But, no matter… they don’t like wine. However, they do like Napa Valley in Northern California and Napa Valley, California loves dogs! First it’s never terribly hot or terribly cold, so dog tourists are comfortable. Many hotels and B&B’s accept dog guests. And dogs can accompany you dining outside in a plethora of café settings where heat lamps keep you both cozy all year round. A yearly calendar of the winery dogs of Napa attests to the importance of dogs in viticulture. A Napa hint: a bowl of water outside any establishment tells you who’s welcome.
Napa Valley has a great deal to offer in terms of natural beauty with easy and challenging hiking trails. But, amazingly, the best hiking trails of all, the slopes of Mt. St. Helena, are closed to dogs to “preserve the natural beauty.” Hmmm, last time I looked, dogs did not start forest fires or drop plastic bags and water bottles. Are all wildlife kept off the slopes? Just saying… Oh well, we are forced back to the wineries….
Raja was recently in Napa Valley and the gracious reception he received at various wineries and cafés deserves a nod of appreciation.
Dog Friendly Wineries (of which there are many) include:
Peju Province Winery, a boutique establishment founded by Tony and Herta Peju that has been justly awarded for having the most beautiful tasting salon in Napa with its floor of solid agate. On a sunny afternoon, that cool, smooth floor feels great to hot paws. The award winning wines are farmed organically and sustainably. Raja enjoyed schmoozing with the staff and posing on the French oak barrels.
Grgich Hills Estate, is the winery that produced the American wine that so impressed the French in a famous 1976 wine competition. While the story of Grgich is not represented with any accuracy in the film Bottle Shock (2008), the fact that Grigch wines challenged Europe is accurate. Today Grigch wines are produced completely biodynamically and tasted in a completely dog friendly environment… which is our most favorite biodynamic part.
Castleo di Amorosa,’s tasting salon is set in a castle on a hill. A segment of the movie Bedtime Stories (2008) was filmed there and you will want to roam around the marvelous, theatrical chambers in the keep. Entering, Raja was greeted warmly by the gatekeepers and in the salon he met Lupo, the enormous and gentle wolf dog who trolls for belly rubs. I suppose the wine is good. I was playing with Lupo and Raja.
Some wineries do not accept dogs. Their loss.
Dog Friendly Restaurants include: Restorante Allegria , Cindy’s Back Street Café, and Michael Chiarello’s Botega. Raja met a lovely girl from the UK at Botega and abandoned his party to sit with her. I don’t suppose anybody blames him. (In an upcoming topic, we’ll be covering pawty manners in cafés because, let’s be honest, doggies can’t mooch or beg.)
The naturalness and relaxation of Napa as a bucolic tourist entity / agrarian manufactory balances industry and gastronomy. Dogs fit right in to this casual but energetic Northern California culture. If you go, say “Hi” to Lupo for us.
Napa Valley has a great deal to offer in terms of natural beauty with easy and challenging hiking trails. But, amazingly, the best hiking trails of all, the slopes of Mt. St. Helena, are closed to dogs to “preserve the natural beauty.” Hmmm, last time I looked, dogs did not start forest fires or drop plastic bags and water bottles. Are all wildlife kept off the slopes? Just saying… Oh well, we are forced back to the wineries….
Raja was recently in Napa Valley and the gracious reception he received at various wineries and cafés deserves a nod of appreciation.
Dog Friendly Wineries (of which there are many) include:
Peju Province Winery, a boutique establishment founded by Tony and Herta Peju that has been justly awarded for having the most beautiful tasting salon in Napa with its floor of solid agate. On a sunny afternoon, that cool, smooth floor feels great to hot paws. The award winning wines are farmed organically and sustainably. Raja enjoyed schmoozing with the staff and posing on the French oak barrels.
Grgich Hills Estate, is the winery that produced the American wine that so impressed the French in a famous 1976 wine competition. While the story of Grgich is not represented with any accuracy in the film Bottle Shock (2008), the fact that Grigch wines challenged Europe is accurate. Today Grigch wines are produced completely biodynamically and tasted in a completely dog friendly environment… which is our most favorite biodynamic part.
Castleo di Amorosa,’s tasting salon is set in a castle on a hill. A segment of the movie Bedtime Stories (2008) was filmed there and you will want to roam around the marvelous, theatrical chambers in the keep. Entering, Raja was greeted warmly by the gatekeepers and in the salon he met Lupo, the enormous and gentle wolf dog who trolls for belly rubs. I suppose the wine is good. I was playing with Lupo and Raja.
Some wineries do not accept dogs. Their loss.
Dog Friendly Restaurants include: Restorante Allegria , Cindy’s Back Street Café, and Michael Chiarello’s Botega. Raja met a lovely girl from the UK at Botega and abandoned his party to sit with her. I don’t suppose anybody blames him. (In an upcoming topic, we’ll be covering pawty manners in cafés because, let’s be honest, doggies can’t mooch or beg.)
The naturalness and relaxation of Napa as a bucolic tourist entity / agrarian manufactory balances industry and gastronomy. Dogs fit right in to this casual but energetic Northern California culture. If you go, say “Hi” to Lupo for us.
Raja's glamorous friend from the UK.
Veronica from Canada at Arrowleaf Winery in the Okanagan Valley
RSS Feed
