NAPA!

Vacation! I love it!! And this trip out to Napa Valley did not disappoint! Four days alone with Doug, great friends, fantastic food, amazing wine, perfect weather and scenery - all about sums up the trip. Terrific! Our friends Danielle and George are Napa valley veterans and mapped out all major stops for us- which meant no decision making. We are so thankful to them for that! Here are some of our stops along the way...

Day One:

First stop: Paradigm winery
Paradigm has been run by the same family since 1976 (remembered that...the year my parents were married:-)). Paradigm is known for their Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Not only was this wine one of my favorites of all stops - the vineyard was beautiful and I loved our hostess - she was so down to earth and used words like "lovely" when describing the wines. I like words like "lovely". :-) Here is a picture of the beautiful vineyard and another of the wines we tasted (and bought!). Perfecto and one of my faves of the trip!

Stop Two: Sequoia Grove 
This was an unplanned stop but so worthwhile.  The tasting room was laid back and classy.  The grounds were absolutely beautiful with the Sequoia trees and gardens surrounded by vineyards and the valley mountains.   I tried Cabernet Franc for the first time here (never knew there was such a thing...I'm a newbie to all this wine stuff!) - and absolutely loved it.  We bought a bottle to take home:-)

Our favorite wines at Sequoia Grove:

The beautiful gardens - my friend Nancy and I snuck out here for a while to chat!

Our group lined up at the tasting room bar. 

Stop Three: Gott's Roadside

After Sequoia we needed some FOOD!  Lunchtime at Gott's Roadside (previously Taylor's refresher).  It was a burger joint that looked like something out of a magazine.  We ordered at a classic looking burger stand and then sat out in the backyard under a small tent at picnic tables in a neatly pruned green grassy landscape.  The burgers and fries were delicious!  Some of the best I've had (maybe because I was really hungry?).  First pic of my handsome sidekick on our way to lunch (we got to sit in the back of the mini-van all weekend - ha ha), then a few of Gott's.



Stop Four: Rudd - Oakville Estate

The tour we had at Rudd was probably my favorite tour of the whole trip.  The property was amazing - rolling vineyards, extravagant gardens, fixtures and architecture.  I saw my first Olive Tree (Rudd had 5 full sized trees flown in and planted in the vineyard...crazy!).  We also saw orange trees, rosemary bushes (my favorite spice) and herbs galore!

Exit from the underground wine cave - horse shoe!

Orange trees (at first thought they were lemons but they're really growing oranges!).

Olive tree!  Gorgeous!!  I wish I could grow one of these here at home (although they do seem sort of messy with all the squishy olives underneath!).

Entryway to one of the storage rooms. All the details of this place were amazing!

Wine aged 28 months - in new French oak barrels. 

Below is the entrance way to the underground wine cave.  Our tour guide said that Rudd believes the cool temps and humidity of the caves make a perfect environment for wine to age.  It was amazing to stroll through.  The owner (Mr. Rudd) also has his own wine library in the cave - we were all drooling when looking through the glass windows at it.  There was also a huge table laid out for entertaining - how fun would it be to invite your friends to your cave for dinner?  So cool.  George now wants a cave in his house:-)

I think wine barrels are so pretty - Artwork!

After the tour - we got to taste the wine.  I will be honest - don't buy their chardonnay.  Their reds were yum.  They had set the room up so fancy - even made place mats with Danielle's name on them.  We felt so official (fun to pretend sometimes:-)!

See if you can spot my purple teeth after tasting all this red wine all day!

Last winery stop of the day:  Silverado.  Owned by one of the daughters of Walt Disney - I liked the views from this winery!  And...it was fun to go here because we find some of their wines around restaurants here in town! Again - ignore my purple teeth:-)

George and Danielle!  Danielle was our trip planner extrordianaire!

Me & my girls - Danielle & Nancy.  Love them!

The guys - they felt so cheesy...it was fun to make them take this picture! 

Doug and Jeremy being their normal selves.  Poor George...wondering why he agreed to go on a trip with us bozos!

We capped day one off with a much needed nap...and then dinner at the Chop House!  What a fun day. 

Day Two

We started the day at the Ma(i)sonry - an art, design and wine gallery.  We walked through the stone house (built in 1904) and looked at the gallery then went out to the garden to relax and try wine!  It was a perfect setting for an early Saturday.  And we had great weather to boot which made it even more fun!

A few of our faves.  My favorite was the Juslyn Perry's Blend.  May have been one of the tops of all the wine I tasted while in Napa.  I made Doug buy me a bottle to keep for a special occasion:-)

I love my guy (and the crazy drinking eagle behind us:-))

And last but not least by any means on our Napa Valley tour - the Valentine dinner at Robert Craig winery.  We drove an hour from downtown Napa to the top of Howell Mountain to have dinner in the barrel room of Robert Craig winery.  It was amazing.  The view was beautiful - a glimpse of heaven maybe...especially with the sunset.  The food was great...and the wine was fantastic!  Even got to taste some not yet released stuff:-)  The barrel room was beautiful.  The pictures don't really do it justice!  A great evening to cap off such a fantastic few days with my Love and some of our amazing friends!

Pics on top of an extremly windy mountain top!

George & Danielle

Jeremy & Nancy

Doug double fisting it in his Michael Westen (Burn Notice - Doug's favorite TV show) sun glasses.  Hahaha!

The barrel room.  Lynn Craig said it took a lot of planning to make room for the dinner...this whole room is usually filled wall to wall with barrells.

Ceviche salad.  I actually ate it - something new!

The menu

After a few glasses of wine:-)

Danielle with Lynn Craig (Robert's wife).  Lynn sat at our table...I loved how un-pretentious she was.  They're just out to make good wine for people to enjoy.   

More barrells!

Praising and thanking God for such a fantastic trip and memories with my husband and great friends!