Napa Valley Weekend: Turnbull Wine Cellar & Sweetie Pies, Napa Valley

Napa Valley Weekend: Turnbull Wine Cellar and Sweetie Pies

From Bounty Hunter, we make the short trek to JV Wine & Spirits. Located in an unassuming warehouse, JV is filled with wine, beer and spirits of every kind and at reasonable prices. Daily tasting from 2pm-7pm offers a sampling of various boutique wines for $5. Their Friday Night Winemaker Tastings are one of the best values around. For $2 – which is refundable with purchase – you can chat with a visiting winemaker who will pour you a selection of current releases.

JV Wine & Spirits
426 First St. at Juarez, Napa
(877) 469-9463 or (707) 253-2624
Open daily 8am – 9pm
http://www.jvwarehouse.com/

Getting there: From the parking lot adjacent to Bounty Hunter, turn right onto Main Street, then turn right onto First Street, heading east across Soscol Avenue. JV is located on the left, just after Copia.

Saturday morning we eat breakfast at Sweetie Pies, located in the Napa River Inn Hatt Building in downtown Napa. The creaking screen door, rough brick walls and vintage apron collection add to the allure of display cases delightfully crammed with drool-inducing displays of cookies, bars, cakes, pies and other delectable dessert. With the extravagant selection of breakfast pastries we finally narrow it down to the enormous Morning Bunz, decadent Sticky Buns, a few savory Breakfast Stix and a couple of vegetable and cheese tarts. These are fresh pastries as worth getting out of bed for! Soup, grilled panini sandwiches and a few selections of wine are available later in the day.

Sweetie Pies
520 Main Street at 5th Street, behind the new courthouse, Napa
(707) 257-8817
Hour of operation:
Monday – Wednesday 6:30am – 6pm
Thursday 6:30am – 7pm
Friday & Saturday 6:30am – 8pm
Sunday 6:30am – 5pm
http://www.sweetiepies.com/

Getting there: From Highway 29, take the First Street exit and follow the signs towards downtown, which will put you onto Second Street, a one-way street heading east towards downtown. Second Street ends at Main Street in the heart of Napa Downtown. Turn right and travel two blocks into the Napa River Inn parking lot in front of Sweetie Pies.

With an early start on the day, we beat the crowds and head upvalley into the tasting room at Turnbull Wine Cellars. Their Sauvignon Blanc is crisp, and aromatic thanks to the addition of a bit of Semillon and Viognier and a mere two weeks in oak. The Old Bull Red – a proprietary blend of at least a half dozen red grape varieties – is s a great discovery for everyday wine drinking. Their Cabernet Sauvignon is an impressive full-bodied mouthful of wine.

Turnbull Wine Cellars
8210 St. Helena Highway, Oakville
(800) 887-6285
Tasting daily 10am – 4:30pm, tours by appointment
http://www.turnbullwines.com

Getting there: From Sweetie Pies, head straight out of the parking lot onto Main Street. Turn left on First Street and follow it to the Highway 29 onramp. Take Highway 29 north approximately 12 miles, Turnbull is located on the right about ½ miles after Oakville Crossroad.