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I enjoy wine and a trip to California wouldn’t be complete without going to Napa Valley and enjoying some good wine. On this trip we didn’t have a plan but I knew to visit Housely Winery as a familiar name with Tamera Mowry Housely. The time there did not disappoint. Enjoyed a great wine tasting and met Adam Housely and had a great conversation with him and the family winery history. Sitting out on the front porch and enjoying the California sun but cool breeze drinking great wine was such as an experience. The wines are reasonably priced and we
took a few bottles home and even some barbecue sauce made with their wine. Make Housely Winery one of your stops when in Napa!
Napa is pricey, but a lovely destination for relaxation, great food, and of course, wine! Fall is a great time to go due to the beautiful fall foliage, something I did not expect! Additionally, with 400+ wineries to choose from, you can plan your own wine tour or pay to join one. Of the three I visited, I loved Rutherford Hill most for its rustic setting, great service, and tastiest full-bodied wine! The tasting was $70. A more affordable option that also had great wine is Beringer Vineyards (you might have seen them in your local wine shop!) where you can do a tour and tasting for $50! Finally, Darioush winery had the most captivating setting, with its Persian influence, and was most expensive at $100 for tour and wine/cheese pairing. However, the wine was the most dry and my least favorite. Finally, you MUST have dinner at RH Yountville surrounded by chandeliers and fountains, PLUS the food is amazing – shaved ribeye sandwich, fusilli pasta, and truffle fries were all equally delicious! Booked everything in advance so you don’t miss out!
I visited Napa in the Summer of 2019. My good friend and I decided we wanted to have a wine day, so we drove the 1 hour trip from San Francisco to the Valley. Our first stop was Domaine Carneros. The grounds were so beautiful. We did a flight of red and sparkling wines (our favorite).
Next, we visited Artesa Winery. Artesa was featured in the film, “Wine Country” starring Amy Poehler, Maya Roudolph and Tina Fey, and it did not disappoint. The views were simply gorgeous–definitely movie worthy! Unfortunately tasting were fully booked at the time when we arrived so we weren’t able to taste their wines (although I’ve heard they are fantastic). We ended up just walking around the grounds and basking in the beauty. Lesson noted—make sure you make a reservation ahead of time if you want to visit Artesa.
Our next stop was Gundlach Bundschu Winery. Gundlach’s is California’s oldest family-owned winery founded in 1858. You can really sense and feel the history here. Since were still feeling the flights that we got from Domaine, we decided to just get a bottle here (red of course), sip and stroll the vineyards. Gundlach is HUGE! It was easy for us to find an area without any other guests and relax. They also have a popular old, rustic truck out in the middle of the winery, super insta-worthy so of course we had to take pics!
Our last stop of the day was at Brown Estate. Brown is Napa’s first Black-owned estate winery, established in 1996. We had to check it out for the culture and of course to #supportblackbusiness! Brown is located in downtown Napa. Let me tell you the ambiance, the vibe and the wine is EVERYTHING. Definitely check it out if you go!
Overall we had a blast during our day trip to Napa. One key thing that I want to stress is to make a reservation if you want a private tasting. There were several other places we tried to visit, but couldn’t because we didn’t have a reservation. If you’re just buying a bottle, you should be good at most places.