Chase Cellars · BOURN
In the Footsteps of the Bourns
A Three-Day California Journey
The Bourn family shaped California in ways most people walk past without knowing it. They built one of the state's most beautiful estates on the San Francisco Peninsula. They pulled gold from the Sierra Nevada foothills at a scale that defined an era. And the wines that carry their legacy today — made by Russell Bevan from the storied Hayne Vineyard — are as precise and considered as the family that inspired them.
This is a journey through that history. Three days, three very different corners of California, all connected by one remarkable name.
The Route
Grass Valley
→
St. Helena
→
Filoli & the Peninsula
~430 miles total
Breakfast
302 W. Main Street, Grass Valley, CA · (530) 272-1468 · Open 8am daily
Start the day at the town's most beloved breakfast spot. Tofanelli's award-winning patio is one of the most pleasant places to begin a morning in Gold Country, and the menu is genuinely impressive — 101 omelets (not a typo), Oscar Benedict with fresh crab, sourdough toast and proper hashbrowns. The staff is warm, the portions are generous, and the patio fills with locals who've been coming for years. Arrive early on weekends; the line forms for good reason.
Late Morning
10791 E. Empire Street, Grass Valley, CA · (530) 273-8522 · Open 10am–5pm daily
This is where the Bourn story begins. William Bowers Bourn II's family owned the Empire Mine — the richest hard-rock gold mine in California history, producing nearly six million ounces of gold over its 106-year operation. What remains is extraordinary: 784 acres of parkland, mine yard buildings, shaft headframes, a stamp mill, and more than 367 miles of underground tunnels. The guided mine yard tours run throughout the day. The Bourn Cottage — designed by Willis Polk, the same architect who later designed Filoli — is a revelation: a proper Arts and Crafts house set in a walled English garden, improbably transported to the Gold Rush hills. Plan two hours minimum. Admission $5; parking free.
Lunch
203 Mill Street, Grass Valley, CA
The Cornish pasty arrived in Gold Country with the Cornish miners who came to work the hard-rock mines — Empire Mine among them — in the 1850s and 60s. Marshall's has been making them the right way for decades: hand-rolled, flaky, stuffed with beef and potato, served piping hot. Small shop, focused menu, entirely genuine. This is not a novelty stop — it's a living piece of the same history you've just walked through.
Afternoon
Downtown Grass Valley
Mill Street & Main Street, Grass Valley, CA
Grass Valley's downtown is compact, well-preserved, and thoroughly worth an unhurried afternoon. The 19th-century commercial buildings along Mill and Main Streets house independent bookshops, galleries, antique dealers, and local boutiques. The historic Nevada Theatre (1865) is California's oldest standing theatre building and worth a look from the outside. The Grass Valley Museum inside the Mount St. Mary's Convent offers a focused collection of mining-era artifacts if you want more context after the Empire Mine. Or simply walk, find a bench, and let the altitude and pine air do their work.
Dinner
217 Colfax Avenue, Grass Valley, CA · (530) 783-7109 · Open Tue–Sun from 11am
The dinner surprise of the itinerary. Diego's is a South American-inspired restaurant using locally sourced organic produce and sustainably raised proteins — a level of kitchen seriousness you might not expect in a Gold Rush foothill town. The covered patio is romantic and well-lit, the service warm, and dishes like the Anticucho and Crab Relleno consistently draw guests back. The chocolate bread pudding has been known to derail low-carb diets. Bring a good appetite and no particular hurry.
"The Cornish miners who dug the Empire Mine brought their pasties from Cornwall. Marshall's has been honoring that tradition for decades — a small, living piece of the same history you'll walk through at the mine."
Where to Stay — Night One
Gold Rush Legend
Built in 1851 and operating continuously ever since — one of the most storied small hotels in California. Mark Twain, Ulysses Grant, and three other presidents slept here during the mining boom years. Rooms are thoughtfully updated without losing their period character, and the Golden Gate Saloon downstairs — with its original 1850s mahogany bar — is the right place to close the evening. Note: restaurant and bar open Thursday–Sunday; plan accordingly.
Top pick for full historical immersion. The bar alone is worth the stay.
