Weekend in Napa

It's our second wedding anniversary tomorrow, so we thought we'd get away for a nice weekend away together since we won't have too many more chances to do that in the future for a while!

We decided to go to the Napa Valley since I haven't actually been there yet (it's the local winery region). We stayed at Gaia Hotel and Spa which is actually in American Canyon - about a 15 minute drive away from Napa - it's "The Gateway to Napa". It was fairly cheap, looked nice enough, and had massages there which I thought would be nice. It was also touted as an "Environmentally Friendly Hotel and Spa", and had a lot of environmentally conscious initiatives, so that was an extra little interesting thing about it.

Being a bit further out of Napa definitely wasn't an issue and the hotel was nice enough. It was more like a very classy motel than a nice hotel, but that was fine too. The walls were a bit thin, but the beds were comfy and we slept fine.

So we arrived Friday night, then on Saturday did absolutely nothing all morning. Slept in, then just lay in bed watching cartoons and reading. Went for massages at 11, then after that we decided to go for a drive into downtown Napa. We ended up going to a bunch of wineries instead! I wasn't drinking, so Andrew got to have all the wine and Napa is very different to other wine regions we've been to. They charge for the tastings - the first few we went to were all $15 for 3-5 wines, and you can't pick which ones you want to taste, it's a set "menu".

We found some cheaper ones though which had much better selections and a more laidback atmosphere, and would waive the tasting fee if you bought some wine. Andrew was beginning to feel pretty tipsy since it was nearing 2pm, it was hot, he was doing all the large portioned tastings and we hadn't eaten! So we went to Rutherford Grill for lunch which I'd heard very good things about. And it was a fabulous choice! Andrew had ribs which he claims to be the best ribs he's ever had - the meat just fell off the bone. And I had ribeye steak which was also delicious!

We went to another couple of wineries after that, got back to the hotel about 5:30pm and were both ready to sleep!!!!

Then today (Sunday) we went on the , which is a gorgeous old train that slowly makes it's way through Napa, then back again. We got one of the lunch options which was a 3 course meal and the food was once again divine! For most of the trip up we were in one rail car where we sat in lounge chairs and had appetizers served, then when we neared the turnaround we got seated in the dining car where the 3 course meal was served, and we finished dessert not long before we got back to the station.

Everything about the weekend was wonderful and relaxing and just how we wanted to spend our anniversary weekend. We also came home with 16 bottles of wine, so our wine rack is nice and stocked and should keep us going for a while (especially since I can't really drink anything at the moment, and won't be able to for a while!

And here's the wineries we REALLY liked:

Baldacci Vineyards - I think $5 for tastings, but they waived that if you bought wine. They ask for reservations for tastings, but we walked in on a recommendation from a couple we met at another winery, and they were happy to accommodate us. We bought a Gewurtztraminer and a Syrah (Shiraz) from there.

Miner Wines - $10 for tastings, and they served 5 different wines, all of which were very good and I'm pretty sure he didn't charge for the tasting since we bought wine. We also asked if they had any Shiraz, which wasn't on the tasting menu, so he opened a bottle for us to give us a tasting of that as well which was very nice. Andrew's not a big Merlot fan, but their Merlot was very good - we got that, a Sangiovese and a Viognier from there.

Whitehall Lane Winery - also $10 for tasting, and had I think 5 wines which were also very good - one of the few to do dessert wines. The wines were very tasty, and they also waived the charge since we bought wine. We got 3 bottles there also including 2 of their Belmuscato dessert wine.

BV Wines also get a special mention because we just wanted to try their Syrah, which wasn't on the tasting menu, so the girl opened a bottle for us to try and didn't charge for it which we thought was nice...

Note to those who haven't been - I recommend paying for one tasting between 2 people since the servings are pretty big and visiting a larger number of wineries. There's guides around which have the prices for tastings, so use that as a guide as well. I grabbed one and will scan that sometime soon and link to it for those who want to check it out.