After a year in San Francisco, I finally got a chance to go to Napa for the weekend. It was a great trip with my boyfriend Ke during the winter holiday season. We drove up on a rainy, wet weekend, which in my opinion was the perfect time to go. Napa was scenic, beautiful, and overall quiet and fairly empty. Each winery was filled with only a handful of visitors, which made it all the more enjoyable.
I was beyond excited both for the wine and food. Ke, a passionate foodie, was able to score reservations at Morimoto Napa and The French Laundry! A once in a lifetime experience for sure.
We stayed in the Napa Inn, just a short drive from downtown Napa. It was my first bed and breakfast I’ve ever stayed in and was definitely one of the best out there. It was beautiful and filled with Christmas decorations. It reminded me of one of those old movies. The staff was very helpful and breakfast was exceptional. I felt like my grandmother was cooking for me each morning.
Nutcrackers!
Cute Christmas Scene
The Napa Inn
Saturday
This was my first time ever wine tasting. These were the wineries we visited the first day were in the Sonoma area:
- Domain Carneros
- Gundlach Bundschu
- Imagery Winery
- Benziger Family Winery
I greatly enjoyed Domain Carneros which is a great start to a weekend of wine tasting. Their rose was definitely my favorite and the scenary and cheese pairings were exception.
We had dinner at Morimoto Napa on Saturday! I personally am a big food network junkie and love the iron chef Morimoto along with Japanese food. The menu was huge! Ke and I decided to try the chef tasting menu to get a good variety of the menu. It was about a 7 course meal of some of the best Japanese food I have ever had.
Sunday
Sunday we visited various wineries in Napa. My favorite of the day was V. Sattui. It was a large and beautiful estate even in the wet weather. Ke and I had a wine tasting, bought some souvenirs then explored the grounds. I definitely want to visit this winery again next time.
French Laundry
FInally for dinner, we went to The French Laundry!! This dinner will require a post of its own. All I can say now is that it was the best food I have ever had and probably ever will. To be continued…
