Two Rock Valley Goats Milk Cheese at the Napa market
First things first before a day of vineyard tours and redwood forest walking: pick up a few different varieties of local cheese. This post incorporates quite a few Napa Valley favorites: Hartwell Estate Vineyards, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena, Michael Chiarello’s Bottega Restaurant, and a bonus: the Redwoods and Giant Sequoias. The adventure ends in Glen Ellen, with an easy, local dinner. This itinerary need not be completed in one day.
Hartwell Estate Vineyards
Hartwell Estate Vineyards
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars
Gardens at Stag’s Leap
Stag’s Leap
Stag’s Leap
In 1976, Stag’s Leap Sauvignon won the Paris Wine Tasting, putting Napa Valley on the world wine map
Beautiful growth on the employee entrance
At Bardessono
The Bardessono Hotel, Restaurant, and Spa only recently opened in 2009, and it is already a world renowned luxury property.
Outside Bottega at lunch hour
The Culinary Institute at Greystone main building, in St. Helena
Inside the CIA
CIA Chefs preparing for lessons
All kinds of chocolate ganache at the CIA
The CIA prides itself on upholding a reputation as one of the best culinary schools in the world.
Entering the CIA wine cellar and wine history room
Inside the Culinary Institute’s wine history room
Inside the Culinary Institute’s wine history room
The Redwood forests’ history as told on a tree stump.
How to read a tree’s rings
In comparison…
A family tour through the redwoods
These trees go on forever.
Redwoods.
Don’t forget your Aleve for cases of extreme neck craning.
Uncanny roots.
Look at the size of this trunk. I wouldn’t want that landing across my car-hood in a storm.
The Colonel Armstrong Tree is the oldest tree in the entire grove.
End the day with a local dish at a Glen Ellen neighborhood favorite.
Categories: California, Lunch, Travel
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