So, I Moved to Napa.

I left LA for wine country. Here’s why.

Hi friends,

It’s been a minute. Okay, maybe a few. But when I said this Substack would be weekly(ish), I meant it. Sometimes life barrels in and hijacks your schedule—especially when you’re busy uprooting your life and chasing a dream.

So here it is:
I moved to Napa.

Yep. The grape-drenched, sun-kissed, wine-slicked capital of American viniculture. The place where tasting rooms outnumber post offices. The move has been a long time coming—probably not all that surprising if you’ve been paying attention—but now it’s official. About a week ago, my husband and I packed up our life in LA and headed north to make a new home among the vines.

The view from above. Spring Mountain doesn’t just grow grapes—it grows perspective.

Back when I lived in San Francisco, Napa was my escape hatch. During the pandemic, when the city felt like a ghost town, a short drive north opened into a world of rolling hills, sun-soaked vineyards, and wines that made time feel slower—if only for a weekend. That’s where the obsession started. What began as a hobby spiraled into a full-blown love affair: with the land, the culture, the community. With the sheer audacity of trying to trap time in a bottle.

Since then, wine has gone from passion to purpose. I passed WSET Level 3 earlier this year (still the hardest exam I’ve ever taken), and next week, I’m diving headfirst into the WSET Diploma program—a two-year, borderline-masochistic commitment to mastering wine at an advanced level. Late nights reading about phylloxera and pH balance? Let’s go. I’m ready.

This is also the first time since I was 17 that I’ve lived outside a big city. We’ve traded sirens and smog for birdsong and breeze—though I’ll admit the local bluejay has more attitude than half the people I knew in LA. It’s quiet here. Strangely quiet. And yet, it already feels like home.

In just a few short days, I’ve met vineyard managers, cellar rats, sommeliers, and producers who are shaking up the status quo. Napa isn’t just cabernet and couture. It’s changing. And I plan to be in the thick of it.

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Bold. Structured. Unapologetic. A liquid reminder of why I’m here.

We kicked off our first weekend as locals with a visit to a legendary estate I’ve been eyeing for years—more on that soon. But for now, I’m soaking it all in: the scent of crushed lavender in the air, the ridgeline hikes through Mayacamas and Vaca, the endless rows of vines that hum with possibility.

New chapter, same obsession. Let’s see where these vines lead.

I don’t know exactly what’s ahead. But for the first time in a long time, I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.

More soon.
—Nick