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    Love Wine, will travel

    Insider's Guide to Napa: How to make the most of your visit to California wine country

    Jessica Dupuy
    Jessica Dupuy
    Jul 20, 2013 | 8:30 am

    When it comes to wine regions in America, Napa is king. You can have that idyllic experience — driving winding roads along the sea of vineyards, stopping in for tastings and ending your day at a spa — but you better have your ducks in a row before you go.

    Too many romantic weekend escapes or girlfriend getaways end in letdowns, thirsty palates and gripes — usually while frantically trying to hop from one winery to another along Highway 29 rush hour traffic.

    There are a few keys to unlocking the beauty of Napa, and after a languid week of sampling some of the best of what this storied wine region has to offer, we’ve compiled them for you.

    Level of interest
    First question to answer: How into wine are you? If you aren’t too picky about which wines you try, you may want to stick to larger producers with open tasting rooms that don’t require reservations. You’ll still get to taste some great wines, but you won’t have to feel as committed to a particular schedule.

    Some of our top picks for drop-in wineries: Cliff Lede Vineyards, Domaine Chandon and Sterling Vineyards. (You’ll love riding the tram up the mountainside.) If you’re a wine fanatic, you need to select the places you want to visit and arrange appointments at least a few weeks ahead of time.

    Lay of the land
    First-time visitors to Napa need to understand one thing: the map. Napa Valley is one long, linear strip of geography that runs north along Highway 29 from Carneros to Calistoga. It takes at least an hour to traverse the length of it, and that’s with no stops in mild traffic.

    Your best bet is to look at a map of the region and plan your winery visits. Start either at the north end or south end, and move your way up or down the region accordingly. Otherwise, you’ll spend needless time in the car passing endless views of vineyards without actually tasting any wine.

    A bit of advice: It’s always nice to start or end the day with a little bubbly. Domaine Carneros is a beautiful sparkling wine house owned by the French Champagne producer Taittenger. It’s on the southern end of Napa in the Carneros AVA. You’ll taste an array of beautifully made traditional-method sparkling wines. Don’t leave without a taste of the premier Frontgate Pinot Noir.

    Be ready to buy
    You may spend anywhere from $25 to $60 for a tasting, so you should keep in mind what an appointment means. Often it’s just you and your party led around by a winery manager, guide or the winemaker. It can be a rewarding opportunity to really learn about the wines and taste through some really special things.

    But keep in mind that all Napa wineries are in business to do one thing: sell wine. When you take up someone’s time with a personalized tour, you need to be prepared to buy their wine. It’s just common courtesy.

    That said, if you’ve paid a tasting fee at a larger tasting room and don’t like the wines, don’t feel obligated to buy. But if you’re really spending time at a winery to appreciate the wines being made, you need to be ready for a purchase. (Note: Signing up for a mailing list is not an appropriate “out.”)

    Before you go, ask friends, restaurant sommeliers and wine merchants for suggestions based on what they know you like. Then you’ll know how to organize your time — and your wallet. Some of our top picks for appointments: Ladera Vineyards, Stony Hill Vineyards, Vineyard 29, St. Clement Vineyards and Rudd Oakville Estate.

    When to go
    Choosing a time of year for your trip to Napa is as important as selecting the wineries to visit. It’s exciting to see the wine country when clusters of grapes are hanging from the vines, which is usually from late July through most of the fall.

    Although the idea of wine country during harvest season does sound romantic, it’s not exactly the time to go — at least not if you want a relaxed, tranquil experience with your appointment hosts. Harvest is often the most stressful time for grape growers, winemakers and vineyards managers, because the timing of harvesting grapes is measured in days and hours, depending on weather and climate conditions.

    For this reason, they are often sleep deprived and otherwise focused on the grapes they need to make wine, not the overall customer experience. Can you blame them?

    Vineyards are beautiful in the late spring, particularly when the vines have started to flower. Plus, you’re much more likely to get a laid-back, less stressed host.

    Stay where you play
    After a long day of wine tasting, the last thing you want to do is drive for miles to your end destination. Finding the right accommodations is key.

    Keep in mind that if you’ve been overserved in your day of tasting, there are no easy ways to get a ride. Cabs are not plentiful, and there isn’t a bus system. So be smart. Consume wisely, and make sure you don’t have far to go when it’s all said and done.

    Try not to stay anywhere south of the town of Napa. And although you will find a number of accommodations in town, it’s really better to stick to the outposts along the way, such as St. Helena, Yountville or Calistoga.

    Our top picks include Villagio Inn & Spa (Yountville), Solage (Calistoga) and The Carneros Inn (near Napa). Our personal splurge-worthy favorite is The Poetry Inn at Cliff Lede Vineyards (near Yountville).

    One final word: Don’t overbook your days. Trust us when we say you’ll likely be doing a lot of driving. And you should really leave yourself enough time to enjoy the wineries you visit. Try to stick to three wineries a day, with a fun lunch and dinner stop along the way.

    Of course, Napa isn’t the only wine region in the world to visit, but it’s certainly a worthy experience for the best in American wines. You’ll find that if you just do a little bit of homework, you’ll get the best of what this beautiful wine country has to offer.

    Hillside Riesling vineyards at Stony Hill Vineyards.

    Hillside Riesling vineyards at Stony Hill Vineyards
    Photo by Jessica Dupuy
    Hillside Riesling vineyards at Stony Hill Vineyards.
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    Preservation efforts

    South Texas mission makes list of America’s most endangered historic places

    Associated Press
    May 21, 2026 | 4:00 pm
    Ruidosa Church
    Facebook/Friends of the Ruidosa Church
    El Corazon Sagrado de la Iglesia de Jesus in Ruidosa, Texas is considered an endangered place.

