We had a great time visiting the Bale Grist Mill in St. Helena. Our tour guide explained it was…read morebuilt in 1846 from the design in the 1795 book "The Young Mill-Wright & Miller's Guide." I was able to read some of the book from the Library of Congress archives and found Oliver Evans wrote the guide and patented his design in 1790, the year the patent office was formed, before patents were numbered. In 1804 they retroactively assigned him patent number (X3) three. He licensed his design to hundreds of people including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. He became the first American to live off of intellectual property income.

Historic Grist Mill where grain is milled powered by a gigantic water wheel. From the friendly…read morereceptionist to the remarkable tour guide this is a fabulous experience. I have not been here since before the pandemic but it is always an amazing experience. Bring a picnic and sit outside at the tables or take a hike after the guided tour in Bothe-Napa Valley State Park. You will learn a lot about the history of the region. And the milling process. Modest entry fee.

Del Dotto was a fun experience. It's a gorgeous establishment. The decor can be described as fancy,…read moreboujee, and opulent but the service isn't pretentious as one might expect. The tour is 120/person for an 1.5 hours. I little pricey but we enjoyed it. We had Bryan for a tour guide and he was informative and really knew how to work the crowd to make it an enjoyable experience. They have strictly reds with bottles starting at 60 bucks. The caves were really interesting. The chandeliers in them make some pretty photo ops. It's nice and cool in there to get you out of the Napa heat in the middle of the day You end the tour with some more tasting in the lobby area. Best of all the tour comes with some very welcome pizza and tater tots! We did our second stop at v. Sattui afterwards and to be honest it was a nice contrast of ambience between the two wineries.

First time here. It was a special occasion so we splurged and did the cave tour at $120 each plus…read moretip so not inexpensive thats for sure but we really enjoyed it. The caves are unlike any I have been in before where they are usually rustic. These are beautifully decorated and all kinds of art. I would have liked to see more of the caves but they just have the dercorated section open for these tours. The barrel tasting was great and surprisinly all their wines are pretty drinkable right out of the barrell I suppose because they dont have much tannins so they dont need alot of tiem to mellow. I liked most of them but at $250 a botttle I felt they were way overpriced compared to other high end Napa area wines we are familiar with. After the cave tour they sit inside and you get to try several more wines so we had plenty to drink. I was not expecting a full size pizza for the two of us we already had lunch plan right after so we took most of it with us. Only bought two bottles of their less expensive wines at $95 each which is still a little high!! Probably wont be back since the value just isnt there for purchasing their wines but I do reccomend the tour.

Caldwell Snyder is all about location, location, location. It's a bright, open, airy space- San…read moreFrancisco sophistication without having to go all the way to San Francisco. (However, they do have a Sutter Street location in SF) It's a pricey spot, so don't expect to find something for friends or family. The current exhibition is small, mostly abstract. The most striking piece is directly beneath the skylights- wooden totem sculptures by the Roscubas brothers (Vicente&Fernando) of Bilbao, Spain that look like an optical illusion of sorts. From the street, it looks like a projection, a hologram. It's amazing to walk among their totemic pieces. In the back, a couple was getting a personal art consultation with a curator who resembles Taylor Swift. The curator at the front desk/table was so engrossed with work on her desktop she didn't bother to say hi. She did, however, become personable&talk about the pieces. Be careful among the pieces, especially when you walk among the Roscubas Brothers' wooden totems, they're delicate. Taylor Swift- "Delicate"- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCXGJQYZ9JA

Caldwell Snyder Gallery specializes in Contemporary American and European paintings, drawings,…read moresculpture and limited-edition prints including post-war and emerging artists. The gallery is known for introducing European and Latin American artists who are well known in their home countries but rarely shown in the U.S. The Gallery is located in the midst of beautiful downtown St. Helena in the historic Star Building. It is a large, open and airy gallery full of rotating art exhibits. Artist Matt Rogers was on exhibition when I visited the gallery. He has lived in California his whole life and that is reflected in his art. I love his landscapes - a colorful fantastical confection of cotton candy trees! His art represents the California dream of sunsets and palm trees but also incorporates our reality of earthquakes, fire and mudslides. He captures the reality of California - beach culture rubs shoulders with counter-culture; beauty versus darkness. The Gallery was hosting an after-party for the Napa Valley Film Fest screening of "Woman in Gold" It was an excellent party with sparkling wine, cocktails and continuous food offerings. One side note - as is so common in Napa Valley, there were no vegan options available. However, when I mentioned my vegan diet to the server, he mentioned it to the caterer who whipped up a delicious batch of mushroom bites. They were not only excellent but I was very happy and encouraged that the Chef was open to making something for me on the fly! Whether you are in the market for unique, under appreciated art or just love to browse, it is worth a visit!

We went here to celebrate Mother's Day! We booked the bistro experience. It was awesome, the place…read moreis quiet, relaxing and kids friendly. We enjoyed our wine , cheese and salami. Highly recommended!!

Disappointing. I…read morearrived around 4:00p and wanted to do a wine tasting for one person. Sadly by the time the one person at the welcome desk got done with the line of people and got to me, it was 4:15 and their last tasting was seated at 4:00. Really?!?!?! The group that arrived last was seated no problem. However, I could go to the wine bar and buy a glass of wine. Really? I've never tasted your wines so now would I know what was good to buy?

