Vacation Report & Advice: Wine Adventures in California (Napa & Sonoma)

Vacation is over.  I’m back……..and now I feel like I need a napa.  (buhdum -psh)  Clearly this is true as evidenced by my total cheesiness.

We had the best time!  We started our week long vacation in Southern California (where I’m from and where my mom and dad still live).

We spent two days at my mom’s beautiful house…….

my mom’s front entry

a peek through the guest bedroom door

spent one full day enjoying the rides and the food at Knott’s Berry Farm…….

they serve the best funnel cakes ever. period.

and then the hubs and I left the kids with my mom and road tripped up to Northern California with our besties!

We stayed at the Hyatt Avia in downtown Napa which was not only beautiful but also great for getting around by foot at night.  Drinking wine + walking instead of driving = good times.  😉

The hubs loved the way the tv swiveled back and forth from the living area to the bedroom.  Men and their tv’s right?  

I loved the bathroom……..

wish I could’ve taken this shower home as a souvenir

and the quote on the back of the television.

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Since this was our very first trip to Napa, we started our trip with a plan.  We gathered lots of information and recommendations from family and friends that have been there before.  We quickly learned that our list of wineries to visit was much longer than the amount of time we had to visit them.  In 2 and a half days we visited:  Caymus, Kuleto, Caspar, James Cole, Biale, Elyse, Domaine Chandon, Peju, Gloria Ferrer, Cline, & Jacuzzi.   We dined out all three nights – Celadon, Mustards, and Oenotri.  So basically we drank and ate our way through Napa with a couple quick stops in Sonoma on the way home – that’s why people go there though right?

Here are the highlights:

 Caymus  – LOVED!

The tasting room is small which is probably why they require an appointment, but I really liked the personal attention.  I’m typically a red wine girl, but my favorite white is Conundrum which is a Caymus wine though many people don’t know that it is.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.  It was our very first stop, so I think we all were pretty enthusiastic!

We’ve been friends with these cuties for over 14 years!  The hubs and I actually set them up – she was my friend, he was his.  We were in each others weddings.  They live in Southern California so we don’t get to see them very often, which made this trip even more fun.  They’re the kind of friends you can sit around doing nothing with and have a good time so imagine how much fun we had wine tasting!  

For me, the most amazing looking winery that we visited was Kuleto.

It was also one of our longest stops.  They give you a pretty lengthy tour before you sit down to taste the wines (at least they did for us).  They also require an appointment but they take them in large groups.  I think I prefer a smaller more intimate setting, but I did enjoy the grounds very much.

While Kuleto was absolutely beautiful, this view while tasting Caspar Estate cabernet sauvignon wasn’t bad either.

We never would have found Caspar Estate if not for our driver (we had a driver the first day only).  They’re new and not on the map.  The set up for tasting is very casual which I really enjoyed!

We all loved this one – a lot!

My absolute favorite stop on our trip was Robert Biale.

In fact I enjoyed it so much all I have for you is that one terrible phone pic.  I’m a big red zin girl, and I absolutely LOVE Black Chicken!  Besides loving the wine, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire tasting experience.  It was also an appointment only tasting with just our group of four.  I loved hearing the history behind the wine.  Here’s how they tell it on their site (although hearing it told is so much better than reading this):

Along with the eggs and produce a teenaged Aldo began discreetly selling his homemade wine to a few wine-loving Napans. Because his rural home phone was a “party line” frequented by nosy eavesdroppers, enterprising Aldo used a code name whereby his customers could order wine without the risk of revealing his secret Zinfandel operation. Thus “Black Chicken” was born – the nickname for a jug of homemade wine from young Aldo’s barrels hidden in the barn.

I started out as a history major before I switched to business so it’s always been a passion of mine.  I guess when it comes right down to it – I just love a great story.  For me Black Chicken stands alone on taste (it’s one of my favs), but the story (again for me- I know everyone is different) makes drinking it even better!

I came home with quite a few bottles, and I also have the best souvenir ever:  a handmade apron from Clementina Biale (Aldo’s wife!).  I think she’s in her eighties now and they said she’s more excited for people to buy her aprons than the wine!  How precious is that?

After visiting Biale at the start of day 2, I was pretty hard to impress.  Cline was okay. It was kind of market-y and really crowded, but I guess that’s what you get this time of year at a place where they don’t require an appointment.  The best part of our visit there was capturing these guys with my camera.

How cute are they?

At Jacuzzi, I didn’t even taste the wine.  I was too busy taking photos and it was our last stop before heading home.

We were greeted by these two.

Sometimes it’s good to be the one on the other side of the camera.  😉

Jacuzzi was really beautiful and they had a nice gift shop and olive oil tasting room.  I loved these vintage door knob bottle stoppers.

I see a diy gift project in my near future.

We all had a really good time, but the hubs had a GREAT time!