Napa, Napa, 400 Wineries on the Map-a

A few weeks ago, I finally had the opportunity to travel the short 60 or 70 miles from San Francisco to sample the magical juices from one of the world's most talked about regions--Napa Valley. February is an interesting time because unlike summer/fall, which is harvest season, the vines are bare and it was also raining all weekend. This year specifically was unique for Napa's vitners because of the bizarrely warm weather all through the holidays and January. A woman at Clos Du Val explained that while the vines "hibernate" much like roses during the winter, the warm weather may have affected them strangely and the wine makers will not know the ramifications until they actually tast the wines some time from now. That aside...

I had stressed about planning and coordinating, when in reality, all you really need to do is drive down the Hwy 29 or Silverado Trail (which are parallel, North-South highways running all the way from Napa proper, through Yountville, Rutherford, Oakville, etc to Calistoga and beyond) and pull over at whatever winery looks good to you. Some are more touristy (and more expensive) and some are small and unrecognizable because they only sell their wines at their winery (not in stores like my beloved Trader Joe's). So we decided to try out all types of wineries and what they had to offer...