Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson, author of such notable works as Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, helped put Napa Valley on the map in his chapter "Napa Wine," in his The Silverado Squatters. by drawing the attention of his world-wide audience to the region in the early 1880's. The Silverado Squatters was based on his real life adventures while honeymooning in Borlandville on Mount St. Helena. He wrote, "…the wine is like bottled poetry." The Native North American Wappo people named the valley Napa, meaning "valley of plenty." The first American to plant grapes in this fertile valley was a North Carolina man named George Yount. Franciscan monks and German immigrants, however, were the area's first significant winemakers. They recognised the foundation for superior viticulture in Napa Valley's similarity of climate and topography to that of European wine country. The mix of mountain and valley vineyards has made for a wide range of microclimates that allowed Napa to become one of the most distinct winemaking regions in the world. Napa Valley draws over five million visitors each year-from around the world. It is located approximately fifty miles north of San Francisco on U.S. route 29. The San Pablo Bay marks the valley's southern border the natural hot springs of Calistoga demarcates the northern edge. The Mayacamas Mountains form the Napa Valley's western side and separate it from Sonoma. Finally, Mount St. Helena's foothills gird the eastern side. Napa Valley is only 25 miles long and approximately 10 miles wide. Yet with some 34,000 acres of vineyards, and more than 240 wineries, Napa Valley is clearly one of the world's most densely concentrated wine region. "American wine" and "Napa Valley" have become synonymous … almost interchangeable. Napa is most often compared to Italy's Tuscany area or the Bordeaux region in France, emphasising a decidedly European flavour to California. A third of the grapevines growing in Napa County are Cabernet Sauvignon. To connoisseurs around the world, the name Napa signifies great wines and here Cabernet Sauvignon is the varietal king.