Visit To Napa Valley

 

This weekend we decided to go to Napa valley. It’s about one and half hour from home. The weather here has chilled a bit and its one of the most scenic drives to the Napa vineyards, so we decided to make a trip. 

We started our trip at 10 Am - woke up late... Sunday :-) Had light breakfast and started out drive. It was cloudy and ever so slight breeze was promising it to be a great day. We dint have any specific plans, just wanted to enjoy the drive and I wanted to go a vineyard. Previously we went there, but we started very late - 2PM by the time we reached there all the vineyards were closed for public (They close at 4:30 -5PM) So instead of vineyards we ended up visiting the Napa outlet malls :-( This time I don’t want to repeat the same mistake.

In fact this time I did some research, almost all the vineyards have web sites, and they offer a variety of packages. Tour through the vineyards, Wine tasting, dining etc., There is a culinary program as well where you can participate and cook with a chef. Trekking and biking are the most popular activities. Hot air Balloon rides are also available - someday I will take that... Just gliding over these scenic mountains covered with lush green trees, yes someday :-)

Our first stop was the visitor information center, there a good lady explained us all the famous places we could visit and gave us the maps. Armed with our maps and vineyards pamphlets we headed towards Napa.

As we were interested in drive we selected only two stops

1. Sterline Vineyard and

2. Old Faithful Geyser of California.

Sterline Vineyard is one of the biggest vineyards. The tour prices range from $20 - $100. We selected the basic tour which included a ride in the aerial tram, self guided tour of the vineyard and tasting off FIVE sample wines :-) I have never tasted wine in my life and I definitely wanted to try out that. This vineyard is spread out on 2-3 small mountains. Thought the Ariel ride is for a short duration 5-10 minutes, it gives a wonderful view of the settings. The attendants at the tram are very friendly; they even offered to take a picture for us :-)

We walked through the distilling and the storage facility. TVs were placed at different locations; videos were explaining the interties of wine making process. On our way we were offered different varieties of wine samples. I always thought wine will have this sweet pleasant taste, but that was not the case. I dint like the first four samples - they were bitter. But the last one was the sweet wine. I was tempted to buy one bottle of that wine but I will stick to grapes :-)

The terrace offers a beautiful view of the vineyards and adjacent to that there is the wine tasting room. If you’re into wines you can spend long hours here, sipping the wine of your taste and enjoying the scenery. We spent lot of time at the terrace and then the aerial tram took us back. 

Our next stop was the Old Faith Full Geyser of California. This Geyser is in Calistoga (1299 Tubbs Lane, Calistoga, CA 94515) I have never been to a Geyser. Just few days back I saw the Yellow Stone National park Geysers and was thinking I have to make a trip there. The water rushing from underground is amazing to watch and it has that magical quality! Even when we were entering this place I was thinking what are the chances of witnessing a Geyser burst within 30 minutes? (We came here at 4:30 PM and saw the board which said working hours 9AM - 5PM!) Just within 5 minutes there was this eruption of water. It was some 12-15Ft high it was beautiful, clear water with a gushing beautiful sound. There was a warning sign posts saying don’t go too near to water and don’t touch the water as it may be very hot. There were small fish in water, I don’t know what variety are those but then I thought if they can live there the water may be not that hot. So I touched it, it was warm. This water has high mineral content and it is routed to different spas that are located in the area. The water and the soil are believed to contain healing properties. Within those 30 minutes the geyser erupted two more times. On an average every year this geyser bursts every 40 minutes. No wonder it’s called a faithful geyser!

After this pleasant and eventful drive through the wine country we returned back home tired but fully satisfied. This was a trip where I did many things for the first time Sat in a aerial tram, Saw how wine is made, Tasted the wine for the first time, Saw a geyser and I actually plucked a bunch of grapes, it’s against law. But then what is the fun if you don’t break (- bend) few rules :-)

That’s all for now... Bye.