Today we hit Napa Valley. We started our day with some Starbucks and then picked up our AWESOME convertible rental. From there we headed out of San Francisco, past Lombard Street,
over the Golden Gate bridge
and out to the Valley. About half way there the fog cleared and the top came down.
Our first stop was Artesa Winery. Artesa is located in between Sonoma and Napa Valley and is know for its modern style and great views.
We took a tour of the winery and did a tasting. We had a younger guy who did the tour and our tasting which was nice since he understood our likings more and even sneaked us a couple extra tastes. Larry and I both liked their Sauvignon Blanc, and Larry loved the dessert wine.
After Artesa we stopped in the town of Napa for lunch, and then headed out to the main “strip” of wineries. We hit Cakebread Cellers next. Cakebread is a really small winery with really nice, passionate people. We did a tasting and then our tasting guy was nice enough to give us a private tour of the winery and the vineyards.
After that we went to Mondavi, which is said to be the mecca of Napa Valley (a guy at Artesa said you can’t go to Napa without going to Monavi).
It was a ton bigger than the other two we visited. We went on a very long comprehensive tour of their vineyard and winery, and then had a tasting in their bottling room. We bought a bottle of their Sauvignon Blanc before leaving (see Day 4).
It was a perfect, full day in Napa. We learned a lot about wine-making, grape picking, and all the other intricacies of wine.
I drove us back to San Fran with the top down. We hit some traffic on the way back and then had an excruciating semi-difficult time finding a place to park. That night we went back down to the Wharf for some seafood. It was cool to see it at night. We ate at a “casual dining” restaurant where Larry had his (ok) lobster and I had a vat full of chowder. Then we called it a night.
More pictures from Day 3 here.
