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Napa Valley: A Disneyland for wine-lovers
The grapevine has an amazing power to transform reasonably
attractive countryside into an oasis of culture and beauty
that speaks to all of one’s senses, and no place is that
better manifested than in the famed Napa Valley.

A visit to Napa is not just a chance to see where wine is
made, or to explore the upscale shops and stores that now
have found their way into the tiniest of Napa Valley
communities. Rather, a trip to the valley is an almost
spiritual journey that presents you at once with the beauty
of 63,000 acres of vineyards and the industry that has
brought a European elegance to the Valley lifestyle bridesmaid gifts.

The town of Napa itself is no longer the sleepy berg it was
before its name became synonymous with world-class wine.
With 75,000 residents, Napa has become a city in its own
right ‘ albeit with the feel of a small town. Major new
shopping complexes such as the Napa Premium Outlets have
sprung up and, in keeping with one of the latest trends,
Napa now has 10 wine bars that allow you to taste to your
heart’s content without ever setting foot in a winery.

Up the 30-mile-long valley are much smaller towns such as
Yountville, St. Helena and Calistoga ‘ each an easy and
scenic drive from Napa and all of them offering their own
unique versions of what a Napa Valley wine town should be
all about. Taken together, the towns of the Napa Valley
offer a Disneyland for wine-lovers whose E-ticket rides
will include some of the most famous labels in the world.
But even if you are only mildly curious about wine, the
chateaus, the gorgeous vistas, the educational tours that
show you every step of the wine-making process ‘ all of
these things will make a Napa Valley visit worthwhile.

It’s impossible to see any more than a small sample of
wineries on your weekend or daytrip, and we’re told that
people from the Bay area just drive up to Napa week after
week checking off a few more wineries from their list each
time. Most of the wineries charge for wine tastings ‘
although we did come across one that didn’t ‘ and either
your pocketbook or your alcohol tolerance will probably
limit the number of wineries you can visit on any given day.

The free tasting we mentioned was at V. Sattui Winery,
where on a Sunday afternoon the gift shop and deli were
buzzing with people, and lines were forming along the wine
bar to taste the latest offerings. Located in St. Helena,
this winery is a popular stop for visitors who want to buy
a bottle of wine and then picnic on the beautifully
landscaped grounds. The winery even sets up a buffet line
out on the grounds, offering barbecue for those who didn’t
bring their brown bags. Interestingly, V. Sattui does not
sell its wine anyplace other than the winery, by mail
order, or from the company web site.

While V. Sattui is typical of a relatively small family-run
winery, the other end of the scale is Domaine Chandon,
which we found in Yountville. With spectacular park grounds
and a four-star gourmet restaurant just footsteps from
where the wine is made, Domaine Chandon is an example of a
winery owned by a large conglomerate that distributes its
product world-wide. We decided to take the 45-minute tour
of this massive facility and found it well worth the time.
Small groups are taken step-by-step through the process of
wine-making all the way from growing the grapes to bottling
the product. While we previously had a basic knowledge of
the process, the tour was illuminating.

Most people visiting Napa Valley focus, of course, on the
wine and the many fine restaurants that have chosen to
locate in the Valley. Shopping also is a big part of any
Napa holiday. But the other place where the Napa Valley
shines is in the impressive array of accommodations up and
down the valley, from historic bed-and-breakfast inns to
exquisite boutique-style resorts. Most are obsessive about
providing the most and the best amenities and service. They
know that some of the world’s most discerning travelers
spend time in the Napa Valley, and these innkeepers want
the accommodations to be in the same league as Napa’s
world-renowned wines.

We found that certainly to be the case at Meadowood, an
impressive resort tucked along one edge of the Valley near
downtown St. Helena. It’s like a country estate where, once
you go through the security gate, you enter a lush world of
green lawns, rolling hillsides, meandering trails and
forests so thick they might as well be in the Sierras.
Strategically positioned here and there are attractive
resort buildings that seem to add to the area’s ambiance
rather than detract from it.

If this were the 1920’s, it’s easy to imagine that Jay
Gatsby would have loved Meadowood. Yet the opulence here is
one that every-day working people can enjoy. Whether it was
lounging by one of the inviting pools or enjoying breakfast
in Meadowood’s elegant cafe, we encountered many families
and couples who just seemed to be enjoying the chance to
luxuriate at one of the best resorts in the Valley.

We especially enjoyed our Meadowood suite, one of the newer
accommodations at the resort, and situated on one of the
forested hillsides. It gave us the feeling of being in a
luxurious vacation home in the woods ‘ cozy, yet spacious
with its high ceilings and open floor plan. A full living
room included a fireplace, an attractive wall case, a couch
and extra easy chairs for guests. The bedroom was
especially decorative, featuring a window seat and bay
windows. Thick white robes, down comforters,
state-of-the-art home entertainment ‘ these and many other
upscale amenities were all there.

A short walk from our suite was the recreation area ‘ with
its 25-yard lap pool, family pool and expansive lawn — and
the Health Spa, where guests can enjoy skincare, body
treatments and massage therapies. Fitness trainers and
private yoga instructors are waiting for your call. Fitness
is never far from your mind at Meadowood, where you’ll also
find saunas, steam rooms, seven tennis courts,
hiking/biking trails and two championship croquet lawns.

You can find both fine and casual dining at Meadowood. The
Restaurant at Meadowood features California cuisine, while
the Grill offers light meals overlooking the golf course.
We felt that the most relaxing experience would be simply
to dine-in and enjoy our luxurious suite.

Even if this was not the Napa Valley, Meadowood would stand
on its own as a premiere destination resort. But the fact
that this was the Napa Valley meant that we couldn’t just
hole up and relax the entire weekend ‘ there was far too
much to see and do.

While we spent plenty of time shopping and visiting local
wineries, one of the most enjoyable parts of our visit was
to simply drive the Valley. From Napa to Calistoga, we
found communities that were each just a little different
and each with its own selection of panoramic views. We
enjoyed stopping alongside the road and taking close-up
pictures of the grapevines, or angling for the best view of
the Valley and its vines.

Interestingly, the feeling you get from so much natural
beauty is kind of like the satisfaction you get from the
perfect glass of wine. It’s all part of the amazing power
of the grapevine.

AT A GLANCE

WHERE: The Napa Valley is about 45 miles northeast of San
Francisco or about 60 miles southwest of Sacramento.

WHAT: The Napa Valley has become famous because of the
grapes grown in this location. Grapes grown in different
climates, soils and locations have different
characteristics and Napa Valley grapes are judged to be
some of the best in the world for making several varieties
of fine wine. Accordingly, more than 300 wineries now have
located in the Valley. Fine restaurants, lodging and
shopping have also come to the Valley.

WHEN: Any time of year. A special bonus comes in August and
September during the annual grape harvest. You can
sometimes see first-hand how the grapes are crushed. Hint:
Most of them don’t do it like Lucy Ricardo did.

WHY: The Valley has an almost mystical ambiance that is
hard to describe, but easy to discern.

HOW: To begin planning your trip to Napa Valley, go to
www.napavintners.com or www.napachamber.org. To learn more
about Meadowood, call (800) 458-8080 or go to
www.meadowood.com.

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Cary Ordway is a syndicated travel writer specializing in
California and the Pacific Northwest. He maintains two
websites, http://www.californiaweekend.com and
http://www.northwesttraveladvisor.com