Boutique History
A beautifully restored 19th-century hotel in neighboring Nevada City — ten minutes away and worth the drive. Quieter and more intimate, with elegant common areas and Lola restaurant on the ground floor serving farm-driven cuisine. Nevada City is one of the best-preserved Gold Rush towns in California and worth an evening stroll.
5 miles from Grass Valley in Nevada City — a lovely town in its own right.
Secluded & Quiet
Private cottages tucked along Wolf Creek on the edge of downtown Grass Valley. Your own front porch, the sound of running water, no shared lobbies. Genuinely peaceful — the right choice for travelers who want to decompress after a full day on foot. Fall asleep to creek water rather than room service.
The drive: Grass Valley → Napa is approximately 2 hours 30 minutes via I-80 West and Highway 29 North. Leave by 7am to reach Napa by 9:30am — enough time for breakfast at Model Bakery before heading north through the Valley to St. Helena.
Breakfast
644 First Street, Napa, CA · (707) 259-1128 · Open 6:30am weekdays, 7am weekends
Start the day properly. The Model Bakery has been a Napa institution since 1920 and the English muffins — made daily in the original brick ovens — have a legitimate cult following. The Napa location is steps from Oxbow Market, making this the natural first stop before coffee. Go for the muffin toasted with butter, a pastry, and whatever's fresh out of the oven. The line moves; don't be deterred.
Coffee & Market
610 First Street #12, Napa, CA · (707) 253-1190 · Open 7am daily
San Francisco's finest roaster with an outpost inside Oxbow Market — a curated collection of local producers, cheesemakers, olive oil purveyors, and charcuterie artisans all under one roof. Pick up a coffee and walk the market before heading north on 29. Allow 30 minutes to browse; it's worth it. Ritual's consistency is exceptional and the Oxbow setting is one of the more pleasant spaces in downtown Napa.
Late Morning — By Appointment
2252 Sulphur Springs Avenue, St. Helena, CA · (707) 963-1284
The heart of the journey. Chase Cellars produces wines from the Hayne Vineyard in St. Helena — one of Napa Valley's most historically significant Zinfandel sites, with old vines that predate Prohibition. Russell Bevan brings his characteristically precise, polished winemaking to a lineup spanning the bright Russian River Field Blend through the commanding Hayne Vineyard Cabernet. This is the living expression of the Bourn legacy: meticulous, rooted, and unmistakably Californian. Tasting by appointment Wednesday through Saturday.
Lunch — Choose One
Gott's: 933 Main St · Guigni's: 1227 Main St, St. Helena, CA · Both open from 9–11am
Gott's Roadside is an open-air drive-in on the main drag — timeless and effortless. The Ahi burger, the garlic fries, and the classic cheeseburger are all excellent. The shakes are non-negotiable. Eat at a picnic table under the oak tree and remind yourself this is technically just a burger stand.
Guigni's Deli has been a St. Helena institution since 1935 — a gloriously sassy sandwich shop with hand-made subs, the legendary Guigni Juice, Mexican Squirt, Flamin' Hots, and walls covered in irreverent memorabilia. Go for the vibes as much as the sandwich; both are excellent.
Afternoon
2555 Main Street, St. Helena, CA · (707) 967-1100
The Culinary Institute of America's West Coast campus occupies the remarkable 1889 Greystone Cellars building — a massive stone winery and a piece of Valley history in its own right. The public areas include a well-stocked culinary shop, a remarkable antique corkscrew collection, rotating student exhibitions, and a palpable sense of craft and institution. Check the calendar for cooking demonstrations or public events that coincide with your visit.
Dinner
2555 Main Street, St. Helena, CA · (707) 967-2300 · Tue–Sat, dinner from 5:30pm
One of the best-value fine dining experiences in Napa Valley — a multi-course student-run restaurant inside the CIA's Greystone building that consistently punches well above its price point. Guests compare it to James Beard-level quality. The front of house is meticulous, the kitchen sends out dishes that hit every register, and the whole experience ends later than intended because nobody wants to leave. Reservations essential — book well in advance.
Fine dining alternatives: Violetto at Alila — farm-driven Italian-California, beautiful room, excellent wine program. Auberge du Soleil — hillside terrace dining with sweeping Valley views, ideal if you're staying there for the night.
