The Rhine House at Beringer Winery, St. Helena, California

One of the highlights of my recent visit to the San Francisco Bay Area was a day trip to Napa Valley. Samantha and I both had individually only been there once before so we wanted to try some of the wine and dining that the region is so famous for. Our day started off with the early morning hike to Cataract Falls in Marin County, then we proceeded to go to Oxbow Public Market in Napa for lunch. Neat location for food and local organic shopping. It was interesting to try bison, lamb and salmon tacos.

Wine tasting at Beringer Winery followed. The grounds at Beringer Winery are very nicely landscaped so it made for some nice photos. I especially liked the victorian-era Rhine House, where we did our tasting. I’m not really a wine drinker because I don’t like the taste to be honest but I do enjoy the experience with Samantha. Wine tastings are not just about drinking though as they are also part social events. This other couple from Southern California started chatting with us so we were there for quite a while.

After Beringer Winery, we went next door to the Spice Islands Marketplace at the Culinary Institute of America to browse. On my previous visit to Napa Valley, I drove past CIA and thought it looked like an interesting place so I made a mental note to visit someday. They have a large selection of cookbooks and cooking instruments so that’s definitely the place to go if you are in need of those things.

We capped off our day with a walk through Main Street in St. Helena, and dinner at a Nepalese restaurant there. I’ve acquired a serious taste for Himalayan food over the past two years so anytime I have an opportunity to eat it, I go for it. Great way to end a great day. I get Napa Valley now. It’s not a place that I’m all that interested in photographing but it is a great place to go on a date.

See more of my San Francisco Bay Area photos.

4 Responses to “Napa Valley”

1. younes bounhar
   January 20th, 2013 @ 4:38 pm

   You’re making me drool. Unfotunately, my CAL trip had to be cancelled, so won’t make it there this time…A Napa Valley tour (specially at Beringer’s) is high on m to do list

2. Richard Wong
   January 20th, 2013 @ 9:53 pm

   Haha, thanks Younes. That sucks that your trip got cancelled. The tasting tours at Beringer’s seem really cool too since you do your tasting in the cave cellars, but we opted to just do a tasting at the Rhine House without the tour since it was kind of expensive.

3. Russ Bishop
   January 21st, 2013 @ 2:18 pm

   Great write-up and image Richard. Haven’t been to Napa in years – thanks for the reminder that I need to get back up there again soon!

4. Richard Wong
   January 21st, 2013 @ 2:28 pm

   Thanks Russ.

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