Some destinations are picture-perfect for a honeymoon, some are best explored as a family, and some are meant to be shared with your best friends. Caitlin, Lauren, and Ashley were looking for just this kind of girls-getaway adventure, and we found it in the Napa Valley. With wine tastings all over Napa & Sonoma, they were able to share the excitement of being in the vineyards, getting away from the hustle and bustle of daily life, and truly enjoying each other’s company after a very long pandemic year.

Here’s their trip report on their favorite spots throughout the adventure!

“Hello!! Our trip was amazing I will outline everything below including our itinerary/top places. 

Our flights were completely fine, no troubles at all (no delays, etc) but both very full flights. But zero issues. The only thing we came across was the rental car line when we landed at SFO. There were lines wrapped around the building to get a car (we heard rentals were a hot commodity but we didn’t realize how much!), so that took a very long time after we landed to get the rental car just solely from volume and not a lot of workers. I think they had 3 people working total so it was a little slow but once we got to the front desk we were good to go and had our car immediately. 

Our hotel {Andaz Napa} was in a perfect spot.

Couldn’t have asked for a better location, we were able to walk everywhere for dinners and tasting rooms and there was an onsite parking garage that was very convenient. The hotel itself was really nice, our room was awesome- spacious, clean, bathroom with double sinks so it was honestly perfect for our group of 3 and could definitely work well for 4 people as well.

Our itinerary:

Napa

Wednesday – checked in, we got a tasting at JAM Cellars right next to the hotel which was fun and went to dinner at Sky and Vine which was very cool! Rooftop restaurant with amazing skyline views and great food.

Thursday –Tasting/tour at Cakebread Cellars – highly recommend, beautiful, great wine and we shipped wine back from here

Lunch at Farmstead at Longmeadow Ranch – beautiful spot, great food/service, and was a place you could walk around to see their gardens and was more than just a restaurant

Tasting at Frog’s Leap – BEAUTIFUL location, more mom and pop vineyard, decent wine, but we loved it more for the vibe. low key, got to sit on a wrap-around porch and walk around their farm as well. they had animals there and fresh fruit trees we could pick and eat

Tasting at SilverOak – more high-end wines, they only do Cabs. we enjoyed this place but it wasn’t our favorite. we sat inside which might have made a difference (others were outside with great weather) but we did love our sommelier, he made the visit fun. 

Dinner at Celadon – good, really cool location/vibe but not the best meal we had. 

Sonoma

Friday – Tasting at Domaine Carneros – amazing location and property. stunning buildings and scenery and they do Champagne/Sparkling wines. We loved the views here but the service was just OK. We waited a very long time in our seats and didn’t get much knowledge/attention about the drinks. however this place is recommended by everyone, so we are still glad we went. 

Lunch at Layla at MacArthur Place – highly recommend. very good food, great service, beautiful property. 

Then we drove to downtown Sonoma which was cute. We walked around and went to a tasting room. We didn’t spend as much time here as we planned because we stayed at lunch for a while but nice to check out!

Tasting at Anaba Wines – one of our favorites. this was a last-minute booking from a recommendation, it isn’t listed on “top wineries” but was absolutely one of our top places. it was so relaxed, gorgeous building definitely recently updated, the outside was so nice with great views with amazing wine. we could have stayed here all afternoon! since it isn’t a top recommended place it was not packed which was amazing.

Dinner at Napkins Bar and Grill – so good! we loved this place. it’s right by the river where there was an outdoor concert, amazing food (one of the best meals!) and good service. 

Saturday – Tasting/Tour at HALL Wines – top favorite. we loved the tour here, so much information and incredible wine. We shipped about 11 bottles home and one of us became a member. We would recommend this place to everyone. also highly recommend the tour, we learned so much and our guide was incredible at providing knowledge. 

Tasting at Round Pond – beautiful property and really nice tasting area. we were on an upstairs patio where there were great views, fireplace etc. the wine was really good – pricey but worth it

Tasting at Alpha Omega – probably 3rd favorite. we did end up waiting a long time to get our table/reservation, but they have a very unique property that doesn’t feel like you’re in Napa but has great views of the mountains. The wine was also very good and we shipped some of their wine home as well.

Dinner at Gran Electrica – very very good. we loved this place, all Mexican food. we got good margaritas and tacos etc. and really good service

All in all it was an incredible trip. It couldn’t have gone smoother and I think we did the right balance of tastings and 2 tours (I think more than 2 or 3 tours would be a lot). Each spot was very uniquely different which we also loved. and we had a good variety of food and no complaints on restaurants. 

Let me know if you have any more questions!! Happy to help in any way.

We can’t thank you enough! You made this trip seamless for us and can’t wait to work with you again on other trips.”

–Caitlin