Where to Stay — Night Two
The Grand Perch
Perched on a hillside above Rutherford with sweeping views of the Valley floor, Auberge du Soleil is one of the most evocative luxury experiences in California wine country. Terrace dining, a world-class spa, and a sense of romantic elevation — literally and figuratively — that no other Valley property quite replicates. The restaurant terrace at sunset is worth a reservation whether or not you're staying. For those who want the quintessential Napa night.
The terrace at golden hour is one of the great views in California wine country.
Modern Vineyard
A beautifully designed contemporary resort with vineyard views, a refined pool terrace, and Violetto — a farm-driven Italian-California restaurant that makes a compelling case for staying in for dinner. Clean, modern, and thoroughly Californian without rustic affectation. An excellent alternate dinner if you'd prefer not to drive to Gatehouse after a full day.
Alternate dinner: Violetto at Alila — Italian-California, thoughtful wine program, beautiful room.
Old School Charm
A mid-century motel right on Main Street in St. Helena that has been quietly delighting guests for decades. Heated pool, hot tub, sauna, continental breakfast, and a retro roadside personality that no amount of boutique hotel renovation can manufacture. Walk to Gott's, Guigni's, and the tasting rooms. Genuinely good value for the Valley and a character that the bigger properties simply cannot match.
For those who appreciate unpretentious character and a vintage California vibe.
The drive: St. Helena → Filoli (Woodside) is approximately 1 hour 30 minutes via Highway 29 South and US-101 South. A relaxed 9am departure puts you at Filoli by 10:30am — right at opening. Or see the scenic alternative below.
Brunch Before You Leave — Choose One
738 Main Street, St. Helena, CA · (707) 963-4555
The most satisfying send-off from the Valley. Farmstead is set in a beautifully restored barn on the Long Meadow Ranch property — a working farm, winery, and restaurant that sources almost everything from the property or its neighbors. The brunch menu is seasonal, generous, and consistently excellent. The outdoor patio is one of the most pleasant places to linger in St. Helena on a morning.
Alternatives heading south through Napa: Winston's (1517 3rd St, Napa — excellent bagels and breakfast bowls, open 7am) or Grace's Table (1400 2nd St, Napa — farm-to-table brunch, generous portions, open 9am) if you're routing through Napa city first.
Mid-Morning
86 Cañada Road, Woodside, CA · (650) 364-8300 · Open 10am–5pm daily
This is where the Bourn story reaches its fullest expression — and where the entire journey earns its meaning. William Bowers Bourn II built Filoli between 1915 and 1917, naming it from his personal credo: Fight for a just cause; Love your fellow man; Live a good life. The result is a 54,000-square-foot Georgian Revival mansion surrounded by 16 acres of formal English Renaissance gardens set against the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Plan at least three hours. The self-guided mansion tour moves through libraries, a grand ballroom, and drawing rooms that feel unchanged from the Bourn era. The gardens shift with the seasons — wisteria, peonies, roses, dahlias — and the one-mile California Loop Trail winds through redwood, oak, and chaparral beyond the formal grounds. Daily guided talks at noon and 2pm add depth.
Film note: Filoli doubled as the Carrington family mansion in the 1980s series Dynasty. Those sweeping exterior shots of the "Denver estate" were filmed right here in Woodside.
Lunch
On-site at Filoli · 86 Cañada Road, Woodside, CA
Stay on the property and eat in the gardens. The Filoli café offers a seasonal menu of soups, salads, sandwiches, and pastries served in the on-site dining room or on the garden terrace. The food is good, the setting is quietly spectacular, and staying on-site means you don't lose time to a drive during the best part of your visit. On weekends, the Bluebird Bar opens for garden-side cocktails in the afternoon — a natural end to a perfect visit.
Dinner — Three Ways to End the Journey
Woodside Evening
Woodside & Portola Valley, CA
Buck's of Woodside — 3062 Woodside Road. The Peninsula's most eccentric institution. Deliberately deranged décor (space shuttle model, taxidermy, memorabilia wall-to-wall), and a Silicon Valley power-breakfast scene that's been playing out since 1991. More venture capital deals have reportedly been struck over pancakes here than anywhere else on earth. The food is good; the vibe is one-of-a-kind. Open for dinner nightly.
