Staff Members: Robin Paschall & Dean Paschall
Travel Dates: June 2017
Destinations Visited: Napa & Sonoma Valley, California
Two of our staff explored this great region in the U.S. There are many adventure opportunities here, including hiking, stand-up paddleboarding, hot air ballooning, horseback riding, and so much more.
DAY 1 — Sonoma Town
We stayed the first night at the Sonoma Hotel, which is right on the square in downtown Sonoma. It has a quaint “historic” feel to it. It is in the same building as the Girl and Fig restaurant, which is rather famous. Right next door is Roche Wine Tasting, which had a lovely outside patio and was very fun (the knitting club was there). The central square has many fun shops and restaurants. The old historic fort is like going back in time and offers a great history of the area.
DAY 2 — Wine Tasting in Napa Valley
Napa Wineries Visited:
- Frank Family
- Saddleback (lunch)
- Silver Oak
- Alpha Omega
Frank Family
Beautiful grounds and great wines!
Saddleback
Cute, small, rustic winery. Lovely picnic tables for lunch.
Silver Oak
We had our best wine tasting experience of the day here. There are private rooms for big groups.
Alpha Omega
Exquisite, if expensive, wines. The outdoor patio is just a lovely spot to spend the afternoon.
DAY 3 — Wine Tasting in Sonoma Valley
Sonoma Wineries Visited:
- Ravenswood $20pp
- Buena Vista $20pp (lunch)
- Deerfield Ranch
Ravenswood
This winery had a lot of Zinfandel and a nice outside area.
Buena Vista
This is one of the very original wineries in the area. It had decent wine, there was a great picnic area, and they have a very detailed tour.
Deerfield Ranch
This was, by far, the best experience of all of them. But this was because we got to sit down with the wine maker for our tasting. He was amazing – Robert Rex. The wine tasting is in their caves, which was a great atmosphere.
This is the house we stayed at for most of the trip. It has a great kitchen, swimming pool, hot tub, bocce ball, and can sleep up to 15+ comfortably.