Every driving day starts at the far north end and works back south toward the city. Rod from NapaDriverTours drives our rental all three winery days, Thursday through Saturday. Saturday the bags come with us, and the whole day points at the airport.
Wednesday, November 11
Nothing scheduled before dinner, and it's an early one so nobody is fading at the table on day one. A five-minute walk from the house.
Southern Italian, seafood-leaning · 1141 1st St, 5 min walk
Sister restaurant to Bistro Don Giovanni. Lively dining room, a proper oyster bar, house-made pasta and Neapolitan pizza.
Lemon butter ravioli, pork chop Milanese, whole roasted fish, Neapolitan pizza, oysters, braised lamb.
Booked · 6:00pmThursday, November 12 — with a driver
Straight up Highway 29 to the top of the valley, then back down. Sparkling first. Lunch option at Charles Krug, or along the drive.
Cave Tour & Classic Tasting, party of four. 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.
We leave the house by 8:40. Schramsberg Road is narrow and winding, so it's good someone else is driving.
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.
Lunch happens here — wood-fired pizza and the Cucina di Rosa salumeria are both on site, and there's time for it before HALL at 2:15.
5 minutes south
Reflections of the Valley — bar tasting in the Modern Gallery, 2:15 to 3:15, party of four. 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.
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 inFriday, November 13 — with a driver
The middle of the valley. Grgich to Silver Oak to the Silverado Trail. 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. Seated tasting of five wines on the patio or in the winery.
Opens at 9:30. We need to leave by about 11:50 to make Silver Oak.
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.
Lunch gap: we're done around 1:15 with Regusci at 3:00. Oakville Grocery is two minutes away at the corner of Highway 29 — sandwiches and a picnic 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.
Classic American steakhouse · 1122 Main St, 2 min walk
In the 1886 Williams-Kyser stone building, and the local answer whenever anyone says steak. The natural landing spot after a day of Oakville and Stags Leap Cabernet, with a Napa-heavy wine list and 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.
Booked · 7:00pmSaturday, November 14 — with Rod, luggage loaded
Everything today sits south and west of downtown, on the natural line out to SF. We drive ourselves to Bouchaine with the bags and meet Rod there. He drives us to Hess and Artesa, brings us back to Bouchaine for 2:30, and clocks off.
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 wander.
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.
It's a travel day and this lands at lunchtime, so worth adding their bites here.
10 minutes south
The oldest continuously operating winery in Carneros, first planted in the 1880s by a man genuinely named Boon Fly. A hundred acres pushed right up against San Pablo Bay — the fog and wind off the water keep the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay bright. Wild-yeast fermented, plus Riesling, Pinot Gris and Syrah.
They run falconry sessions with the master falconer who handles their vineyard bird abatement. Worth asking about when we arrive.
Rod's insured zone ends at the county line, so one of us drives this leg. Worth picking that person Friday night so they can skip or just sip at Bouchaine. With late flights there's time for an early dinner before we go.
Every time we're committed to, in order.
| Place | Day | Time | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scala Osteria & Bar | Wed, Nov 11 | 6:00pm | Booked |
| Schramsberg | Thu, Nov 12 | 9:30am | Booked |
| Charles Krug | Thu, Nov 12 | 12:30pm | Booked |
| HALL St. Helena | Thu, Nov 12 | 2:15pm | Booked |
| Grgich Hills | Fri, Nov 13 | ~10:00am | Walk in |
| Silver Oak | Fri, Nov 13 | 12:15pm | Booked |
| Regusci | Fri, Nov 13 | 3:00pm | Booked |
| Cole's Chop House | Fri, Nov 13 | 7:00pm | Booked |
| Hess Persson | Sat, Nov 14 | 10:00am | Booked |
| Artesa | Sat, Nov 14 | 12:45pm | Booked |
| Bouchaine | Sat, Nov 14 | 2:30pm | Booked |
Rod Chilson, NapaDriverTours.com — (707) 721-7905. He drives our rental car all three days, so nobody has to sit out a tasting.
Pickup at the house by 8:40 for Schramsberg at 9:30. Charles Krug at 12:30, HALL at 2:15, home by about 3:45.
Pickup around 9:30 for Grgich Hills. Silver Oak at 12:15, Regusci at 3:00, home by about 4:15.
We drive ourselves to Bouchaine with the bags and meet Rod around 9:25. He takes us to Hess at 10:00 and Artesa at 12:45, then drops us back at Bouchaine for 2:30 and clocks off.