Every driving day starts at the far north end and works back south toward the city. Thursday and Friday we have a driver. Saturday we keep the cars, and the whole day points at the airport.
Wednesday, November 11
Nothing scheduled before dinner. Both options are a short walk from the house, so nobody needs to move a car.
French country bistro · 540 Main St, 3 min walk
A converted 1890s boathouse on the river with a heated patio. The classic Napa arrival dinner — unfussy, romantic, and forgiving if we roll in tired.
Duck confit, steak frites, moules frites, house-made pasta, braised lamb, soufflé.
Reservation requiredSouthern Italian, seafood-leaning · 1141 1st St, 5 min walk
Sister restaurant to Bistro Don Giovanni. Louder and livelier, with an oyster bar, and it serves until 10 with a late-night menu after — the safer bet if the flight slips.
Lemon butter ravioli, pork chop Milanese, whole roasted fish, Neapolitan pizza, oysters, braised lamb.
Reservation requiredThe call: Angèle if we land on time, Scala if we're late or want energy. Scala needs a card on file for parties of five or more.
Thursday, November 12 — with a driver
Straight up Highway 29 to the top of the valley, then back down. Sparkling first, then both must-dos five minutes apart. Lunch happens at Charles Krug so we never break the route.
Our sparkling start. Founded in 1862 as Napa's first hillside winery and relaunched as a méthode traditionnelle sparkling house by the Davies family in 1965. The tasting happens deep inside the hand-dug caves.
Their permit caps how many guests they can see per day and they won't split tastings, so this is the tightest booking of the trip. Schramsberg Road is narrow and winding — a good day to have the driver.
15 minutes south
Napa's oldest winery, 1861, a National Historic Landmark, Mondavi family since 1943. The tasting room is the restored Redwood Cellar — open beams, a wall of 1861-label bottles, and a window onto the reserve barrel room.
Parties of six or more need a $10 per person deposit.
5 minutes south
Thirty-three acres at the base of the Mayacamas, California's first LEED Gold winery, and more than thirty-five pieces of contemporary art including the giant Bunny Foo-Foo out front. Cabernet-focused.
Cards are charged 24 hours in advance. Allow one to two hours.
Food hall · 610 1st St, 8 min walk
The easiest possible dinner after a big tasting day — everyone picks their own. Hog Island for oysters, chowder and their grilled cheese; C CASA for grilled duck and ahi tacos; Kitchen Door for wood-oven comfort food.
Walk inAmerican roadside diner · 644 1st St, at Oxbow
Order at the counter, sit at picnic tables outside.
Ahi burger, Wisconsin sourdough cheeseburger, garlic fries, fish tacos, black-and-white shake.
Walk inItalian, thin-crust pizza · 1260 Main St — our building
Fast, family-style, and roughly forty feet from the front door.
Funghi pizza, margherita, salsiccia, the chopped salad, meatballs.
Walk inAmerican gastropub · 1000 Main St
Good beer list, games on, no ceremony.
Burgers, wings, soft pretzel, mac and cheese.
Walk inWorth knowing: Zuzu at 829 Main, the downtown tapas standby, has moved to taking reservations from 4pm and only does walk-ins at lunch. Bar seats usually open up, but it's no longer a sure thing at dinner. If we get a table it's excellent — paella, patatas bravas, bacon-wrapped dates, grilled octopus. And if four days of Cabernet is starting to feel like a lot, Trade Brewing is a block away at 1146 1st St.
Friday, November 13 — with a driver
The middle of the valley. Grgich and Silver Oak sit eight minutes apart, then we cut east to the Silverado Trail and come home down it. Whites first, so the day doesn't turn into Cabernet from the opening pour.
Mike Grgich made the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay that beat the French at the 1976 Judgment of Paris, then opened this with Austin Hills in 1977. Regenerative Organic Certified, wild-yeast fermentation, five organic estate vineyards.
Open daily 9:30 to 4:30. Starting here also means Chardonnay and Fumé Blanc before a day that turns very red.
8 minutes south
The original site, founded in a dairy barn in 1972. Iconic water tower, the Glass House library with vintages back to the seventies, an American oak barrel chai, and limestone reclaimed from an 1800s Kansas flour mill.
Friday tour times are 10, 1 and 3; the room runs 10 to 5. Cancelling inside 24 hours costs half the booking. Non-tasters and designated drivers 16 and up can sit at the table.
15 minutes east, then south
The oldest family ranch in the Stags Leap District, farmed by the Reguscis since 1932. The 1878 Grigsby-Occidental building is one of California's few surviving ghost wineries, preserved rather than restored. Estate Cabernet, Merlot and Zinfandel.
