Our first day started in Yountville, a chic and fashionable village surrounded by Napa Valley’s best wineries and restaurants. Yountville has been described as a world-class culinary and wine destination where award-winning chefs provide mouth-watering dishes at renowned restaurants such as the French Laundry, Bouchon, and Bottega Napa Valley to name a few.
I had recently connected with a girlfriend on Facebook who I went to high school with, her name is Lisa and on our way to Napa she mentioned that her son worked at one of the wineries in Yountville called Ma(i)sonry. Our small group decided to make this our first stop of the day. Ma(i)sonry is housed in a restored historic building first built-in 1904 and showcases a rotating collection of wines from boutique wineries in the surrounding area.
Why you should go. The wine tasting experience was made very personal by their wine consultant, Joanna who hand chose wines she thought we would love. There are three beautiful tasting rooms in the historic house or you can taste wine in the outdoor gardens where comfortable seating can be found amidst century-old olive trees and beautifully landscaped areas where fun, modern sculptures can be seen wherever the eye lands. Thank you to Lisa and her son Brian who took time out of his day to meet us and set us up with one of my favorite tastings of the day.
After our first tasting we needed lunch and headed down the street to Addendum. Addendum offers box lunches to go Thursday thru Saturday and has one of the best fried chicken lunches I have ever had! This is a definite stop when you’re in Yountville and was the perfect lunch to bring to our next winery, which was Clos Du Val. This winery was ten minutes down the road and offers picnic tables to dine at… of course, the purchase of one of their bottles of wine is highly suggested:)
This is really the way to enjoy both lunch and a winery.
The Clos Du Val Winery – 5330 Silverado Trail, Napa
Stag’s Leap Winery-5766 Silverado Trail, Napa, CA 94558
Why you should go. Stag’s Leap is the famous winery in Napa, which is known for producing the Cabernet that beat the top French Bordeaux at the 1976 Judgment of Paris. It was Stag’s Leap, 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon and the blind taste testing in Paris that put Napa Valley on the map. Stag’s Leap became famous over night and was internationally known as the wine that beat the French. The movie Bottle Shock show-cases this story and is an appealing and fun little movie about the winemaking business, which was filmed in the Napa and Sonoma Valley.
The French Laundry’s Culinary Garden- 6639 Washington St, Yountville,Ca
Why you should go. The French Laundry is one of the top restaurants in Napa Valley and is supposed to be a once in a lifetime culinary experience, but I wouldn’t know (insert sad face). It is very difficult to get reservations and the cost of one dinner is more than I probably make in a week. But what you can do is travel across the street and wander their gardens. These well maintained gardens have you grieving (just a little) that you cannot make it into the restaurant to taste their food. If this place doesn’t make you want to grow your own vegetables and buy some chickens I don’t know what will….
And then there was dinner….. Oh yeah and it was my birthday celebration!
Bottega Napa Valley -V Marketplace, 6525 Washington St, Yountville, CA 94599
Why you should go. Easy. The food. I am not a food critic by any means but OMG this place had all of us full & happy with every plate that was put in front of us. Five Stars for sure. Chef Michael Chiarello who has had cooking shows on the Food Network Channel one being Napa Style, owns this restaurant. The restaurant follows his seasonal farm-to-table Italian cuisine to perfection. So delicious…. and a “must-reservation” when you visit Yountville.
This was our second visit to Bottega and I am already wanting to go back. Recommendations: The Risotto and the Gnocchi
Food, travel, and such.... 