When: March 4 // Weather: 50s // Real life: San Fran –> Napa
similar Dress // Cardigan (on sale) // similar Scarf // Shoes // similar Hat // similar Bag
Napa, here we coooooooommmmme!!!!!
OK, so technically we took these photos before we left San Francisco. I selected this outfit specifically for wine tasting, but Kristin said I looked like I had just stepped out of a Hitchcock film, so it only seemed appropriate to snap pics in Nob Hill near some of the iconic settings of Vertigo (#nerdalert).
After breakfast, we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge (so cool!) toward wine country. We rented a car, and I’m so glad we did. It was nice to experience the romantic aspects of a California road trip – driving over rolling hills and taking in views of vineyards – without actually driving thousands of miles to get there. I’m certain we would have paid way more in Uber fees over the course of the week compared to what we paid for the rental!
We stopped in Sonoma for lunch at Public Kitchen and popped in a boutique next door, then made our way to our first winery, Domaine Carneros. It’s a great first stop if you’re coming from SF because it’s southwest of Napa, and more importantly, they have bubbles. Our tasting guide Jana was the best, and she taught us the important life lesson: “Big bubbles, big troubles.” In other words, don’t drink shitty sparkling wine.
Next up, we checked in to Airbnb in downtown Napa. You’re going to pay an arm and a leg for any decent lodging in Napa, but I found a pretty swanky house (kitchen, laundry, and everything) in a great location for less than the comparably swanky little hotel rooms. Again, definitely the right call for us, but if you’ve got money to burn, don’t let me stop you from booking the crazy luxurious resorts!
Our second and final wine tasting stop on Day 1 was Ashes & Diamonds, which I picked purely for the cool midcentury modern design of the tasting room. The wine wasn’t all that memorable, but it was good, and the girl at the bar was super sweet and gave us all kinds of good dinner recommendations.
Of course, we then ignored all her recommendations and got dinner at Velo Pizzeria because a nice cheesy pie was calling my name. I got one with grapes (natch), blue cheese, and honey – amazing.
We went for quality over quantity in Napa, which made for a fabulous and relaxing 4 days of drinking, eating, learning, hot air ballooning, and mud-bathing (yeah, you’ll wanna come back for days 2-4). Cheers!
