San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Fly a falcon
A new experience at Bouchaine Vineyards in Carneros pairs wine with birds of prey — namely owls, hawks and falcons. The 1½-hour offering, dubbed the Falconry Vineyard Tour, blends a seated tasting and an up-close interaction with a raptor made possible by West Coast Falconry, which specializes in hands-on experiences with birds of prey.
The experience starts outside the winery on a terrace with sweeping views of the bay. Here, falconers give each guest a rubber glove to protect his or her hand, then teach guests how to call the birds from afar. Finally, falconers head down the hill with the birds and send them up to guests on command.
Following the demonstration is a wine-tasting in the garden, where guests sip through five different Bouchaine wines in all. When guests are finished, they can reunite with falconers and the birds for Instagram photos. Available on select Sundays throughout the year. Price: $200 per guest. www. bouchaine.com
Following a 30-minute fitting and orientation (ebikes are surprisingly different from regular ones), guests hop on their bikes and fan out from downtown Napa into the Carneros region, stopping at two wineries from the group of Starmont, LE Wines, McKenzie-Mueller and Etude. Tours cover about 25 miles overall, mostly on paved roads that flank vineyards and farmland.
The outfitter offers on-call van support, which means anything guests purchase is picked up and shuttled back to the starting point. At the conclusion of the tour — roughly around 2 p.m. — guests receive $25 in “Oxbucks” to spend as real money on lunch at the Oxbow Public Market. Tours start around 9:30 a.m. and serve up to 10 guests at a time. Price: $189 per guest. www. napavalleybiketours.com.
Go off-road
Sure, the Hess Collection is renowned for its open-to-thepublic art gallery, but some of the most intimate experiences at the Mount Veeder Winery unfold amid the vines.
This two-hour tour, offered daily at 11 a.m., begins with an all-terrain vehicle ride around the estate. Guides share a bit of the history of the property and provide a crash course in Napa Green sustainable practices such as cover crop cultivation and water resource management. If the weather’s good, guests can climb off the ATV and sample grapes right off the vines. There’s also a chance to taste the finished product.
From the vineyard, the tour heads back to the winery, where guests disembark and file into the private dining room for a lunch prepared by Hess Collection Executive Chef Chad Hendrickson. Lunch menus vary, but each is a three-course meal that highlights produce from the winery’s culinary gardens, paired with wines from estate vines. Each tour accommodates up to five guests. Price: $185 per person. www.hesscollection.com
Ride a gondola
Venice comes to Napa with this nascent outfitter that operates a Venetian-style gondola in the Napa River off the main dock downtown.
Gondola Servizio operator Sean O’Malley runs two basic tours: 30- and 60-minute loops around the Napa River in the heart of downtown.