Day 3: Part 3 of 3 - Napa Valley

When I was researching the San Francisco area prior to our trip, I was thrilled to learn that Napa Valley was in the near vicinity.  We decided we'd make a point of going there, but with a short time frame, we only had about an afternoon.  Even thought we didn't have a lot of time, I'm SO glad we went.  It was absolutely beautiful.  Even thought the vines were bare (just entering their "spring"), it was still so colorful and beautiful...and the sunny, 70 degree day we had was just perfect.

Our first glimpse of some vineyards (all those yellow flowers are mustard):



Gorgeous scenery:



Just beautiful, rolling hills of vineyards everywhere:



With wineries here and there:







Since we had little time, we decided to tour just one winery, and on a recommendation decided it would be Sterling Vineyards. They had a gondola ride to the top of a hill that housed their cellar and tasting room. It was absolutely beautiful.

Getting ready to go up in the gondola:



The views on the way up (see that skinny cable we are riding up on...I have to admit it made me a little nervous!):



Dan taking in the sights:



More scenery (if you look, you can see another winery in the distance):



A tour of the cellar..these barrels were HUGE. It was also fascinating to learn about the wine making process.



The "reserve" room (the really good/special wines):



When in Rome.... :-)



The tasting terrace. I must say, I SOOO do not have a refined pallate (sp?) for wine tasting. One time the lady was like, "you can really taste the dust of the valley in this one." To which I was like, "Oh..." ??? Whatever you say, lady!







On the way down....





I love this picture...it's in the parking lot of the winery. It was so strange that it was so warm and sunny, yet still "winter"...



I'm not sure if it's intentional that mustard grows in the off-season, but it was really pretty and colorful:







Farewell, Sterling...(we did bring home a souvenier, the Malvasia Bianca, which was really good and sweet :-))



We drove through the town and thought it was cool that home there have citrus trees:



And then we ate at this little drive-in:





On the way out, it looked like the fields were glowing. It was so pretty. This pic doesn't do it justice (mostly because I look like a nerd in it), but we had to pull over and get a pic.





It was just beautiful up there. Definitely a trip highlight. If you haven't been, put it on your list. I'd love to go back and spend some more time there.

Sorry this was such a LOOONG post. But, here one more thing. A quick video of our ride up to the tasting room (I hate myself on video, but at least you can see the gondola):





Next up: the redwoods.