Is it not true that a visit to San Francisco is not complete without at least a day trip to the world renown Napa Valley? Well, I sure hope it’s true, because I highly recommend it. For starters, it’s not very far away – less than an hour from San Francisco (and probably a bit over an hour and a half from Silicon Valley).
To be honest, the day did not exactly start out promising. The weather this morning greeted us with a white mess of overcast cloud which was not encouraging, but we were committed to the journey at any rate. After a quick breakfast, we managed to get on the road around 10am, perfectly timed to beat the regular work day traffic jams.
The journey outbound was uneventful, and almost without any stopping. We glided across the bay and up north through Alameda, Oakland and Berkley. Using a feature of Google Maps, we traced dining options aligned with our route to Napa. I selected a great location to grab our lunch.
Breakfast – Mel’s Original Diner
A fun, 50s’ themed American diner, modelled off the original Mel’s featured in the George Lucas hit film “American Graffiti”. It was a nice score, a really well executed design centred around creating the 50s’ dining experience. I topped it off with a thick chocolate malt milkshake and a chili burger.
After enjoying lunch, we returned to the road. At this stage, a mere 40-odd minutes from Napa.
Napa
Arriving in the tight valley is much like visiting any region, the vines start to appear and grow larger. Napa, proper, is a complete town and a surprising differentiation from other well established regions. The main area featuring the Welcome centre was ultra modern and eclectic. Our guide at the Welcome centre was very helpful and outlined an excellent itinerary for us, which we actually almost executed 100%. My main aim was to locate a cave (cellar) which we could inspect.
Robert Mondavi
Our first stop was the famous Robert Mondavi vineyard, where we proceeded to the Reserve Tasting room and bought $20 2oz glasses of the 2012 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. It was a real treat. The lady behind the counter was very animated and chatted to us about her trip to Australia. We took the glasses outside to the patio an engaged in heavy conversation amidst the backdrop of the beautiful and serene vineyard.
Lunch
Will wanted to grab some food early, so we jumped to a close by Italian vineyard which had been recommended for its deli. This was a great recommendation, and the room was amazing, which a huge array of cheese, wine and deli options including gourmet sandwiches, salads at the like. We ate outside and watched the Wine Train slowly pass by.
Cave Tour
The Cave tour was at the Bellinger vineyard, and cost $30 + Tax. Our guide told us the vineyard was owned by an Australian firm (Treasury Wines) and reminded us that the parent-parent company was Australian for beer (Fosters). We all tried to correct her misinformation 
The tour took in the original cave (enlarged later to accommodate tours) and we tasted 4 wines – a Chardonnay, a Sangioviese, a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Botrytis Riesling.
An Italian Castle?
Our next stop took us to the top of the valley. Here lies an actual, authentic, medieval Italian castle which had been shipped across from Italy at some expense, stone by stone and recreated. The castle features a drawbridge, several towers and a large courtyard. We did not venture inside, however we did spy Emus up towards the top of the small hill behind the castle.
Dinner
We crossed east and took the Silverado Trail road (scenic rroute) back to Napa town, where upon we ate dinner at a restaurant inside an organic farmer’s market, which was awash with hundreds of food options.
Return Journey
From here it was time to head back to Silicon Valley. The wineries all tend to close doors at 5pm, and we were nearly at 6pm.
Our return trip took us over the Bay Bridge and past San Francisco.
Next up – Day 4.