Napa Valley with the folks

Your mom and I finally got to show my mom, your grandma Diane, around Napa Valley! We'd been talking about this for quite a while, and my mom took a trip out to California this weekend to see us and help us do some wedding planning. It was a long time coming and a great day for all of us.

We headed northward through Napa Valley, hitting places left and right. My mom was thrilled and treated us to a couple tastings. There are dozens of open wineries and tasting rooms on the California Route 29 through the valley, and our first stop was Folie a Deux. 

The day was beautiful, nice and cool despite it being summer. 

Each place offered a guide through the tasting process, and my mom, having a good amount of experience in wine, helped the rest of us pick out some interesting things to try. 

One of my mom's favorite wineries is Beaulieu Vineyards, or BV. We had to check it out, and it was definitely a treat. Some of these bigger wineries have a cool "reserve" series of very limited wines. It's always neat to try something unique and different which won't be around very long. It was also kind of fun trying to discern and learn about the differences of the many various styles of wine out there. 

Your grandma Diane and grandpa Gene are both expert storytellers. 

Your mom and I really enjoy getting picnic food at the winery V. Sattui, and we wanted to show my mom and her dad the place as well, so we grabbed some cool mustard and cheese to snack outside in the beautiful weather. 

At the tasting at V. Sattui, we stumbled upon this very interesting wine, Angelica, which was a sweet white wine, called Muscat, "infused" with brandy. It was a hit for all of us, and your grandpa Gene treated us to a bottle to take home. 

For dinner we drove into nearby Sonoma and took them to one of our favorite places, the Swiss Hotel. For my mom, today was an absolute blast, and we all had a great time showing her around ad catching up with her. Tomorrow we head to Carmel so my mom can see the wedding venue and help us with some of the details of the plan.