Napa tasting room advice

I'll be passing through Napa in a few weeks along with my wife and our two young children. As any of you with a wife and young kids can attest, I am the low man on the family totem pole. However I have just enough pull left to convince them to let me stop at one, possibly two tasting rooms.

So help me out, WLDG community... where should I go? I'm looking for a place with good wine but also with a tasting room that is appropriate for a 4 year old and 1 year old or that has grounds where they can run around.

Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

Matt,

Napavintners.com has a list of "family friendly" tasting rooms. Though we didn't have young children when we visited, I do remember that kids were in several of the tasting rooms that we patronized. I also remember a couple of tasting rooms with signs barring children under a certain age.

Van Der Heyden on Silverado Trail.

Although the website says tastings by appt, I've always just stopped in. It's very casual but the wines are great. Have patience. Mr Van Der Heyden presents his wine in a certain order but his late harvest cabernet is well worth the wait.

http://www.vanderheydenvineyards.com/

If your family is going to be with you, then I would suggest the following

(1) V Sattui which has a very friendly atmosphere and also has a large snack (cheese, sausage) area for your family to peruse while you sample there 15+ wines
(2) Heitz, has a great cosy living room environment with a young puppy, immediate access in the back to a patio area that looks over the vineyards where your family can stay and play while you same their 6 wines (ususally all very good)
(3) Cakebread knows enough to provide high end apple juice to the kids while you taste and walk around.
(4) Paraduxx' tasting is done in a "backyard" environment outside behind the winery so the kids (and there will be some here), run around a bit. Lovely place (same can be said for Duckhorn) There are cheeses here too so the kids can get a bit.
(5) Silver Oak is only two wines to try so the kids can run around the vineyard while you spend 5 minutes to sample the wines.
(6) Mumms Napa is also done Cafe style outside behind the winery. You can order flights and the family can go through the Rock and Roll museum behind the winery (free of charge).

Any structured tastings will invariably run too long to keep the family interested.

Tasting with families can be tough. You don't want them bored and you don't want them impacting other clients. Mostly its there vacation too so you want them engaged

Other option would be to drop them off for lunch while you try a few. Near Heitz and V.Sattui (which then means that many others will be open to you) is an out door burger "joint" that serves amaing burgers, garlic fries, milkshakes, etc, called Taylor's refreshers.

Another option is to drop them off in Yountville where they can lunch at Bouchon's and walk the very cute area for the afternoon while you go anywhere you want.

Just a couple of idea.s