Ok this was my first time in Napa and I would absolutely recommend! And I wanna go again!
We only did 2 days in Napa as we were headed to other parts of California during our West Coastal Grandmother trip 👵🏼 🌊
Yes, Napa is known for their wine country and their vineyards aka whatyards (please tell me you get the reference 🤞🏼) but even if you don’t drink or aren’t a big drinker like I am, I say you still must go! The area is so scenic and charming. 😍
My friend and I went in September of 2022 and the weather was incredible. The two vineyards we visited weren’t busy and the staff at both were very attentive. The entire area is just so picturesque! We couldn’t get over it!
Here’s our very short Napa timeline
Day 1:
-arrived in San Francisco. Drove to Napa
-Inglenook Winery
-Yountville dinner
-check into hotel
Day 2:
-Shadybrook Winery
-lunch at Oxbow Public Market
-drive back to San Fran
Ok I’m going into detail now!
We both flew into San Francisco International Airport. This is where we rented a car for our lil trip. But first, In and Out! There’s one right by the airport.
*SIDE NOTE* Y’all BE AWARE 🚨 so I read about San Fran getting real bad with car break ins and we were cautious but didn’t realize how intense it was. While eating our burgers there was a parking lot security guy coming up to tables showing us pictures of cars in the parking lot asking if they were our cars. He asked this because there were visible items in the car that could be stolen. We saw 2 groups of people go out into their car and bring in their luggage or tote bags to avoid getting broken into 🙈🙈🙈
Anyways. We got our burgers 🍔 and then drove an hour and half up to Napa. Our first stop was Inglenook Winery 🍷
This place was HEAVEN 😍
It legit looks like a grand house from Pride and Prejudice. I honestly didn’t know if I should be looking for Nick Parker or Mr. Darcy! With vines going up the walls of the building. Gravel walk ways. Beautiful fountain at the entrance and of course rows and rows of vineyard. 🍇
So we didn’t actually do a wine tasting here rather than opted for their a la carte cafe. We were a lil early for our reservation so we walked around the grounds just mesmerized by the beauty of it all. The weather was incredibly perfect!
We got the 2020 Blancaneaux paired with salami and goat cheese with honey 🍯 and it was divine!
After our wine our new friend who worked there took us on a mini tour of the grounds which was fascinating. There’s a whole mini museum on the first and 2nd floors. The Coppola family are the owners here and are famously known in Hollywood. There’s even an Oscar and Emmy in the display case 😮
Not gonna lie we thought we saw Al Pacino having a sip of wine while we were there 🤭 It’s definitely a nice quaint place to have some time alone.
It was such a blissful time and I cannot stress enough going here on your Napa trip!
After our lovely experience at Inglenook we drove to Yountville and it was the cutest most picturesque like town. We had dinner at Bouchon Bistro. The oysters here were 👌🏼
A lot of the shops and bakeries were closed when we got there which we found odd. If we had more time I definitely would’ve gone back to explore more!
Our next day we headed up the hills to Shadybrook Estate for a wine tasting. And they put us in the their best table facing the beautiful vineyard!
They had horse stables as well and we felt like we were really in The Parent Trap 🪤🍷 we didn’t ride any here but again…I’d go back just to ride thru the vineyards like Halle or Annie!
After our delightful time at Shadybrook we headed about 15 minutes to Oxbow Public Market. It’s an indoor market with so many eateries to chose from. And groceries with everything you can think of.
We had lunch here at Hog Island Oyster Co. we got oysters, of course. And I got the clam chowder, Manhattan style. It was so delicious. 🙌🏼
We browsed around the market for a bit and I wanted to buy everything but had to hold off as this was still the first leg of our trip 😅
If you’re heading to Napa it can be a bit overwhelming trying to pick from all the gorgeous wineries that are there. But Inglenook and Shadybrook were both so charming. I definitely recommend these two!!!
This was only a portion of our trip! Stay tuned for more of our trip to San Fran, Monterey and Carmel by the Sea.
Thanks! Gracias! Xiè xiè for reading! 📖
Kitty&Co. 