Sheena & Samir’s Napa Valley Trip

For Mother’s Day, Samir gifted Sheena a fabulous gift this year, a trip to San Francisco and Napa Valley! We know, awesome hubby, right?!? They had been in dire need of a quick getaway to reboot and wanted to get it in before Dipti & Sachin had their baby and Samir’s parents would be busy with them. His parents watched all three boys for the weekend and those two flew off! Napa/SF was the perfect spot as they haven’t been there in 11 years and wanted to go back and enjoy some great food, wine and friends!

They flew out on Thursday and spent that night in SF with friends. They rented a car and drove out to Napa early Friday morning to beat the traffic and got there in a little over an hour! They decided to stay at the Vintage Inn in Napa, which is a boutique hotel in Yountville. Yountville is in the center of everything and seriously the cutest town to stay in. They hired a driver for the two days they stayed in Napa to drive them around so neither of them had to be the designated driver. They planned out their days, meals and nights in Napa ahead of time, making tasting reservations at all the vineyards they wanted to visit. They made sure not to rush through the day so they were able to enjoy the moments and even the scenery there, as it is stunning. The weather ended up being perfection, the icing on the cake. The days were warm and the nights had a light chill.

They are sharing their incredible Napa itinerary that they got help from a few friends with. As short as the trip was, they felt it was the perfect amount of time for them to unwind and return back to the grind.

Friday:

9:00am – Bouchon Bakery
- Well known for their amazing pastries and breakfast sandwiches. They also have great coffee and a cute outdoor space to sit down. It is a must go to if and when in Napa.
10:30am – Domaine Carneros (vineyard)
- Known for their sparkling wines – a perfect morning stop to start your day with light wines and bites. This property had by far the best views and stunning grounds to walk around. Sheena especially loved their Rose.
12:30pm – Lunch @ Mustards Grill
- Amazing food. Great ambiance. Enough said.
2:30pm – Darioush (vineyard)
- A gorgeous Egyptian inspired vineyard with amazing architecture and known for their red wines. Their pinot nior was Sheena and Samir’s favorite of the tasting they had there. The story behind the family and the vineyard was also really nice.
3:30pm – Swanson Vineyards
- A small vineyard with a beautiful tasting set up. They sat at a round table of just 6 people and tasted almost 6 wines paired with delicious cheeses and crackers. The host explained all the wines, bites and the story of how the vineyard was created. They were able to make a few friends at the tasting and enjoy a quite late afternoon.
8:30pm – Dinner @ Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch
- This place absolutely delicious. They ended up ordering so much food just to take tastes from everything and packed the rest to go. The outdoor area is strung with lights and also has an outdoor stage with bands playing music. It was so fun!

On Friday, they had the driver pick them up at the hotel at 10am for all the tastings and let him go after he dropped them back at 4pm to the hotel. For dinner they ubered it back and forth.

Saturday:

9:00am – Bouchon Bakery
- This was a no brainer stop even after having breakfast at the hotel. They blame it on Samir’s sweet tooth.
10:30am – Stags’ Leap Vineyard
- They did an entire vineyard tour here with a tasting. It was so beautiful to walk through the vineyard and see the progression of the grapes growing, stems changing and the process by which they make the wine. This vineyard had so much history all the way back to the prohibition days (they even had an underground Speakeasy Bar that they got to do a tasting inside). The story behind the two Stags’ and Stag’s (a difference of an apostrophe) was quite interesting as well, especially since they are neighbors! This vineyard was known for their amazing red wines.
12:30pm – Lunch @ Brix
- They met up with some friends for lunch here and had an an amazing meal. For being vegetarian, all the meals were incredible. Their friends had a couple of kids with them and this place was the perfect spot to accommodate the little guys.
3:00pm – Del Dotto Vineyard
- This vineyard was highly recommended by many while in the planning phase. It is known for their hand-dug caves and barrel tastings. They ended up booking the “Napa Historic Cave Experience & Barrel Tasting” and were able to get a taste of so many different types of red wines from a range of new to old barrels. It was interesting to learn the history of the caves and how/why the barrels are created. The pours here were incredibly heavy, so they decided to end their tasting journey for this day here.
7:00pm – Drinks @ Bouchon Bistro
- Before dinner they stopped into The French Laundry’s sister restaurant for a couple of drinks. A quaint place, they sat at the bar and enjoyed the company of the fellow drinkers and bartender.
8:30pm – Dinner @ FARM at Carneros Inn
- They happened to be a little early for their reservation here and were so glad they were. The property is just stunning and has an entire outdoor space with fire pits, games and drinks to enjoy while you wait for your table. The food was incredible and the service impeccable.

Having a restriction on their diet (vegetarian), they thought they would have a hard time ordering food at all the restaurants. However, to their delight, they ended up eating fresh, delicious and vegetarian food that they loved, everywhere! Unfortunately, they didn’t visit all the recommendations they got but all of them came highly recommended. Here are a few of the other MUST GO TO places that were also recommended to them. Thanks to everyone who helped plan this trip.