California Wine Guide: Napa
F&W’s guide to the not-to-miss places to eat, drink and sleep in Napa, including recipes (at right) from locally-based chefs. Plus: Don’t miss our useful map of the destinations listed here.
Places to Eat
Andie’s Café
Jeff Smith, owner of Hourglass Vineyard, claims the best burger in the Valley is at “this funky shack off Highway 29—it’s part of the local car wash.”
1042 Freeway Dr., Napa
Étoile
Modern French menu.
Domaine Chandon, 1 California Dr., Yountville
Terra
Nouveau-Med icon.
1345 Railroad Ave., St. Helena
Ubuntu
Jeremy Fox (an F&W Best New Chef 2008) turns out brilliant dishes at Napa’s only vegetarian restaurant, including a fantastic kids’ tasting menu.
1140 Main St., Napa
Redd
Chef Richard Reddington may have been a sommelier in a past life. His restaurant is so committed to wine that diners can pick a bottle first, then ask the kitchen to prepare a dish to match.
6480 Washington St., Yountville
Ad Hoc
Thomas Keller goes casual in Napa Valley.
6476 Washington St., Yountville
Press
This hot spot, founded by Dean & DeLuca partner Lesie Rudd, features chicken roasting over a rotisserie set in the dining room’s giant fireplace, plus massive, well-marbled Black Angus bone-in rib eyes served with béarnaise aioli.
587 St. Helena Hwy, St. Helena
Taylor’s Automatic Refresher
An upscale drive-in joint with amazing burgers.
933 Main St., St. Helena
Bouchon
Thomas Keller’s ode to bistro cooking offers sublime steak frites and lemon tart. It’s a destination for Michael Mina of Michael Mina in San Francisco. “Everything there is my favorite dish,” he says.
6534 Washington St., Yountville
The French Laundry
Still Napa’s premier temple of gastronomy, The French Laundry is über-chef Thomas Keller’s flagship.
6640 Washington St., Yountville
Angèle
The French country food is straight-up simple and great—they make a delicious croque-monsieur—and the place is right on the Napa River, so you can sit outside.
540 Main St., Napa
Market
A casual restaurant with a simple conceit (seasonal ingredients), Market has fast become a local favorite—not least for its great, affordable wine list.
1347 Main St., St. Helena
Places to Stay
Meadowood Napa Valley
Posh lodgings on the way to Howell Mountain. From $500.
900 Meadowood Ln., St Helena
Poetry Inn
A luxury bed-and-breakfast. Rooms have wood-burning fireplaces, outdoor showers and decks. From $475.
6380 Silverado Trail, Napa
Auberge du Soleil
The original wine country getaway.
180 Rutherford Hill Rd., Rutherford
Wine Country Inn
Opened in 1975, one of Napa’s first bed & breakfasts.
1152 Lodi Ln., St. Helena
Plus
Frank Family Vineyards
One of the few Napa Valley wineries that don’t require an appointment or charge a fee, Frank Family makes some of the most in-demand wines among insiders.
1091 Larkmead Ln., Calistoga
Schramsberg Vineyards
The grande dame of America’s sparkling-wine estates. The tour ventures into mile-deep caves that were hand-dug in the 1870s.
1400 Schramsberg Rd., Calistoga
Quintessa
The tour explains how this organic and biodynamic winery works and ends with a sit-down tasting of two vintages of Quintessa wines with local cheese.
1601 Silverado Trail, Rutherford
Jarvis Winery
Jarvis, famous for both its classic Cabernet and Chardonnay, built its entire winery—including the press, barrel room, aging cellar and tasting room—in a huge, doughnut-shaped cave, complete with underground stream and waterfall.
2970 Monticello Rd., Napa
Pride Mountain Vineyard
This vineyard bridges Napa and Sonoma counties at the top of Spring Mountain: A brick marker indicates the county line, and grapes crushed on either side must be labeled differently. Tours visit both sides and offer a taste of winemaker Bob Foley’s highly extracted, dense and chewy wines.
4026 Spring Mountain Rd., St. Helena
Joseph Phelps Vineyards
One of Napa’s oldest postwar wineries, and known for its Rhône varietal wines and California’s pioneering Bordeaux-style wine blend, Insignia. Views of bucolic Spring Valley are amazing, and the seated tastings are expertly run.
200 Taplin Rd., St. Helena
Ladera Vineyards
Tours of the historic 1886 stone winery are led by owners Pat and Dan Stotesbery or other family members. If you arrange in advance, the Stotesberys will lead a tour of their prized Lone Canyon Vineyard on Mount Veeder, followed by lunch and a tasting of Ladera wines.
150 White Cottage Rd. S., Angwin
Viader
With five family members working at Viader, visitors are likely to run into one of them on a tour. Call to set up a visit that includes hors d’oeuvres, picnics or full meals (call two weeks in advance for the full meal) prepared by executive chef Mariela Viader.
1120 Deer Park Rd., Deer Park
Kuleto Estate
Food is important to restaurant owner and designer Pat Kuleto, so his winery is also a working farm that raises goats and cows and grows vegetables used in the appetizers served with wine tastings.
2470 Sage Canyon Rd., St. Helena
Spring Mountain Vineyard
Best known for the Victorian mansion that served as the face of the 1980s soap opera Falcon Crest, Spring Mountain only opened to visitors four years ago. The tour includes a visit to the caves, vineyards where a variety of grapes are grown for educational purposes, then ends with a tasting at the mansion.
2805 Spring Mountain Rd., St. Helena
Five Great Napa Bottles
- 2002 Clos Du Val Oak Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
- 2003 Ladera Lone Canyon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
- 2002 Newton Unfiltered Merlot
- 2005 Cuvaison Chardonnay
- 2005 Heitz Cellar Chardonnay
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