Natysha Wright

Live Laugh Travel LLC

Harvest Season in Napa Valley 2023

Oct 12, 2023 to Oct 15, 2023
Napa Valley CA

Experience Harvest Season in Napa Valley

Each year from August through October, the Napa Valley comes alive with the excitement and rush of harvest.

Tending to the grapevines is a year-round process, but this is the time when the vineyards and the wineries bustle with workers racing to pick grapes at their peak ripeness.

The entire valley is filled with the wonderful smells of harvest, and you'll find ideal warm autumn weather.

You will spend 4 days and 3 nights in Napa Valley experiencing Harvest Season firsthand.  Visit local wineries; Attend a grape crush party with live music, food & wine tastings; Enjoy a ride aboard the Napa Valley Wine Train while enjoying a gourmet lunch; Visit the hot springs and treat yourself to a mud bath.  The possibilities are endless!

Rates start at $1410 per person

$100 per person non-refundable deposit required to book your trip.  

Monthly payments are required to maintain your reservations

Full Balance due by 8/12/2023.

What's included in this trip:

  • 3 Nights accommodations at the River Terrace Inn 
  • $50 hotel credit
  • $10 Daily food & beverage credit at ALBA restaurant
  • Upgrade at check-in if available
  • Daily Destination Delights/Resort Fee included
  • 24 hr Fitness Center with Peleton Classes included
  • Complimentary Wi-Fi
  • 1hr Free bike rental (best way to explore the area)
  • Winemaker For A Day Experience at Raymand Vineyards (Use discount code WINEMAKER to remove from your package WINEMAKER2 for double occupancy)
  • Crush Party at V. Sattui Winery 
  • Private transportation to the Crush Party
  • Napa Valley Wine Train Excursion
  • Private Yoga Session for the group
 

What's not included:

  1. Airfare to/from California
  2. Optional activities not added to your package
  3. Meals 
  4. Gratuities
  5. Travel Insurance
  6. Airport transfers (not needed if you opt for the car rental)
  7. Car rental (optional)
  8. Tasting at Brown Estates (optional) must make a reservation
  9. Hot Springs & Mud bath experience (optional) rental car suggested if interested

Itinerary:

 
 
 
 
  • Day 1: Catch your flight to California and arrive in the Sonoma County Airport (STS).   
    • Pick up your rental car or catch your prearranged airport transfer to the River Terrace Inn. 
      • The casually elegant Napa hotel is the perfect blend of urban hospitality and serene location, overlooking the Napa River and nature preserve. Relax in River Terrace Inn’s well-appointed guestrooms and enjoy our restaurant, ALBA, featuring an outdoor riverside terrace, full bar, and weekly live music. The Oxbow Market, Wine Train depot, and Copia are nearby, a pleasant 5-minute stroll along the Napa River. Napa’s best tasting rooms, wine bars, fine dining, and downtown shopping are also within a short walk.
    • Check-in to your Village View room and enjoy the rest of your day at your leisure. 
    • Optional Activities:
      • Visit Brown Estate's downtown Napa tasting room, the first black owned winery in Napa Valley (15-minute walk from hotel, reservations required).
        • Their estate/winery is closed to the visitors, but they have a Downtown tasting room open Tuesday-Saturday.
        • Reservations are required for tastings, available 10am, 12pm, 2pm & 4pm. Make Reservation 
      • Visit the Hot Springs in Calistoga (45 min drive), at Golden Haven Hot Springs Spa & Resort.
        • Try the Golden Haven Mud Bath Experience. Calistoga couples and friends Mud Baths have made Golden Haven Napa Valley's favorite Mud Bath Experience. Enjoy all steps of the Mud Bath together in a private spa treatment room. Our Mud Baths include the hot mud, a mineral bath, and a cool down flannel wrap. All mud baths include a hot springs spa mineral Spa and a cool down wrap. Our Calistoga couples and friends day spa packages allow you to combine a mud bath with a massage for the perfect Calistoga spa experience.  $112-118/pp for couples & friends $138/pp for singles
  • Day 2: Enjoy breakfast in the morning. 
    • Depart hotel at 10am  and drive to Raymond Vineyards for their Winemaker For A Day Experience: Live the dream of being a Winemaker for a Day in the Blending Room! Learn the winemaker’s art while blending your own Napa Valley Bordeaux-style red blend. After crafting your wine, fill your bottle, cork it, capsule it, dress it with your custom label and take it home with you that day too. We also have the ability to produce cases of your personal blend, to enjoy with family and friends. 
    • You will be picked up at 5pm from the hotel lobby to be transported to V. Sattui Winery for the Crush Party from 6pm-9:30 pm. 

