I’ve been in love with Napa ever since I made a weekend escape there a few summers ago with my girlfriends. I was absolutely smitten with the beauty of the vineyards against the Northern California backdrop of mountains, palm trees and endless sunshine. That’s why I jumped at the opportunity to travel back to the area for the Napa Valley Film Festival earlier this month. Scroll down to see all the photos and read more about my trip.

Travel & Leisure Headquarters

Travel & Leisure hosted us in this incredible home in Napa, located on Italics Winegrowers‘ sprawling vineyard property. The winery was purchased by a grandfather, father and son team from Texas several years ago, who are now producing delicious full-bodied Cabernets. With a chic cave for tastings and wine barrels with built-in audio speakers (totally genius!), I definitely recommend visiting Italics if you are planning a trip to Napa. Throughout the weekend, we drank the wines right off the land we were staying on. Now, that’s my kind of farm to table…

Cooking Demonstrations

In addition to films and wine tastings, there was a tent set up in downtown Napa for cooking demonstrations throughout the weekend. My personal favorite was Kenmore’s Executive Chef, Kara Karch, who whipped up biscuits from scratch and made it look so easy that I might even try it myself. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, she made fried chicken, kimchi, and a delicious Asian-inspired sauce to go on top. Served with a cold Stella Artois and a side of Kara’s Amy Schumer-esque humor—everyone definitely left happy.

Napa Valley Film Festival

In my opinion, the best part of the festival was getting the behind-the-scenes scoop on the films and how they were made during Q&A sessions with actors, actresses and writers. We attended a great interview of Dev Patel about his upcoming film, Lions. He was so engaging and funny, plus we all know how much I love a British accent. Sadly, I didn’t get to see the film at the festival, but have put it squarely at the top of my list for when it hits theaters. I also got to sit in on a session with the creators of the Gilmore Girls, in anticipation of their four-part reunion series that just hit Netflix. Now, I really can’t wait to binge watch it.

The festival gala on Saturday night was the perfect way to close out the weekend. We got dressed up, watched the closing awards ceremony, and then sampled more wine from the local vineyards at the after party. All in all, it was an amazing weekend of wine, food and films. What’s not to love?