Napa & Sonoma Wine Country, California, USA – Drone

Napa & Sonoma Wine Country: Castello Di Amorosa, Ledson, Peju Province, Artesa, Sterling, Far Niente, Darioush, Clos Pegase, Robert Mondavi, Opus One, Domaine Carneros, Quixote, Ferrari-Carano, Del Dotto Estate, Chateau Montelena, Bale Grist Mill & Beringer

The Napa & Sonoma Valley is one of the most scenic and beautiful wine country to visit in Northern California. October is a perfect month because the fall colors turns to red & gold which showcases a more dramatic hills & valleys of the vineyards. Because Napa is very close to where we live, my wife and I often spend our weekends there because of its beauty and great places to eat. When I got my first drone, it is here where I practiced aerial videos and revisited the same places where we had gone before for photography. To this day, we are still discovering new wineries and restaurants.

There are over 430 Wineries in Napa Valley and over 380 wineries in Sonoma Valley. An astounding 95% of Napa Valley wineries are family-owned. It was The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, known as the Judgment of Paris event which placed Napa Valley on the map worldwide. This blind, comparative tasting pitted Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay from California against the best wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy in a blind tasting. When the tasting was done, the judges had given top honors to Chateau Montelena Chardonnay and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon. Napa Valley would never be the same and transformed Napa Valley into one of the premiere wine regions in the world.

Charles Krug is credited with establishing Napa Valley’s first commercial winery in 1861: including Schramsberg (founded in 1862), Beringer (1876) and Inglenook (1879).

Aside for its wines (especially Cabernet Sauvignon wines), Napa Valley is also renowned for its fine and diverse cuisine. In fact, the region’s 100-plus restaurants have won more Michelin stars per capita than any other wine country in the world. Among the popular Michelin-starred restaurants include La Toque, The Restaurant at Auberge and The French Laundry.

Besides its arts & culture, you can go around the valley by biking or hiking, sip beer and spirits, see the Old Faithful geyser in Napa city of Calistoga, attend museums and music festivals, go shopping, and ride a hot-air balloon at sunrise.

* music by BenSound