This book is like having friends in Napa Valley. The secret to truly enjoying the valley's remarkable wineries is knowing where to go and getting an insider's tips is always exciting. When you are getting ready to visit, who better to know in Wine Country than two Tour Guides, who constantly wow their clients with their insights, opening them up to new ideas, new possibilities and new wines to enjoy!
Napa Valley is a gorgeous destination, with near perfect weather year-round and it's home to hundreds of unique wineries to thrill every palate, from the novice to the collector. But choosing the perfect wineries to visit can be tricky and that's where this book comes in!
In our work guiding visitors around Napa since 2005, helping our clients get the most from their visit, we have answered more questions than you can imagine asking. The first half of this book are the answers to the most asked questions, from how to get there, where to stay, how to dress, what to expect in a tasting, and quite importantly, how to taste wine to best capture its true nature and there's much more!
The second half is the directory of three hundred and eightyish wineries with our personal comments. Finally, the book features our tour maps, to help you navigate the country roads that connect the wineries together. This is the insider info you'll want, whether you are planning to visit for a day or a month!
Author Biography:
Ralph and Lahni DeAmicis backed into writing tour and travel books by starting to create a book about winery buildings for their series on Feng Shui, but the research was going excruciatingly slow. While the winery staff knew the wines, they rarely knew about the buildings. Then one day, while coming out of the Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Ralph chatted up a limousine driver waiting for his clients, who was a wealth of information about interesting winery buildings, apparently that knowledge was part of a tour guide's toolbox. Seeing a research opportunity that would also put some money in their pockets, Ralph got a part time job driving tours, coming home daily with notes and photographs of the wineries. As he navigated his way around the various valleys, they realized that there wasn't a good winery tour book, even though the wineries are the biggest attraction. So, their book about buildings morphed into their first tour book in 2008, becoming the first in a series. After two years of touring for other companies Ralph & Lahni decided to start their own little tour company, Amicis Tours, to make the continuing research easier. They soon realized that it's a fun business, that brings them to beautiful places while connecting them to the winemaking community. In 2012 they started producing the TV show 'Wine Country at Work' which allowed them to more deeply explore topics that they found interesting. In 2021 they are publishing their first travel, rather than tour book, 'Wine Country in Shorts', which are the stories about the area that they have been telling over their shoulders for years. A bonus chapter from that book, 'The Tale of the Silverado Trail', is included here for your enjoyment! You can find their books and videos at: www.AmicisTours.com Ralph and Lahni DeAmicis backed into writing tour and travel books by starting to create a book about winery buildings for their series on Feng Shui, but the research was going excruciatingly slow. While the winery staff knew the wines, they rarely knew about the buildings. Then one day, while coming out of the Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Ralph chatted up a limousine driver waiting for his clients, who was a wealth of information about interesting winery buildings, apparently that knowledge was part of a tour guide's toolbox. Seeing a research opportunity that would also put some money in their pockets, Ralph got a part time job driving tours, coming home daily with notes and photographs of the wineries. As he navigated his way around the various valleys, they realized that there wasn't a good winery tour book, even though the wineries are the biggest attraction. So, their book about buildings morphed into their first tour book in 2008, becoming the first in a series. After two years of touring for other companies Ralph & Lahni decided to start their own little tour company, Amicis Tours, to make the continuing research easier. They soon realized that it's a fun business, that brings them to beautiful places while connecting them to the winemaking community. In 2012 they started producing the TV show 'Wine Country at Work' which allowed them to more deeply explore topics that they found interesting. In 2021 they are publishing their first travel, rather than tour book, 'Wine Country in Shorts', which are the stories about the area that they have been telling over their shoulders for years. A bonus chapter from that book, 'The Tale of the Silverado Trail', is included here for your enjoyment! You can find their books and videos at: www.AmicisTours.com
