Our first trip to Napa I: Artesa Winery

Yes, it is beautiful even in early December. Yes, it is romantic and soothing and just really damn cool. "Wine country" is really close to Sacramento: about an hour and a half drive. We visited three wineries. We picked the first one, Artesa Winery, because my sister and brother-in-law recently had a particularly good bottle of their wine (and we got them one for Christmas...shhh). This place was gorgeous; the grounds had sculptures, fountains, pools. But they really can't go wrong with anything there because the surrounding hillside is just gorgeous. Rolling hills unlike any I've seen. Even though the vineyards are all dead, dry and brown they are still lovely. These photos do it some justice. There is a cool gallery inside with some interesting contemporary art (Cyndi, you will like it...). The people there were really nice. We shared a "wine tasting" and it was really cool because the hosts went out of their way to give us samples of their wines that they thought we would like. They were very knowledgeable and friendly. It was a really good experience. I was very intimidated going there, but Artesa was great. They also have a small museum with photos and history of wine making at that vineyard going back several generations. Check it out here:http://www.artesawinery.com/index1.html I am really anxious to bring guests here. Come visit...