After having successfully conquered all of Sonoma Valley, we started our fourth day with a little trip out to Napa Valley. This was to be our one and only day in Napa, so we did our best to make it count! It was as beautiful and lush as Sonoma had proven to be... the only noticeable difference between them (to me) was that the hills rolled more smoothly over a larger expanse. It was still as beautiful as you could ever imagine... and we loved every minute exploring it.
Our first winery of the day was Artesa.
Perched high up on a hill, it overlooked the most beautiful scenery we had seen in Napa so far!
From Artesa's parking lot alone, you could see all the gradual rolling hills of yellow, shades of reds and beautiful greens.... What a sight!
An architectural wonder, the actual building was SET INTO the hill, almost hidden from view with only it's front door marking its entrance. Very, very cool indeed. :)
Part of Artesa's hilltop perch was a few awe inspiring water features.
The water just seemed to dance...
Say cheese!
Awwww...
This was the lead up to the building... so beautiful!
My husband.. being silly :)
I love that face!
Statue and water...
Reflections...
I don't EVEN know what that is...but it seemed intentional... and cool in a weird way...
The building hidden in the hillside...
It's a wine rack that I thought was cool looking with these glass blown tube things...
I love when you can't tell what a picture actually is...
My attempt at being artsy fartsy...
Yet ANOTHER water feature..
And MORE statue things...
Lots of pretty colors... ooooooooohhhh...
Next stop: Domaine Chandon
It's lead up to the building had a mushroom rock garden... cute. :)
Mmmmmm....One of Chad's few requests during our entire honeymoon trip was to have lunch at Thomas Keller's restaurant Bouchon, followed by dinner at his other restaurant (just down the street) Ad Hoc. Needless to say, my chef was pretty damn happy this day, and I was STUFFED SILLY!
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It was pretty spectacular if I do say so myself :)
Leaving one of our last wineries of the day, we came across a few VERY FULL grape vines.
Helping ourselves to a handful, we enjoyed the most succulent and tasty grapes we had ever had!
Mmmmmmm.... GOOD!
Darioush was our final wine tour stop.
Again, Chad and his Darioush souvenir... ;)
As the sun set, and as we made our way back to Santa Rosa, the winding road we were on led us to our next stop of the evening, Lake Hennessey.
It was CHILLY.... so chilly I had to trade Chad's coat for my own.. :)
But who could resist sitting out for THIS VIEW?!
My hubs... taking it all in...
Not sure why he's sad... :(
But I think he wanted control of the camera... lol...
Or come to think of it... maybe he wanted his coat back... lol..
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