Tell me about your trips to Napa

[vanillacourage]

DH and I will likely go for 4 nights in early May. Good idea? Recommendations?

If you ate at French Laundry, how much was your final tab after all fees and tips?

[Deleted]

We had a great time on our bike tour. Tipsy biking! lol

www.napavalleybiketours.com/

[hesitantbride]

We had a very lovely lunch at Brix.

www.brix.com/

[luvmagoldn]

Whatever you do, skip the wine train.

[Deleted]

Make an appointment at Hendry winery. I'm not that sophisticated at tasting, so I can't comment too much on the quality of the wine versus other vineyards, but I really enjoyed the tour there, and the tasting was really extensive as compared to others. I've tried to go back several times, but I can't ever get an appointment same-day (and I never think to book early). I think it was a bit pricer than some of the other tours/tasings, but the cost of the tour can be applied to wine purchases.

[spankswife]

We loved it! Stayed 3 nts, could have stayed a week!! We did a hot air ballon ride that was gorgeous! We went to Sonoma for a day too, (BR Cohn, benziger) oh and sparkling wine at Gloria Ferrera (served w spicy almonds), and Domaine Carneros - amazing view! We also enjoyed Cake Bread, Beringer (awesome cave tour) and the gondola rise at Sterling is great too.

We ate at Mustards and loved it!!

[litasail]

FUN! Definitely go to Schramsberg and tour the caves.

I think our FL meal was around $600 total? I could be off a bit, it's been 4+ years.

[insominac]

If you two are adventurous and have a sense of humor you might enjoy a couples mud bath in Calistoga.

[ondaflipside]

The last time we went was 3 years ago.

We drove to Lake Berryessa and just spent hours taking in the nature. Not sure if you're into that.

We also hung out Calistoga the last time, and spent a few hours in Sonoma.

I too would love to do FL one of these days. I'm glad to hear it's not as much as I thought it would be (over $1K).

[RoxMonster]

We loved Max Napa Tours (he does Sonoma tours too) if you are interested in having someone else drive you around. He only takes 6 people max (you can also pay for private tour) and takes you to the wineries you want OR will take your preferences and tastes and suggest wineries to go to. We got to visit a lot of off-the-beaten-path wineries because he knew people and set up private tastings ahead of time. My favorite one there was The Terraces.

[ondaflipside]

Dec 30, 2012 23:47:21 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

The FL is $270/pp before wine or any surcharges (like for foie gras)

This is great to know! Hopefully DH and I can do this one of these days.

[UnderProtest]

We stayed in Sonoma, but spent all of our time in Napa. We did way too many wine tastings. My favorites were Cade, chappellet and frogs leap. Titus was another one we wanted to try, but wasn't open because we went in off season (early January). Cakebread was our biggest disappointment. We had some young guy serving the tastings that didn't drink wine or eat out in napa. That was a bust. We ate a cafe jeanty and it was really good French food for a really decent price. I think we had sushi at go fish and there is a bakery in st helena (I think, it was in a little town on the main napa road) that had a really good breakfast and lunch. The cave tour at schramsburg (sp?) was interesting, but not our favorite wine. We also hired a driver one day and he recommended some smaller wineries. That was a really fun day. The whole trip was amazing, although not cheap.

[doctorsbaby]

We just went in November with friends that are very into wine. It was our first trip without DD and was fabulous!

www.smalllotwinetours.net/ - for tours, ours friends have used them a few times before this trip, as well. They drive you in your vehicle so your not with a big group. You get to pick which wineries you go to and they can make suggestions, route planning, etc.

A couple of smaller wineries that we all loved were Cosentino, Paraduxx and Imagery.

www.cosentinowinery.com/ - we stopped here a few times b/c our friends were members and got free tastings. I think we spent more on wine here than any of the other 12 that we visited.

www.paraduxx.com/ - requires an appointment and the tasting is a little pricier than some of the others ($30 pp if I remember correctly) but it was so worth it. You get your own little seating area and they bring everything out to you.

www.imagerywinery.com/ - everything was so yummy and they had beautiful grounds. Their Port was great and they served it in port pipes.

