See Facebook Album: A Trip on BART to the Chiropractor
But the part of the trip that we were most looking forward to did not start until the final Friday of the PPD meetings....it was then that we rented a car from Enterprise (directly across the street from where we were staying) and we went down to Brother-in-Law John's so ASB could get a haircut...and then we headed for Napa Valley!!
I was in various parts of the "wine trade" back in the 1970's and 1980's. I think the last time I was in Napa was in 1983. Let me tell you, that little valley has grown-up, big-time... when I was going often, there may have been 30 wineries of note. Today there are hundreds!! You could spend a month there and not see (or taste!) everything you want!
We had made prior reservations with a company that drives your car for you and shows you some of their favorite smaller vintners (a very smart move, indeed!) - - the company is Napa Bee Driven - and I cannot give them high-enough praise! They also helped us find a hotel (which was not easy as it was harvest-time and the busiest time of the year!). We stayed at the Andaz Napa (a Hyatt Hotel in Downtown Napa) and I also give them a 5-star rating...very comfortable and great service and staff!
Before we went of the organized wine-tour...we spent our first afternoon at a winery owned by a fellow Deloitte partner and had the BEST time and tasted some of the BEST wines ever! It's in the Stag's Leap area and they make some outstanding wines!! I don't know if they give tours for the general public...but their wines are available on-line at the Lindstrom Wines website...
Our second day in Napa was the big wine day...and thanks to Napa Bee Driven, we were safely guided to my friend Judd Finkelstein's winery Judd's Hill (OUTSTANDING wines at really great prices). The photo above was taken there early in the day....
We then were taken to Goosecross Cellars (top-notch small winery)...then on to Burgess Cellars where we bought a lot of nice wines...and finally stopping at Sequoia Grove winery.... We might have had time...but there was no chance we would be doing any more wine-tasting. Again...thanks, Napa Bee Driven!!
Except for 26-hours of flight-time and layovers through Dubai the following day....there really isn't much more to say about our Northern California experience... except someday we might want to live up there!
We are back At Home In Hyderabad now...next blog will be about our Thanksgiving trip to Varanasi and Udaipur in northern India... stay tuned!!
Here are the last two Facebook Photo Albums for this trip:
A Day at Lindstrom Winery, Napa 2012
Napa Wine Tasting - 2012
