Go: House Family Vineyards

Simply Silicon Valley is back after a 6-week break to tend to my main job, parenting. Now that my children are settled into school, I'm eager to continue sharing ideas to help you live the good life on less: less stress, less time, less money, less hassle. I launched this website six months ago with the vision of helping readers make Silicon Valley home, with all of its intensity and expense. New residents are especially on my mind right now, as summertime is when most people move. It's so hard to settle into a new city, it takes a lot of time and energy. My hope is that this website can offer ideas and encouragement to newbies finding their way around this sprawling, fast-paced, beautiful place.

Today's idea for a place to go is House Family Vineyards. Nestled on a hilltop in Saratoga, the setting is breathtaking and the wine, divine. Even the architecture is impressive: they've designed a beautiful indoor/outdoor tasting room that is open air for summer and closes up tight for winter. The winery is centrally located, yet while there you feel you've been transported to Napa.

We took my sister when she visited last week. All of our children came with us; they each brought a book, and we nestled them into some chairs to read while we tasted. It worked like a charm! The environment is family (and dog) friendly, while maintaining a peaceful adult atmosphere.

House Family Vineyards is open Saturdays and Sundays from 12-5 pm and a tasting is $12. If you join their Wine Club, you can visit anytime and get a free tasting for yourself and up to three guests. This is something to seriously consider: you can make it your home-away-from-home and pop in regularly for quiet solitary reading time, for a date, with friends, or with out-of-town guests.

Enjoy exploring this vineyard in your backyard. Cin cin, santé, salud!

Photographs by Monet Eliastam.