Day 2
We travelled by helicopter from San Fran to Napa Valley over undulating California countryside. The Golden Gate bridge is an oft-reproduced image, but to catch sight of it from a bird’s-eye view was spectacular. Once on the ground in Napa, we had our first opportunity to drive this gentle giant. Napa’s winding roads, flanked by acres of vineyards, provided a suitably dramatic backdrop. It’s a smooth and peaceful drive (in part due to the noise cancelling system in place) and the seats, with cooling and massage functions, make it a pleasure to handle. Via a large touchscreen on the dashboard you are able to measure the air quality inside the car, as well as energy consumption, and 90 per cent of functions can be accessed within two moves from the homescreen.
After a delicious farm-to-fork lunch at BOND Winery, we toured the family-owned McEvoy Ranch’s olive groves. From there we were transported to hotel Montage Healdsburg, thankful for the Range Rover’s reclining seats to stave off the jet lag. An enjoyable meal at The Matheson in charming Healdsburg ensued, during which we sampled the surrounding area’s micro-season’s offerings. Weary and well-fed, we were glad to arrive back at Montage Healdsburg and our sumptuous eco-conscious cabins with enormous bathrooms stocked with Gloss Moderne products.
