California Wineries

Last month my family took  a quick trip out to Napa Valley with some close friends and toured wine country for a few days.  Kevin and I love to go out there and find some new wineries.  We had never been until August of 2008 when some good friends asked us to go out there with them.  We had a great time and have been back a few times since then, mostly for different conferences, but we try to squeeze in a day or two of wine tasting!

Gundlach Bundschu

Our favorite winery is in the southern part of Sonoma Valley and is called Gundlach Bundschu.  We came across this winery on our first trip out there.  They have fantastic wines, friendly staff, a pretty scenic view, and are open to the public.  My sister, Megan, and I are posing with an old truck near the entrance to their drive.  We were trying to be all serious, but not sure if it worked very well!

Tres Sabores

Another stop was a  winery that we had never been to before called Tres Sabores.  It is a certified organic winery in Napa Valley and is by appointment only.  They gave us a private tour and lot of history of their winery.

We got to see their gardens, vines, and animals up close.  I absolutely loved this place.  It was so pretty and quaint.

There were some recently picked organic grapes that we could sample. They were so good!

Then they served us a fabulous lunch outside under the canopy of these shade trees!  It was wonderful!  This was my favorite winery tour on this trip!

Round Pond Estate

Another new winery that we enjoyed was Round Pound Estate in Napa Valley.

They had an amazing newly build winery and tasting area that spanned both inside and out onto this huge deck.  There were amazing views in three directions from this deck and it even had a huge fireplace!

This winery also had a large garden area that grew most of their produce that they use in the food that they make for different groups and special occasions that are held there.  I wish my garden was this neat and tidy!  We could walk through and sample anything we wanted to.

Silver Oak

Our last stop on this trip was Silver Oak.  And it was the perfect way to end a great trip.  We got a great family picture outside on their patio as the sun was starting to set.  I’m guessing mom will use this for her Christmas card this year!  Except her two cute grandkids aren’t in it!

We had a private dinner there with our group and had amazing food and of course wine! This was the view looking in after I ran out to snap the next picture which was of the beautiful sunset.

This trip was a great one with friends and family and we got to taste a lot of amazing wines!  Can’t wait to go back!

What wineries are your favorite?  What’s your favorite type of wine?  Mine is a chilled Pinot Grigio.  I’d love to hear of some new ones to try!

This is part of my #write31days blogging challenge this month.  Here is a list of all the posts in my 31 Days of Travel Secrets or you can check them out on my Pinterest board!  Thanks!