Keever Vineyards, Napa

NAPA, CALIFORNIA

Best for:  chardonnay and cabernet lovers, luxury-seekers, gourmands

Napa, like a fine wine, has improved with age, slowly sophisticating yet developing nuances that appeal to every traveler. The fact that it’s established means the guesswork is gone – all the wine tastings, luxury, gourmet restaurants and outdoor activities you could want are at your fingertips. Wine beginners need not be intimidated: For every celebrity winery there’s a cast of character vintners quietly turning out equally stellar vino minus the pretense.

Savvy travelers pass the utilitarian town of Napa in favor of Yountville, a one-street town with a constellation of Michelin-starred restaurants – more per capita than anywhere on the planet. The place to stay is Villagio Inn & Spa, which feels like your own pied-à-terre in a Tuscan village, with homey fireplaces, oversized tubs, and desktop photographs in the cushy, wine-stocked, cream-colored rooms. Here, you’ll get your first clue that Napa is the most European of America’s wine countries, and the most luxuriously convenient. Your days fall into a happy routine: Champagne breakfast buffet at the Villagio, amble or bike the vineyards, stroll to a Michelin-starred lunch, walk (or drive a mile) to a few wineries, get a fireside grape extract facial at Villagio Spa, mosey to a Michelin-starred dinner, shuffle back to the room, fall asleep fireside, repeat.

In Yountville, visit stylish Girard Winery, where every cabernet is better than the last. At art-filled Hope & Grace Wines, chemistry buffs will enjoy speaking with winemaker Charles Hendricks about the science of wine – and tasting the caramelly chardonnay. Watch a dramatic Champagne sabering at V Wine Cellar. Drive a short distance through Spanish moss-draped oaks to Keever Vineyards to drink in valley views and exceptional cabernets, plus tour the winery and its cave cellar with charming owner Olga Keever.

Napa Valley Bike Tours

Schedule a private, personalized tour of the gorgeous grounds and state-of-the-art cave cellars at Rudd Winery in Oakville. You’ll taste rare, artisanal cabernets and get your most pressing questions about enology and food pairing answered.

To truly experience Napa’s terroir, mountain bike amid the vines or road bike between vineyards with Napa Valley Bike Tours. You’ll picnic by the grapes and pedal riverside backroads to mom-and-pop wineries such as the John Wayne-themed Saddleback Cellars and casual, agrarian Hopper Creek Vineyard and Winery.

But what is wine without its soul mate, food? In Yountville, bustling and friendly Bottega will have you at “caviar-topped tuna sashimi served on a 200-million-year-old block of Himalayan salt” and leave you swooning by “muscat-soaked deconstructed carrot cake.” Soothing, minimalist Redd has a Michelin star and a menu that shines. Local winemakers dine at easygoing Hurley’s. Francophiles adore the Parisian classics at Bistro Jeanty and the unforgettable fare at triple-Michelin-starred The French Laundry.

Make a Michelin-worthy picnic at Oakville Grocery, which has been peddling top-shelf take-out, pastries and local specialty foods since 1881. During Prohibition, some Napa vintners turned to cheesemaking, and the culture still thrives today. At Dean & DeLuca, choose from an array of local cheeses, 1,400 California wines, and farm-fresh produce, then savor them among the vines.
 
Napa Resources
Villagio Inn & Spa: 6481 Washington St., Yountville; 800-351-1133, villagio.com

Girard Winery: 6795 Washington St., Yountville;n707-968-9297, girardwinery.com

Hope & Grace Wines: 6540 Washington St., Yountville;  707-944-2500, hopeandgracewines.com

V Wine Cellar: 6525 Washington St., Yountville; 707-531-7053, vwinecellar.com

Keever Vineyards: 26 Vineyard View Dr., Yountville; 707-944-0910, keevervineyards.com, by appointment only

Rudd Winery: 500 Oakville Crossroad, Oakville; 707-944-8577, ruddwines.com

Napa Valley Bike Tours: 6795 Washington St., Yountville; 707-944-2953, napavalleybiketours.com

Saddleback Cellars: 7802 Money Road, Oakville, 707-944-1305, saddlebackcellars.com

Hopper Creek Vineyard and Winery: 6204 Washington St., Yountville; 707-944-2139, hoppercreek.com

Bottega: 6525 Washington St., Yountville; 707-945-1050, botteganapavalley.com

Redd: 6480 Washington St., Yountville; 707-944-2222, reddnapavalley.com

Hurley’s: 6518 Washington St., Yountville; 707-944-2345; hurleysrestaurant.com

Bistro Jeanty: 6510 Washington St., Yountville; 707-944-0103; bistrojeanty.com

The French Laundry: 6640 Washington St., Yountville; 707-944-2380, frenchlaundry.com

Oakville Grocery: 7856 St. Helena Hwy., Oakville; 707-944-8802, oakvillegrocery.com

Dean & DeLuca: 607 S. St. Helena Hwy., St. Helena; 707-967-9980, deandeluca.com