One of the things that made me excited about moving to this area was that we are 2 hours from Napa Valley. I had never been there, but I love seeing aisles of vines all terraced on a hill. It reminds me of being in France or Italy. We left early and made it to Napa when the wineries were opening.
The first winery we attended was Rubicon Estates, owned by Francis Ford Coppola. This is a gorgeous, family friendly property. The boys, especially ‘R’, kept raving about its beauty.
This is a room off the lobby. The boys are looking at a few private tasting rooms for private tours or parties. Straight in front of the boys is the door to their cafe.
The lobby of the estate contain items that Francis Ford Coppola collected that are related to the early moving picture industry. There were also a few items about the family, including an Academy Award ‘Oscar’ for ‘The Godfather’.
This is a picture of the boys going upstairs to museum that contains more items of the early motion picture industry, including "magic lanterns".
After the museum walk, we went to the cafe for a couple of mochas. They loaned the boys a wodden sailboat for them to play with in their fountain.
This property contains a lovely garden and hillside.
The next winery we went to was the Robert Mondavi winery. It is next door to Rubicon Estates. It is a completely different style from the first place we visited. The property looks like a Spanish mission.
Throughout the property are sculptures by Beniamino Bufano.
I love this scupture that is the first thing you see upon arrival to this winery. It is by Beniamino Bufano and is St. Francis of Assissi.
I had packed a picnic for us, but apparently many properties do not have a "picnic license", so no picnicking on the Robert Mondavi winery. Instead, we went to the adorable Oakville Grocery and ate at one of their picnic tables.
After lunch, we went back to the Robert Mondavi winery for their Discovery Tour. We tasted one wine while touring the grounds, and a dessert wine at the end. Children were welcome on this tour and since it was only 30 minutes, it was short enough to keep their attention. They were bummed they did not get grape juice though, as I had promised.
It was a fun day and I look forward to exploring this area more.
Beautiful pictures. Thanks for the tour. I don't know if I will ever see that side of the country 😉
Corey