      • Experience harvest during one of the most exciting times of year in the Napa Valley & step behind-the-scenes of a working winery!

        BIG open houseOld-fashioned grape stomp
        Meet our growers and winemakers

                                             Live music by Decades!
                                             Menu of foods from our live-fire Tuscan grill and wood-fired pizza ovens
                                             Taste over 45 wines!
      • Afterwards, you will be transported back to your accommodations at the River Terrace Inn.
 
  • Day 3: Enjoy breakfast in the morning. 
    • At 10am, leave the hotel for your Napa Valley Wine Trip excursion.  It is just a 5-minute walk from the hotel. 
    • Afterwards, you may return to your hotel; the rest of the day is at your leisure.
    • Optional Activities: Visit Brown Estate's downtown Napa tasting room (15-minute walk from hotel, reservations required). Visit the Hot Springs in Calistoga (45 min drive), at Golden Haven; try the Golden Haven Mud Bath Experience. 
 
  • Day 4: Enjoy breakfast in the morning. 
    • Check out of your hotel room (check out time is 12pm), and head to the airport for your return flight. 
    • Catch your prearranged airport transfer back to the airport or drive your rental car back to the airport and drop it off. 
    • Have a safe flight back home!
 

Cancellation policy:

Deposit is Non-Refundable! 
Cancel after March 30, 2023, $300 per person is non-refundable
Cancel after May 31, 2023, $425 per person is non-refundable
Cancel after September 12, 2023, $775 per person is non-refundable
Cancel after October 6, 2023; all funds are non-refundable!
 

Available Packages

Napa Valley with Gourmet Express Lunch Wine Train Experience
Unavailable as of May 31, 2023

Starting At: $1,410.00
Deposit: $100.00 per person

Unavailable

3 Nights accommodations at River Valley Inn with the included amenities listed on the prior page

Winemaker For A Day Experience at Raymond Vineyards
Tickets and transportation to the Wine Crush Party at V. Sattui Winery 6pm-9:30 pm on 10/13/2023
Tickets to the Napa Valey Wine Train Experience on Saturday 10/14/2023.
Note: This option does not include a wine tasting on the Wine Train, just lunch.

Wine Train Details

Travel through the lush Napa Valley countryside and be transported back in time. Back to the romance and luxury of the golden age of train travel of the early 1900s, when guests explored the trains beyond their private quarters. Back to a time when a journey was meant to be savored from start to finish. Guests aboard the Gourmet Express experience both dining and lounge service, with some courses of your gourmet meal served in each car.

Enjoy your leisurely lunch, when the sun is bright and high in the sky and soak in the splendor of the valley.

Heading North, first seating guests begin their journey in the dining car, enjoying their fresh Sonoma greens or soup du jour and choice of entrée followed by dessert with complimentary coffee or tea in one of the lounge cars on the return trip.

Second-seating guests will sample appetizers and beverages in one of our lounge cars en route to St. Helena, and a choice of soup or salad, entrée, and dessert on the way back to the station. Fresh California gourmet meals are crafted by our expert culinary team in one of three onboard kitchens. Located immediately next to each dining area, guests are encouraged to explore the Train and visit the kitchen cars and see our chefs in action.

Please note that our menu’s change seasonally and additional drinks are not included.

 

Napa Valley with Grgich Hills Estate Tasting Wine Train Experience
Unavailable as of May 31, 2023

Starting At: $1,550.00
Deposit: $100.00 per person

Unavailable

3 Nights accommodations at River Valley Inn with the included amenities listed on the prior page

Winemaker For A Day Experience At Raymond Vineyards
Tickets and transportation to the Wine Crush Party at V. Sattui Winery 6pm-9:30 pm on 10/13/2023
Tickets to the Napa Valey Wine Train Experience on Saturday 10/14/2023
Note: This option includes a stop for a wine tasting on the Wine Train, along with lunch.
 
Wine Train Details
Your tour begins with an elegant tranquil train journey northbound through the spectacular Napa Valley aboard our intimate luxury rail car where your gourmet lunch awaits. Soup du Jour or fresh Baby Lettuce Salad. And your choice of gourmet entrées. Croatian-born founder and winemaker Miljenko “Mike” Grgich is the man behind Grgich Hills Estate. He’s also renowned for his role in the 1976 Paris Tasting, a blind tasting of renowned white Burgundies from France and a sampling of new Napa Valley Chardonnays. Shocked French judges selected Mike Grgich’s 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay as the finest white wine in the world, making him a legend. Today Grgich Hills is known for producing world-class wines sustainably, with care and passion.
 
