I spend a lot of time in Napa Valley

by NDSF, Sunday, June 24, 2012, 15:42 (4953 days ago) @ irishvol

and have a place there at Calistoga Ranch. I am cutting and pasting below an email I sent to friends who were coming to stay for a week about general things to do. Some of it you can ignore as it relates to the Ranch, but also includes a sampling of favorite restaurants and wineries and activities.

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DINING - I will include links so you can see direction, look at menus, can call to book. Everyplace I am talking about is within half an hour drive of the Ranch and most under two minutes.

1. The restaurant at the Ranch - called the Lake House is a tremendous combo of food and location - you can walk to it from the lodge and get a first class gourmet meal and eat outside at the foot of the mountains on the property. I would tell them I want to eat outside on the railing. I would set it for around 7:00 - prettiest time of day as the sun goes down - deer go by etc. http://www.calistogaranch.com/dining.html

2. A great place in Yountville called Redd - post-modern setting, but food is great. The chef there, Michael Reddington, has served under Thomas Keller and is young and will be big some day - you are getting him in his first restaurant and he is creative and you get a little more for your money because he doesn't have a name yet. Very good place. http://www.reddnapavalley.com/description.html

3. Little more expensive but a real event place is the restaurant at Auberge du Soleil - about 15 minutes from the Ranch - make sure to tell them you want to eat on the deck - again I would do it around 7:00. http://www.aubergedusoleil.com/html/restaurant.php

4. If you want to eat in at all there is a fully stocked gourmet kitchen in the lodge with all cooking equipment and plates etc. There is also a fully stocked huge Weber grill so you can go steaks etc barbecue if you want You can stock up on groceries yourself or the staff will go shopping for you before you come so you can have all you need. I usually do this so I have all the breakfast and snack food in. They can also load in any liquor wine or beer you want.

5. You also can have room service at the lodge including the "members dinner" which is a nice four course meal you can have served right at the lodge - you should ask about it.

6. The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone has a restaurant run by student chefs that is nice - ten minutes from Calistoga. Is in an old Castle formerly owned by the Christian Brothers. http://www.ciachef.edu/restaurants/wsgr/default.asp

7. Bottega is a good Italian place in Yountville. http://www.botteganapavalley.com/index.html

8. Mustard's Grille on Route 29 is an old-time favorite - less formal but tremendous food - recommend it for one night or for lunch one day if you are filling up on reservations for dinner. http://www.mustardsgrill.com/

9. Another great place in Yountville is Thomas Keller's baby brother to the French Laundry called Bouchon - exquisite food and a chance to get the Keller touch when you haven't had time ahead to book for French Laundry. http://www.bouchonbistro.com/

THINGS TO DO

1. You guys definitely should get a massage at the Bathhouse at Calistoga - one of the top ten spas in the US - it is awesome - the women should get a facial - every woman I know always rave about it afterward - you can reserve with them by phone re times. Worth looking over the options here. http://www.calistogaranch.com/thespa.html

2. Great hiking trails at the Ranch - I spend a lot of every morning doing it - two trails - one for more ambitious climbers that gives an awesome view of the valley - I do this one and highly recommend it.

3. You should rent bikes and ride through the vineyards and along the Silverado Trail which is one of the most spectacular scenes in America .

4. Tastings/Winery tours - for your first time in the area, I am going to recommend some large places people always talk about as well as some individual favorites of mine that are not so popular.

Rubicon - which is Francis Ford Coppola's winery - it is a beautiful setting and has a good tour and includes a lot of history re Coppola and his filmmaking family. http://www.rubiconestate.com/flash.php - make sure to stop into the California Olive Oil Co - which is right across the street from Rubicon - great place with all kinds of neat foods they let you taste for free - olive oil, pasta sauces, spreads, honey, etc. - worth doing http://www.sholiveoil.com/store/

The Mondavi winery - he was one of the real pioneers of the industry in Napa and is well worth the tour, which is good in giving you an overview of the history of the development of the business in the Valley. http://www.robertmondavi.com/rmw/ Very near Mondavi is also the Oakville Grocery - a place you must go if in Napa - again, great fresh cal food and produce to walk around and graze on - lots of people eat their picnic lunch there. http://www.oakvillegrocery.com/stores/napa_valley.php Almost right across from Mondavi and next to Oakville Grocery is Opus - which began as a joint venture of Mondavi and the Rothschild family. This is an exquisite wine and the tour includes a review of the old Rothschild label art.

I would also recommend a trip to the Domaine Chandon winery in Yountville - it is a very beautiful setting - they do mostly sparkling wines, which I don't like but it is a very pretty setting

On a close strip on Route 29 are Beringer as well as Franciscan - large, popular stop-offs.

all of the preceding three are right on Route 29 as are all of the wineries I have mentioned above.

Some personal favorites and/or smaller places: Stags Leap - right on Silverado Trail closer to Napa - great wine and a beautiful setting; Silver Oak - a really nice Cab and owned by ND people; Cakebread - a great Chardonnay - really my favorite cal chard; Frank Family Vineyards - DO go here, great smal winery and very friendly and pleasant and informative tastings; Dutch Henry winery - right next to the Ranch and very nice cab.

I am not going to recommend Joe Montana's wine. But a funny side story Rick Mirer is making wine and it is really VERY good. I think his winery has a big future. http://www.mirrorwine.com/mirrorwine/page/story.jsp

And here is a map of key wineries in the valley. http://www.calistogaranch.com/assets/CR%20Winery%20Map.pdf

5. I would walk along Main Street in St Helena - a great Cal small town ten minutes from the Ranch - super just to walk around and go into the shops. At the southern end of St Helena is Taylor 's Refresher - DO go there for lunch one day - they are local legend in NorCal. This is truly the best fast food I have ever had. Their hamburgers are all excellent and creative and - you must try their fish tacos -they are just great and a highlight.

6. I would also walk around downtown Calistoga - great small town feel. Dick Vermeil's tasting room is on Main Street so we Philadelphians always stop there.

7. Take some time just to drive the length of the Silverado Trail from Calistoga Ranch south until the end and back - takes about an hour tops round-trip and is one of the most scenic, pastoral drives you can do in Cal. If would recommend biking it - well worth the while.

8. Make sure to spend time just lounging and walking around the Ranch - the natural beauty is tremendous - also hot tub in your lodge and a great pool with a cool bar overlooking the vineyard - so bring bathing suit. It is a very refreshing retreat from business and stress and worth just spending some down time around the property and decompressing.

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