On the occasion of my 50th year on this planet, I decided to spend all of 2023 (and some of 2024) doing it up.
It is, in fact, my year of “yes.”
You may have heard about part 1 of my birthday adventures: I hiked all of the National Parks in Utah, plus the Grand Canyon — and survived to write about it. For my second outing, I sent a mass invite to see who would join me for a week-long bacchanal in Wine Country, California. The trifecta will culminate next May as I trek across 200 miles worth of Spain.
For our purposes, I want to spill the tea (never the wine) about my girlfriend getaway (well, three gals, two guys) to Napa.
First, a warning: When you tell the wine-guzzling, food-savoring, opinionated masses where you’re going, you’ll receive many, many unsolicited suggestions. Everyone, it seems, has a favorite spot in the Napa Valley — somewhere they had a special first trip with a future spouse, somewhere they discovered they prefer red blends or somewhere with a recognizable label they’ve spotted while tiptoeing through the aisles of Total Wine & More (my second favorite place for wine).
I personally don’t care where you go. Almost all of the wine is excellent and most of the food incorporates super fresh, seasonal, farm-to-table goodness.
There are multiple Michelin-starred restaurants in California Wine Country, including the one you’ve probably heard the most about: The three-starred The French Laundry in Yountville. The region is home to two Culinary Institutes of America (CIA) — CIA Greystone in St. Helena and CIA at Copia in Napa — with beautiful campuses, working gardens (Copia even had a little free seed library) and multiple eating options.
There are also more than 400 wineries and 90 tasting rooms in a 30-mile area. It is very hard to go wrong in this environment.
Our itinerary went something like this:
Day 1 – Downtown Napa shopping and sipping. We ducked in to two Tasting Rooms: T-Vine Winery and Brendel Tasting Lounge. I’m sure both were delicious, but I had so much subsequent wine that I barely remember.
Please note: While some tasting rooms may appear pretentious or intimidating, most are very welcoming and accommodating. Do some scouting and pick something in your comfort zone. For instance, Arch & Tower is the Robert Mondavi Winery tasting room and a great opportunity to try their wines while the vineyard is being remodeled. It’s gorgeous but looked to be a bit above my pay grade, so I moved on.
Day 2 – Sonoma for eating, shopping and history-hunting (See below.)
Day 3 – Platypus Wine Tour (More on this in a moment.)
Day 4 – Private wine tour (Ditto.)
Day 5 – More Downtown Napa for final shopping and last-minute carb-loading. By day 5, most of the members in my party were sufficiently sloshed, but I felt like I still had more fight in me (when in Wine Country … ). Luckily, one of my friends stumbled upon the very unassuming Bounty Hunter Wine Bar & Smokin’ BBQ. An entire flights menu! A cheese board! Kettle chips with bleu cheese! Sold.
This was the making of an unforgettable vacation moment.
I intentionally did not try to score reservations at any of the many highly rated or celebrity-driven restaurants because I knew from past experience that I wouldn’t go wrong no matter where I ate.
Here are a few of my favorite foodie spots:
In-N-Out Burger — Yeah, I said it. I’m not fancy. I start all my California vacations by heading straight to the burger chain, and Napa was no exception. For the uninitiated, order the “double double animal style.”
Sunflower Caffe — Start a day in Sonoma with an egg and cheese sandwich, a breakfast burrito or avocado toast in the picturesque courtyard before learning California history, visiting missions and shopping the Plaza. (Sidenote: For an educational time-out, stop by Mission San Francisco Solano and the Sonoma Barracks)
The Girl and the Fig — Also in Sonoma and the perfect way to cap off a day of exploring. I had previously been here for a solo wine flight and cheese board and wanted to recreate the experience for my “birthday” dinner. They did not disappoint. The cheese board was everything I ever want in a cheese board. I barely shared it (Err, I ate the whole thing myself).
Gott’s Roadside — Another burger joint. I had the Ahi tuna burger. It’s quintessentially Californian and good for the somewhat budget-minded.
