NAPA VALLEY, California - From any vantage point here in the Napa Valley, the Holy Grail of wine destinations, the view is spectacular. Row after row of perfectly planted grape vines, green and lush in the summer heat, for as far as the eye can see. Sprinkled throughout are the grand estates that make up some of the most famous names in wine today — Mondavi, Beringer, Phelps, Merryvale, Opus One, Beaulieu, Chateau Montelena, Coppola and Dominus.

Napa is planted to vines in nearly every available inch of land from north to south and east to west on the hills that hug the valley. It's not surprising then, that mysteriously lacking from the landscape are the beautifully manicured golf courses that would grow so magnificently in the ideal climate here.

The reason is simple. With land planted to grapes costing more that $100,000 an acre, imagine starting a public course in Napa Valley that requires at least 150 acres? I'll let you do the math, but suffice to say it's a lot of moola, the kind of moola that makes it impractical to build golf courses no matter what you think you can charge per round.

There are but a few courses that attract a steady stream of wine lovers who need a break from the hundreds of wineries that beckon.

Most notably is the 27-hole championship Chardonnay Golf Club with three distinct nines that meander through 325 acres of Chardonnay and Merlot vineyards and feature numerous lakes, creeks, crossings and wide variety of flora and fauna. There's also the spectacular Silverado Resort featuring two 18-hole championship golf courses covering 360 acres of lush vegetation, ponds, lakes and trees that arch over the fairways. After that there are a couple of private and semi-private courses and a few beautiful nine-hole tracks but, understandably, with land at a premium and pretty much planted to vines, the choices are minimal. This is wine country; one of the most concentrated regions in the world for wine touring that attracts wine lovers the world over.

The beauty of touring in Napa is the proximity of wineries to each other. You can literally walk straight up Highway 29 and taste wines for days on end. Highway 29 is the most famous wine route in the world with the largest concentration of wineries outside of Bordeaux and Burgundy. And it only begins on Highway 29. On the opposite side of the Valley, take the north-south Silverado Trail for a similar wine adventure with equally exciting, although less known, wineries. Still haven't had enough? Take any east-west side road between Highway 29 and the Silverado Trail and discover out of the way wineries that are lined up one after another.

With over 400 (and counting) wineries in Napa, a trip here cannot be done in a day. I have spent a week in the Valley, drinking and tasting wine (sacrificing food and sleep) at a steady clip, and only made it to a fraction of the wineries I wanted to visit. Thankfully, I have returned many times to discover amazing wines run by friendly tasting room staff who are only too happy to help you discover the joy of Napa Valley wine. If you love wine, there is no greater place on earth to whet your whistle. But a word of warning for first-time tasters: Always spit your wine when you taste, never drive, and pace yourself or you'll find yourself a victim of over-indulgence. There's plenty of time to relax with a good bottle of wine at the end of the day at one of the fabulous restaurants that feature local wines.

You'll find most wineries in Napa extremely consumer-friendly. Most are open to the public and have magnificent tasting rooms and extensive tours either guided or self-guided. Some charge a small fee to taste their wines while others don't charge at all for their basic wines. For the good stuff, the super-premium wines you read about in books, the wines you dream about, you'll pay a little more to taste. The extra money is well worth it as you many never get another chance.

Your wine trip to Napa should be well planned but a perfect place to start is at the south end of Highway 29 in the famous Oakville cluster of wineries. At the Oakville Crossroads and Highway 29 intersection, the famous estates of Opus One, Robert Mondavi, Niebaum-Coppola (yes, that Coppola, you know the Godfather, Apocalypse Now?), and some less famous but equally sensational wineries, Sequoia Grove, Cakebread and Turnbull are clustered together and all within stumbling distance.