Rossotti's Alpine Inn — 3915 Alpine Road, Portola Valley. Established 1852 — one of the oldest continuously operating bars in California. An open-air beer garden in the Portola Valley hills: picnic tables, oak trees, ribs, pizza, cold beer, and a clientele that runs from tech executives to equestrians (hitching posts are provided). The right call on a warm evening. Casual, historic, unlike anywhere else on the Peninsula.
The Village Pub — 2967 Woodside Road. Michelin-starred fine dining in a warm, unpretentious room on Woodside's main road. The cooking is California-seasonal with classical technique — a wine list that knows exactly where it is, and front-of-house that earns every course. The choice if you want the journey to end with a proper, memorable meal. Reservations recommended; dinner nightly, weekend lunch.
✦ Scenic Alternative — For Those Not in a Rush
Rather than driving straight south on US-101 from Napa, consider crossing the Golden Gate Bridge and taking Highway 280 south through the Peninsula. Leave St. Helena by 9am, drive south through Napa and Marin, cross the bridge around 10:30–11am with a stop at the Vista Point overlook on the north side, then continue via San Francisco's 19th Avenue to 280 South toward Woodside. The detour adds roughly 45–60 minutes but rewards you with one of the most iconic approaches to the Peninsula — and 280 runs directly above Crystal Springs Reservoir, the same watershed the Bourn family owned and that flows through the grounds of Filoli itself. A fitting final arc. You'll arrive at Filoli around 12:30–1pm, in time for lunch at the café before your afternoon in the gardens.
Where to Stay — Night Three
Luxury Ranch
The definitive Peninsula luxury experience. Rosewood Sand Hill feels like a private Californian ranch estate — low-slung buildings, rolling oak-studded grounds, an exceptional spa, and one of the better wine lists in the Bay Area. The restaurant Madera is worth a dinner reservation in its own right. This is where the tech world goes when it wants to feel like old money, and it pulls it off beautifully.
Intimate & Private
A handful of lovingly restored cottages in the Woodside hills, minutes from Filoli. Antique furnishings, garden views, a wood-burning fireplace, and no lobby to speak of. For travelers who want privacy over amenity — a place that feels borrowed from another era entirely.
Coastal Drama
Perched on the cliffs above the Pacific, 20 minutes from Woodside. Ocean-view rooms, a cliff-edge fire pit terrace, and the kind of sunset that renders conversation unnecessary. If Half Moon Bay rings a bell cinematically, you may be thinking of John Carpenter's The Fog (1980) — this stretch of Highway 1 has long been a favorite of film crews.
Best for those who want to end the journey watching the Pacific from a bluff with a final glass of BOURN in hand.
Before You Go
Recommended Reading
The Last Bonanza Kings: The Bourns of San Francisco
The definitive history of the Bourn family — from the silver mines of the Comstock Lode and the staggering wealth of the Empire Mine, to the construction of Filoli and the final twilight of a California dynasty. Ferol Egan writes with the narrative momentum of a novelist and the research depth of a historian. Reading it before the trip transforms every stop from a pretty place into a living chapter of a story you already know. It is, simply, essential company for this journey.
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Bring the Journey Home
The wines that carry the Bourn name — made by Russell Bevan from the Hayne Vineyard — are available now. Find your match with our wine quiz, or explore the full lineup.
The Route
In the Footsteps of the Bourns
Grass Valley → St. Helena → Filoli & the Peninsula · ~430 miles
Day 01
Gold Country
- Empire Mine State Park
- Bourn Cottage
- Tofanelli's — Breakfast
- Marshall's Pasties — Lunch
- Downtown Grass Valley
- Diego's — Dinner
Day 02
Napa Valley
- Model Bakery — Breakfast
- Ritual Coffee — Oxbow
- Chase Cellars Tasting
- Gott's or Guigni's — Lunch
- CIA at Greystone
- Gatehouse — Dinner
Day 03
The Peninsula
- Farmstead — Brunch
- Filoli Estate & Gardens
- Café at Filoli — Lunch
- Buck's, Alpine Inn
- or Village Pub — Dinner
Click any pin to open in Google Maps with turn-by-turn directions