The Silverado Trail - a pleasurable passage
Written: Oct 25 '00 (Updated Oct 25 '00)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Beauty magnified exponentially
Cons: Off the beaten path - and that's a good thing
|
|
|
| Bonies7's Full Review: The Wine Country |
Review Topic: Sights & Attractions
The Silverado Trail in the Napa Valley is one of the most beautifully evocative day trips a person can take in their lifetime. It offers a combination of taste, smell, vision and aura that one seldom finds in such abundance.
Located on the eastern side of the valley, it is much less heavily traveled than the crowded main roads in Napa. It parallels the foothills of the countryside, and offers visitors a chance to see a Napa that does not resemble a crowded freeway chock full of tourists. And yes - it has wonderful wineries - both large and small. It has one of the most impressive secluded hotels in California, and it has views that will stop you in your tracks again and again.
Your trip up the Silverado Trail should include at least three stops. Two for wine tasting, and one for lunch. Why three? Because that will encompass at least three hours, and it will allow you to experience tranquility and beauty coupled so wonderfully together.
My favorites? Having done "the Trail" twice, I find that the Mumm Vineyards are a visual and taste bud delight. Primarily a vineyard known for its sparkling wines, you'll be given the chance to taste several variations on the champagne theme. The tasting room overlooks a magnificent scene of vineyards and countryside, and the $6.00 tasting fee includes four different tastes that will enlighten you to the differences that particular grapes can have on the taste of sparkling wine. If you are friendly with the wine tasting staff, they are apt to go in the back and pull out a magnum of their millenium Mumm and offer you a bonus taste of a spectacularly brilliant wine made in small quantities for the discerning patron.
Just up the road from Mumm is the family owned winery of the Rombauer clan. Rombauer does free tastings - a rarity in the Napa Valley these days. But drop a five spot on the tasting mantle and they'll throw in an elegant Rombauer special edition wineglass that will be both a souvenir, and an impressive reminder of the Rombauer chardonnay that imprints so wonderfully upon your tongue as it flows softly past your lips. Mr. Rombauer is a retired Braniff airline captain, and you'll see that aspect of his life displayed prominently among the entrance halls. And yes - that is a Rolls Royce automobile sitting out front and beckoning you to enter. And the view? Well, Rombauer is actually on the side of a hill, and the view from the balcony is truly stunning, with the countryside sparkling with nature displaying its brilliance.
Speaking of stunning, the word is hardly enough to describe the even more remarkable view from the balcony of Auberge de Soleil. The Inn of the Sun is a hidden playground for the rich and famous just off the Silverado Trail. Stop there for lunch or for an early dinner, when the sun is still up to allow you to see a vista that stretches for miles and encompasses the whole Napa Valley. Yes - lunch is expensive, and dinner is very expensive. But the food is superb, and the house wine is from some of the best vineyards in the state. And take your camera, since the courtyard is the best photo op in the whole Napa Valley.
If you are in San Francisco, set aside an afternoon or morning to visit the Silverado Trail. About ninety minutes north of the city, it offers a reprieve from congestion and incivility. And it offers man and woman alike a chance to slow down, open their eyes, and experience life as it was meant to be. Full of beauty, full of laughter, full of happiness and memories just waiting to be made.
Doesn't all that hard work you're doing deserve a tangible reward at the end of the tunnel?
The Silverado Trail is waiting....
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
Bonies7
|
 - Top 500 |
|
Member: Jeff Clow
Location: The Lone Star State
Reviews written: 132
Trusted by: 1018 members
About Me:
Father, Husband, Consultant, Photographer, Writer, Conservative, Inquisitive, Texan
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.