Napa Valley Experts

[Sherlee]

My best friend of 20 years and I are turning 40! Ten of our nearest and dearest friends are going to help us celebrate in Napa Valley for a long weekend. Looking for winery, activity, and restaurant suggestions. One night will be a spendy dinner and another cheap, cheap, cheap (pizza or pasta place). THere is a Round Table Pizza near our hotel, looks to be a chain in CA, are they any good? We are staying in Napa. Thank you!

 

[Michelemouse]

Hi,

DH and I have been to Napa three times and absolutely love it!

As for wineries, I would recommend Beringer's tour and the Robert Mondavi tour. At Beringer the tour focuses on the caves and the traditional way of making wine. At Robert Mondavi it is much more modern and equally interesting. Both offer wine tastings at the end of the tour. Around lunch time you can stop at V. Sattui (between Beringer and Mondavi...all are along the same main road). They offer a great, upscale deli and lots of outdoor picnic tables where you can enjoy lunch outside. Then, if you have time, try to stop at Van der Heyden. They are on Silverado Trail (off of the main drag on a road that runs parallel to the main drag...but it's very easy to get around the Napa area). Van der Heyden is a VERY small vinyard but makes some of the absolute best wines DH and I have ever had. They don't do a tour but do offer a tasting. There are lots of vinyards all along both the main road (Rte. 29 I believe) and Silverado trail. If you have time for other vinyards just stop at what looks interesting to you. You can also ask at your hotel for their recommendations.

As for dinners, there is a very upscale restaurant called the French Laundry. We didn't go there but heard others saying what a great meal they had. There are lots of less expensive restaurants up and down the main roads. There is a Napa Valley Grill and a Marie Callendar's. We went to a fabulous Mexican place called, I believe, Compadres. Again, ask at your hotel for their recommendations.

Have a great time and feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

 

[minniecarousel]

Someplace we've always wanted to visit is Copia - it's an arts & display center about the area. Here are a few links:

www.copia.org & www.napavalley.com

 

[adamak]

Terra. That's one of the best meal I ever have in my whole life. It's expensive, but not as bad as the other ones. Try it if you can.

I love Clos Peagasus winery. It's my fav. Lots of modern art and scuptures. And they've really good, heavy red wine. I bought a case back and still didn't wanna drink it after 7 years.

Schramsburg champagne winery is pretty cool too. Up in the hill, you can visit champgane caves. Very elegant indeed.

And Ravenwood has the most relaxed wine tasting area there. They even have BBQ on certain days. And they're right about their slogan "No whimpy wine". Very good and heavy Zin there.

I love wine country. Just the best.

 

[lil mermaid]

Your trip sounds fabulous!!! You are going to have a wonderful time. Dh and I moved to the Bay area in November 2002 and have been to Napa and Sonoma many many times. Too many to count. WE LOVE IT.

Where in Napa are you staying? If you let me know that, I would probably be able to steer you to a restaurant.

Since there are so many of you, you might want to think about renting a little tour bus. That way you wouldn't have to worry about driving.

You should also think about taking a hop over to Sonoma county - not too far, and is a lot less snooty in general then Napa is. Much more informal.

Many of the wineries in Sonoma don't charge for tasting - most of the ones I have been to in Napa do (the only one that comes to mind that doesn't is V. Sattui.) All of those tasting fees really add up so you might want to keep that in mind.

We have been to tons of wineries - I can send you more info later after I find out where you will be located, (and I have to run now anyway) but here are c couple of our favorites

Artesa: great wine, and its way up on a hill. Pinot noir and chardonnay are great here. You can see for miles and on a clear day, even see San Francisco! Very cool but slightly snooty. I think we paid $6 for tasting.

Gundlach Bundschu: This is a great place for a picnic. I really recommend it - we love it so much we joined their wine and social club. It's really informal and fun, free tasting and excellent wines. This may very well be our favorite winery. Also great is their sister winery, Bartholomew Park - Bartholomew Park has a great(and sort of crazy) history and a little museum.

V. Sattui: Although there wines are no particulary spectacular, it is a fun place. Free tasting and a great deli. The Sattui family red is a great picnic wine.

Domaine Carneros: Kind of pricey - but its in a castle. Although you would think it would be snooty, it really wasn't. You don't actually do tastings here - you get a table on the verandah of the castle and order sparkling wine (its GOOD) and they bring you crackers and spread. You can also order chocolates!

I will write more later, when I get home!

 

[DonnaS]

We generally go to Calistoga and stop at V.Sattui on the way. Have you considered getting mud baths in Calistoga? We usually go for "The Works" at Dr. Wilkinsons.

Round Table Pizza is a chain pizza place around here and our preferred delivery pizza, but there are better "trendy" type pizzerias around.