From the Golden Gate Bridge, it takes a little more than an hour drive to reach Napa. Then driving on I-29, you will be charmed by so many vineyards... that you may want to plan ahead for the places you'd like to go visit and do some wine tasting!
And even if September and early October is the harvest period, the Napa Valley is a year-long destination for tourists visiting North California: in fact, it's the second most popular destination after Disneyland!
Based on my recent experience, here are 3 suggestions of wineries you can visit:
Robert Mondavi
This vineyard is one of the most famous in the Napa Valley. Mondavi has started his vineyard in 1965 and has highly contributed to promoting the valley and its wine over the years. For $15 per person (21 years old minimum) you can enter a 30-minutes tour and taste a white and a red wine. The tour can be a bit rushed, but it gives you an idea of what is the process for turning the grapes into wine. Enjoy some time in the inside courtyard as from there you have a romantic view on the fields. Mondavi also has a fancy store where you can buy a couple of bottles as well as all sorts of souvenirs related to the wine industry.
http://www.robertmondavi.com/
Alpha Omega
After visiting such a landmark vineyard, we decided to hit the road for a few more miles and go visit a smaller place. Alpha Omega is a place that feels like home: the building is made of wood and has high ceiling and huge windows to let the sunshine in. Wine tasting is $20 per person, but if you buy a bottle (or more!), you automatically get $20 discount... which means you got to taste 4 wines for free! If it's a sunny day, don't hesitate to go sit outside on the confortable chairs to enjoy your wine tasting session - we had brought some nachos and salsa with us for the day... which made us feel just like home!
http://www.aowinery.com/
V.Sattui Winery
My first reaction after getting off the car was to feel like if I just entered a beer garden in Munich! They have such a lovely garden outside with wooden tables: this is a perfect set-up for snacking! You can actually buy great products in their (inside) front store for a quick and yummy lunch: all sorts of cheese wait for you as well as bread, patés, sandwiches, salads and more. After filling up your stomach, if you feel like tasting some wines, indulge in their numerous wines that you can taste for only a couple of dollars. This can actually be a relatively cheap place for wine-tasting, but be ready to share the experience with lots of people as it can be really crowded. Interesting fact: I was told by one of the employees that this winery doesn't sell its wines outside of its home - here in Napa Valley. Hum hum... but you can always order it from Internet and have it delivered to your home! ;-)
http://www.vsatui.com/
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These suggestions are based on my personal experience... but let's be honest: to give you a perfect opinion, I'd need to go much more often! So if you have other suggestions to share with everyone, please do so by contributing with your comments and suggestions!
Interesting links:
- Interactive Map: http://napavalleyvineyards.org/
- PDF Map: http://napavalley.com/visitorsinfo/Napa_Valley_Winery_Map.pdf
- Presentation of the Napa Valley: http://napavalley.com/
- Wikipedia gives a very interesting information: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napa_Valley
- An other source: http://www.napavalley.org/
And now... Indulge San Francisco! ;-)
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