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Anna S. E. Lundberg

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West Coast USA Road Trip: Drinking and flying in Napa Valley

17 July, 2015 By Anna S E Lundberg 2 Comments

Gloria Ferrer
Cheers!

From San Francisco and Sausalito we headed out into wine country and kicked off our visit with a glass of bubbly at Gloria Ferrer. With views across the countryside, this was a beautiful introduction to the world of Napa.

Napa is known for its wine production and yet it only produces 4% of California’s total; at least 95% of the bottle needs to be coming from the area in order to have it named on the label. In 1976, there was a competition organised in Paris in which two French judges did blind tasting of both white and red wine from France and from California… In what became known as the Judgment of Paris, a California wine came first in each category, shocking the French who of course could not believe that the Americans could produce wine of such a high calibre. As if that weren’t enough, a repeat tasting to celebrate the 30th anniversary in 2006 saw California wines take the top five spots again….

Tasting room: open
And it begins…

Our first pre-planned stop was at Beringer, where we took part in a group tour that took us through the history of the winery and the winemaking process. I found the tasting particularly interesting here, as we experimented with the effect of eating something salty, something sour, something bitter and something sweet on different wines. After this we returned to our hotel for some wine and cheese and an early night, as we would be getting up early the next morning for a full-day tour that began with a ride in hot air balloon.

It was my aunt who had suggested the balloon ride and I, of course, said yes although it was only later that I realised that this was actually on my bucket list. We left our backpacks and handbags in a locker as there wouldn’t be space on board the balloon but I still managed to hold onto my phone, my big SLR and my Gopro mounted on a stick. Ridiculous. We drove out into the fields where three balloons lay waiting for us. Each balloon had the ‘cockpit’ in the middle where our pilot would control the burners and then two compartments on either side, each with up to four people in it.

Hot air balloon in flight
Photo credit: Napa Valley Balloons. The photo was taken by a GoPro mounted on one of the ropes leading up from the basket. We also had a drone following our balloon as we rose up from the field so if you see any videos on the Napa Valley Balloons site then keep an eye out for my aunt and me!
Hot air balloon
Adventure is out there!
Hot air balloon basket
Don’t look down…!
Vineyard
We landed back in a field that reminded me of some American film about alien crop circles. The sun was still rising and yet we’d already had this wonderful experience; I could get up at 4am every day if this were the reward I got!

The afternoon tour was a limo ride (“limo” being a bit of a stretch – or, rather, not a stretch, as it was actually a white van) that would take us to four different boutique wineries. The benefit of a tour like this is that you can all drink as much or as little as you feel like, without having the driving hanging over you. It was, as they promised, a very social tour, which saw us quickly bonding with our fellow passengers and culminated in a rendition of American Pie. I blame the wine. You really don’t get drunk, though, as the tasting is spread out throughout the day – it’s the same experience I had when I went on a cycling tour in Argentina, we were unaffected but we had a policeman following us by the end of the day as he was obviously used to rowdy tourists causing mayhem. My aunt and I instead finished off this long day in style with a delicious meal at Bouchon Bistro.

Andretti Winery
The Andretti Winery was established by Formula 1 racer Mario Andretti when he retired from the sport. (On the site it says, slightly worryingly, “It was Mario’s career in racing that led to his love of wine.”)
Tudal Winery
We had lunch after our tasting at Tudal Winery, which had a really nice informal style and a garden where we could cool off a little.
Dutch Henry Winery
At our third stop, we were led out of the heat and into the caves of Dutch Henry Winery.
Laird Winery
Our final tasting was at Laird, where we also had some welcome cheese and crackers.
Cork tree
The cork tree really feels like cork: spongey to the touch. In fact the corks at Stags’ Leap are obtained from elsewhere so this tree is just maintained in order to show visitors.

