Frommer's San Francisco 2012 - Matthew Poole [205]
Just 55 miles north of San Francisco, the city of Napa and its neighboring towns have an overall tourist-centric feel. You’ll see plenty of rolling hills, flora and fauna, and vast stretches of vineyards, but they come hand-in-hand with upscale restaurants (which are shockingly increasing by the day despite the down economy), designer discount outlets, rows of hotels, and, in summer, traffic clustered more tightly than grapes on the vines. Even with hordes of visitors during the high season (think Mar–Oct), Napa is still pretty sleepy, focusing on daytime attractions (wine, outdoor activities, and spas) and, of course, food. Nightlife is very limited, but after indulging all day, most visitors are ready to turn in early anyway.
Although the name “Napa Valley” is larger than life, the actual area is relatively condensed and a mere 35 miles long. When the traffic cooperates, you can venture from the town of Napa all the way to Calistoga in a half-hour.
Essentials
GETTING THERE From San Francisco, cross the Golden Gate Bridge and continue north on U.S. 101. Turn east on California Hwy. 37; turn left onto the Hwy. 12/121 turnoff and follow it through the Carneros District to Hwy. 29, the main road through the Wine Country. Head north on Hwy. 29. Downtown Napa is a few minutes ahead, while Yountville, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena, and Calistoga are farther along.
Hwy. 29 (the St. Helena Hwy.) runs the length of Napa Valley. You really can’t get lost—there’s just one north-south road, on which most of the wineries, hotels, shops, and restaurants are located. The other main thoroughfare, which parallels Hwy. 29, is the Silverado Trail. You’ll find lots of great wineries here, too.
VISITOR INFORMATION Once you’re in Napa Valley, you can stop at the Napa Valley Conference & Visitors Bureau, 1310 Napa Town Center, Napa, CA 94559 ( 707/226-7459, ext. 106; www.napavalley.com), open daily 9am to 5pm October through May and 9am to 6pm June through September. You can call or write in for the Napa Valley Guidebook, which includes information on lodging, restaurants, wineries, and other things to do, along with a winery map; the Bureau charges a $6 postage fee. If you don’t want to pay for the official publication, their website has lots of the same information for free.
Another good source is WineCountry.com, where you’ll find tons of information on all of California’s wine-producing regions as well as articles written by moi.
Napa welcomes more than five million visitors a year.
A slice of Tuscany in California.
Touring the Napa Valley & Wineries
Napa Valley claims more than 45,000 acres of vineyards, making it the most densely planted winegrowing region in the United States. The venture from one end to the other is easy; you can drive it in around a half-hour (but expect it to take closer to 50 min. during high season, Apr–Nov). With more than 300 wineries tucked into the nooks and crannies surrounding Hwy. 29 and the Silverado Trail—almost all of which offer tastings and sales—it’s worthwhile to research which wineries you’d like to visit before you hit the wine trails. If you’d like a map detailing the region’s wineries, you can grab one from the visitor center—or see Frommer’s Portable California Wine Country.
Conveniently, most of the large wineries—as well as most of the hotels, shops, and restaurants—are along a single road, Hwy. 29. It starts at the mouth of the Napa River, near the north end of San Francisco Bay, and continues north to Calistoga and the northern limits of the grape-growing region. When planning your tour, keep in mind that most wineries are closed on major holidays.
Each of the Napa Valley establishments in this chapter—every town, winery, hotel, and restaurant—is organized below from south to north, beginning in the city of Napa, and can be reached from the main thoroughfare of Hwy. 29.
Reservations at Wineries
Plenty of wineries’ doors are open to everyone, without reservations, between 10am and 4:30pm. Most wineries that require reservations for visits do so because of local