Napa with friends

Knowing that we were leaving Cali too soon, we made LOTS of time to go to Napa in May!

Brian and I spent a day there by ourselves and started at Mario Andretti's winery- 

It is a beautiful place, off the beaten path. Great wines that are not distributed off the property!

Then we headed up to our favorite, Ladera.

They were having a members party to celebrate the release of their Sauvignon Blanc. The food was amazing- and I fell in love with raw oysters this day!

The coolest part of the day was watching a barrel be built and toasted by a local cooper, who started at Nadalie, the famous french cooperage.

We wanted to buy this barrel from him, but he said it was just for show and not up to his standards! (Since then, we have bought 2 barrels and plan to use them for a patio table!)

We put together a fun group of 11 friends, rented a van/driver and headed to Napa another weekend. It was a blast!

First up, tour and tasting at Jamison Ranch-

Then we headed to Artessa-

Next up- wine and lunch on the patio at Laird Family Estate

A quick stop at Robert Mondavi-

Then we headed to Elizabeth Spencer- 

Lastly, we would eat dinner at The Rutherford Grille-

AND GO HOME! What a day...

Kristen and Scott came up recently and we spent the day in Napa with them! The guys went golfing in the morning and then we met up with them at Jamison Ranch Winery to see one of our favorite local country bands, The Terry Sheets Band, perform. It was perfect! 

The golf course, aptly named The Chardonnay Golf Course, is across the street from the winery and right behind Kristen and Scott in this photo!

Then we headed to downtown Napa and did a wine tasting at Vermeil wines. Yup, that's Vermeil as in NFL coach Dick Vermeil. Nope, he wasn't there. But we were-

 After the wine tasting, we went next door for olive oil tasting!

Then we headed to Napkins for a cocktail, while we waited for a table at Zuzu's. The four of us ate here on our honeymoon almost 11 years ago!

And it was even better than we remembered it!

Another day we checked out two new wineries with friends from the squadron-

Clos Du Val, which is in the hoity-toity Stags Leap District-

We tasted some delicious wines and had a great private tour here.

Then we headed to Goose Cross-

And you taste their wines (which we also very good) in a room that feels like a garage!