Napa Trip - Day Three

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This was our first day without our fantastic driver, Robert, so we had to take turns and wing it. Our stops today were Del Dotto Winery, Castello de Amarosa, Madrigal Winery, and Frank Family Vineyards. And sniff, sniff, our last official day doing wine tours. 

Del Dotto Vineyards - Okay, if Keever is Number One, this one was a close second. I wasn't sure what to think about this one because it was so hyped. I was afraid it would be too touristy and not live up to the hype. I was very wrong. This place was amazing. Simply amazing. The wine tour guide was phenomenal and every single wine we tasted were fantastic. It's a very cool tour too and you get to go through the wine caves and literally taste out of barrels. This one was a bit more expensive and you need an appointment, but it was worth it. We got our money's worth if ya know what I mean, lol. I bought wine here. Marette bought a very expensive bottle she still regrets lol. But hey, you're only in Napa once right?

I took a picture of this for no reason than it said Mo-Fo. 

Del Dotto Selfie!!

The crew with our fabulous wine guy Jeff!

Next on our list was Castello De Amarosa.

Here's my advice. Look it up on the web, look at the pictures. Don't go. This place was awful. It's not a real palace. It's just made to look like one. It's like a fake Louis Vuitton. And it's like Disney World. Tourist central. It was so crowded. The tasting was rushed and awful. I wish we didn't go. It's pretty yes, but I regret this one. But, you have to go because everyone talks about it, right??

Pic borrowed from website

Mom and Ginny. We didn't take many pictures there. 

Next on our list was Madrigal Winery. This was a chance. We literally found one across the street from the castle and just had to go somewhere fast to get that castle mess out of our brains. We called Madrigal because it was close, and although they needed appointments, they allowed us to come.

Awww, we're back on track! Another quaint, fabulous, locally owned, precious vineyard. The wine was so great and we loved everything about it. Chris Madrigal lives on the winery and came over and toured us around. He was so sweet and hospitable. The views were fabulous. We loved it and I bought wine here too :)

Ginny and Les in a Madrigal selfie 

Fantastic views. They had a sweet little patio right in the middle of this. 

Our crew with Chris! Thanks for a great time Chris!

Our last stop for the day was at Frank Family Vineyards. This place was ok. We got there right at the end. I booked this because although I tried to start each day with bubbly, I couldn't get an appointment for today. So, we tried to end our day with bubbly, and Frank has bubbly tastings. Although, not at the end of the day, which stinks. So, we had regular wine tasting. This place was good. It was in a very cool older home. The poor wineries that got stuck with us at the end of the day...sigh. This place could have been great, but it was the end of the day - we were tired, and just left a fabulous little place. But, it was good! We may go back to this one and try it again another time.

Dinner that night was at Uva Trattoria in Downtown Napa. We wanted to do some good Italian one night and this place was great! Traditional Italian food, great, wine, lots of locals, and live music. Can't beat that!

Selfie!

Napa Trip - Day Two

Hopefully you've read the super long post from Day One on the blog!

Day two had our good friend Robert picking us up again at 9:30 and away we went :) Again, I had several wineries on the list but we got to four of them. We started again with bubbly, so on our agenda for today was Domaine Chandon, Keever Vineyards, Cakebread, and Inglenook (formerlly Coppola Winery)

Chandon - LOVED this place! Very different from Mumm, but that's what made it great. It was a walk up, no appointment required, and just fun and lively bubbly fun. The tastings were all yummy, and it was a perfect way to start the day. I bought some here to take home.

Keever - thinking back on this winery will forever leave me with a smile! This one was only recommended by a couple of people, but one person said get on the phone immediately and make your reservation! I'm so glad we did! This was our "tour" winery. When I called to make the appointment, I was greeted by none other that Olga Keever herself, and said that her daughter, Ashley Keever would be hosting our tour. Every detail was personal and gracious. It was small, quaint, and perfect. (and the wine was fabulous too!) We met the winemaker (Chris I think?) and the brother, Jason too. Their winery was more recent, but their views were spectacular and clearly they know what they're doing! A funny aside was that we also met the family dog, Bones, who Leslie wanted to go on the tour with us. Well, Bones completely took me to the ground lol! In my oh so gracious fashion I managed to save my camera and save my wine in the process. Not sure why none of my party wanted to take pictures of that because it was certainly hysterical. Ashley and family, we loved you and will sing your praises to everyone! I bought two bottles here :)

This was waiting on us when we arrived. LOVE!

Ashley Keever, Marette, Moi, Mom, Kenya, Kerra, Chris, Leslie, and Jason Keever

Cakebread - I'm putting this in the same category as Plumpjack. It was fine, wine was fine, but we just shouldn't have come here after leaving Keever. NO comparison. It's no fault of Cakebread, they are just very different. We had to make an appointment here. They do a laid back tasting mini-tour. They'll answer any questions, and it's more about the tastings. Recommended by pretty much everyone, and we were excited about this one, it just didn't compare to Keever.

Les with our wine guy

Inglenook - this one is historic and the grounds are fabulous. It was formerly Coppola. The wine was really good. We again got to try some really pricey wine. $180 I think? This was a very quiet tasting - more formal, sit down, and probably not a good stop at the end of the day with a gaggle of girls :)

Ginny made it!

The end of Day 2 at the wineries meant saying goodbye to our driver, Robert. We tried to rebook him again for Friday but he was booked. He was fun, and knew all about Napa Valley and we loved it. Thanks Robert!

We started to get a little sassy. Blame the wine. It was the end of day 2 here, people. 

Robert clearly thinks we're cray. 

Back at the homestead, we took a couple of pics of the three sisters! :) hashtag photoshoot!

Dinner later was at Auberge du Soleil.  We were just going to come do happy hour here and eat dinner in our fabulous backyard, but the views were so fun here. They have an upscale restaurant, and a bistro/bar. We just sat outside and ordered off the bistro menu, and it was great. The views were uber fabulous, but tonight was the first time it got pretty chilly.

Blueberry Pickin' at Golden Bell Farm

So, seriously. What in the world has happened to summer? Are you telling me that it's almost August? I had so many plans!! Yes, we went to the beach and have done some other traveling, but I wanted to do ALL these local fun things with the babes! We've done NOTHING except the pool, which, nonetheless has been grand. But, I really, really wanted to go experience some of Nashville finest activities, and we've done nada. I asked facebook for help this morning. We need to get a move-on here. So, we now have a summer bucket list. First, up - berry picking!

We went this morning to Golden Bell Farms, located in Frankin, TN. It was super easy to get to, super easy for the kids to walk around, and super fun! Me and the kids grabbed a bucket and started picking. They were plentiful and beautiful. Golden Bell charges $3/lb. We ended up with 2.5lbs, so we got out of there with a ton of blueberries for $7.50! Can't beat it! It was such a fun activity that took about an hour - perfect length of time with 4 year olds! And since Josh can't read, I will go ahead and say how impressed I was at Jules' blueberry picking ability. That girl got after it! And she picked only the darkest, best ones. She knew what she was doing and was a pro! And it was just so neat to be able to pick your own fruit. If I wasn't such a horrible gardener (honestly horrible - the worst ever) I would love to do it. Until then, I'll be grateful for some local families doing all that work for us ;)