Beautiful Napa

On Saturday, Stephanie, who was in California for a 5-day getaway with her husband, invited me to come and hang out with them in beautiful Napa Valley for the day. I was so thrilled to get the opportunity to meet up with her. We met up for brunch at the popular ‘Fremont Diner‘, a really quirky little brunch spot between Napa and Sonoma. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and just perfect for a day of great company, good food and wine tasting.

Fremont Diner

Fremont Diner

Fremont Diner

Napa Valley

I tried the Ricotta Pancakes with Blood Oranges and Vella Butter. Drinks were, as Stephanie and I instantly noticed, served in Mason jars. How Pinterest-y!

Fremont Diner

With fully bellies, we headed over to Artesa Vineywards & Winery, set into the top of a hill overlooking beautiful Napa Valley. The grounds were a mix of modern architecture and art and quite beautiful. We oohed and aahed over the beautiful views and enjoyed some really tasty wine (although I have to admit that I was the least experienced wine taster in our group and not quite as sophisticated in my appreciation for the different wines).

Artesa Winery

Artesa Winery

Artesa Winery

Artesa Winery

Artesa Winery

Stephanie and I @ Artesa Winery

Artesa Winery

Artesa Winery

We then headed over to the Domaine Carneros Winery with its beautiful French Château and big sun terrace. It’s a well-known winery right off Sonoma/Carneros Highway 12 /121 and easy to spot for visitors.

Domaine Carneros

I immediately had to send this picture to my Dad (who’s a wine enthusiast and completely in love with Napa Valley!) to make him a tad jealous. He recognized the winery, of course, since we had been there together a few years ago, and I know he wants to go back to Napa so bad! I am hoping my parents will come back and visit again soon!

We sat down at a table on the terrace, sunbathed, sipped delicious sparkling wine and munched on some almonds. I also had absolutely fantastic conversations with Stephanie, her husband Andy and their friend Jon.  They were super-easy to talk to and so fun to be around.

Domaine Carneros

We finished our wine tasting tour at Cuvaison Winery, a very modern, architecturally almost Scandinavian-looking winery in the Carneros region.

Cu∙vai∙son [koo∙veh∙ZOHN]:  “The French term for the period when grape juice is kept in contact with the skins and seeds during both fermentation and maceration. Critical in the making of red wines, cuvaison allows color, tannins, and aroma to be transferred from the skins and seeds to the juice.”*

Cuvaison Winery

Cuvaison Winery

I read on their website that the winery is solar-powered and that they comply with a bunch of Sustainable Winegrowing Practices. I think that is pretty awesome.

View from Cuvaison Winery

I had an absolutely fantastic day with you, Stephanie,  and I hope we can do that again sometime! Maybe we’ll come and visit you in Seattle and you can take us to some of the local breweries!

Other good things this weekend:

an appointment at the hair salon ♥ pizza night ♥ phone calls with my parents  ♥ lots of coffee ♥ Facetime with my cousin ♥ hanging out in my PJ’s ♥ reading ♥


*source: © Copyright Barron’s Educational Services, Inc. 1995 based on The Wine Lover’s Companion, by Ron Herbst and Sharon Tyler Herbst.
  1. Allein schon das Wetter macht mich gerade sehr neidisch. Vom Rest gar nicht zu reden :)!

  2. So awesome that you got to hang out with Stephanie! And also awesome you got to visit Napa. You’ve reminded me that I haven’t even been there since I’ve been home from Korea and I need to go stat!

  3. Beautiful photos! Such a lovely place – how fun you guys got to meet up! xxx

  4. It’s still full on winter here, so thank you for this post, brought to you by the letter S for SUNSHINE! =) Looks like you had a brilliant, laid-back time with a lovely gal. What a fun day!

  5. Sounds like an awesome weekend! Those pancakes look seriously yummy! I finally got dressed today for the first time since my surgery. I was doing well until about 15 minutes ago when I started to fade.

  6. Yay! We had so much fun with you and couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day. You definitely must come to visit us in Seattle soon :-)

    You got some great photos!

  7. Oh, this looks like so much fun! The photos are gorgeous and I’ve never been one to want to go wine tasting but this post makes me want to try it!

    Also, totally random, but I *love* the shirt you’re wearing! :)

  8. I have never been to Napa, but these photos makes me want to visit so badly! I will get there eventually. It’s a question of when, not if! I am glad you got a chance to see a friend and take in Napa! Thanks for sharing photos – my heart aches for green right now. We still have so much snow on the ground!!

  9. seriously looks like the most beautiful day. love your pictures & love the whole day!

  10. I WANT TO GO TO NAPA SO BAD. Of course, I hadn’t gone when I lived in Cali, so who knows when it’ll happen. BUT IT WILL HAPPEN. I adore that french style winery, how Euro! :)
    Totes random, on blogger the link to your blog says, “THE IN BETWEEN IS MINETHE IN BETWEEN IS MINE”, so I don’t know it is somewhere twice is the settings or if blogger just isn’t pulled together. ;)

  11. That breakfast looks really yummy and all of those places look GORGEOUS. My spring/summer-deprived self is practically drooling at all the pretty blue skies and greenery.

  12. omg, totes forgot THIS was the weekend she was here. d’oh. :/ looks so fun! and the weather was gorgeous.

  13. Ahhh..you know I am jealous now…we love wine……..and I wish I could have tried some right there with you

  14. Homesickness just increased 100%

  15. It looks like you had a lot of fun! I have actually never been to any of those wineries, even though I am so close by!

  16. Absolutely beautiful photos, San! I want to visit the Napa Valley SO BAD!

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