travelogue ~ wine country.

I don't even know where to begin and how to sum up our week in Napa, it was just that good! A couple of people have asked us what the highlight was, so I will start there. The Solage Calistoga.

Hot Pools

It was basically heaven found. Ben and I got a great jetsetter and had prepared ourselves for rain and grey during the offseason in exchange for the great deal. Lucky for us, the entire week was sunny and clear. And, because it is the off-season, it was unbelievably quiet, we had the valley to ourselves. The Solage is up in Calistoga, right on the Silverado Trail, which is a gorgeous road to drive in and of itself. Calistoga is a sleepy little town, it doesn't really have much to brag about, except for the Solage. The grounds are beautiful, the buildings give off a farm-minimalist-fresh-clean-spacious feel. We went to the gym every morning, frequented the hot pools most nights before dinner, Ben enjoyed a great massage in their world-ranked spa, and, like I mentioned before, they had cute jars. If you want to hear us wax on about it sometime, we will happily oblige, but i'll move on.

As expected, we ate ourselves around the valley. Our first stop driving in was in Yountville, where we grabbed lunch at the Bouchon Bakery. Fantastic!

We also literally happened upon the French Laundry garden. Not quite the restaurant experience, but we can attest to the fact that the chickens in the coop look very happy.

Our first night in the Valley was actually New Years Eve and we decided to eat at the Solage's restaurant, SolBar. Neither of us like restaurants on NYE with the over-priced pre-fix menus and we wanted to stay close by, so it worked out well. We ended up with a great meal and wine pairing. Ben, in all his genius, asked our waiter, to make each of our four dishes a separate course, so we ended up with 8 separate courses and our waiter was exceedingly generous with the wine pairing, making that one glass for each plate into 2!

We spent the next day recovering from that generous amount of wine. One nice touch. The Solage brought us a "hangover bag" to our room on NYE with gatorade, advil, water, etc. How great is that?!

We drove all over the valley that day. Our self-guided tour included driving over the ridge to Sonoma, to downtown Napa and back up the Silverado Trail. We logged a lot of car time but loved calling out the vineyards as we passed them and taking it all in.

For lunch, we stopped in to the Public Market in Oxbow. It is such a cool space with a number of different cheap(er) spots to grab a bite. For dinner, we headed to Gott's in St. Helena. This is the must-go burger stop in Napa Valley and this is the original location. The burgers were...well...I'll let the picture speak for itself!

On our third day, we finally hit up some tastings. We headed straight to Ridge for our first foray. Ben and I are both familiar with and love their Zin, so we thought it would be a great place to head first. The  winery is up in the Dry Creak area, outside Healdsburg, and we loved it. We stocked up on some of their great wines and they also gave us a taste of their award winning Monte Bello...yay!

We stopped in Healdsburg for lunch. Wandered into the great Oakville Grocery and while standing in line to order sandwiches, I looked at the guy standing next to me and realized it was one of my professors from Georgetown! Small world. Apparently, he has a house in wine country and can talk for a very long time about wine and food. Loved it! After lunch, we headed to a second tasting at Unti. It was a great spot and the tasting was in their industrial garage. Ben and I loved it.

We topped off the great day with a dinner at Mustards Grill. A must stop if ever you are in the area.  

One of the real highlights of our trip, was our tasting the next morning at Stony Hill. One of the pairings on NYE was a glass of their Chardonnay and we enjoyed it so much we decided to head there for a tasting. Stony Hill is tucked in the woods nearby St. Helena. We arrived and the owner of the vineyard took us on a tour. We tasted wine straight from the barrels, walked the property with her, and then she took us into her living room for a tasting! We talked wine, food, politics, and more. It was lovely. There is no better word. Her in-laws started making wine in 1952 and were one of the first ten vineyards in the valley. She was wonderful and if ever you are in Napa, you must go here as well. 

We went from her classy living room to a sports bar down in Napa to watch Michigan win the Sugar Bowl! Go Blue!

If you are still reading this far and with me on this, we are close to wrapping up, promise! On Wednesday, Ben's good friend from college, Dave, showed us around the vineyard and winery that he works for. Dave gave us the crash-course on wine that I needed. He talked to us about the vines, pruning, the grapes, process, the business, all of it. He also introduced us to the owner and gave us a short tasting at Neyers.

We stopped in at Farmstead for lunch, definitely put this on the list when you head there.

On Thursday,  we opted for a drive out to Bodega Bay. But first, we went for breakfast at the Fremont Diner. Oh. My. God. It was beyond good. Huge fluffy biscuits. Bright yellow yolks. Ricotta Pancakes. Strong Coffee. A beat-up old pick-up truck parked in front. A to-die-for eggs and brisket dish. You just can't make it up. To say I was happy is a gross understatement!

Stuffed to the brim, we hopped in the car. We drove through some of the greenest farm-land I have ever seen in America, and by far the happiest cows I have come upon. It was a gorgeous afternoon and drive.

Bodega Bay was well worth the trek. It was windy, so our picnic was had in the car (it seems like Ben and I always end up eating at least one meal in the car on vacation). We didn't see any whales, but the views were to die for (as were the steep cliffs, those were serious)!

We ended our trip with a great last meal at Cook Restaurant in St. Helena. Ben and I sat at the bar, enjoyed some stiff drinks and a very solid meal. In short, the week was everything we wanted and more! There is even more to it, including walking main streets and sitting in the saunas, but I think this has gotten long enough. Cheers!