If you’re up for a special-occasion getaway centered on food and wine and can’t leave your four-legged other behind, consider the oh-so-chic Napa Valley town of Yountville. This culinary mecca is chock-a-block with strollable tasting rooms and restaurants (most with dog-friendly outdoor seating). Some 19 tasting rooms clustered within a mile of each other participate in the Yountville Wine Walk, which awards prizes based on the number of establishments visited.
Leash your dog, pick up a walking map and a stamp card at any participating location and become eligible for a prize when you visit five, 10, 15 or all 19 establishments (doesn’t have to be on one visit!). Prizes range from 50 percent off logo apparel to a certificate for tasty treats, to a buy-one, get-one experience on the Napa Valley Wine Train or Aloft Hot Air Balloons.
Yountville also has a pair of luxury lodgings, North Block Hotel and Bardessono, that welcome pets. Both are on the main drag, Washington Street, best strip in the valley for ogling beautiful people, beautiful dogs and beautiful shops in addition to aromas that will tempt your taste buds every step of the way. North Block Hotel, at the north end of the boulevard, is a Tuscan-themed complex built around a courtyard and offering dog-friendly al fresco dining at chef Richard Reddington’s Redd Wood restaurant, a stylishly casual pizzeria with a wine list featuring mostly Napa and Sonoma offerings (Reddington’s other restaurant, Michelin-acclaimed Redd, recently closed).
Bardessono, midway down the strip, is a contemporary, 62-room boutique hotel with a very green pedigree: It’s one of only a handful of hotels in the world to have achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) platinum designation (and one of few to have tapped geothermal energy). Bardessono’s Lucy Restaurant & Bar has a dog-friendly patio and specializes in all things local.
Other dog-friendly restaurants in the neighborhood include Ad Hoc & Addendum, Bistro Jeanty, Brix, Bottega, Bouchon and R&D Kitchen. If you’re in town on a Friday, venture a little ways out of town on the Napa Valley Vine Trail to Domaine Chandon, a sparkling wine producer that hosts dog-friendly Sip & Snack happy hours from 3-5 p.m. Wines by the glass and a menu of oysters and small bites are on offer, with dogs welcome both in the tasting room and on the patio.
Photo Credit: @winstonthebernedood