Escaping to Napa Valley a weekend must-do

Sometimes you just need an easy weekend away. Living in Northern California is great because it's so easy to throw together an overnight bag, hop in the car and within an hour or two, boom — total change of scenery. My most recent escape was to Napa, the mother of all wine regions. My boyfriend Chris and I hit up the Napa region a couple times a year. We make a point of trying new wineries and restaurants each time we roll through town. This time around, our first stop wasn't technically in Napa, but in Calistoga, at Sterling Vineyards. What's cool about Sterling is that you access their tasting room by gondola. Tickets are $20 to ride and taste five wines, and you can save $5 by printing a "discount passport" off their Web site. The coupon's good until 12:30 p.m., so hit Sterling early in the day.Once done with Sterling and back on the highway, keeping a look out for eye-catching wineries. The Flora Springs tasting room, located on Highway 29 in St. Helena, sticks out quite a bit, with its contemporary design, so we decided to stop. Walk inside and you'll feel like you're in a nightclub, complete with rotating mirror balls flanking the wine bar and dance music booming. We enjoyed the 2006 Toad Hall Willow Pond Pinot Noir, as well as their 2007 Sangiovese. We stayed at the Westin Verasa Napa, just a short walk away from downtown Napa. The hotel, with a modern, tranquil décor, feels calming and extremely guest-friendly. The couple checking in before us had a third member in their party — a little white dog. Apparently the Westin Verasa is one of two in the resort family welcoming four-legged friends. Their dog amenities include dog beds, food and water bowls, doggie treats and clean-up bags — what a great concept. Our deluxe room was clean and quiet, boasting a big fluffy "Heavenly" bed and kitchenette — the mini-fridge was a great holding spot for the wine we bought earlier in the day. We asked the concierge about tasting rooms within walking distance and she referred us to two. First up was Vintner's Collective, a great multi-winery tasting room pouring and selling wines you won't likely find elsewhere. Second, we visited the Trahan Winery tasting room, run by Chuck and Janna Custodio and featuring bottles from both Trahan and Olabisi wines. We had a hard time picking a favorite among the six wines they were pouring that day, and loved both the 2005 Olabisi Syrah. Where our Saturday felt a little more showy, our Sunday stops on the Silverado Trail (Highway 128) had more of a secretive element.Before hitting the highway, we started our day with brunch at Bank, a wine bar and café located at the Westin Verasa. They have a great fixed-price brunch. For $21 you get quite a bit. Start with hot beverages as well as your pick from brunch favorites — mimosa, or perhaps a bloody mary? Move over, boring bread and butter — the food fun starts with fresh mini churros, served warm and deliciously dusted with cinnamon and sugar. It was hard to pick between a handful of main-course options, but I opted for Huevos Benedictios while Chris chose an upside-down pancake. Both the sweet and savory dishes were fantastic. Mine was a sassy south-of-the-border take on eggs Benedict, with corn cakes, crumbled chorizo and poached eggs topped with an awesome chipotle Hollandaise sauce. The "pancake" was more like a thick griddle cake packed with plenty of fresh, flavorful apples. As if this weren't enough, brunch concluded with dessert in the form of charming little ice-cream sandwiches. The first meal of the day is most important, and in this case, the most fun as well. Our favorite winery of the weekend is one you won't find unless you do your research. The Robinson Family Vineyards, just a couple miles away from downtown Napa up the Silverado Trail, is open on an appointment-only basis. Tom Jinks explained that he, his wife Susie Robinson-Jinks and their three daughters run the winery, a "hobby gone wild" started by his in-laws, Norman (Bud) and Helen (Dinky) Robinson. Jinks said all the Robinson Family Vineyard wines are estate-grown, meaning they don't buy any fruit. They currently produce about 1,500 cases of wine, and the majority of their wine sales come from people who taste at the winery, which features a tasting room as well as a tasting deck — be sure to pack a picnic and plan on staying a while.Robinson is a red-only winery, carrying bottles under both the Robinson Family Vineyards label as well as Great Legs, a side project created by Jinks' daughters. They grow mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, but also Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec grapes."I only produce what I like," Jinks said, noting that he's not a fan of white wines. While some people might shudder at the thought of working with their family members, Jinks said he wouldn't have it any other way."This is totally 100 percent fun for me," he said. "I'm growing, I'm making something, I'm meeting an extraordinary amount of really neat people."