(Photo provided by Amanda Krotki)
Oxbow Public Market — Next door to Gott’s, this is a tourist destination in downtown Napa. It’s also got some of the best dining options around. Slurp fantastic West Coast oysters at Hog Island. Grab a respectable bagel at Loveski, “a Jew-ish deli.” And be sure to hit up Model Bakery for the lavender lattes and homemade English muffins that Oprah once declared a “favorite thing.”
La Cheve — This Mexican bakery is housed in an adobe structure that is the oldest building in Napa. I had a half-coffee, half-horchata drink that could be habit-forming.
Before I start rapping poetic about wine, let me assure you, I know nothing. I’m not going to bore you with rhapsodic tales of terroir, whimsical tasting notes or how the tannins and sulfites … blah blah blah. I will tell you I did learn a few things despite all my best efforts to the contrary:
- I confirmed I like an oaked Chardonnay (buttery, liquid gold) vs. steel-barrel.
- I like my reds like I like my men to like me: Full-bodied (i.e. Zin, Cab, Syrah).
- The Napa Valley is known for its Cabernet Sauvignon, which is also its most widely-planted variety (Chardonnay is next).
- I learned that rose’ is essentially white Zin rebranded.
This was not my first foray among the vines. In 2012, during a particularly forlorn and parched period of my (comparable) youth, I took myself on a solo journey to Napa. Thanks to that adventure, I knew of a few places I just had to go — and was pleased they survived the pandemic.
One must is the aforementioned Platypus Wine Tour. It sounds like you would have to wear a plastic bill and make whatever noises a platypus makes. It’s not that. I did it twice then and once on this trip. They have two tours — one of Napa and one of Sonoma. Take two days and do both.
They customize your experience, offer knowledgeable guides, feed you a great lunch and always try to go to more affordable tastings (these days that means around $25-$40).
On our tour, we visited Bread & Butter, Ghost Block and AuburnJames. They were all very different experiences and all quite tasty but to my disappointment, none of them provided crackers, bread sticks or Marcona almonds and we had to request our own dump buckets (though, as one friend rightly exclaimed to another, “Drink it [bleep], it’s $80!”). I learned it’s OK to pour out wine outside, as long as you proclaim, “Back to the earth!” while doing so. I did.
AuburnJames was the most memorable, pleasant and down-to-earth experience. Almost everyone in the party made a purchase there.
(Photo courtesy of Amanda Krotki)
It’s fair to say our group was all pleasantly snockered by the end of the day.
So, naturally, we took a private wine tour the next day. I’m not naming names because I have some choice words concerning their operation, but when I made the reservations, they provided me with a questionnaire that allowed for a tailored itinerary and they took us to some hidden (and high-end; tastings were in the $60-$75 range) gems I would have never discovered otherwise. I did request a visit to Rombauer.
Fun fact: The Rombauer Vineyards Family is related to Irma S. Rombauer, author of “The Joy of Cooking,” and this year, the winery is celebrating the “Joy of Wine” to mark the 40th vintage of its Carneros Chardonnay. The day we were there, there were no tastings available, so we had to buy wines by the glass for approximately $30. We brought a picnic lunch to accompany our glasses and the lovely view of the valley. I had a delectable, limited Chardonnay.
So much yum.
That day, we also visited Tres Sabores, whose Zinfandel and red blends made my mouth so happy, I had to buy some. In fact, this organic, intimate, woman-owned winery ranked as an all-around favorite and it included all the accoutrements.
After an unscheduled photo opp at Caymus where I nibbled sweet grapes off the vine, the last stop on the whino wagon was the family-owned ZD Wines. This featured an iconic view and a few smooth surprises, including a velvety not-Port that I could bathe in. This stop was pleasantly unexpected.
Bottom line: Go. Celebrate. Taste. Sip. Swirl. The rule here is there are no rules. Try everything. You might just find something you like and find out something new about yourself. I know I did.
Cheers!
Amanda Krotki is a Baltimore area freelance writer.
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