There aren't many places in this country where you can sit in a bar and use phrases like, "subtle tones of fruit," or "hints of oak," or "a rich nutty finish," and not face laughter or the threat of physical violence. In Napa Valley, however, this kind of language is spoken on a daily basis, and if you'd like to speak it too, you'll be welcomed with open arms.
A perfect dimple carved in the shining face of California, Napa Valley is the American "tones of fruit" capitol, it is a "hints of oak" empire, it is a kingdom of the vine. In just the right spot at just the right time, it's as if this place was crimped and folded and flattened solely for the purpose of growing vitis vinifera, as if years and years of crashing tectonic plates, spewing volcanoes and violent waters in this region were all in preparation for gentle land that would produce exceptional wine . which it does . which most of the world knows.
This is why Napa is synonymous with wine and it's the biggest reason why four million people every year flow into the valley.
Located 60 miles northeast of San Francisco and 60 miles southwest of Sacramento, the valley is cradled by two modest mountain ranges, the Vaca and the Mayacamas, which pinch together at the north end, forming steep sides no more than a mile apart. The town of Calistoga is perched here, atop geothermal vents and hot springs at the foot of Mt. St. Helena. The bottleneck widens near the town of St. Helena as the valley runs southeast with the Napa River, gradually sloping downward and making way for more moderate hills and oak crowned knolls. After some thirty miles, where the two ranges sit four or five miles apart, the city of Napa can be found between them, marking the southern gateway to the valley.
The trellised vines crisscross 35,000 acres of this little Eden, and during the growing season these ruler-straight rows glow a shade of green that would make St. Patrick weep. Add to that the honey-colored sunshine, the surreal morning mist, and the famed crystalline springs, and it's clear that Napa Valley enchants its visitors in many more ways than one.
"There's something about this place that's magical," says Jim White, a Napa Valley local and former food editor for the Toronto Star. "The first time I saw it, I knew I was going to live here. I fell in love."
In fact, Jim loved Napa so much, he moved here and became the co-creator of ilovenapa.com, a great website dedicated to guiding visitors to the best the valley has to offer, from winery tours to massages to amazing crème brulee.
"Not that I think you can have a bad time in Napa Valley," Jim explains, "it's just a matter of whether it will be a nine point five or a ten."
Growing Devine
The natives living in Napa Valley at the arrival of the first Spaniards in the early 1800s were apparently some good-looking people. They came to be named Wappo, which most likely came from an interpretation of the Spanish word "guapo," meaning "handsome." Which is no surprise - you'd be handsome too if all you did was lay around in mud baths sipping Chardonnay.
Actually, grape vines are not native to the valley, but were planted in 1831 by the first American settler, George Yount, who was given an 11,000 acre land grant from Mexican General Mariano Vallejo. Yount went on to become the founding father of Yountville (pronounced Yawnt-vil), a lovely town in the middle of the valley.
The vines Yount planted were the Mexican variety, although higher quality European vines were introduced in 1860, and the grapes soon became as prolific as the emigrants.
The Wappo did not fare as well, and although they had lived in the valley for thousands of years, their numbers dwindled from an estimated 10,000 to a few hundred, due to disease and conflict brought by incoming settlers. However, there are still surviving Wappos living in Napa and surrounding areas.
The Gold Rush of the 1840's had created more towns and people of wealth, which created a heavy demand for wine, and by the turn of the century over 600 wineries existed in Napa Valley. That all changed during Prohibition, when all but a few vineyards were torn out and replaced with orchards, and it wasn't until the sixties that large new wineries began moving back in.
In 1976, California wine came of age when a Napa bottle and several other Golden State wines won a blind wine-tasting competition in Paris - against vaunted French wines - judged by respected French experts (who were not exactly pleased when they discovered the results). In the following years, new wineries poured into the Napa Valley and the wine pouring forth gained worldwide respect.
First Class Cuisine or Good Eats
Today, there are over 250 wineries in Napa Valley, and while these are the big tourist draws, Napa appeals to visitors in many other ways, most notably with food. The valley has become a Mecca for culinary arts, and there are more world-class restaurants than you can wag a vine at within these thirty miles.
"There are at least 20 of the greatest restaurants in North America within a six mile radius here," Jim White says. "And not just forty dollars a meal either, a lot of these are affordable neighborhood restaurants. I love that I live within a few miles of some of the best, and there are no stoplights between them and me."
Napa Valley has way too many good restaurants to try and name them all in a few sentences, but they range from the highly-touted French Laundry in Yountville, (which apparently requires the sale of one kidney to get a reservation and possibly the sale of your second to pay the tab), to the Nest Café in Oakville, a family run hole-in-the-wall with fantastic breakfasts for not much more than you'd spend at IHOP.
