Wine, Dine, and Unwind: Discovering the Magic of Napa Valley

A non-negotiable for the first mommy/daddy-only trip almost a year and a half after our daughter was born was to go somewhere neither one of us had ever been before. After taking a Masterclass series hosted by James Suckling, a quick decision to go to the California dubbed “Wine Country” was made. But how exactly do we pick, or let alone even begin to decide, which areas to focus on in the long weekend we were taking in an area with over 800 wineries? Thanks to credit card points, hotel rewards perks, and membership to Total Wine, here is how we were able to plan our long weekend in the Napa/Sonoma/Healdsburg area.

My husband has a huge territory for his job that consists of A LOT of traveling. This is where my first piece of advice is already coming into play – join the rewards/membership programs and pick your favorites to accumulate points! We were able to purchase our RDU to SFO flights, three hotel nights, and a rental car for only $60 between cashing in American Airlines, Marriott, and National rewards points. [Fun fact: even if you book with a Travel Agent, you can still use your membership/rewards numbers!] We also put larger purchases (Walt Disney World trips, electronics, baby expenses) on our credit card that earns the most points to transfer as well.

We started off the trip on an early morning flight on Thursday from RDU to SFO. Long, but super easy flight. As a mom of a one-and-a-half-year-old, this was the perfect time to catch up on the latest Netflix show relaxed and without distractions. Once we landed in San Francisco, we took their “Airtrain” to the rental car location. The Airtrain did take a hot bit with lots of stops, so that prepared us to be sure to allocate time for when we were ending our trip and taking the flight back home.

The drive from San Francisco to Napa (our first stop on our trip) can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours, depending on traffic. Not knowing where our luck was going to fall for that timeframe, we decided we needed the most comfortable car or ride in. Always, always, always be kind to employees when you travel, but most certainly to the ones that can give you the upgrades. After finding a not-so-great selection of car choices, we were given a Land Rover Discovery. Thankfully, we landed at 1:30 pm PST, had minimal traffic issues, and were in Napa Valley before we knew it.

We spent our first two nights at the Napa Valley Marriott. The rooms were huge and super clean. We also had access to the M Lounge (with the husband’s Titanium Elite status with Marriott), which provided a fantastic breakfast along with an afternoon appetizer. Wine (of course), canned water, and other drink options were always provided.

Once we got to the hotel, we freshened up after a long travel day and headed to downtown Napa. There are so many amazing food options in downtown Napa that we didn’t want to pick just one restaurant. Instead, we sat at different restaurants’ bars and had an appetizer and a drink at each spot we stopped – Cole’s Chop House, Zuzu, Eiko’s, and Scala. We were able to talk to the bartenders to get the real reviews on the area – which is always a great way to get the real deal on what’s good and what’s a hard pass.

Day 2 consisted of our first winery day!

How did we decide what wineries to go to? There are shuttles and tour companies that will set up the tastings for you (something that your trusted travel agent can book for you!). These tours go ahead and pick out options for you and are a great way of transport from winery to winery. However, we’re pretty big winos to begin with, so we did have some of our favorites we wanted to make sure to hit.

It is recommended that you have 2-3 tastings per day. Any more than that disrupts your palate – and – there is a possibility you may not remember.

Along with tastings, you also have options of doing tours and even specialty tours at most of the wineries. We decided to do one bigger tour and two regular tastings each day. We also decided to just Lyft or Uber to each of the wineries, so we needed to make sure the wineries we wanted to visit were all in a good location to one another and not too high up on the mountain, as it would be tougher to get a ride from up there.

We started our day at Gundlach Bundschu – hands down our favorite US wine ever. We did their cave tour and were the only ones, so it turned into a private tour. Hearing the history of the vineyard and winery made us love them even more. Both the vineyard and winery are certified organic which is a crunchy plus.

We weren’t really familiar with the wineries in close proximity – here is where my next piece of advice comes in – go to your local wine store and ask for recommendations! I made a list of wineries nearby and in between there and our hotel and took it straight to Total Wine. That’s where we were able to find the next two tastings of the day – Viansa and Domaine Carneros. Both had wonderful views and a very laid-back mentality. Domaine Carneros was a bit of a letdown because they were doing lots of renovations and we did not have access to most of the grounds. Oh well, guess we just have to go back.

After staying south in the Wine Country, we decided to take it to the complete opposite for the last part of our trip and head north to Healdsburg. Fun fact about Healdsburg – it is the same latitude as Tuscany and my husband LOVES Tuscan wines, so it was a win-win for him.

Another Total Wine found in our research was a winery called Amici. Amici even said on the website do not to anticipate getting a Lyft or Uber, so we woke up early and made the 45-minute drive to our tasting. I’m so glad we did because it was so awesome to drive through the wine country and see just how many there are!

Amici was the smallest winery, but certainly a close second to our favorite one we visited. The tastings all happened in a newly renovated house that’s style mirrored the owner’s great-grandmother’s house in Martha’s Vineyard – another fun fact. Our favorite ended up being a Chardonnay – which is wild to both of us because we lean more to red than white.

After a short drive to our next hotel, The Lodge at Healdsburg – such a cute boutique feel moment – we dropped off our car and headed to our second tasting of the day. Gary Farrell was hands down the prettiest view of the weekend. It’s up on the mountain, but the building was so modern. This tasting was a wine and cheese pairing and one I would 1000% do again. It’s so wild to me that I totally disliked a wine, but after I tasted the cheese and then tasted the same wine again, it completely changed the notes and I was so into it. Our last stop was Rodney Strong and honestly – she was a blur. But a large time! Needless to say, it was an early night in with takeout.

The next morning we woke up to a delayed departure of our flight. We took advantage of that extra time and hit some touristy items like driving across the Golden Gate Bridge, sticking our feet in the Pacific Ocean, and my favorite – experiencing In-n-Out.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience that I can’t wait to happen again. If anything, it made me love wine even more and appreciate all of the ins and outs that go into making a great wine. I can’t wait to learn even more and go back. Just say the word and I’ll meet you there.