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I’ve been living in the Bay Area for four years and had yet to visit Napa Valley. My passion for food grew here. I also began to enjoy wine with my meals ever since my cousin Romel got me into it. The urge to visit Napa Valley to expand my wine knowledge always lingered with me. Finally, that urge was satisfied when we were able to take a trip there on Sunday.

Sometimes the best trips are on the spur of the moment, which I considered this trip to be. A lazy Sunday afternoon quickly turned into one of the best day trips I’ve experienced. Romel and his girlfriend and Onjie and his wife had plans to visit Napa Valley and invited Rose and I. I couldn’t say no. We quickly gathered our cameras and hit the road.

V. Sattui Winery
First stop, the V. Sattui Winery. It would be my first time to do some wine tasting. I was not disappointed. Armed with Romel’s special Membership Card we were able to enter a private wine cellar. A quick toast to the good days ahead and the festivities began. The wine poured and poured.

We sampled whites, a few reds, and finally closed out the session with dessert wines. I was able to purchase a few bottles of the wines I liked the best. It was a rare occasion for me to be out there, so I figured why not buy a few? Also, the wines at V. Sattui could only be purchased at the winery or through their website.

The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone
Next stop was at CIA at Greystone, a culinary school. This visit made me think about attending a culinary school. It was one of the options I could have chosen in my past. Most of the areas were closed off because of a wedding reception, but we were able to check out the campus store which had plenty of books, kitchen utensils, knives, and spices to see.

Yountville
The final stop was to Yountville, CA, home of Thomas Keller’s Bouchon, Ad Hoc, and The French Laundry. It was Onjie and his wife’s anniversary, so a dinner would be the proper way to end the day trip. We tried to go to Bouchon and Ad Hoc for dinner. Unfortunately, both restaurants were packed. I always wanted to dine at a Thomas Keller restaurant. I’ll have to go back some other time. We ended up dining at Hurley’s.

Tasty food along with great people was a great way to end the trip. In the end, it was very memorable and a great experience.

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