If Regusci is full, Pine Ridge is two minutes further north at 5901 Silverado Trail — cave tastings and hillside views, $60 for the estate flight or $85 with the cave tour.
Classic American steakhouse · 1122 Main St, 2 min walk
In the 1886 Williams-Kyser stone building, open since 2000, and the local answer whenever anyone says steak. The natural landing spot after a day of Oakville and Stags Leap Cabernet, with a wine list built for exactly that. Also a serious bourbon bar.
21-day dry-aged prime ribeye and NY strip, oysters Rockefeller, lobster and shrimp bisque in puff pastry, Yukon Gold and Gruyère gratin, creamed spinach, pecan pie.
Book nowContemporary American, global influences · 1140 Main St, 2 min walk
Chef-owner Sean O'Toole. Exposed stone, high ceilings, open kitchen, rock and soul turned up, no tablecloths. The menu rotates constantly around whatever is best that week.
Indian-spiced fried chicken, hamachi crudo, lamb ravioli, akaushi short rib, truffle grilled cheese, deviled eggs.
Books open six weeks out — around October 2The call: Cole's, for how it pairs with the day. TORC if we'd rather end the trip on something more interesting than a steak. TORC's largest party is eight, and tables for five to eight only exist at early or late seatings.
Saturday, November 14 — our own cars, luggage loaded
Everything today sits south and west of downtown, on the natural line out via Highway 121 to 37 to 101. Nothing backtracks, and every stop has a real parking lot rather than street parking.
Mountain Cabernet from over a thousand feet, in a nineteenth-century stone winery, plus the three-story Hess Collection contemporary art museum. Donald Hess's private collection, free to view with a reservation.
Open Thursday through Monday, 10 to 4:30. The galleries have been going through a refresh with limited access, so worth confirming the museum is fully open when we book.
25 minutes back down and southwest
Spanish heritage, from the Codorníu family, and the building is set into a Carneros hilltop under a grass roof — you come up a staircase and the whole southern valley opens up. Carneros Pinot Noir and Chardonnay alongside Cabernet.
Seated tastings indoors or on the terrace, a behind-the-scenes tour with five estate wines, and premium bites.
Add a food pairing here. It's a travel day and this is effectively our lunch.
7 minutes
Founded by the Champagne Taittinger family, and the château is modeled on Taittinger's Château de la Marquetterie. Grand staircase, formal gardens, a marble-floored fireside salon, and a terrace over the Carneros hills. The best last look at Napa on the trip, and ending on bubbles is a good closer.
Open 10 to 5:30, last reservation at 5, last pour 5:30. Adults only, service animals only.
Depends entirely on 101 through the city and traffic on 37 or the Golden Gate. Leave Domaine Carneros by 4:30 at the latest for a 9pm flight, earlier if Saturday looks ugly.
Book everything except TORC now. Mid-November is shoulder season so there's some room, but Saturday the 14th will still fill.
| Place | Day | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schramsberg | Thu | Required | Daily guest cap by permit. Book this first. |
| Charles Krug | Thu | Book ahead | Only for the wine-and-pizza experience. Standard tastings take walk-ins. |
| HALL St. Helena | Thu | Required | 24 hours minimum. Six guests max per booking. |
| Grgich Hills | Fri | Walk in | Parties under 15. The 2pm tour and the pizza pairing do need booking. |
| Silver Oak | Fri | Required | Walk-in only if space. Cancelling inside 24 hours costs half. |
| Regusci | Fri | Required | Required for all Friday, Saturday and Sunday visits. |
| Hess Persson | Sat | Required | Tastings and the art museum both. |
| Artesa | Sat | Required | Book on Tock, or call 707-200-2038. |
| Domaine Carneros | Sat | Required | No waitlist kept. 800-716-2788 x150. |
| Angèle or Scala | Wed | Required | Pick one and book now. |
| Cole's or TORC | Fri | Required | Cole's now. TORC's books open six weeks out, around October 2. |
| Thursday dinner | Thu | Walk in | All four options. Decide on the night. |
Three tastings and then ninety minutes to SFO is a lot to ask of whoever is driving. Worth pricing out extending the car service one more day with an airport drop — we'd lose the rental return and gain a fourth taster. If we keep the cars, we should pick the driver Friday night, not Saturday morning. Silver Oak, Domaine Carneros and most others seat non-tasters at the table.
Hess, Artesa and Domaine Carneros all have proper lots rather than street parking, so the loaded cars are fine sitting there. Just nothing visible through the windows.
Everything below was on the saved map. Here's where it went.
Weigh in and I'll lock the rest down.