhere far, far away with wine included, making Napa Valley the most obvious choice.
Flying into San Francisco is a great option if you enjoy seeing some sights before you get there. We drove through San Fran over the Golden Gate Bridge and down through Sonoma, only taking about an hour and 10 minutes. It was so worth the scenery! Also, peep our awesome convertible we rented to roll around the vineyards through the week!
We stayed at The Archer Hotel in downtown Napa our entire stay. It was a great home base for our daily trips to wineries, and we loved our balcony and fireplace at night!
Since it was our first visit to Napa, we did two winery tours a day. I felt like it was quite a lot of rushing around, so I would suggest maybe doing one tour and then a tasting instead. You can book most of these through Cellarpass online, and it creates your very own itinerary for you!
Here are some of our favorite wineries:
Schramsberg
One of my absolute favorite places we visited, Schramsberg, specializes in various sparkling wines (American Champagne). The tour goes down into their caves, which are the traditional way champagne is made in France. It was amazing to see, and the candlelit tasting was wonderful. If you are into bubbly at all, I highly recommend adding to your list.
Kathryn Hall
We actually loved the Cabernet Sauvignons here so much, we joined the wine club! Great tour and the most beautiful grounds and tasting room!
Hess
With a huge collection of modern art, Hess is not your typical winery on the inside. We decided to venture outside and do an ATV tour and cheese pairing, which was also a highlight of our trip. Some of the best views of the valley, and the cheese selection was absolutely divine!
I love the wineries, but as a true Southerner, I was just as concerned with food as libations. Here are some memorable stops:
Morimoto Napa
Our first dinner was Morimoto Napa for my birthday dinner. It was very close to our hotel, and it was a great blend of Pan-Asian dishes and sushi. I had to include the wonderful chocolate fire dessert we had!
Restoration Hardware Napa
As far as brunch/ lunch if you are on the go around different wineries, I cannot recommend RH Yountville enough. Not only does it have an actual RH furniture store, but a wonderful restaurant side as well. The food is great, but the atmosphere is breathtaking. I suggest walking around before/after in town, as they have great boutiques and specialty stores in Yountville you won’t find anywhere else!
Other fun suggestions:
Hire a photographer
We had a photographer, Nadine Kelley Photography, take pictures of us for our anniversary (I am the worst about it), and it was easily one of the prettiest backdrops ever. Nadine was wonderful, so if you’re ever in or around Napa, don’t hesitate to book a session with her!
Hendry Winery
The owner, George Hendry, does one tour once a week (usually Wednesdays). If you want the history and science behind wine with one of the most knowledgeable in Napa, this would be it. The 3 hours fly by, and all you want to do is sit on the porch and talk to George even more afterwards. Visit their website here.
Hot air balloon rides
We did not do this (Mick is BEYOND afraid of heights), but I did a little research anyway and it looked magical! Here is a good company I found: Napa Valley Balloons. They have hourly rates and some places even do a picnic afterwards!
There are really no places to go wrong in Napa, and it is giving me serious wanderlust just revisiting our trip! I hope you enjoyed my condensed version of Napa and have happy travels soon enough!