If you have the time, do some research and pick the restaurant that most appeals to you. If not, stand on Highway 29, the valley's main thoroughfare, and throw a rock (or a grape for safety's sake). Chances are it won't land far from some good eats.
It's worth noting that California state law allows anyone who is of age to bring a bottle of wine into any restaurant, so if you've purchased wine while touring, you can enjoy it with your dinner. The restaurants expect this, but most will charge you a significant corkage fee, and if you're traveling in a group it's probably good etiquette to buy a bottle if you bring a bottle.
For those who would like to combine unique sightseeing with good food and wine, the Napa Valley Wine Train comes highly recommended. (Contact: (800) 427-4124, www.winetrain.com.) The train leaves the station in downtown Napa and takes passengers on a three-hour tour of the valley, letting them wine and dine in the meantime. Tickets start at $40.
Another hot spot in downtown Napa is COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts, located on First Street. (Contact: (888) 512--6742, www.copia.org.) The Center offers enlightening programs, classes, exhibitions and demonstrations every day except Tuesday. A day pass is $12.50, although there are discounts for seniors, and Wednesdays are half price.
Geysers, Art and Underwater Frolics
It would probably take the better part of a decade to make all the winery tours and visit all the restaurants here, but it just so happens that Napa Valley offers even more to do. Maybe you don't drink wine, don't like food and have been forced to visit Napa. (You poor soul.) If so, take heart in knowing this area offers a wonderful music and theatre scene, plenty of activities for outdoor enthusiasts, hot air balloon rides, some very nice parks and golf courses, a good selection of museums and enough day spas and boutiques to satisfy a small army of yuppies.
Calistoga is best known for hot springs, mud baths and massages, although there are day spas all over the valley. The choices range from standards like the Health Spa Napa Valley in St. Helena to Harbin Hot Springs, a clothing optional resort north of Calistoga that offers things like WaterDance, which sounds a bit like a half-naked underwater game of Twister with a professional massage therapist. So very California. One interesting choice might be Massage To Go, a Napa company that will bring the massage right to your RV. Calistoga also offers a large petrified redwood forest nearby and a West Coast Old Faithful geyser.
For hiking, camping and communing with nature fully-clothed, Bothe-Napa State Park would be worth a visit. Just off Highway 29 on the way to Calistoga, this common picnic spot offers full hookups, swimming, a Native American Garden, Pioneer Cemetery and 10 miles of gorgeous trails. Places of similar interest include the Skyline Wilderness Park and the Di Rosa Art and Nature Preserve, both in Napa, and Robert Louis Stevenson State Park in the north valley, named after the author who spent a great deal of time here and penned The Silverado Squatters from his experience.
Lake Berryessa, about a 45-minute drive north from Napa on Highway 121, is a popular spot for boating enthusiasts and has a slew of RV parks in the area, (Lake Berryessa Marina Resort, Pleasure Cove Resort, Rancho Monticello Resort, Spanish Flat Resort, etc.) offering a total of some 300 sites. Canoeing and kayaking on the Napa River are also very popular, as are bike tours through the valley.
Napa Valley is the American "tones of fruit" capital, it is a "hints of oak" empire, it is a kingdom of the vine.
After you've worked up a sweat outdoors, why not absorb some culture at area museums while you cool off? The Napa Valley Museum in Yountville, the Sharpsteen Museum in Calistoga and the Silverado Museum in St. Helena are all fantastic options. The city of Napa even has its own Opera House on Main Street if you feel like catching a show.
And should you seek a respite from the common crowds in Napa Valley, neighboring Sonoma Valley offers a slightly slower-paced version of California wine country.
Chilly Waiters and Cool Waters
Foo-foo. Pretentious. Snobby. Priggish. All words that have been used by some to describe the Napa Valley. Is there something to these barbs? "Well, it's an expensive place to live, but I don't think it's snobby," Jim White says. "I think people here are extremely friendly and accommodating, but there is an elitism that's being built in by dollars."
So you may run into a chilly waiter here or there, but it's more likely that you'll experience chilly mornings. Dress in layers, as summer temps can dip below 50 at night and jump to 100 after the fog has burned off. However, as White puts it, "It never gets stupidly hot for too long."
Mark Twain said the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco, and Napa gets a good amount of this brisk air, super-cooled by the California Current, a submarine river of near-frozen water from the Arctic that flows south along the coast. Actually, it's this unique climactic occurrence that contributes the most to high quality Napa wine.
So whether you come for the wine, the weather, the wine, the wonderful fare or the wine, we're confident that your visit to Napa will present a robust flavor of fun with nuances of excitement, appropriate complexity, a relaxing finish . and perhaps even subtle tones of fruit. |
