Napa Valley: The jewel of California's wine country

The sun sets, painting the sky in glorious shades of salmon, pink and tawny gold. You sit on a winery porch, sipping a superb Cabernet as your eyes scan endless hills fanned by vines laden with firm, juicy grapes. This is California's Napa Valley, a magical place where wildflowers bloom along roadsides, lush forests shelter nature lovers and vineyards produce some of the best wines in the world.



Considered the center of everything wine in California, Napa became known worldwide with the Paris tasting of 1976, which matched the valley's wines in a blind tasting with the best of France. It's now home to more than a quarter of California's wineries, with more wineries per square mile than any place else in the country.



Just 30 miles long, Napa Valley is known for both its wines and cultural diversity. There's something here for everyone: fine wine and food, hedonistic spas, designer boutiques and the great outdoors.



The best way to explore Napa is by car. Two main roads run north from the city of Napa: U.S. 29 and the less-traveled Silverado Trail. But first, for a breathtaking view of the valley, take an early morning ride in a vibrantly colored hot-air balloon. You'll drift silently above the treetops to 3,500 feet over some of the world's most spectacular scenery.



Next, visit historic downtown Napa and stroll the riverfront path behind the Victorian Mill. Here, in this city laid out in 1848 along a bend in the Napa River, you can easily imagine the once-bustling wharves, when steamships plied the river linking this regional hub to towns downstream.



Foodies shouldn't miss Copia, the American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts. Named for the Goddess of Abundance, Copia is the first museum in the country devoted entirely to the culture of food and wine.



And wine is what Napa's all about. One of the newer wineries in the valley—and the most unusual—is Darioush, a sandstone Persian palace fit for Scheherazade, located just outside the town of Napa. Built by Iranians Darioush and Shahpar Khaledi, the winery produces a luxurious signature Cabernet Sauvignon made with all five Bordeaux varietals.



An early dinner at ZuZu, a cozy tapas bar in a Spanish-inspired setting, is the perfect prelude to a performance at the restored Napa Valley Opera House, an 1880 Italianate building that will remind you of the height of the Victorian era. Then spend the night at the Blackbird Inn, a vintage downtown hideaway.



Head north to Yountville, where legend has it that pioneer George C. Yount planted the valley's first grapevine. Yountville, founded in the mid-1800s, is located in one of the best Cabernet-growing regions in California, but the air can be cool enough for growing many other varietals, even the picky Pinot Noir.



Here you'll find Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, which makes a Cabernet Sauvignon that serious wine enthusiasts love, as did the judges of the 1976 Paris tasting who chose it over the French Bordeaux. You'll also find the world-famous French Laundry restaurant, where Chef Thomas Keller serves up signature nine-course meals that every gourmand should experience. Stay the night at the Maison Fleurie, whose old, ivy-covered stone and brick buildings evoke images of the French countryside.

The town of Rutherford, with its warmer summer weather, is also known for sumptuous Cabernets. About 70 percent of its vineyards are planted to Cabernet Sauvignon. Here, in addition to breeding horses and cattle, the organic Long Meadow Ranch produces some of the best Cabernet in the valley, along with Sangiovese and Merlot. And it offers the most unusual tour: a two-hour excursion in a Swiss army vehicle called a Pinzgauer!



After an invigorating afternoon at the ranch, you may want to dine (and sleep) where the views are as spectacular as the cuisine: the lavish Auberge du Soleil.



In the morning, head to ritzy St. Helena, where wealthy weekenders came to wine and dine in the early 1900s. The former center of the valley's bootlegging industry during Prohibition, this town is home to Beringer Vineyards, the oldest continuously operating winery in Napa. Beringer offers a tour that includes a visit to the old stone winery and its 19th century hand-dug caves.



St. Helena is also home to the western branch of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), where students train under Napa's top chefs. You, too, can venture inside the CIA's imposing stone walls, where you'll enjoy cooking demos, exhibits of early food-producing tools and the Spice Islands Marketplace, a shop where gastronomes can delve into a lifetime's supply of cookbooks.



When you're ready for a break in winery tours, pick up gourmet sandwiches at the American bistro-style Market for a picnic in Bothe-Napa Valley State Park. Follow your lunch with a refreshing stroll among the cool redwoods, or hike the more strenuous trails that offer great lookout points.



For dinner, try the California fare at Martini House, the former home of an opera singer turned bootlegger during Prohibition. Then spend the night in the rustic, mountain retreat-like setting at White Sulphur Springs Inn & Spa Resort.



Napa Valley's Victorian roots are the most evident in Calistoga, where Victorian storefronts bring to mind days-of-old when horses plied the streets rather than cars and visitors from near and far flocked to the town's natural hot springs. Today, Calistoga's spas offer everything from restorative mud baths to mineral soaks, wraps and facials. Compared to other Napa towns, its wineries are less crowded and the food less expensive, and the wines are some of the best in the valley.



No matter what your interests are, there are a million ways to enjoy the magic of Napa Valley. And once you've been here, you'll want to return again and again. For more information visit the website at napavalley.com.



Five favorite Napa Valley experiences:

1. Enjoy a gourmet picnic at a park, or on the grounds of a winery that offers a picnic area.



2. Savor the local culture at one of wine country's many farmers' markets (Napa Downtown Farmers' Market: 707/252-7142; Napa's Chef's Market: 707/257-0322; St. Helena's Farmers' Market: 707/486-2662; Calistoga Farmers' Market: 707/942-8892).



3. Revel in foodie-heaven at the Culinary Institute of America.



4. Glide over verdant hills and valleys in a vibrantly colored hot-air balloon (Bonaventura Balloon Company: 707/944-2822; Napa Valley Aloft: 800/944-4408; Calistoga Balloons: 888/995-7700).



5. Indulge in a warm mud bath at one of Calistoga's therapeutic spas.

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