Napa Valley has a big reputation to squeeze into a small space - it stretches around 30 miles (48 kilometers) toward the northwest, and is only a few miles wide at its broadest point, near the city of Napa, narrowing to just a mile wide near the town of Calistoga. The valley is bisected by the Napa River, which follows the valley's tapered contour, and grows from little more than a creek at its source to a fully navigable river in its mouth. The valley's topography changes with its length, from the windswept estuarine flats and gentle hills in the south to the valley's narrow tip at the town of Calistoga, cradled between the sheer walls of the Palisades at the foot of Mount St. Helena to the east and the forested Mayacamas Mountains to the west.

Its exceptional climate makes Napa Valley a veritable garden. A wide variety of fruits and vegetables thrive here: oranges, prunes, apples, olives and more. But what makes it truly unique is its remarkable suitability for the production of wine grapes: a maritime climate that produces cool nights and warm days combines with soils that are deep but not excessively fertile to yield grapes that are singular in their intensity, complexity and balance. Napa Valley is recognized around the world as a great wine region. Its wines are highly regarded for their superior quality and diversity of style.

The Napa Valley appellation encompasses about 297,000 acres, with more than 45,000 acres planted in grapes. One-eighth the size of Bordeaux, France, it produces just four percent of the total wine generated in California annually. Come, discover for yourself what makes this area so special!