On our final morning – yes, morning – we finished our time in Napa with a last wine tour at Stags’ Leap Winery. Another beautiful location (though sadly they have no licence for wedding ceremonies – I asked) and the story of a strong woman behind it all, involving bootleggers and gangsters (some information on the site but you’ll have to do the tour to get the details!).

I’m not sure how much I learned from all this wine drinking, beyond the fact that I seem to like most (good) wines. My nose is somewhat attuned to different scents given that I worked in perfume for many years but I’m afraid I still can’t distinguish different grapes and I still have no idea what type of wine I really like. I did learn that when you want more of a particular wine you should ask to “revisit it” – that sounds much more refined than “Gimme more of that one” doesn’t? Of course the main thing, I think, is to enjoy the wine, regardless of the grape or the vintage.

Next: from the flowing wine of Napa to the waterfalls of Yosemite

 

The practical bit

Silverado Resort & Spa –  As the name suggests, this is a proper resort and could warrant a much longer stay than the two nights that we stayed there. It was a little out of the way from the action, I found, but I chose it to be within a short driving distance of the starting point for the balloon tour as I knew that this would be an early start.

The full-day tour – We did the Platypus package with Napa Valley Balloons, with an early morning balloon ride followed by a tour of some local wineries. The afternoon wine tour took us to four boutique wineries: Andretti, Tudal, Dutch Henry and Laird. Wine tasting fees at each of the different wineries were not included, which means that you don’t have to do the tasting at each stop if you find it all getting too much!

Wineries:

Gloria Ferrer

Beringer

Stags’ Leap Winery – Note the apostrophe: there was a battle over the name with another winery, which was settled by allowing that one to use Stag’s Leap Winery. Get it? So clear…

Bouchon Bistro –  The bakery next door is also well known. If you’ve read this far, all the way to the end of the post, let me tell you an embarrassing tale about this bakery: After our lovely dinner we wanted to pop in to get some breakfast for the next morning. When we tried the door it was locked, though, and one of the staff came out to tell us it was closed. I told him of our search for breakfast and he left us to it but my story must have been pitiful as a minute later he returned, carrying a little paper bag. “We usually give what’s left over to the local homeless charity but here you are.” Great. We’ve taken food from the homeless. We gave him a tip and hung our heads in shame. But the pastries sure tasted good the next day…

 

Filed Under: North America, Travel, United States Tagged With: beringer, california, dutch henry, laird, napa, road trip, stags' leap, travel, tudal, USA

West Coast USA Road Trip: From Los Angeles to San Francisco

14 July, 2015 By Anna S E Lundberg 1 Comment

I’ve always romanticised the idea of a road trip. There’s something about the open road, the fact that you can just pack up your things and go, you can stop wherever and whenever you want to, and you also have plenty of time to get to know the person you’re travelling with. Just look at Thelma and Louise and the deep bonds they formed as they… well, okay, they were in quite an extreme situation. Luckily for us my aunt and I didn’t get into that level of trouble when we took the roads of California for our ten-day trip.

For me, the planning of a trip is part of the fun and I’d done all sorts of calculations to see what we could manage in the time we had. As is often the case, I probably overstretched it a little – we drove over 2,000 miles in the end – but the result was a trip that can only be described as completely epic. We had plenty of time to explore the places we visited, to tick off a few items on the bucket list, and even to memorise all the US states and their capitals. What more could you want in a holiday?

Cocktails in LA
Two girls ready to have some fun. It’s all about the rooftop bar!

On a road trip, you don’t really want to spend a lot of time stuck in traffic in the city, so we planned to leave Los Angeles as soon as we could. Arriving on Thursday evening, we had booked into The Standard in Downtown LA, mostly (okay, only) because it’s a hotel that’s known for its rooftop bar. We figured we wouldn’t have time to explore the city but a couple of drinks at the rooftop bar would be the perfect remedy for jet lag after a long journey, in my case halfway round the globe.