Very cool winery up on a hill. Castle construction is a cool concept…read more We did the wine tasting and the juice tasting. I thought it was slightly expensive but not terrible. It was very busy. They clearly work on a volume basis compared to other wineries. Since I only like very sweet wines, I was able to find something for me.

Eli, our tour guide, was amazing! He was incredibly engaging, knowledgeable, and made the whole…read moreexperience really fun. You could tell he genuinely enjoys what he does, and he kept the tour interesting the entire time. The castle itself is stunning and the whole experience felt really unique. The wine tastings were all delicious and added a lot to the visit. The only downside was unfortunately someone in our tour group. One woman made sure everyone knew she was a member and kept mentioning how she had already seen the castle too many times and was bored of it, saying she only came to bring her family for a birthday. It kind of disrupted the experience for the rest of us. When we got to the torture chamber she also started making some really inappropriate remarks, which was a bit uncomfortable for the group. Aside from that situation, we still had a great time and really enjoyed the tour and tastings. Overall it was a memorable experience and definitely worth visiting if you're in Napa. 5 stars for Eli!!

One of the nicer public libraries in the Napa Valley, plus they have a special collection centered…read moreon wine. St. Helena calls itself the Napa Valley's Main Street, so this is appropriate. Not only can you research wine, but they have excellent internet access. If you don't have your own computer, this is the place to go. In addition, they have a neighboring Robert Louis Stevenson Museum, one of the largest collections outside Scotland. The only problematic aspect is the parking. You'll have to do some parallel parking, since the public lots are few.

My grandma was a staunch St. Helena Library supporter even before the current building...but more…read moreimportantly she was a woman of remarkable interest. Not just an interesting character. Grandma was truly engaged in life and interested in the things around her. A college graduate and one-time newspaper reporter, grandma read voraciously and never owned a television, she preferred to walk places so she could really experience them and made friends wherever she went because she was truly *interested* in what people had to say. Her house was lined wall-to-wall with books, books and more books...and yet the SHPL enticed her with stories and knowledge to be discovered. If you go to the SHPL you will find yourself in a well-lit space, surrounded on three sides by vineyards. And if you curl up near a window and become absorbed in a book, you will find that time passes quickly. When you leave, take a moment to ponder what you've read, and appreciate that your life is now just a little bit richer. Grandma was right, the SHPL is a wonderful library. In addition to a collection of books larger than one would expect for a town this size, you'll also find the SHPL has: - a large room dedicated to children's material - another smaller room of picture books for young kids - an extensive selection of VHS format videos (which Peter's Video no longer carries)...and DVDs too - free wi-fi for your laptop...and a number of PC terminals for easy yelping - the Napa Valley Wine Library collection - movie nights - an art gallery wall - friendly, helpful librarians A five-star library experience and a nice way to spend a SH afternoon. Open daily.

I feel like I paid to be bored out of my mind. Was looking…read moreforward to look out of the telescope, but unfortunately it was too cloudy. That doesn't mean that the lecture should be something that should have been left in the 90s. Slide shows lacked pictures, the instructor lacked excitement and was so monotoned. If you want to see the telescope on a clear night, perhaps ditch the class, and arrive at 8:30pm.

We had reservations to go and my wife was sick that day. I called to cancel or switch and was told…read moreno. I told them I planned on attending several classes but we could not go that night. I was then told no again. After explaining our situation again the person laughed at me and said sorry. I hung up at that point. Laughing about my sick wife is sad. I would never recommend this place to anyone. I hope they enjoy their $50.

My husband and I did the Napa City Ghosts & Legends Walking Tour last night as a Christmas gift,…read moreand I absolutely loved it. The tour guides (aka very accomplished paranormal investigators) were engaging, knowledgeable, and clearly passionate about Napa's history and the paranormal. It was the perfect mix of spooky, fun, and fascinating -- we learned so much about downtown Napa along the way. We can't wait to do their Sonoma tour next and to watch the documentaries the tour leads are part of. Highly recommend!

We participated in the Napa Downtown Walk, Ghosts of the Redlight District & Main St. with Devin as…read moreour tour guide. I think he did a pretty good job keeping it casual and interesting. Attendees become paranormal investigators during the tour, given several tools to track paranormal activity (spiritual dowsing rods, and a ghost hunting meter that measures electric signals (as ghosts give off electric signals). We made about 4-5 different stops that are either haunted or have affiliation with death, and Devin helped the group communicate with ghosts during some of the stops, combining storytelling with interesting historical events in Napa. We had a combination of skeptics and believers in our group, including at least one witch. I, of course, came for the entertainment, getting to talk about serial killers, learn a bit about history, and also get in a few laughs as Devin brings the humor as well. I did learn some new things, such as the difference between a ghost and a spirit, possible origins of the terms "lobbying" and "pulling my leg", and that Cole's Chop House (where my bf and I had dinner earlier that day) was formerly a mortuary. We ended at the courthouse, not where we started the tour, with the story of the last public execution in California which took place here in Napa. Overall, we had a fun time, and it's an unconventional way to tour the streets of Napa, and definitely enjoyable if you like ghost stories.