Over the 4th of July weekend my family and I headed up to Napa Valley for a little wine tasting day! We ended up at a couple great wineries and the views made all the traffic worth it!

Gary Farrel Winery:

Our first stop was Gary Farrel Winery. The winery had an amazing tasting room located hillside looking out on the russian river valley. It was such a picturesque location, only made better by the perfect weather of the day!

We started off by tasting two whites, their Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. Typically Sauvignon Blanc is not my favorite but this one was surprisingly light with hints of citrus. Next up in our tasting was a lovely Chardonnay. This Chard was again a little lighter than normal and didn’t have as much oak in the flavor – A+ from me.

We then moved on to the Red wines with a Pinot Noir and Zinfandel. The Toboni Vineyard Pinot Noir was the shining star in the tasting for me. It was full bodied, tasting of bourbon soaked cherries and had a long tangy yet smooth finish. A wine that would be great in around 5 years!  Last but not least we tasted the Maffei Vineyard Zinfandel. This Zin was a similarly fully bodied wine with a lot of berry undertones. All in all a great tasting with unbeatable views. If you get to the winery before 3 pm (they close at 4:30), they offer tastings outside!

VML Winery:

Our second stop for the day was VML Winery. We were able to sit outside for our tastings and added a little cheese and salami to pair with our wines (Yum!). The weather was perfect and the atmosphere was the great way to end our trip. We each did a tasting that included 5 wines. The first wine we tasted was a Sauvignon Blanc, the second a Chardonnay, then a Rose, two Pinots. Overall, I really enjoyed the Rose and Pinots. The Sauvignon was a tropically flavored white with a crisp finish. It had hints of honeydew and citrus that made it great for summertime. The Chardonnay was refreshing as well! The Rose we tasted was a Pinot Rose with hints of strawberry. My personal pick for a perfect summer wine!

The two Pinots we tasted were lovely and I actually ended up buying the candles in their scents! (So amazinggg – and so beautiful!). They were both rich in flavor with plum and chocolate qualities.

I was only able to make it to two of the winery’s due to bad traffic 😦 but if you are ever in the Napa Valley area I highly recommend making a day out of all of the beautiful locations. There are TONs of wineries all with amazing views and tasting rooms. You can spend all day enjoying the wine, scenery, and company of friends and family!

If you have any questions or would like any recommendations for places to try out just let me know! (my dad is an expert!)

Outfit Details:

Shoes – Steve Madden wedges

Dress – Lush Maxi Dress (bought at nordstrom). This dress is AMAZING – very reasonably priced and it comes in a bunch of colors and patterns. I personally have 4 of them! They are so comfortable and so cute to throw on in the summertime.

Purse – Rebecca Minkoff M.A.C Crossbody

p.s. the lipstick I am wearing is the ColourPop lippie stick in Fiesta.

xxoo Melissa