12/17/13

I suppose great experiences are best experienced rather than described, and a visit to Napa reminds your tastebuds of this throughout your stay. A ride in from San Francisco is about 90 minutes if all goes to plan, and upon arrival you’re surrounded by a beautiful valley that meanders for miles and miles, one grape vine after another.

Time for restaurants, wine, java shops, bakeries, tours, shopping, and all the rest can be juggled while enjoying some of the over 450 wineries in the area. A tip we found useful was to reserve a group tour that visits several obscure wineries as part of your stay. You can spend the day with like-minded types, and leave the driving and dining details to others. If you are lucky, you’ll meet a few new friends, and also learn more about wines and tasting them. We had a great time! Our fellow tour mates were fun, and we learned a lot — from the vine, to grape, to wine, and then tasting & enjoying them too.

As a shout out, I must mention Platypus Tours, Mike our guide, and Darren at Hopper Creek Winery. Although it’s a little unfair to single them out, as our entire time in Napa was wonderful, these three surely deserve it. Starting off at Hopper Creek made the entire day quite enjoyable and was so informative! Mike & Darren saw to it the group was prepared for our tasting experiences, and also that we had a better appreciation for what goes into making wines. I could easily go on and on about stops along the way, one that even included a magic show. Have you ever watched a cork pushed into a wine bottle and then retrieved? Unbelievable! Yes there were many fun stops, I should though leave some of the tales in Napa, and hopefully you have a chance to visit one day to discover for yourself if you haven’t already. Definitely a bucket list item. I began by saying words don’t do the visit justice, and perhaps pictures don’t either, so do make it to Napa. Here are a few moments from our ride in and out of the valley, and some stops along the way.