A Winey Day!

I’m not sure about you, but my picture taking tendencies definitely ebb and flow.  There are some trips where I have hundreds and hundreds of pictures and others where nary a roll of film was used (and yes, I realized I just aged myself!).  Unfortunately, this trip to California was during a lull in photo taking–and with the exception of the Golden Gate Bridge, I really didn’t get many pictures of anything else.  I’d like to think I was trying to be more discerning with my photography or perhaps enjoying myself way too much to even think about stopping to take a picture, but probably the most accurate reason is that I couldn’t be bothered taking out my camera and taking the shot.

While the pictures aren’t so reflective, Napa Valley was amazing.  I will grant you that it’s a bit different than I imagined, in that I imagined rolling hills covered in rows of grape vines with tasting rooms tucked away, like little hidden treasures waiting to be found.  You know, something like this:

But that was not Napa–that was Sonoma.  Napa was a lot more….in your face.  Go here! Try this! No this! Buy that!  Not that I minded, it was wonderful rambling from winery to winery without much trouble or effort.

At the time, I ran a wine bar which focused on Texas wines but offered a few California selections, so I wanted to be sure to hit some of those wineries.  Our first stop was St. Supery Vineyards & Winery, followed by the Francis Ford Coppola Winery, followed by Cakebread Cellars, followed by Silver Oak Winery.  There may have been a few more thrown in, but those stand out the most because:

• St. Supery was one of the wines we carried at the wine shop.  Even more impressive is that they had heard of our wine shop located smack dab in the middle of Texas. 
• Coppola was stunning.  Absolutely stunning.  It was so picturesque and looked like you stepped into some gorgeous movie set version of Tuscany.  Plus they had memorabilia from all of Coppola’s movies upstairs from the tasting room.
• Cakebread was another wine we sold at the wine shop.  And we got a special tour, complete with a barrel tasting.  Even Matthew was impressed…and slightly annoyed that he was the designated driver and could only take small sips–I graciously and selflessly finished all his wine for him!  No pics because…well…we were barrel tasting!!
• Silver Oak.  Sigh.  I just adore Silver Oak wines.  Alas, because Cakebread took up most of the afternoon, we got to Silver Oak about 10 minutes AFTER the tasting room closed.  I may have had a slight meltdown in the parking lot.  But I’m sure I was just hungry.  I did manage to get a picture of their iconic white tower.  And honestly, we had such a great time at Cakebread that I couldn’t be toooooo upset.  Just know that Silver Oak will be my first stop on my next visit!

Our day in Napa went by way too quickly!  If you want to visit (and you should!), I would plan out your day a little more–at the very least know tasting room times of your favorite wineries because they can vary greatly and you definitely don’t want to miss out and cause a scene in a parking lot!

Go to Napa (or Sonoma).  Drink wine.  Eat amazing food.  And send me a postcard!! 🙂