Eco-Friendly Vino, 19th-Century Bubbly, a Burger Shack With a Wine List

After breakfast at Lucy in the Bardessono, get on the road and head north to Cakebread Cellars. A small, independent winery with handcrafted wines, Cakebread is known for its Chardonnay and Cabernet. When Jack and Dolores Cakebread founded it with $2,500 in 1973, they wanted to encourage people to incorporate wine and food into a healthy lifestyle. They’ve stuck to that goal and now offer a variety of wine and culinary education programs. The tasting area shares space with immense fermenting tanks.

In addition to its normal winery tours, Honig hosts educational eco-walks through the vineyard to see the winery’s sustainable agriculture methods: bat boxes, beehives, row management, and so on. Guides talk about trellising, pruning, growth cycles, and organic pest prevention. The tour is followed by wine tasting in the tasting room or on the patio. This midsize, family-run winery’s award-winning Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet are handcrafted and blended. Experiences are by appointment, so reserve ahead.

It’s not every day that a roadside burger shack gets a spread in Food & Wine magazine. But then, this outdoor diner, built in 1949, isn’t your average fast-food stop. Its excellent hamburgers on soft but sturdy buns are known throughout the valley, as well as at its satellite "joints" in Napa and San Francisco. And vegetarians need not sigh when their dining companions stop at Gott’s: Even the veggie burger is great.

Dedicated to the life of author Robert Louis Stevenson, this one-room museum packs more than 8,000 writerly artifacts, including original manuscripts, photographs, and the author’s copies of his own books. It also delves into the time Stevenson and his new bride spent in the Napa Valley, especially in Calistoga, and eventually at an abandoned camp on the side of Mt. Saint Helena, an experience that resulted in the nonfiction book “Silverado Squatters”.

One of the valley’s all-time best places to explore, this 217-acre landmark champagne estate has a wonderful Old World feel. Schramsberg is the label that presidents serve when toasting dignitaries from around the globe—with a bevy of historic memorabilia in the front room to prove it. But the real mystique begins when you enter the champagne caves, partly hand-carved in the 1800s, which wind for 2 miles—reputedly making them the longest in North America. The comprehensive, unintimidating tour ends in the tasting room, where you’ll sit around a big table and sample four surprisingly varied selections of bubbly. Make reservations for tastings in advance.

The West Coast arm of the New York heavyweight of food education (CIA, to insiders) is an imposing stone château to which wannabe chefs flock to sharpen their skills. There’s a lot for visitors to do, including watching cooking demos, marveling over displays of ancient food-making artifacts, and shopping at an extensive marketplace that stocks every kind of specialty ingredient, cooking tool, and utensil you can imagine—and more cookbooks than you could get through in a long lifetime. Spend a little extra time exploring the castle and the grounds.

In a wine region that has more than its share of chic, upscale restaurants and bistros, Buster’s has been serving no-nonsense, straightforward barbecued meats and sides in Calistoga since 1965. The aromas from owner Charles “Buster” Davis’ southern-style grilling often are the first thing visitors smell as they drive into town. The menu offers hearty portions of barbecued tri-tip, beef and pork ribs, chicken, and pulled pork, as well as all the traditional side dishes, from chili beans and coleslaw to macaroni salad. Go for a full dinner, a combo plate, or a sandwich, or just skip the sides and stick to the smoky, saucy meats.

This spa's casual resort, located in the heart of Calistoga, is one of the best deals in Napa Valley and also offers all the spa treatments the town is famous for. The rooms range from attractive Victorian-style accommodations to more modern guest rooms in the main 1960s-style motel. All rooms have surprisingly tasteful textiles and basic motel-style accouterments. Larger rooms have refrigerators and/or kitchens. Facilities include three mineral-water pools (two outdoor and one indoor), a Jacuzzi, a steam room, and mud baths. All kinds of body treatments are available in the spa, including famed mud baths, steams, and massages. Dr. Wilkinson's is perfectly located to explore Calistoga's main drag, Lincoln Avenue, which is lined with friendly shops, comfortable cafes, and fun drinking establishments—pretty much the same as when Robert Louis Stevenson lived here in the 1880s.