House of Swick: San Francisco Trip: DAY 2

The second day's itinerary was to picturesque Napa Valley. We started the morning bright and early (forgoing breakfast, as we were still hungover from our food binge the previous day) at City Rentals, to get our call for the day. We opted to rent a luxury Rolls Royce for the day because hey---when in Rome....

Wait--who am I kidding?!? We went with a mid-size vehicle (which happened to be a Honda, so I was right at home behind the wheel). I was the driver because I have a pretty good sense of direction. That, and I trust Andy to read me directions from his GPS system (iPhone) more so than vice versa.

It takes about an hour or so from San Fran to Napa Valley, so we enjoyed the picturesque scenery along the way. Once in Napa, we stopped in the cutest little town of St. Helena for some brunch. This town kinda reminded me of Zionsville, with it's brick sidewalks and quaint shoppes. While waiting for our table, I took a stroll down the road stopping in a cute kid's boutique and bought Emma a book. ("Llama Llama Misses Mama," in case you were interested. She loves the Llama Llama Red Pajama book we currently have, and after further research the other day, I realized that it's a whole series. Llama Llama Holiday Drama drops 10/17 and Llama Llama Mad at Mama is currently in stores. Just FYI.) And I was tempted to buy a pair of Valentino pumps for the low, low price of $1,500 for myself at a cute shoe boutique called Shoecandy, but then I woke up.

So after brunch, we headed to all the wineries. Our first stop was Castilla de Amorosa winery, or "Castle of Love." It is an amazing winery that truly looks like a castle out of Italy. In fact, that was the goal behind the construction of this massive building. Back in the early 70's Dario Sattui, owner, traveled around Europe for two years, studying the architecture of medieval buildings. He took photographs, studied their designs and took detailed sketches and renderings of these structures then brought them back to the states in 1972 with the intent to re-establish his great grandfather's original V. Sattui winery which had been dormant for over 50 years. In 1993, he purchased a 171-acre vineyard property and began construction on Castilla de Amorosa in 1994. The success that came from this venture can be seen in the beautiful pictures below. It was truly an experience to visit.

The next stop was to the Beringer winery. I wanted to go to a "big one," meaning one that was massive in quantity of bottles distributed, and one that I had drank before. It was beautiful as well. Sprawling landscaping, live music, and serene waterfalls all made this winery a pleasant stop. Andy & I enjoyed a tasting with chocolate at this one. It was fan-freaking-tastic. The lady who explained the wines to us was very down-to-earth, so we were able to "be ourselves" at this one. Which may or may not have entailed some purposely-placed chocolate in our teeth! Hehe!

We ended our winery tour at Sterling Winery. And let me just tell you, we saved the best for last. This winery was unbelievable! After driving up the entryway of beautifully-lined trees, we took the aerial tram up to the actual building. This tram was a car that was suspended on cables, taking you up the mountainside, allowing you to enjoy a truly picturesque view. From there, we leisurely took a tour at our own pace, on our own agenda. We saw the fermentation part, the barrels used for the aging process, and impeccable views from the top of the mountain. All while sipping on some wine. Not too shabby, eh?

At the end of the day, we drove back into the city to drop our rental off, then headed to the neighborhood of Nob Hill for some fine Italian cuisine. We stuffed ourselves full at the Nob Hill Cafe then headed back to our hotel for some much-needed rest.