Where to Go in Napa

At long last, news you can use

My friends love to pump me for recommendations. Restaurants, hotels, vacation destinations — if you’ve got a conundrum that’s leisure related, word on the street is that I’m the one to call, and I’m generally happy to oblige.

Well. With a caveat. If you’re expecting a detailed Google Doc or spreadsheet or some kind of shareable, continually updated Note, I’m not your gal, because unlike Hari in Friends in Napa, I’m not that organized and I have no idea how to use Xcel. (Excel? I don’t even know how to spell it.)

Where is this ethereal place? You will have to keep scrolling (and subscribe, sorry not sorry) to find out.

I can, however, publish snacky lists on the Internet because that was once my job, “The 10 Best Looks that Lindsay Lohan Wore to Court,” “11 Reasons Why Paris Hilton’s Dog Is Better Than You,” “Top 13 Celebrity Mugshots Where You Can Still See Their Makeup From The Night Before,” and so on. Believe me when I say that every single one of these lists injured my soul. I’ll write more about that, one day. NOW IS NOT THE TIME!

So. YOU’RE GOING TO NAPA. Congratulations! You’ve reached, at least in the American popular imagination, the pinnacle of fine wine and its attendant accoutrements, your tasting menus, your 5-star hotels, your party buses bedecked with AUX cords. Now, what the heck are you going to do there? Allow me to direct you to places that I have been and wholeheartedly endorse.

Land o’ grapes!

Note: all of these venues are in Napa County proper. I’ll do a separate guide to Sonoma (and other wine countries) down the road.

STAY

Andaz Napa. “But Sheila, Andaz is a chain. Aren’t you supposed to tell us to go to some hipster inn with a proprietor who formerly worked in finance and looks like Jude Law?” One of those does exist in Sonoma, and like I said, we’ll get there, but if you’re looking to avail of all the activities (wine tasting counts as an activity) Napa has to offer, you could do a lot worse than staying at the Andaz.

A+ selfie mirrors as well.

The service is swift and warm, the rooms are spacious and equipped with the latest gadgetry, and the location — you know what they say about location! — is unbeatable. You’re in the center of downtown Napa, with loads of restaurants, shops, and tasting rooms at your feet. Think of all the Ubers you won’t have to take! Downside: there’s no pool or gym, and if those are musts then head on over to …

Carneros Resort. This sprawling compound off the Sonoma Highway is a 10 minute drive (give or take) from downtown Napa and serving the sort of ~Wine Country Vibez~ that Hollywood and social media have injected into our minds. It boasts not one but two swimming pools, one of which is on top of a hill, overlooking rolling vineyards, equipped with a bar, and only open to adults. There is a large and well appointed gym (that I think is technically called a “wellness barn”). There is a spa that offers superb deep tissue massages. You can practically feel the lactic acid melting from your muscles (is that how lactic acid works?). Your room will consist of a cottage and maybe an adorable outdoor soaking up that you will fill up and take a picture of because why the heck not?

YOLO, etc.

There is a complimentary shuttle that goes back and forth between downtown Napa but it does not run 24/7.

DRINK

WALT Wines. If you’re a pinot person (raising hand) this one’s for you. The tasting room occupies a cozy cottage in downtown Napa, ideally situated across from Oxbow Market (more on that below). If it’s nice, take your tasting outside, people-watch, eavesdrop, the conversations get better as the patrons get drunker. Walk-ins or by appointment, seven days a week.

Darioush. This Persian palace looks like no other winery in Napa.

And this is just the entrance!

Inside, you’ve got sumptuously appointed salons, a cellar lined with bottles certain people would sell their first born for, and a spacious tasting room where you can sample their delightfully crisp Sauvignon Blanc and robust reds, including a Shiraz that will make Shiraz skeptics think twice. They also serve mezze and who doesn’t want some mezze after a glass or three of wine?

Favia Erickson Winegrowers. I am grateful beyond all get out to call Annie Favia and Andy Erickson friends. They were some of the first readers of Friends in Napa and helped make the malfeasance in Chapter 11 all the more shameful (the symmetry between the number of that chapter and what it portends just clicked WOW). Annie and Andy’s wines, on the other hand, ought to have statues erected in their names, and tasting them in the little house on the grounds that they call home is the highlight of any trip to Napa. By appointment, Thursday — Monday.

Grapes from the grounds of Annie and Andy!

Speaking of Friends in Napa: now I’m going to tell you about the place that inspired Peninsula, the winery that the gang goes to on that fateful Friday morning, but first, I’ve gotta do this one thing that, once again, I hate to do, but [insert teeth gritting emoji]