 
 

Join the Grgich Hills team for a seated tasting hosted on the beautiful outdoor patio at their Rutherford property. Enjoy a special selection of wines from estate vineyards that are farmed organically without the use of pesticides or herbicides. Once you have completed your tasting, a special treat is waiting for you back onboard the Train: coffee or tea and a decadent dessert. Savored at your leisure in luxury, as you head through the Napa Valley back to Napa.

 

*All of our winery tours require moderate stair climbing and standing for extended periods. We encourage guests who may have difficulty performing these two activities to consider one of our dining journeys. In the spirit of traditional rail seating, you may share a table with another party.

Please note that our menu’s change seasonally and additional drinks are not included.

Extra Options

Roundtrip Airport Transfers (STS)
Unavailable as of May 31, 2023

$110.00

Shared transportation to and from the Sonoma County airport.  Cost is per person.
 
Please note the cost of a rental car is the same as the airport transfers.  If you plan to do any independent exploring, the rental car may be your best option.  
 
The traditional taxi stand and Uber/Lyft are available at this airport, but are not the most reliable.  Transportation should be prearranged.  Price subject to change based on availability.

4 Day Car Rental
Unavailable as of May 31, 2023

$110.00

The traditional taxi stand and Uber/Lyft are available at this airport, but are not the most reliable.  Transportation should be prearranged.  Price subject to change based on availability.
 
Rate is for an economy/compact car with unlimited mileage (cost is per person).  You will be responsible for replacing the fuel used and paying for any additional insurance or options desired.  The rental car will be picked up and returned to the airport. 
 
Driver license information will be required for the driver. The driver must also have a valid credit card issued in their name upon pick up of the rental car.

Additional Day (arrive on Wednesday)
Unavailable as of May 31, 2023

$455.00

Add an additional day on to your trip; arrive a day earlier on Wednesday October 11, 2023.  Price is the total for the night, not per person.

Additional Day (depart on Monday)
Unavailable as of May 31, 2023

$718.00

Add an additional day on to your trip; depart a day later on Sunday October 16, 2023.  Price is the total for the night, not per person.

Travel Protection Insurance
Unavailable as of May 31, 2023

$100.00

Travel Insurance is strongly recommended!  That will be your only recourse to get reimbursed for amounts paid that are non-refundable.
 
The only way you are covered, is if your reservations are canceled by the vendor at no fault of your own.  In that case, the vendor would be responsible for offering a refund or some other type of compensation.
 
There are multiple options available and rates start around $100 per person.  If interested, please select this option below and I will contact you and do an exact quote and arrange for payment.

Uplift Payment Option
Unavailable as of May 31, 2023

$0.00

If you are interested in financing options for your trip.  I can offer Uplift as an option.  It is similar to Afterpay or Klarna, but it offers extended payment term options as well.  You will be issued a virtual card number to use for your trip if approved.
 
If interested, I will send you a link to see if you qualify.  This is a soft credit check and will not impact your credit score.  
 
If this an option you would like to explore, please select it and an Uplift application will be sent to you.

Golden Haven Mud Experience
Unavailable as of May 31, 2023

$118.00

LET THE MUD MELT YOUR STRESS AWAY!

For over 100 years the hot mineral water and mud baths have been a Calistoga tradition. At Golden Haven you can experience the Calistoga Mud Bath in your own private treatment room. The Mud is a mixture of clay, peat, and hot mineral water. All 3 of these ingredients are known for their traditional health giving properties. This creates the warm, soothing mixture in our popular mud baths. The Golden Haven Mud Bath Experience is an hour-long treatment. Let the Mud melt your stress away!

Couples and Friends Special:

$112.00 per person Monday-Thursday

$118.00 per person Friday, Saturday, Sunday and holiday periods

Single Mud Bath: $138.00 per person

PART #1: THE MUD BATH

Immerse yourself in Golden Haven’s hot and uniquely detoxifying mud.

PART #2: THE FACIAL MASK

The Mud Bath is enhanced with a clay face mask and cool compress.

PART #3: HOT SPRINGS MINERAL BATH

Soak in hot mineral water while rehydrating with a cool drink of water.

PART #4: THE FLANNEL WRAP

After the hot baths, cool down with aromatherapy under a light flannel and the glow of a salt lamp.

Emerge from your Mud Bath Experience with the famous Golden Haven Glow.