#39 - Go wine tasting in Napa. (14/101)

I love wine and enjoy visiting wine regions all over the world. We were heading out to Oakland/San Francisco for my cousins bat mitzvah so I convinced my family to arrive a day early so we could spend a day in Napa Valley. We had a really wonderful day, I did a bunch of research before we went and asked lots of friends and family for suggestions to make sure we made the most of our limited time there. We ended up visiting two vineyards and one restaurant for lunch, it was a perfect day and I'm so glad we decided to add this to our trip. Our day included:

Kuleto Estate: The drive from Oakland to Kuleto Estate was beautiful but very hilly and wind-y so all the ladies in the car were a bit motion sick by the time we arrived. I had made a reservation a couple weeks before we went and noticed that the day was full when I checked availability the day before so if you would like to visit, I would plan ahead. Kuleto was recommended to us by my cousins, it was the right choice to visit and a perfect first stop on our day trip in Napa. The grounds are gorgeous as it overlooks the whole valley, Lake Hennessey and the town of Rutherford. We went on a tour of the grounds and then sat to do a tasting on their beautiful patio, in total there were about 15 people in the group (including the 5 of us). We tasted delicious wines that were matched with cheese samplings as well. We loved the wine so much we ended up buying two bottles, a Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is expensive but delicious and can only be bought at the vineyard. I loved that this vineyard was small and had a family feel to it. It was a gorgeous vineyard and I highly suggest it!

Tra Vigne: After our tour and tasting at Kuleto, we headed into town and had lunch at Tra Vigne, a great Italian restaurant. I would definitely suggest sitting at their outdoor terrace, it is beautiful. The food was incredible, make sure to order their mozzerella "al minuto" which is hand made at the moment ordered. We got it to start with some fresh heirloom tomatoes and it was quite tasty. For lunch we had a mix of delicious pastas, pizzas and fish dishes, I would definitely recommend Tra Vigne.

Round Pond Estate: Next we headed to Round Pond Estate which was very close to Tra Vigne in the town of Rutherford. Round Pond also has an olive mill so we first went to the olive mill by accident. Round Pond had been recommended to us by friends of ours, they have a beautiful terrace outside overlooking their vineyard and also have a very nice tasting room inside. I would also definitely recommend a reservation here. The wine was delicious and it was the perfect last stop on our day trip to Napa.