So it's been a hot minute since I blogged but I have a fantastic excuse. I was out of town visiting one of the most beautiful places in this country and then it took me a whole week to recover and writing these mammoth posts hasn't been the easiest thing to do. Because, warning, they are going to be huge. I just can't leave out very many of the pictures. Plus I want to remember all the places we went each day!
We got up bright and early Wednesday morning to drive to Memphis and then caught a plane where we flew into San Fransisco. It happened to be raining when we got into San Fran and apparently that rarely ever happens. Our wonderful driver for the week Pat met us at the airport and we started the drive back to Napa. Its not a very far drive but when you hit traffic in the bay on Friday evening it took us almost two hours. But Pat had a cooler stocked for us to make it fun!
We got into Napa a little after dark and Pat dropped us at the home we rented on the Silverado Golf Course. Then we ubered to dinner that night. Our first dinner was wonderful and maybe my favorite from the entire trip at Botdega.
The next morning we were bright eyed and bushy tailed when Pat picked us up. We found Pat our driver through some Starkville friends that had used him before and he absolutely made our trip. Outside of driving us, he made appointments for us at private wineries, planned our days, picked up our lunch and arranged picnics for us, handled all purchases that we made through out the day and quickly became our friend! Felt like I need to tell you about him before I kept going because you will hear about him constantly. I got to know him a little extra because I rode shotgun so I wouldn't get carsick!
The group all loaded up in the car ready for our first winery!
Our first appointment was with Fontanella Family Winery. Since it was dark outside when we got into town this was our first taste of the beautiful scenery and it was so gorgeous. We also had a very cool morning. It was all perfect!
The girls at Fontaella winery.
Kenny and me!
Jay and Margaret
We were able to taste from the barrels and also make our own blends. It was lots of fun.
Our next winery was a private family winery called Frisinger. We met with the owner and he told us about his winery's wines and he had the most beautiful property.
Group shot as we got out of the car!
Tasting the winery's chardonnay.
Cheers!
Frisinger had this beautiful gazebo overlooking their pond and the rest of the Napa scenery. It made for some excellent wine drinking. My goodness it was so incredibly pretty!
Jay and Kenny enjoying the wine and the scenery.
Learning about the wine. Vineyards in the back behind us.
While we were at the winery Pat went and picked us up some lunch from the Yountville Deli and then we drove down the hill to a picnic area under an olive tree grove. It smelled divine and was so beautiful. There are olive trees everywhere in Napa!
Our pretty picnic. Only picture I have. But let me tell you, the sandwiches from Yountville are some of the best sandwiches I have ever had!
Our final winery for the day was Regucci. It was just as beautiful as the others. We had an appointment at this one also but just sat out on the patio and had a sommelier serve us. It wasn't as intimate but still very pretty. This winery was neat because of its age. It was one of the few wineries that continued to make wine through the prohibition and was called a Ghost Winery. We asked to see inside the building and were given a short little tour.
Enjoying our afternoon at Regucci.
The winery that withstood the earthquake a few years back. Original walls and doors.
Below the main level with all the barrels of wine.
The owners personal collection of aged wine.
When we were done at Regucci we had about an hour and a half before our dinner reservations at Ad Hoc. So Pat took us to one of the little boutique hotel bars for a cocktail since we were craving something other than wine. We enjoyed a fun cocktail hour before heading over to Ad Hoc. We were so excited to eat there and were happy that we came on a good night. Ad Hoc has one set menu each night and you get what you get. Well we got a great meal. This fantastic salad, then hanger steak over roasted potatoes, corn and asparagus, a cheddar cheese course and then this caramel and cookie ice cream bar for dessert. We all chose to do the wine pairings with each course. It was a fabulous meal and we are stuffed when we left!
We took an Uber home and all hung out outside on the patio where our house had a fire pit and then went to bed fairly early. Had to get our rest for the next day!
Tune in again for Day 2!
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