Today I want to share my guide to a day trip to Napa with you. Napa Valley is one of the best and most well-known places to go wine tasting in California. This beautiful area produces everything from world-famous Cabernet Sauvignon to renowned Chardonnay. Add to that award-winning restaurants and stunning landscapes, and spending a day in Napa is a treat. Read on for my itinerary. I’ve included a map, too.
Day Trip to Napa
I’m visiting wine country on a day trip to Napa with five friends. From tastings to restaurants, we’ve planned to do some of the most exciting things this part of Northern California has to offer.
We drive up from San Francisco at 8:30am on a Saturday, enjoying a traffic-free journey and soaking up the atmosphere in the vineyard-studded hills as we make our way north to Calistoga.
It takes us an hour and 15 minutes to get to our first wine tasting of the day, and we arrive excited to sip and savor. This is one of our favorite day trips from San Francisco, and we know we’re going to have a good time.
Wine Tasting at Rivers-Marie Vineyards in Calistoga
Our 10am tasting is at a winery called Rivers-Marie Vineyards. Two of my friends are serious wine enthusiasts, and they’ve heard great things about this place. They pre-booked a guided experience for our group, and when we arrive we’re awed by the breathtaking views of the Palisades from the glass-fronted tasting room.
As we enter, we’re welcomed and given an overview of the business. Owned by Thomas Rivers Brown and Genevieve Marie Welsh (hence the name Rivers-Marie), the winery focuses on single-variety wines made to reflect the vineyard and vintage from which they come.
After the introduction we start the wine tasting. We’re here for a 90-minute custom-tailored tasting of five of their current vintage wines. Sitting at a table set with glasses and tasting notes, we sample a Chardonnay and a range of Pinot Noirs and Cabernet Sauvignons.
As we inhale their aromas and start sipping, we learn about the different vintages, growing conditions, and flavor profiles. The winery is all about Pinot, but given it’s in Napa, the Cabs are delicious, too.
It’s hard to choose a favorite, and we spend a while discussing the merits of each of them. In the end we buy a number of bottles. We’re pleasantly surprised to see what good value the wines are given Napa’s reputation for sky-high prices. We usually go wine tasting in Sonoma because of that, so it’s refreshing to see.
Lunch at Gott’s Roadside in St Helena
Our day trip to Napa continues with lunch at Gott’s Roadside in St Helena. This local chain is known for its burgers and retro diner atmosphere.
Gott’s serves California-inspired dishes using locally-sourced ingredients, and its menu has everything from ahi poke crispy tacos to chicken schnitzel sandwiches. Oh, and root beer floats. Part of our group ate here last time we spent one day in Napa, and it’s good to be back.
Knowing how popular Gott’s is, we pre-order our food before we leave Rivers-Marie. It’s still a bit of a wait when we arrive just over 10 minutes later, but it gives us time to settle in at a picnic table in the restaurant’s big outdoor area.
Soon a feast of sweet potato fries, Baja fish tacos, burgers, and other classics fills the space, and we’re grateful for the sustenance. It’s the perfect fuel for the next stop on our Napa Valley itinerary.
Wine Tasting at Covert Estate in Coombsville
Our day trip to Napa continues with a 30-minute drive to Covert Estate. It’s located in the heart of Coombsville, an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in the Napa Valley just east of the city of Napa.
Established in 2011, the Coombsville AVA covers a diverse range of elevations. It’s known for its cooler, marine-influenced climate and red wines that are vibrant and pure-fruited with old-world elegance.
Nobody in our group has been to Coombsville before, and we’re excited to taste the wines from this less-visited part of Napa Valley. We’ve pre-booked a tasting at Covert Estate, a winery tucked away next to an oak grove in the eastern hills of the Vaca Mountain Range.
We arrive at the tasting room at 1pm and meet our host outside. He hands us each a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and starts telling us about the winery, which is owned by three families dedicated to the craft of winemaking. As he talks, he leads us over to a bench where we take in sweeping views across the vineyards below.
After the overview we head inside for a tasting in a dimly-lit cave hidden away in the hill. Its contemporary decor and windows into the barrels deeper underground make us feel like we’ve stumbled upon one of Napa Valley’s best-kept secrets.
We settle into comfy seats at a round table, learning about the wines as we taste a range of Cabernet Sauvignons. Covert Estate uses traditional Bordeaux winemaking techniques combined with Californian creativity to produce wines that aim to be delicate, elegant, and have a distinct personality.
After the tasting, our host shows us through to the barrels and fermentation tanks. It’s fun to see the inner workings of the winery as we learn more about Covert’s winemaking process.
At the end of the tour we purchase wine and get back in our cars to drive to the final stop on our day trip to Napa.
Wine Tasting at Palmaz in Coombsville
A 10-minute drive takes us to Palmaz Vineyards, a Napa Valley winery known for its blend of tradition and technology. We pull up to the tasting room, which is set in a unique 18-story underground winery cave complex, and take in the views over the vineyards before heading inside.
We’ve pre-booked a private guided tour and tasting at 3pm. When we arrive we’re greeted by our host and handed a glass of Riesling. As we sip, we head outside to learn about the winery and soak up the views.
Established by the doctor who invented the heart stent, Palmaz Vineyards is a 600-acre estate with 64 acres of vines that produce technology-driven vintages of everything from Chardonnay to Cabernet Sauvignon and Muscat.
After the introduction we take an elevator down into the cave. Or caves. The maze of tunnels and domes carved into rock at the base of Mount George is an impressive feat of engineering. Our host ushers us into a large domed room where fermentation tanks sit on a multi-level gallery befitting the winery’s gravity-flow system.
As he talks, he projects all kinds of data about each tank onto the ceiling. While we look up, he explains what the charts and graphs tell the team about the tanks and the wine inside them, and how technology plays a leading role in Palmaz’s approach to winemaking.
After the tour we head upstairs to a tasting room with a big table laden with glasses and plates of hors d’oeuvres. From Riesling to Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, each wine is paired with a small bite.
We sip and nibble as our host walks us through the tasting notes and answers our questions about the wines. We find his manner a bit abrasive at times, but overall we enjoy the experience.
When we’re done, our group buys wine to take home, then heads out to our cars for the drive to the city.
Day Trip to Napa
And just like that our day trip to Napa comes to an end. We make the journey back to San Francisco, enjoying a spectacular pink-and-orange sunset over the vineyard-laden hills along the way. It’s a beautiful good-bye, and an ideal culmination of our time in Napa.
Napa Day Trip Map
If you want to take a day trip to Napa, you can find an interactive map of the places we visited in the valley here. I hope it helps you follow in our footsteps and have a fun time in Northern California’s wine country.
You can also check out my video about a day trip to Napa on YouTube. If you want to stay longer, my itinerary for 3 days in Napa can help, too. Happy travels!
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