I heart Napa

What is there not to love about visiting Northern California!! We just got back from traveling with our friends, Eric, Laura, Shelly, and Brian to Nor Cal to see our 5 and 0 Sun Devils beat the Stanford Cardinal but first we had a little detour through Napa Valley. Almost all the wineries we visited were ones that were new for us. We first traveled up to just about Calistoga to visit the Napa Valley Wine Castle, Castello di Amarosa . We were even lucky enough to have a tour from the owner, Darryl Sattui who also owns our favorite lunch spot in Napa. After a two hour tour through the underground wine caves, torture chamber, and tasting room, we left will a case of wine and smiles on our faces. Next we squeezed in a tasting at Duckhorn , home of one of Ami's favorite Sauvignon Blancs, then onto a little place called Heitz Winery that finally had free tastings. No we are not done yet--and yes we had a designated driver (Thank you Shelly). Next it was onto Hall Winery and then finally Alpha Omega . Now we were ready for dinner in downtown Napa where the 6 of us could barely finish a bottle of wine and then we were in bed by 8:30pm--no joke. The next day was no different we were checked out of the hotel and off too William Hill, Darioush, Mumm Napa for some sparkling wine, and then V. Sattui for a picnic lunch. Mumm Napa was my second favorite spot. They had a great patio to sit on and they poured full glasses for tasting. After lunch, we packed up our mini van and headed down to Palo Alto (about a 2 hour drive) for the big game.