Okay, y’all! I think I may have just experienced the best week of my life with Andrew in Napa! Stunning views, down to earth people, fresh food, delicious wine, and great company.  I mean…can it get any better?!  So, here’s my {part 1} Travel Guide to Napa, specifically St. Helena! During this week, I’ve traveled and stayed in Napa Valley, St. Helena, and Sonoma. I’ll be giving you the deets on all the places to stay, to eat, and to drink {and by drink, I mean wine taste, let’s not get ahead of ourselves}.

First off, Wydown Hotel, which was the most perfect start to our trip! It’s located in the heart of St. Helena — walking distance from so many different restaurants and wineries {see here}, and the amenities are amazing.  We were immediately greeted by friendly and helpful staff {that know how to crack jokes, by the way — now, THAT I can relate to}, and freshly baked double chocolate cookies…yes, you heard that correctly.  The rooms were spacious, accompanied by a Nespresso machine {thankfully} and a fridge stocked with complimentary goodies like Izze juices and water.  Plus, it held enough room to hold all of the wine we stocked up on!

One thing that I was particularly fond of is their partnership with a local gym.  Y’all know how I always have to get a workout in.  Typically a hotel’s fitness room has a few treadmills, a couple of dumbbells, etc., but Wydown Hotel has a partnership with a gym just a block or two down the street, which provides a beautiful morning walk and a nice little warm-up.  The gym has everything you need to kill your morning workout! Then, you can come back to the Wydown Hotel and enjoy a delicious complimentary breakfast of scones, muffins, pastries, natural and local yogurt, coffee, tea, etc.

The views of vineyards and of downtown St. Helena were also stunning {see above picture(s)}.  To experience it for yourself, come visit and use the promo code ‘JULY16‘ for 15% off your stay {2-night minimum if it’s the weekend}.  This code is available for stay during July 1-7 — this would be a perfect vacation getaway for the Fourth of July!

If you end up taking a visit to Wydown Hotel, make sure to post 6 Instagram photos {it can be a collage} of the hotel, things that you’re experiencing in St. Helena, or just anything that documents your adventures in the area, for their scavenger hunt called the #WydownHunt to receive a gift card to a local St. Helena business! It’s not even a giveaway to enter, because once you post the photo(s), you receive the gift card! Super easy, fun, interactive, and beneficial!

The first night we arrived, Andrew and I were famished.  Although there are tons of restaurants nearby to the Wydown Hotel, our attention was immediately caught by the cutest little restaurant called Archetype directly across the street…convenient, charming, and reviews were awesome {it’s quite the well known restaurant}, so why not?! We gave it a try! The decor of this restaurant was on point. Cozy, quaint, rustic, yet still modern, and the food mimicked the vibe the restaurant instilled {which was, in other words, fresh, delicious, and innovative}.  You can see from the pictures above that the food looked {and tasted} phenomenally!

Also, the staff and workers were SO friendly.  I think it’s a very hard thing to make your customers feel like they’re eating dinner at home with friends and family, yet somehow they were able to make that happen.  I feel like I made best friends with the manager, who was as nice as can be, as well as funny, and the waiter was attentive and helpful {he even cooperated with my awkward jokes}.  This had to definitely make my Travel Guide to Napa, especially in St. Helena, because it’s just something you can’t miss out on!  The food speaks for itself, but all of the other perks make it that much better.

We kicked off our first morning at VGS Chateau Potelle, a boutique winery that set the bar for all of the other wineries we visited.  To be honest, I wasn’t expecting anything grand — just a standard wine tasting, especially since the tasting room is located in a different spot then the vineyards.  With that being said, I would like to, now, preface this by saying that this experience was one of my favorite ones! I found myself comparing all other tastings to this one.  Since this is a boutique winery, they take tastings by appointment only.  I think this is a really important factor because it really provides that 1-on-1 feeling and I recommend doing this.

I was blown away by pretty much everything.  The quaint building was transformed on the inside with brilliant art from around the world, meaningful decor {the yellow door symbolizing hospitality}, and a feeling of ‘home’.  Although I didn’t get the chance to meet Jean Noel, Matthew, the tasting expert, welcomed us immediately with a splash of wine, some historical background on Jean Noel {who was a ‘wine spy’, eventually making roots in the U.S, which was fascinating, by the way}. He walked us through everything, and never made us feel inadequate.  I mean, Andrew and I love wine and better yet, love learning about it, but we are by no means wine connoisseurs.  However, this was never an issue and in this case, learning about the wine was almost just as fun as drinking the wine ha!