Hollywood sign
Of course we couldn’t leave LA without stopping for some snaps of at least one iconic landmark…

The next morning we headed out of town. Our first stop was in Santa Monica, a gorgeous seaside town with a fairground pier that reminded me of Brighton – except, perhaps, for the weather. Here, we had lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp, a tribute to Forrest Gump’s prawn-obsessed buddy, and bought hats to protect our little heads from the burning sun as we took the top down on our lovely yellow Beetle cabriolet.

Solvang, California
We couldn’t resist stopping in Solvang, a little Danish colony founded in the early 20th century and offering the best (and largest) pastry I’ve ever had. YUM.

For our next overnight stop, I had selected a point that looked like it was more or less halfway between LA and San Francisco, at the “international landmark destination” Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. Named after its founder not the Madonna, this is a crazily kitsch hotel, each room different and with a restaurant decorated with huge flowers and fairy lights galore.

The Lone Cypress
The Lone Cypress is over 250 years old and is one of the points of interest that is called out along the 17-mile drive.

The famous route between LA and San Francisco is Highway 1 while the most scenic stretch is arguably the 17-mile drive that goes around the Monterey peninsula between Pebble Beach and Pacific Grove. It cost 10 dollars to enter this drive as it’s a national park, but it’s a small price to pay for stunning views out into the ocean (and plenty of golf clubs if that’s what you’re into).

Golden Gate Bridge
The famous fog lay over the bridge as we crossed over to Sausalito but it soon cleared as we reached the other side.

Having been playing Scott MacKenzie’s San Francisco (be sure to weeeeeear flowers in your haaaaaair) on repeat most of the day, we finally arrived into sunny San Francisco to be welcomed by free wine in the hotel reception, very nice. After having the most delicious ceviche and several pisco sours at La Mar, taking me back to my time in Lima (thank you, Marco!), I even ventured out into the SF nightlife with “the locals” (actually not-so-local friends from school) that took me to a bar in SOMA, to a Senegalese club, and to the city’s best burger and pizza joint, Sam’s, located just off Chinatown and open until 3am.

Golden Gate Bridge selfie
Golden Gate Bridge – I’ve optimistically signed up to the Golden Gate half-marathon in November so I’ll be back there soon enough!

My aunt and I had hoped to do the touristy thing of visiting Alcatraz the following morning, but when checking the ferries a few weeks before we had found that the tours were already full. Instead we headed out to Sausalito, a picturesque little town across the Golden Gate Bridge with beautiful views of the ocean with sailing boats and stand-up paddle boarders passing peacefully by. I think I’d like to live there one day!

Next up, ballooning and wine tasting in Napa Valley…

 

The practical bit:

The Standard, Downtown LA – It’s all about the rooftop bar!

Madonna Inn, San Luis Obispo – This looked like it was about halfway between LA and San Francisco but in fact Highway 1 is a much windier road up north so it might be better to travel a bit further north before stopping for the night if you, like us, are doing the whole distance in two days.

17-mile drive – The standard direction seems to be from Pacific Grove on the north side of the peninsula to Pebble Beach on the south side. On entering, you get a map with various sights marked out along the route.

Best Western Tuscan Plus, San Francisco – We chose this hotel for its location on Fisherman’s Wharf, which houses a number of tourist attractions as well as many seafood restaurants. The Alcatraz ferry leaves from around here, while La Mar Cebicheria Peruana is in The Embarcadero in the east.

The Spinnaker, Sausalito – My second taste of oysters, darling, plus some very nice sole, with views of the little harbour and even a glimpse of the top of the Golden Gate bridge beyond the trees.

 

Filed Under: North America, Travel, United States Tagged With: 17-mile drive, best western tuscan plus, bubba gump shrimp, california, hollywood, madonna inn, monterey peninsula, san francisco, san luis obispo, santa monica, solvang, the lone cypress, the standard downtown la, travel, United States

More about Anna

Anna Lundberg is a success coach and business strategist who helps experienced corporate professionals reimagine success outside of the 9 to 5.

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