Napa

So I am just about a week behind in posting our adventures from last weekend. We ventured north to the wine country. As we were planning our trip we realized just how many wineries there are. Its hard to choose a few because literally they are everywhere. We ended up picking 3 off a list of recommendations from friends and family. FYI: if you are planning a trip and have specific wineries you want to visit you need to make reservations especially if you visit when they are harvesting the grapes from August to October.

Our first stop was Cakebread Cellars. This was recommended by my family, who gave it rave reviews and Jon and I would have to agree.  Lynn, pictured below, was our tour guide and was filled with lots of knowledge about the wines and the area in general. In our group of 11 there were a total of 6 Texans so she had her hands full.

The second stop we made was dual purpose: lunch and wine! Several people told us the V. Sattui Winery has a BBQ on the weekends. It's not an actual BBQ, it's more of an up scale picnic with a grill going. We had grilled oysters, caprese salad with handmade mozzarella and truffle oil, and a grilled pizza. It was all delicious! 

The third and final stop of the day was Sterling recommended by some friends who had us at, "Sterling has the best views" and they were correct!! You ride in a gondola to get up the hill to the winery so you can see for miles at the top. During the tour we learned that they hand make each one of the barrels that is used to store the wine while it is aging. I had never thought about the man hours put into making just one oak barrel. 

We had such an incredible day! It was like nothing we have ever done before and we can't wait to go back in a couple weeks. Next time we will venture over to Sonoma and see what it has to offer.