Richard & Sylvia's RV Adventures

Day 49 Thursday, April 19, 2007

Napa Valley — here we come

After stopping by the Visitors Center at Napa Valley we headed out for our tour – driving through the valley reminded us of the Mosel River, the Rhein and of course vineyards in Italy.  The houses with their red clay roofs just added another touch to this deja vu experience.   Many little bed and breakfast along the way invite you to spend the night.  Which is not a bad idea.  We did learn that now most wineries charge for the tasting to deter college kids stopping in and getting a little wasted before heading to the next wine tasting down the road.

 We stopped at Brix for lunch, I had an August Briggs Shiraz with the best burger ever.  Sylvia enjoyed a duck sandwich with an a glass of Pinot Noir from the Acacia Winery. We plan on visiting this vineyard!!   We drove on up the road and stopped in at the Robert Mondavi Winery where we looked around the beautiful grounds and gift shop.

We then drove on to the V. Sattui Winery that was built with stones imported from Europe.  There you could enjoy various cheese and Italian lunch meats with crusty bread topped off with a bottle from their winery at picnic tables provided by the winery in their back yard.  Since we just eaten we voted for a chocolate cheese cake with a latte instead.  Definitely a place we would like to return. 

We also stopped by the CIA, yes, you heard right…Culinary Institute of America which is housed at the former Christian Brothers Estate Winery. 

Of course we had to look at all the gadget the cooks use their to whip up their fabulous meals.  For a fee you can watch them prepare a dish and then sample it.  Again … love to try this one as well.

We are planning on visiting several wineries in the coming days.

posted by Richard @ 8:40 PM