Take a look at the daily sip app if you have a smart phone, they have offers for 2-for-1 tastings at some places. My friend had also purchased the Napa Card www.thenapacard.com/ on an earlier trip and used it at a few places, including getting a discount on the tour above.

[crashgizmo]

Many pp's have said things I would agree with, here are my additions:

If you are not wine experts or haven't been wine tasting often before, I'd recommend Platypus Tours www.platypustours.com/. They were great for beginners!

If you need a place to stay, I would 1000 times recommend Ken and Suzie at Cedar Gables Bed and Breakfast. The place was awesome, walking distance to downtown Napa, and they had happy hours every night where they brought in a new winemaker.

As far as wineries, others have mentioned some that I like (Gloria Ferrar, Domaine Carneros, Cakebread) Others that can't be missed are:

Larsen Family Winery. Best Chardonnay I've had in my life, and the only $5 tasting I found in Napa/Sonoma. www.larsonfamilywinery.com/

Del Dotto (also referred to as "Del Blotto" b/c the tastings are huge and the wine is incredible!

Also, Paoletti www.paolettivineyards.com/. Awesome wines and the coolest caves I've ever seen.

[chuicafina]

You've gotten a lot of good advice but I wanted to add a few suggestions. Go check out Healdsburg. It's super cute, the drive is beautiful and there are wineries you can stop at on your way. The Gallo tasting room in Healdsburg is nice (and bonus, the guy pouring wine there also worked for Louis Martini and gave us tasting vouchers! Louis Martini was very good. We really enjoyed the wine there).

Also, for an amazing cave tour and excellent wine, you should go to Jarvis winery. It's not MM (I think $30 per person for a tour and tasting), but it's really a wonderful place.

[vanillacourage]

Awesome ladies, thank you!

[hokiegirl82]

Dec 31, 2012 1:19:13 GMT -5 crashgizmo said:

If you need a place to stay, I would 1000 times recommend Ken and Suzie at Cedar Gables Bed and Breakfast. The place was awesome, walking distance to downtown Napa, and they had happy hours every night where they brought in a new winemaker.

I have to second Cedar Gables Inn - we stayed there for 3 nights in July 2011, and we now will forever compare any B&B we ever stay at to Cedar gables Inn, it was that amazing. We go to Monterey every July for the MotoGP race, and we just yesterday booked another 3 nights at cedar gables inn for next july when we go out for the race. It is an amazing victorian mansion with beautiful rooms, and ken and suzie are amazing - so nice, and suzie makes the most delicious breakfasts I have ever had.

[vanillacourage]

Re: bed and breakfasts - we aren't so much into fussy decor and don't sleep well on queen beds after having a king at home. Are B&B's a bad idea for us?

[rikki]

I think our FL bill was maybe $800ish. This was 5 years ago. We did some supplements, but brought our own wine. I think they charged $50 per bottle. Worth every penny.

[crashgizmo]

Dec 31, 2012 10:01:26 GMT -5 vanillacourage said:

Re: bed and breakfasts - we aren't so much into fussy decor and don't sleep well on queen beds after having a king at home. Are B&B's a bad idea for us?

My H is also a king bed-must kinda guy, and I know we had one at Cedar Gables. But the decor is definitely flowery, but for the atmosphere it worked okay for us.

[kjohn12]

I live in Napa!

I would recommend The Old World Inn- close to downtown Napa (walking distance) and extremely knowledgeable and accommodating innkeepers Sharon and Russ.

Restaurants:
The Thomas (Fagiani's) is one of our favorite places to just go and have a drink... Trendy and cute!

Bistro Sabor- Latin cuisine

French Blue for breakfast/brunch in St. Helena (so delicious).

La Condesa- st Helena. Best happy hour from 4-6 everyday

We also second Brix and Mustards Grill in Yountville. As well as Ristorante Allegria in Napa yummm....

Wineries:
Alpha Omega in Rutherford (for sure!)
Peju
Ceja
Mumm (champagne)