Napa Bucket List: Cave Tasting & Hot Air Balloon Rides
This post may be sponsored or contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Affiliate relationship will not change the integrity of my content. This is my opinion. See my full disclosure in my menu for more details.
Cross Napa off your bucket list in less than 48 hours. Here is the guide on how to do it all in so little time. If you are familiar with Tiffer Time then you know I love wine and with wine comes a love for Napa. If you want to know all about the best vineyards and how to spend weeks in wine cellars and at vineyards check out the more detailed Napa Trips. But, if you are like me most of the time and running short on said time, these are the details you need to knock off the Napa bucket list.
This is not your average General Store, yes you buy just about anything here but, they are also known for their great brunch. I got the breakfast pizza accompanied by a mimosa and enjoyed it while looking out over the water. If you are feeling like a tasting, they offer one here, of course because everyone offers a tasting in Napa! Great way to start your Napa bucket list day off!
Basalt is a few blocks down the road, so we walked down to grab a drink, before we hit the winery. This is another great restaurant for brunch, lunch and a quick cocktail with an industrial style bar! So cute!
Cave wine tasting has been at the top of my Napa bucket list since the first time I visited Napa.
I have done a lot of tastings, and to be honest it is not so much about the tasting but more about the experience. Del Dotto offers one of the most unique tasting environments, I have ever seen. It is in a CAVE.
When you book this tour make sure to pick the location you want to taste in. They have three locations. The one I am referring to is, the Historic Del Dotto.
Yes, you heard me/read that right, the tasting is in a cave. To top it off it is all barrel tasting, so you literally are tasting straight from the barrel. Typically, the wine tasting out of a barrel means it is young and not completely aged to perfection.
You walk into a tasting style room where you are taken back behind a gate (very medieval style). Then you begin your tasting. Del Dotto is known for having some of the highest rated wines.
AKA you are tasting some of the best of the best wines, all the way up to 98 points! You try wines before they are ready (young) and when they are ready (aged to perfection or to 98 points). The tastings are distributed from what they call a ‘wine thief’. You walk through the cave and taste as you go. When the tasting concludes you are greeted at the entrance with a charcuterie board and fresh pizza! Yum what a great treat!
Now you can check it off your Napa Bucket List!
Nest store to Del Dotto you can stop at Expressions Winery for a bottle or two! It is a smaller tasting room with a beautiful porch where you can enjoy a tasting or a bottle.
We were with a large group so we decided to do a side by side tasting of Pinot Noir (what they are known for) and a Cabernet. Both were delicious and the service was amazing!
Everything we ordered was amazing. I went with the basic duck confit fried rice and it was unbelievable with a yummy sake. When we got to dinner my husband surprised me with 15 of our closest friends, a decorated table and a beautiful cake. I unfortunately drank a little too much which resulted in me making it rain sprinkles and heading to bed early. Luckily, we had a big morning planned ahead, so I did not miss any festivities after dinner!
My husband surprised me with this weekend getaway with close friends, but the biggest surprise was the 5am wake up call to see Napa from the clouds. A bus will pick you up from the hotel, take you downtown to a coffee and pastry breakfast and then you are off to the hot air balloons.
It was like nothing I had ever done before. Pack a jacket but don’t worry it is not colder in the clouds it is actually warmer. FUN FACT.
The hot air balloon driver walked us through where everything was in relation to us in the sky. He pointed out Napa and the different vineyards and even some neighbors that do not appreciate the hot air balloons floating by every day. He took the most epic pictures of the group.
To top it all off, one of the couples on the balloon got engaged once we landed inside the balloon. Such a cool memory for them! Cheers and wishing them the best marriage!
The ride is about an hour long and costs just under $200 per person. It was a Napa bucket list item and I can now cross it off the list.
Thanks Mikee!
From all the trips I have taken to Napa I have to say this is one of the most productive and fun filled bucket list trips yet. We tasted amazing food, tried some new wines and even got to see Napa from a different view, in the clouds. For more fun ideas and tastings in Napa, Sonoma or Healdsburg, check these out.
Did you like this post? Was it helpful? Pin it to your Pinterest boards!
2 Comments
Pingback:
Pingback: