New Art, Barrel Tastings, Cave Tours - Awesome Day!

Still playing catch up! I left off on Friday morning, when we spent the morning in San Francisco, early afternoon in Sausolito and late afternoon/evening in Napa! LOVED how many of you had your names confused, too! I still die laughing - Austin as Oscar! LOL K - here is our Saturday - our first full day in Napa Valley! We started the day with an awesome outdoor run, before heading to our first winery - Charter Oak!

Such a cool historic winery in the middle of a neighborhood! Such a cool, personal experience. This pic was taken in the basement - it was like an antique wine shop.

Seriously - in their cellar! 

Learning the way they process wine there - so manual and different from the other, more modern methods.

SAME PLACE - he does the wines, she is an artist. We LOVED her work. This was one of her large canvases in the back.

Here's a shot from one of the room's in her gallery. The artist is Layla Fanucci - she does the coolest  cityscapes!

We bought this poster! Plan to frame it JUST like the above - can't wait to have it!

Such a cool spot - different from the other wineries and a new experience with great wine!

After Charter Oak we headed to Alpha Omega for another wine tasting! Austin's parents are in the wine club there, so we got to attend an event that included a great outdoor lunch - so fun!

We ate out here!

And me and Austin had our first barrel tasting - thought it was so cool to see the 'wine thief' in action!

We tasted the barrel wine in this space - very cool (and cold!)

We took this pic outside of Alpha Omega - the area was really beautiful!

After Alpha Omega, we headed to Del Dotto - SUCH a neat space. This would be our first cave visit.

The decor was kind of insane. I mean really. And to go from the quaint Charter Oak to this place was crazy!

Seeing Austin & his mom in the space gives you an idea of how HUGE it is!

This was IN the cave. Seriously. We did all barrel tastings in these different alcoves - VERY cool.

Family shot at Del Dotto

It turned into one big party - they have a disco ball and seriously were blasting Lady Gaga - hilarious.

We had a great, hilarious host - such a funny guy.

We got to meet Dave Del Dotto - very cool - such a nice guy!

I couldn't stop taking pics at Del Dotto - beautiful location.

Austin snapped this one of me behind the winery.

After lunch and all of our tastings - it was time to check in to our hotel in Yountville. We got rooms at Napa Valley Lodge - a great spot right in town!

Austin snagged this picture from our balcony (we were on the ground floor - only 2 stories -NOTHING was over  2 stories!)

Then it was nap time! I was BEAT - so I got in bed and slept for an hour before we got ready and went to dinner at Bottega. The food was great! I had a shrimp pasta dish and couldn't get over how incredibly fresh the jump shrimp (tail on!) were. After dinner it was time to pass out!

More on Sunday & Monday tomorrow. Just got back in Atlanta (took the red eye back - ugh) and am taking the day to catch up, do laundry, read blogs, etc. I also have a couple of recipes to post and a book review to post - i'll catch up soon. AND I need to announce the winner to the SOYJOY giveaway - busy week!

Q: Do you have a favorite artist? I don't - I usually just find stuff at Ballard's or PB - love the idea of getting posters during trips and framing them to remind us of our visit!


Q: Have you ever gone to a place you enjoyed and gotten to meet the owner? I don't think I have?  I'll have to think on this!


Q: What are you up to today? I'm taking a nap. In like 5 minutes! Then reading - looking forward to a relaxing day!