Napa Adventure: Day Three... Wine, Wine, Wine

After too much food the night before Wes and I managed to wake up hungry the next day.

Enter Bouchon Bakery.

(Bouchon boast location in New York, Los Angeles, and Yountville, CA.

In a town with only 3k people living there, this place gets crowded and stays that way.)

(Although Bouchon was good, I'm not sure it lived up to all the hype.  

That didn't stop Wes and I from eating there the next day, and stopping by twice for an afternoon snack... Hahaha.)

(We started the morning bright and early with a 10am wine tour at Grgich Hills.

The wine maker here, who celebrated his 90th birthday the week we were there,

was part of Stags Leap when they created the wine that won the Paris Tasting in 1976.

It was a great tour with awesome cheese pairings and we really learned a lot.

We also got to try some traditional Croatian wine while we were there!)

(Wes and I then headed down the road and stopped at something familiar, for the first time since we got to Napa, Menage a Trois!

Now me and my girlfriends drank this all the time in college and thought we were super high class,

but I clearly hadn't seen high class until I went to Napa.

Fun Fact: It is the #1 best selling red wine in the country, so all those fellow lovers, drink up!) 

(At the recommendation of another couple that was on our tour at Grgich Hills, Wes and I then ventured to Silver Oak Wineries.  

It was on a beautiful estate, and the wine was very tasty.)

(Panoramic view of the Silver Oak tasting room and grounds.  The white tower on the right of the photo is present in all of their vineyards across California so that everyone knows grapes being grown there, go into Silver Oak wine.)

(After all the wine, Wes and I were hungry... again.

We headed up to the a small town just North of Yountville and enjoyed some delicious Mexican food

from the local Azteca Mercado. Wes and I enjoyed a lazy stroll around the town and stumbled upon this little bit of street art.  

We immediately thought of my mom and sent her a snap.)

(Wes and I then drove South and stopped by Alpha+Omega wineries. 

It's a very popular stop on Hwy. 29 with a fun atmosphere.  Wes and I weren't too impressed with their wine, 

but we did learn a thing or to about the difference between Oak Aged and Steel Aged Chardonnay.) 

(We finished off the day with a tour at Robert Mondavi Winery.

He's famous in the wine world and is classy enough to wear a suit made out of corks.)

(Beautiful grounds along the tour.)

(The largest oak fermentation barrels we saw on our entire trip.

P.S. this picture was taken from the second story of the building...)

(Their beautiful cellar room.  Fun Fact:They stain the center stripe of all of their barrels with the "pressed wine" left over after the main pour.  

It makes for an impressive room and allowed them to be a little sloppy when topping of their barrels during aging.) 

(Wes and I among the barrels.  They literally went as far as the eye could see!)

(The beautiful peonies outside.  Those flowers smell soo amazing!

You can that by this point in the trip Wes and I's teeth are starting to take a toll from all the red wine.

Needless to say, we've both started whitening our teeth since returning.)

That night Wes and I took it easy at a local tavern for a classic steak.  It was a much needed break from the foo-foo food we'd had the night before.

Stay tuned for the biking adventure we had on our fourth day.  Until next time...