Day 4: Napa Valley in style

Ah, Napa Valley. Much of the reason I chose San Francisco was for this day...a tour of Napa Valley and wine tasting in a limo. Woohooo! We are so small town...neither of us have ever been in a limo until today. What service! I mean, seriously, I think this must be why the rich and famous like to be rich and famous. Who wouldn't love being chauffeured every day? Who wouldn't love a man in a black hat and trench coat who answers to the name Count? Who wouldn't love it if someone nearly jumped out of the car and ran to open your door before you could lift a finger? He beat me to the handle every single time, extended his arm to help me out of the car and held the umbrella so my 'do wouldn't wither in the rain. Ahhhhhh, this is the life (but only for a day or two). I love my life even if I have to open my own car door and hold my own umbrella. See, I digress again...

Back to Napa Valley. Count (don't you love that name) picked us up at 9 AM and we were off. It was amazing. Beautiful area. Very quaint. Not at all like I pictured it in my mind. We stopped at a little gourmet grocery store on the way into Napa called Oakville Grocery. It was awesome. On the outside, it reminded me of a little grocery I used to frequent as a child. On the inside, notsomuch. We didn't have fancy-schmancy sandwiches, a cheese counter and a bakery in our country grocery store. But, hey, this is Napa Valley. I wouldn't expect anything less. OK, so we tucked our fancy-schmanies in the limo cooler and off we went.

At each vineyard we tasted about 5 different varieties of wine. Most of them were 2 whites and 3 reds (2 for me/3 for Daddy). Here's the highlights...

First stop, Cakebread Cellars. Lovely little place and yummy Chardonnay. Second stop, Robert Mondavi Winery. Very interesting tour. They really have their act together. I found an awesome dessert wine that won me over (Moscato D'Oro). Daddy hated it but I was in heaven. I had to have a bottle for the road. Third stop, Grgich Hills Estate. Yummy Chardonnay (my fave of the whole day) but they weren't very nice so they lost points for that. Last stop, Miner Family Vineyards. Excellent blended red wine called The Oracle. We bought a bottle and had it shipped home. By this point, my red wine drinking husband was ready to call it a day. :-) He tasted every wine at every winery. I did not as I'm not a big red wine fan. Our conclusions from our amazing day of wine tasting...I still like whites...he still likes reds.

We took the scenic route back to the city through Sonoma Valley. It was a little more laid back than Napa. We would pass these beautiful estates and then we would come upon an old house with grape vines planted over the entire front yard. I guess when you have prime wine making real estate you take advantage of it.

After we got back to the hotel, we rested a bit and then hopped a trolley car to Fisherman's Wharf for a quick dinner at Boudin's (home of the original sourdough bread). Did you know they are STILL using the same sour dough starter from 100 years ago. I ate it and it was yummy but can you say "ewwwwwwwww"? 100 years old?

It was a fantastic day. Daddy's favorite day of the whole trip. We will definitely go back when we have more time to spend in that area. On to our last day...