So before Lewis the Lion knew it, it was time to leave San Francisco and journey on his way through the incredible, contrasting state of California. This state really did seem to have everything from mountains, to beaches, from vineyards to cosmopolitan cities. Today, Lewis the Lion was to travel with Helen to a famous American wine region called Napa Valley to the North of San Francisco. She’d often seen pictures of it and told Lewis that it looked serenely beautiful so he was happy to go along with her and see it for himself.
Lewis the Lion and Helen’s American hire car
This time, they wouldn’t be catching a bus, a train or a plane but rather Helen would be driving a hire car but he will tell you more about that in one of his next blogs. So, off they tootled to Napa Valley and they certainly weren’t disappointed.
The first thing that struck the pair as they left the hilly San Francisco driving over the Bay Bridge was how the temperature seemed to warm up. The heat seemed to rise dramatically up into the high nineties. Lewis the Lion found that he was wafting his tail more and more to try to keep himself cool! Luckily there was air conditioning in the car and after a brief stop to drop off their luggage in a motel (there were no hostels to be found in this area!), the friends headed for one of the most famous of the Napa vineyards, a vineyard with a view: Sterling.
Lewis the Lion visits some vineyards
Lewis the Lion smiled a happy smile as the pair drove alongside miles and miles of picturesque vineyards to get there.
The uniformed rows of vines sweep across Napa Valley
In a certain way, the gently undulating landscape with its uniformed vine terraces reminded him of Tuscany in Italy.
The Napa Valley countryside
He was greeted with the same hues of the countryside under the burning sun: the deep greens, with flashes of purple from the grapes below with the bright blue sky above their heads.
Deep purple grapes are nearly ready to be harvested
The notable difference was the number of American flags they passed against the pristine white outbuildings of the vineyards themselves. When they turned off the road to get to the Sterling Vineyard, the sleepy fields seemed filled with anticipation, like Lewis the Lion himself. Unlike the time when he’d been to the vineyards in Mendoza in Argentina and got bored, at least this time he got to ride in a cool aerial tram ride up the hillside to look over the valley below.
Lewis the Lion arrives at the Sterling Vineyard Cable-Cars
Sterling Winery is the only vineyard in the world with such a unique tram and Lewis the Lion couldn’t imagine a better way to soak up the atmosphere of the valley below.
Lewis the Lion gets ready to ride up to the vineyard
The ride took him high up over a pretty, lily-padded lake below and then swept around into the vineyard itself. What amazing views Lewis the Lion observed on this summer’s afternoon.
The cable-car passes by a beautiful landscaped lake
Lewis the Lion rides high above the Napa countryside
Helen enjoyed learning about the unique vineyard itself but couldn’t drink any of the wine as she was driving. Rather she had to sample it and then spit it out in to a bucket like a true wine connoisseur!
The adults are given a glass for some wine-tasting
She told Lewis the Lion that she thought it was a terrible waste of good wine as a grown up and another time she would love to come back with somebody else who could do the driving! Lewis in the meantime was drinking bucket loads of water which was also readily available as it was an extremely hot day.
Even though Lewis the Lion was too little to drink any of the wine, he strangely found it rather interesting to learn the science behind how grapes can be fermented and turned into wine. He learned that people have been drinking wine for over 3,500 years! He discovered that it is indeed a natural process and that in the wild as the grapes split open, a natural yeast on the skin ferments the sugars in the juice and creates alcohol. Bubbles form when the yeast releases carbon dioxide. In the winery, they fermented the grapes in big steel vats and wooden barrels and he had fun posing beside them.
Lewis explores the steel vats too
The wines are stored in wooden barrels
The wine ferments in big wooden vats
Lewis climbs to the top of a traditional wine-press
However, his favourite posing opportunity came out on the sunny terrace overlooking the vineyards below. He thought that it was stunningly beautiful as you can see in this video clip and in these photos.
Lewis the Lion has magnificent views from the Sterling Vineyard
Lewis loves the way the Napa landscape undulates and falls
Lewis the Lion discovered that yeast isn’t just important in the production of wine and alcohol but also in the production of bread.
Can you do some research to find out why?
