Napa Valley: a Disneyland for Wine-lovers

If you love wine, it would be hard to find a more enjoyable vacation experience than the Napa Valley. A visit to Napa is not only see an opportunity, where wine is produced, or the upscale shops and stores, exploring now found their way into the smallest municipalities in Napa Valley. Rather is a trip into the valley almost spiritual journey that you immediately is the beauty of the 63,000 acres of vineyards and the industry that brought European elegance to the valley of life. There was once quite sleepy, but changed the city forever from his Napa wine industry. With 75,000 inhabitants has, Napa to a point in his own right, albeit with the feeling of a small town. There are several major new shopping malls and you’ll also see that Napa Valley is to hold one of the latest trends: downtown wine bars that you provide your samples, not daring even, not in the landscape. Until the 30-mile-long valley are much smaller towns like Yountville, St. Helena and Calistoga, “and each a simple trip from Napa and all of them offer their own versions of that this is only a Napa Valley wine town taken over everything. Together the cities of Napa Valley offer a Disneyland for wine-lovers whose E-ticket rides are some of the best known labels in the world belong. But even if you only slightly curious about wine, chateaux, magnificent vistas, the educational tours which will make each step of the wine making process, “all these things a Napa Valley visit. It is impossible for more than a few of the wineries on your weekend or day trip, and we said that people from the Bay Area with the car only up to Napa week after week to review a few more wineries from their list any time . Most wineries charge for tastings ‘although we are not quite one, not’ and either your purse or your alcohol tolerance will probably be the number of wineries you can come on a certain day to visit. The free sample was at V. Sattui Winery, where on Sunday afternoon, the gift shop and deli were buzzing with people, and lines formed along the wine bar to taste the latest offerings. Located in St. Helena is located in the winery is a popular stopover for visitors who want to buy a bottle of wine and then picnic on the beautiful surrounding landscape. The winery is also a buffet line out on the ground with a barbecue for those who do not bring their brown bags. Interestingly, V. Sattui does not sell their wine anywhere other than the winery, by mail order or from the company’s website. While V. Sattui is a fairly typical small family-run winery, the other end of the scale, Domaine Chandon, which we found in Yountville. Is produced with spectacular terrain and a four-star gourmet restaurant just steps from the wine, Domaine Chandon is an example of an estate from a large conglomerate that distributes its products globally owned. We decided to take the 45 minutes tour through this massive facility and found it well worth the time. In small groups, it is shown how wine is made, all the way from vineyard to final production. The tour helped us to explain many of the processes behind winemaking. Most people visiting Napa Valley focus, of course, to the wine and the many fine restaurants that have decided to find in the valley. Shopping is also a big part of a Napa vacation. But the other place in the Napa Valley shines is in the impressive array of houses up and down the valley, from historic bed-and-breakfast guest houses to upscale boutique resorts. Most are obsessive about the provision and the best comfort and service. As you know, spend some of the most demanding traveler in the world of time in the Napa Valley, and these innkeepers want the accommodations in the same league as Napa’s world-renowned wines. We found that to be the case certainly hiding Meadowood, an impressive place along one edge of the valley near the city of St. Helena. You can imagine going to a country estate – here you go through a security gate and enter a world of lush green lawns, winding paths and lush forests. Strategically positioned here and there are attractive investment building, the atmosphere in the area seem to add rather than detract from it. If this were the 1920′s, it is easy to imagine that Jay Gatsby would have loved Meadowood. It is very fancy, but every day working people will also enjoy. Whether it is lounging by one of the inviting pools or enjoying breakfast in Meadowood elegant cafe, we met with many families and couples who seemed to enjoy the opportunity to indulge in one of the best resorts in the valley. We especially enjoyed our Meadowood suite, one of the newer accommodations at the resort, and situated on a wooded hill. It made us feel, in a luxurious house in the woods’ cozy, yet spacious with its high ceilings and open floor plan. A complete living room includes a fireplace, an attractive wall case, a couch and extra chairs for guests. The bedroom was especially decorative, with a window seat and bay windows. thicknesses, white robes, down comforters, state-of-the-art home entertainment ‘these and many other upscale amenities were all there. A short walk from our suite was the recreation area “with its 25-meter lap pool, family pool and expansive lawn – and the health spa, where guests skincare, body and massage therapies can enjoy. Fitness trainers and private yoga Teachers are waiting for your call. Fitness is never far from your mind at Meadowood, where you’ll also find saunas, steam rooms, seven tennis courts, hiking / biking trails and two championship croquet lawns. You can both fine and casual dining is available at Meadowood. The Restaurant at Meadowood features California cuisine, barbecue, while offering light meals overlooking the golf course. We felt that the relaxing experience would be easy dine and enjoy in our luxurious suite. Even if this is not the Napa Valley, Meadowood on its own stand as a prime investment resort. But the fact that there have been conducted around the Napa Valley is that we could not just hole up and relax the whole weekend “is far too much to see and do. The shopping and wineries were great, but we also just have fun driving this scenic valley. From Napa to Calistoga, we found that communities were each a little different, and each with its own selection of panoramic views. We enjoyed stopping alongside the road and taking close-ups of the vines, fishing, or for the best view of the valley and its vineyards. Interestingly, the feeling you get from so much natural beauty of the way to satisfy you of the perfect glass of wine. It’s all part of the amazing power of the grapevine. AT A GLANCE WHERE: The Napa Valley is about 45 miles northeast of San Francisco, or about 60 miles southwest of Sacramento. WHAT: The Napa Valley has become, because the grapes have become famous in this town. Grapes in different climates, soils and plants have developed different characteristics and Napa Valley grapes are judged to some of the best in the world for the manufacture of different varieties of wine. Therefore, now more than 300 wineries are located in the valley. Fine restaurants, lodging and shopping have also come to the valley. WHEN: Any time of year. A special bonus comes in August and September during the annual harvest. You can sometimes first-hand how the grapes are crushed. Note to do: most of them it was not like Lucy Ricardo. WHY: The Valley has an almost mystical atmosphere, which is hard to describe, but easy to recognize. HOW: You can find more information about the Napa Valley by going to www. napavintners. com or www. napachamber. org. To learn more about Meadowood, call (800) 458-8080 or visit www. Meadowood. com.