Fortunately Mr. Bear and I were lucky enough to score a seat on the most fun tour of Napa anyone could ever imagine. My bff/gf’s friends arranged a trip to Napa Valley last Saturday that entailed transportation in a party bus (complete with kareoke) to three wineries – Cuvaison, Domaine Carneros, and AO-Alpha Omega. Things definitely got a little messy on the way home haha.
The Bears
Look at all that beautiful wine!
First stop: Cuvaison
Mr. Sun decided to stay home for our trip to Napa… however his absense did not stop me from capturing the beauty of this vineyard!
I learned a lot at my first tasting ever… the most important thing being that the best way to taste wine is without being told what it is supposed to taste like. Being told the type of wine and how it is made is all one needs to know. I liked this approach and we all had a good time discussing what we tasted.
For example: this Pinot Grigio tasted like butter popcorn!
Sam, Mr. Bear, Rugg, Mo, and Me – East Coast friends reunited on the West Coast!
Our tasting menu…I bought the Chardonnay – it was delicious!
The Bears
Look at all that beautiful wine!
Bye bye Cuvaison.
Next Stop: Domaine Carneros
(I actually borrowed this photo from Trip Advisor… it started to rain before I could run to the front of the vineyard to snap a photo of this incredible winery!)
Half of our group (8 of us) had our very own boardroom for the tasting at Domaine Carneros.
Below is our view:
Oooo Champagne… we sampled a few different bottles that were on the house… bottles that NONE of us could afford even on a good day, haha.
Lots of sparkling wine at this vineyard. I loved hearing how a Pinot Grigio was made into a sparkling wine by throwing in some yeast and shutting the top of the barrel for a while – all of the sparkling wine bottles POPPED when opened – just like a bottle of Champagne.
My favorite part of the tasting at Domaine Carneros was this Unicorn:
A WHITE Pinot Noir. Yah … white.
This might have been the point where we realized GF had a litttttle too much wine…
I was SO excited about this picture… and then I saw it. Apparently the photographer didn’t understand how to use the ZOOM OUT on my camera. Mr. Bear and I both look …well… not good. But the scenary is what is important. So so so beautiful!
I can’t tell you much about the wines I tasted here because the guy pouring them was all ticked off that he got stuck with 18 drunk people…plus I wasn’t really paying attention to senor grouchy pants with all of the entertainment going on around me.
There was a huge party going on in the main room of the winery… so we were led to the basement. We were all pretty intoxicated at this point and someone shouted that this place reminded him of being led into Willy Wonka’s magical candyland…
Here is Rugg singing his rendition of “Pure Imagination”….thankfully no oompa loompas came running out from behind any corners.
Upstairs… and all the people irritated at our large loud group.
We took this photo before hopping onto the bus… where we had the most insanely ridiculous ride home…filled with lots of kareoke to 80s and 90s hits. Try to imagine a bus filled with mostly guys singing “Like a Virgin” and “I’ll Make Love To You.” It was awesome.
My favorite part of the tasting at Domaine Carneros was this Unicorn:
A WHITE Pinot Noir. Yah … white.
This might have been the point where we realized GF had a litttttle too much wine…
I was SO excited about this picture… and then I saw it. Apparently the photographer didn’t understand how to use the ZOOM OUT on my camera. Mr. Bear and I both look …well… not good. But the scenary is what is important. So so so beautiful!
Last Stop: Alpha Omega Winery
Holy smokes was this place awesome… too bad we were all in a bit of a rush from the limo driver that we had to speed taste through here…
Holy smokes was this place awesome… too bad we were all in a bit of a rush from the limo driver that we had to speed taste through here…
I can’t tell you much about the wines I tasted here because the guy pouring them was all ticked off that he got stuck with 18 drunk people…plus I wasn’t really paying attention to senor grouchy pants with all of the entertainment going on around me.
There was a huge party going on in the main room of the winery… so we were led to the basement. We were all pretty intoxicated at this point and someone shouted that this place reminded him of being led into Willy Wonka’s magical candyland…
Here is Rugg singing his rendition of “Pure Imagination”….thankfully no oompa loompas came running out from behind any corners.
Upstairs… and all the people irritated at our large loud group.
We took this photo before hopping onto the bus… where we had the most insanely ridiculous ride home…filled with lots of kareoke to 80s and 90s hits. Try to imagine a bus filled with mostly guys singing “Like a Virgin” and “I’ll Make Love To You.” It was awesome.
I’d love to show you a video of the bus ride but… I am afraid I would get in lottssss of trouble with the parties that made up their own obscene lyrics to every song that came on.
Well, that concludes my trip to Napa Valley. It was one of the best times of my life.
If you have any questions about the vineyards we went to – I can try to answer them to the best of my ability (and memory). I definitely recommend hiring a driver if you are taking on more than one winery! =0)
How fun!! I really want to visit Napa!
A friend of mine was married in Napa. We didn’t attend the wedding, but oh my gosh were her pictures divine!
It looks like such a picture perfect place! I’m glad you all had a nice time!
Sounds like a blast. Love your orange scarf! The last time I went to Napa was on business and I never want to go near those people again. Too bad because it was such a beautiful place. And that tour sounded awesome. Hope you had a glass for me.
That sounds like a blast! Karaoke and wine sound like the perfect combo!
Glad you had fun! 🙂
LOVE wine-tasting and LOVE vineyards! we did the same in sonoma and it was SOOO much fun! what a FUN way to go from vineyard to vineyard, i love your silly pictures 😉
ps – i had to come back and tell you that my verification word was “slamhor” … i think i may start using that word when i get mad at any not so nice female …
The winery tour sounds like so much fun! I would love to do that one of these days!
omg that sounds like a BLAST!!! it cracks me up that by that point yall were all drunk (duh) and ppl were annoyed..HELLO its a winery! i so want to see that vid! LOL
I love wine tasting! It’s so fun that you had your own personal driver too! I can’t imagine any winery doesn’t expect to see only a few drunk people a day! I love your pictures as the day progresses!
Ahhhhh, so jealous! I’m dying to do a Napa trip. I’m thinking it would make a fabulous anniversary trip one of these years!