RAPPY VALLEY

For more than two decades, wine expert Ray Isle has been visiting Napa to uncover the best of the region. Here's his short list.

- Ray Isle

WHAT IS THIS PLACE, really? Thirty miles north to south, about five miles across at its widest point, it's definitely the most famous wine region in the United States, and one of the most famous in the world. It's jammed full of wineries: 475 at last count. And it's often jammed full of people visiting those wineries—some 3 million a year. In fact, it's one of the most popular tourist attractions in California.

Napa Valley makes some of the greatest Cabernets in the world, definitely. It abounds in excellent restaurants, wine shops, and hotels. Without a doubt, it's a delightful place to visit. The trick is doing it in a way that won't make you feel like you're tourist number 3,000,001.

I've been visiting and writing about Napa Valley for more than two decades, and if there's one piece of advice I'd offer to someone headed there now, it's to plan well in advance. More and more wineries require reservations for tastings, and the best restaurants and hotels book up weeks-often months-in advance. The other suggestion I'd make is to simplify. Plan to visit four wineries per day at the very most; three or even two probably makes more sense. Instead of a sit-down lunch, opt for a wine tasting that includes food pairings—something more and more wineries now offer—and save the blowout meals for dinner.

It can also help to break the valley into sections, as I have below. Stretches of Highway 29, in particular, can be a traffic nightmare; the less time spent driving back and forth, the better. Pick one day to explore the lower part of the valley, around Yountville; another for the area around St. Helena and up to Calistoga; another to spin off to some of the mountain appellations. And don’t overlook the city of Napa itself, which in the past decade or so has gone from drab to exciting.