    WASHINGTON (AP) — A historic South Texas mission joins the Stonewall National Monument, the President's House Site, and the Women's Rights National Historic Park among 11 sites on this year's annual list of the most endangered historic places in the United States compiled by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

    The 2026 list, announced Wednesday, May 20, marks America's 250th anniversary with the foundational principle that everyone is created equal as the theme, said Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the nonprofit organization. The 11 sites offer examples of how, over time, Americans have fought against injustice and for equality, she said.

    “We wanted to think about those ideas, especially this notion that all human beings are created equal and find places, sometimes unsung places ... that not all Americans routinely think about," Quillen told The Associated Press.

    The sites are spread across the United States — from New York and California on the East and West Coasts, to Alabama and Texas in the South, to Michigan in the Midwest and the Four Corners of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah in the Rocky Mountain West.

    At least three of the sites — Stonewall, the El Corazon church in Texas, and President's House in Philadelphia — have been endangered by Trump administration actions.

    “We want to save these places," Quillen said, “not just because the bricks and mortar is important but because the stories these places hold are important."

    For the first time since the list debuted in 1988, each site on the 2026 list will receive a one-time $25,000 grant to help highlight their connections to the principle that all people are created equal and address the threats they face.

    The 11 sites are:

    Ruidosa, Texas: El Corazon Sagrado de la Iglesia de Jesus
    The more than century-old adobe church served as a refuge and place of worship for Mexican and Mexican American farming communities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border along the Rio Grande River. Vacant since the 1950s, the structure has benefited from continued restoration provided by the nonprofit Friends of the Ruidosa Church but remains threatened by proposed construction of a U.S. border wall that could come within a few hundred yards of the property. (The nonprofit has posted an official statement and more information about the border wall here.) Ruidosa is in far west Texas, roughly 35 miles northwest of Presidio and 46 miles southwest of Marfa, near the rugged Chinati Mountains.

    El Corazon Sagrado de la Iglesia de Jesus A historic photograph of El Corazon Sagrado de la Iglesia de Jesus.Facebook/Friends of the Ruidosa Church

    Montgomery, Alabama: Ben Moore Hotel
    The hotel was a refuge for Black people living under laws that enforced racial separation in the South. Prolonged vacancy has caused structural deterioration and the historic Centennial Hill neighborhood surrounding it faces pressure from development. The hotel housed key players from the Civil Rights Movement, including the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rev. Ralph Abernathy. The Conservation Fund announced in November that it would help preserve the hotel.

    Modoc County, California: Tule Lake Segregation Center
    Initially known as the Tule Lake War Relocation Center, it was set up as a camp but later became a segregation center where Japanese Americans who were thought to be disloyal to the United States were imprisoned. The site is now a national monument managed by the National Park Service. Only 37 acres of the 1,100-acre site is protected. Most of it is at risk of permanent alteration from a proposed nearby construction project.

    California: Angel Island Immigration Station
    It was the largest immigration port on the West Coast between 1910 and 1940, particularly for immigrants from Asia and the Pacific. Hundreds of thousands were processed, detained and/or interrogated there because of their race. The station currently is threatened by physical, environmental, political and economic factors. Additional funding is needed for structural repairs and programming to increase awareness.

    Somerset, Massachusetts: Swansea Friends Meeting House
    Recognized as the oldest surviving Quaker meeting house in the state, it was built in 1701 to serve as a refuge by a congregation fleeing religious persecution and looking for a safe place to worship. The building has been closed for years and needs significant rehabilitation.

    Michigan: Detroit Association of Women's Clubs
    Founded in 1921, the association was one of the first Black organizations in Detroit to own their headquarters building, which was purchased in 1941. But the building has been closed since 2024, when water pipes burst and damaged the interior. Money is needed to help the association reopen the building.

    New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Utah: Greater Chaco Cultural Landscape
    The landscape is an ancestral homeland sustained for over a millennium by the Pueblo and Hopi people, but is threatened by changes to federal land policy that could open up significant portions to oil and gas development. Permanent protections and tribal consultation are needed to protect its cultural integrity.

    Seneca Falls, New York: Women's Rights National Historical Park
    The park tells the story of the first Women's Rights Convention, held in Seneca Falls, in July 1848. It faces a deferred maintenance backlog of over $10 million. Additional funding and support are needed to help preserve the park as a place to teach visitors about the history of women's rights.

    New York: Stonewall National Monument
    The first and only U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ history was the subject of administration actions that saw the rainbow Pride flag removed from its flagpole earlier this year before it was restored. The National Park Service had removed the flag in February, citing federal guidance that limited the agency to displaying only the American, Interior Department and POW/MIA flags. But the administration reversed course in April as it agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by advocacy and historic preservation groups that sought to block the flag's removal at the Manhattan site.

    After Trump returned to office, he ended diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and many references to transgender people were excised from the Stonewall monument’s website and materials. The Republican administration similarly has put national parks, museums and landmarks under a messaging microscope, aiming to remove or alter materials that it says are “divisive or partisan” or “inappropriately disparage Americans.”

    Philadelphia: The President's House Site
    The administration abruptly removed exhibits on the lives of nine people enslaved at the site in the 1790s under George Washington, the first U.S. president, who lived there when Philadelphia served as the nation's capital. The exhibits were taken down as part of a broad effort by the administration to remove from federal properties information it deems “disparaging” to Americans. The issue is currently the subject of litigation between the city and federal government.

    Heath Springs, South Carolina: Hanging Rock Revolutionary War Battlefield
    The Battle of Hanging Rock was a key battle in the Southern Campaigns of the Revolutionary War and is considered a Patriot victory that helped boost morale and ultimately weaken British control in South Carolina. Only portions of the core battlefield are protected and open to the public, with the area anticipating population growth and increasing development pressures.

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