A Day in Napa Valley

One of my most anticipated day trips for our California trip was spending the day in Napa Valley, and it did not disappoint. I absolutely love wine tasting and trying new wines. Being from Western New York, I have spent plenty of time on the Niagara Wine Trail, including our wedding! Not far from Buffalo is also the Finger Lakes Region, known for their Rieslings, as well as across the border to Niagara on the Lake. I was so excited to visit such a different and world famous wine region.

While researching places to go, we were looking for tours once we decided not to rent a car, and we found The Napa Valley Wine Train. https://www.winetrain.com/
I am so glad we went with this option! It was so much fun and I definitely recommend it! Everything was taken care of for us, and we just had to show up, ready to have fun, drink great wine and eat great food. There are many different options for packages, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

We ubered to the train station, which was right outside the town of Napa. It wasn't that far from where we were staying which was nice. We boarded the train at ten, and they even take a photo of you before you get on the train, which was a nice touch. We boarded the train, which was so exciting,and pretty much immediately were handed bubbly from Chandon cellars. Between each wine stop was a course of the menu, and everything was delicious and perfectly timed, as the beautiful Napa Valley scenery went by.





 Our first stop was St. Suprery. It was stunning. First of all, I'd like to comment on just what an amazing experience going to a winery in Napa is. We met our guide, and each place we went were immediately handed a glass of wine. At St. Suprey, it was an exquisite glass of Sauvingon Blanc that we sipped as we explored the grounds a little bit and heard about the vineyard and winery. It was my favorite place, it was just so beautiful. There is a beautiful historic farmhouse, a 100 year old oak tree, as well as a cork tree in the vineyard. We walked through part of the vineyard, which they encouraged, and then headed around the farmhouse to the amazing modern tasting room, where we headed out to the patio for the most beautiful setting for wine tasting that I have ever experienced.




It was an amazing start to the day, sitting on this beautiful patio and trying some amazing wine. I was obsessed with the green umbrellas and accessories, and the black and white striped pillows.


Everywhere you look in Napa is beautiful,with all of the vineyards nestled between two different stunning sets of mountains.



Then we got back on the train for the main course, and headed to Berringer, one of the oldest cellars in the valley. I really enjoyed going to Berringer, because we went on the full cellar tour, seeing some old wine making equipment, and learning some history about the Valley, vineyard, and head wine makers. It was very cool to wander through the cellar, which was literally blasted out of the mountain, mostly by Chinese immigrants after the completion of the Trans Continental Railroad. There were also "secret" passageways and rooms that were hidden by debris from various earthquakes that were uncovered in the 1980's during restoration, including a room used for bootlegging and gambling during Prohibition. We tried some great wines during the tour, which was fun for me, because most of the other wine tastings I have done here in New York you just stand at the tasting bar and choose the samplings you want to try, but I think I prefer this way!










After completing our time at Berringer, we got back on the train to head to our last stop, Raymond, after having some wine and cheese. I am so glad we went to Raymond! It was so different and unique, as well as having some great wine as well. It is currently owned by a man from Burgundy, and he has really put his own spin the winery. Our first stop, after grabbing a glass of wine of course, was the Theater of Nature, which is an organic Farm on the property, that uses the moon phases as part of their growing cycle. There was an abundance of beautiful plants, vegetables, and some animals as well. It was very different, and I really enjoyed walking around. There was even a special part of the winery to enjoy wine tasting with your dog! We then headed into the cellar, and saw part of the winery where they have a wine maker for a day workshop, which looks like a very cool experience. We saw some of the several different tasting rooms, but my favorite was definitely the Red Room, where the sweetest mother and daughter on our tour offered to take our picture. Everything there is very unique and we got some great photos.



I just had to pose in these amazing chairs. Below are Chip and Dale, the goats at Raymond. Dale came over to say hello, but Chip wasn't feeling it.


On our way home we had the last amazing course, dessert, and then just enjoyed the train ride. It was so much more fun than just driving around, although I would even do that, just for the scenery. I definitely want to return and see even more of Napa Valley. The Wine Train was our big splurge of the trip, but it was so worth it, and every last detail was wonderful. Have you been to Napa Valley? What was your favorite winery you went to, or your favorite wine?

Outfit details!
My dress is Gal Meets Glam. I first started reading blogs when I was starting teaching, and looking for outfit inspiration, and I found Gal Meets Glam, by Julia Engle and her husband Thomas. I have been a reader for years, and was so excited when they launched their dress line, the Gal Meets Glam Collection. Tony bought me a dress from the holiday collection for my birthday last year, and I knew I wanted one for our trip to California. This is the Angelica dress, and it is on sale!

https://shop.galmeetsglam.com/angelica-k0328m-dirs

It is a beautiful color, flowy, fun and beautiful. If I could I would seriously buy every Gal Meets Glam dress haha.

I hope this post about our day in Napa was inspiring, if you love wine, you have to go there! Thanks for reading.

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