(Last Updated On: July 24, 2021)

Visiting Napa Valley in October is a total bucket-list adventure ticked for me.

When it comes to the USA and California, the thought of the Napa Valley has always quenched my thirst for a quintessential USA road trip.

Imagine rolling hills with lush vineyards a-plenty taken in with a glass of wine swirling in my hand as I winery-hop in my hire care from place to place. I am such a wine-lover and love visiting the best wine regions – there are few sights more beautiful than the rows of grape vines lining up along hill after hill.

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How to get to the Napa Valley?

The Napa Valley is located in northern California, just an hour and a half’s drive from San Francisco. Whilst there are plenty of wine country tours leaving San Francisco daily, I’d urge you to think about a longer stay in the region so that you can really get to know why this beautiful part of the world is so special.

Driving is the easiest way to get to the Napa Valley and the easiest way to make your way around whilst you’re there. As the area is actually made up of several towns, you’ll want an easy way to travel around on your terms and you’ll be able to see much more of the region.

Probably the biggest catch with driving is that you’ll just need to take it in turns to play designated driver, or monitor your wine consumption so that you’re not hopping behind the wheel with alcohol in your system.

Hiring a car from San Francisco for a couple of days is usually relatively cheap and easy to do with plenty of options across car providers.

Where to stay in the Napa Valley in October?

There are several towns that make up the Napa Valley. These are Napa, St Helena, Yountville and Calistoga. Each are perfectly charming and have their own appeal, though Napa is certainly the largest. I stayed in the area for two nights and chose Napa and St Helena as my two home bases. 

In Napa, the Marriott Napa Hotel and Spa offers a great luxe stay. For something more quaint and local, the Blackbird Inn is also really cute. 

In St Helena, the quirky and fun El Bonita Motor Inn offers great rooms and an outdoor firepit for visitors to mingle when the sun goes down. 

My Roadtrip through Napa Valley in October

Visit Artesa Winery

As I pull into my first stop at Artesa Winery I can see black charring on the hills from recent fires in the area BUT it’s by far overshadowed by the incredible beauty stretched out before me.

It’s Autumn, or Fall as the locals call it, and the orange, gold and brown leaves on the vines are simply enchanting. Amid the vines, a little house is nestled, just poking out enough to be noticed and I find myself thinking how incredibly lucky whoever owns that residence must be.

Lucky to be living in such a breathtaking environment, but also unbelievably lucky that the fires that raced towards it were stopped in the nick of time.

The views from Artesa are amazing and the grounds are free to wander around, so that alone makes this stop worth putting on my list.

My goal, though is to learn how to properly taste and appreciate fine wine, so I stay on task and hit up the sommelier inside for a wine tasting. I quickly learn the importance of the five S process to taste wine.

See, Swirl, Sniff, Sip, Savour is the way to do it.

A glass of rose wine on a wooden bench

My Car Breakdown

After tasting my way through a little sparkling, white and red and purchasing a couple of takeaways it’s time to head outside and take in the view whilst I wait a while to ensure I’m right to hop back behind the wheel. Responsible driver here!

Unfortunately, my day then goes pear shaped. My brand-new Chevy Malibu bursts a tyre. I don’t mean a tiny little hole that can be patched up either; I’m talking a huge bang and a tyre ripped to shreds.

So, instead of tasting wine and enjoying the sun in the valley, I’m stuck on the side of the road for an hour or so waiting for the tyre to be changed.

Then I am sent off to a partner car hire joint for a replacement car… except all they have available is a minivan. There is absolutely no way in hell I want to do that, so they send me off to a tyre repair shop instead.

The catch? Because the whole tyre has to be replaced, they need to raise a purchase order and by this time it’s after 5pm so they can’t do it until the next day.

At this point, luck is not on my side and I give up and agree to come back in the morning.

Exhaustion hits hard and I’m faced with the choice – do I head out into the Napa Town Centre or do I call it a night and chill out in my hotel? I’m not proud to say that on this occasion weariness wins and I skip dinner and fall asleep after a glass of wine from a bottle purchased from Artesa today.

Red grapevines lined up along a hill with blue sky above

Maroon Wines

When the morning rolls around I’m feeling positive again. A good sleep has done wonders and I stop in for a quick hotel breakfast before venturing back out to my Chevy to drive it to the tyre place and put the burst tyre saga behind me once and for all.

In fifteen minutes it’s fixed and I’m on the road again. I have a special appointment this morning at Maroon Wines where Local Wally, the Napa Wine expert has recommended I pay a visit.

This visit feels less like a formal tasting and more like sitting down and chewing the fat whilst surveying the beautiful land. This winery came terribly close to being wiped out in the fires and I can see as I look out at the hills just how far down the hill facing the winery that blackened ground extends.

Luckily, though Maroon Wines remains undamaged, although I am told that the smoke from the fires will affect the taste of the wine in years to come.

The wine here is beautiful, but visits are by appointment only. It feels much less commercial than the other wineries I’ve visited and rather than having a tasting room or a big sprawling building, we’re sitting around an outdoor table on deckchairs.

This is definitely a cool Napa experience and the wine is so good that I find myself buying a bottle to take with me.

A glass of red wine in the foreground, the glass stem in Emma's hand. In the background is a vineyard with blue sky above.

Auburn James

First, though, it’s time for my final tasting of the day at Auburn James wines.

The last tasting of the day proves to be a relaxing affair, as I sit down with a young wine-loving sommelier who shares with me her stories of the fires that ravaged the area the week before.

She tells me that phone reception has only just come back on after the disaster and that her whole family were out of town so it was up to her to try and protect her family property.

Like the other wineries, the wine itself is amazing quality, but it’s the company that makes this stop so much fun.

The picture depicts grapevines growing halfway up a hill with the top half of the hill charred and blackened from a recent fire.

St. Helena

It’s time to travel a little further up through the Napa Valley to St Helena where I check in at the kitschy and quaint El Bonita Motel. My room is sweet and spacious, but the real awesomeness comes from the open fire pit in the communal area of the Inn, where later on at night I open a bottle of local wine and work by the flames.

But first, dinner!

On my way to find food, I take a sunset walk through St Helena. The sun setting through the vines is absolutely stunning and the autumn colours paint the vineyard yellow and orange. 

I chose to eat at the incredible Farmstead, which is a converted barn now serving up amazing farm to plate fare. Definitely the best place I’ve eaten in the area.

The perfect end to a perfect couple of days in California Wine Country.

A motor in with a red sign out the front saying "El Bonita Motel"

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Napa Valley in October - Emma Jane Explores
Napa Valley in October - Emma Jane Explores

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