Each wine was combined with a delicious and artisanal food pairing, as if both were made for each other.  We experienced this outside on their patio, and despite the horrid construction on the main road where they’re located, VGS managed to create a private and intimate outdoor lounge, guarded by honeysuckle, fresh flowers in bloom, water fountains, and light background French music that made you feel like you’re in a different world.  This atmosphere is really what set this place apart from anything else I had ever experienced.  The wine was delicious and finely crafted with unique flavors and I highly suggest making an appointment at this lovely place, because you most definitely won’t be disappointed!

The next winery we visited was Brasswood Winery {previously known as Cairdean Estate} and it was the opposite of what we first experienced {don’t get me wrong, I mean it in a good way}– which I enjoyed, because it was drastically different! It was such a large facility and it consisted of literally everything you could ever imagine.  Greeted by a splash of Chardonnay and a tour around the facility, I was sold that I was going to have my future wedding {far far future wedding} there.  There are multiple massive rooms with renowned art that are perfect for hosting parties, events, and get togethers.  The decor was rustic with a Kentucky-feel, which I definitely was digging.  The repurposed wood on the walls came from a Kentucky barn actually! Above the event room(s) is a bridal suite, which contains a full bathroom, mini bar and kitchen, bed, ‘salon’ areas, and sliding doors that lead to a balcony over the event rooms.  Stunning, to say the least.

We then checked out their in-house boutique, Redolent Mercantile, which showcases luxurious clothing and accessories for both men and women.  They even have a cigar and scotch bar for while you’re shopping — talk about sophisticated! There’s also a lovely wine sensory room next door that allows you to experience each wine in different senses via smell, sight, and touch with the use of objects, like flowers, etc.

We visited Brasswood Bar & Bakery for a sweet little treat and a coffee {like, look at those pastries, y’all}, and then headed to their Caves to learn all about storing wines.  So many of the local wineries use their top notch facility to store their wines — as you can see, I found VGS barrels stored down there!

After an informative tour {we even got to stop in their lab where they test their wines!}, we indulged in amazing farm to table wine country comfort food at Brasswood Bar & Kitchen…and MAN, was it GOOD! That seared tuna was fresh and tasty, but what is really STILL on my mind is that homemade strawberry shortcake.  You can also enjoy all of this great food outdoors, because their patio is perfect for a summer night.  Enjoy the water fountain, large space, and all of the components of the winery experience that are centrally located.

This is such a fabulous place to visit when you want to explore a little bit, get some shopping done, have a wine tasting, and then indulge in some seriously good food! They have it all! I also loved how our tour included the wine tasting while we were exploring.  It made it more hands on, which is what I like.  Also, if you’re looking to host an event somewhere, no worries, Brasswood has got ya covered!

The one thing I didn’t get tired of is how uniquely different the wineries were.  We went from small boutique VGS to Brasswood, which had it all, and then now, to Charles Krug Winery, a more well known winery with so much history to it! So, I obviously had to include this one in my Travel Guide to Napa! Pulling up to the winery is a magical drive straight through the vineyards {with rose bushes at the end of each aisle}, ending with a rustic, beautiful, and classic building.

Upon entering Charles Krug Winery, we were greeted by a fabulous floral centerpiece, highlighting the different wines around it, as well as a host/hostess who is more than eager to help! All of the staff there were both charming and enthusiastic.  On the right side, there is a cafe to get your coffee fix or to cure your sweet tooth, and to the left, is the wine tasting bar sitting directly in front of hundreds of their wine bottles that are lining the wall from top to bottom.  Also, everything was decorated perfectly, most of which can be purchased in their home decor section!

I loved tasting the wines, learning about the winery’s history, and exploring the {gorgeous} property! My favorite part {besides the wall of wine bottles}, was that you could see in a separate room all of the barrels of wine lined up in rows.  This was definitely a different feel then the other wineries I visited, because of its background.  It held a lot of history, which is why I liked it so much!

I hope y’all enjoyed Part 1 of my Travel Guide to Napa, specifically St. Helena! Don’t forget to use promo code ‘JULY16‘ for 15% off your stay at the Wydown Hotel from July 1-7!

Have a great Saturday!

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A big thank you to Wydown Hotel for sponsoring this post, as well as VGS Chateau Potelle, Brasswood Winery, and Charles Krug Winery for my complimentary wine experiences.  As always, all opinions are my own.