California . Part V . Napa Valley

Our final few days of the trip were spent in beautiful Napa Valley. The wine was wonderful. The food delicious. And the pace was relaxing. So calm and simple and full of those wonderful moments of just us. Together.

On our way to Napa we stopped by Muir Woods to enjoy the giant, wise, old redwoods. My neck hurt by the end of our walk, but boy was it worth it!
I love the patterns the tree branches make against the sky.After lunch we were on our way to sunny, warm Napa...
I loved walking hand in hand along the rows of grape vines. I never quite got over how perfectly straight all of the lines were.

And the grapes......the yummy...
...juicy grapes. Warmed and ripened by the sun. I admit I snuck a few off the vine :) .
One of my favorite tastings was at a vineyard called Quintessa. The design facilitates a gravity-flow process and they do a really great job of taking care of the environment. We learned a lot during our private tour and saw what is now one of my most favorite spots in all of Napa.
During the tour we also got to take a walk through Quintessa's amazing structure of caves and tunnels. They have 17,000 square feet carved into the volcanic ash hillside directly behind the winery. It was cold--perfect conditions to help the wine age to perfection in French oak barrels. Quintessa's caves have a capacity to store up to 3000 barrels. That's a LOT of wine!
The trip was really amazing and I can't wait to go back again someday.
And with that, I leave you with Napa at Sunset...