Third Day Was A Charm

Our last day in Napa was grand. We thoroughly enjoyed each and every winery we visited, which made it that much more difficult to leave the following day. We had planned to bike on the Napa Vine Trail, but then the combination of heat/lack of shade on the trail/distance between wineries/condition of the B&B's bikes, forced us to change plans. Turned out well!

Our daughter and SIL highly recommended this place. They stomped grapes here on their honeymoon and loved the wines, which can be pricey.  Mike Grgich is a Napa legend (94 years old and still going strong), so we decided to give it a try. Grgich Hills is old school . . . nothing fancy about their tasting room, just long bars on three sides of the space. We had a delightful server and the wines were excellent. Glad we got there first thing in the morning, because I know they get crowded. Bonus: they open at 9:30 a.m.

We stopped at Franciscan, which is more of a corporate type of winery. You probably see their wines at your grocery/package store. We opted out of a tasting and just walked around. Their fountains and gardens were gorgeous. Photos don't do it justice, but these flowers were huge.

V. Sattui is one of the most popular wineries in Napa. They have a large picnic area and a nice deli/gourmet food store. We stopped here 11 years ago and it was so packed, we turned around and left. Our B&B had free tasting coupons, so we were enticed to give them another try. Actually glad that we did. The wines were very good and they had some superb ports as well. They are one of the few that only sell their wines on their premises or through their website.

This is me relaxing in their outdoor garden area.

I'd never heard of Cliff Lede before researching for the trip, but learned Cliff is a Canadian who grows grapes in the highly sought after Stag's Leap District. Also, he's a classic rock fan, so must be in our age range! We were able to just buy a glass of wine here and relax on their patio. How beautiful is this view from my chair?

His vineyard blocks are all named after popular songs. My husband and I had fun quizzing each other on the names of the bands (listed on back). Loved, loved, loved this place. Click to enlarge and play along :)

However, the highlight of the trip for me was Domaine Chandon because I love a glass of bubbly. The building had an '80's Vegas vibe going on, with wall-to-wall carpeting  that I found both strange and charming. And again, wonderful seating outside on their two level terrace, in addition to Adirondack chairs all over the vast grounds. How do you like our lunch?

We wrapped up the day at Trefethen. Their tasting room is brand new, as the original was severely damaged in the earthquake of 2014. It was a very nice seated tasting on the second floor, in an industrial style room. We shared the tasting and my husband didn't care for the wines, but I thought they were fine. We spent the evening with a final stroll around Yountville and an Italian dinner outdoors at Redd Wood. After a leisurely breakfast the next morning at our B&B, my husband dropped me off at the airport and was on his way to his conference. It was a lousy trip home (thanks, United Airlines!) but in a strange twist of fate (that we knew ahead of time) a friend of mine and her husband were on my flight, so at least I had someone to hang out with at the airport.