What's new

Just visited Napa, biiig mistake!!!

Took the wife to Napa for the first time. This was the most concentrated wine tasting experience I've had, visited 6 vineyards in 3 days. I was always a pretty cheap wine drinker before, Bota box was fine for me (the wife is a bit more refined) but now we have graduated (perhaps unwillingly for myself) to the next level of 50+ dollar wines!

Learned a lot about the process while we were there as well.

So not only are "lesser" wines somewhat ruined for me now, the wife insists on cracking open one of our new bottles each time a friend visits. This adds up fast!! Plus we are now club members of at least one vineyard, possibly more if I signed the wrong part of an order sheet :)

So visit with caution, the cost of the trip isn't the end of the expense [emoji14]

For those interested, the recent fires did do a number on many places but looks like most of the valley is ok. 'Smoke Taint' will apparently be an issue but they don't always know until they are ready to bottle. But on the plus side a year of closed restaurants means a stockpile for some places so prices may be pretty good at your favorite winery if they didn't have a distribution deal with a retail outlet.
 
Bingo. We made a trip to Napa and Sonoma a few years ago. We were there for a week. We joined five wine clubs. What started to kill us was the cost of shipping. The first one we joined was Sterling. If you joined that one you got a "free" Platinum wine tasting. The wine was fantastic. At the time, it looked like a good deal. One of our wine selections was a Cab with a retail cost of $75 a bottle. The Wine Club price was "only $68" each for two bottles - plus $12 for shipping. When we got home I found I could have paid $70 a bottle at Total Wine with no shipping charges.

After our initial commitment was fulfilled we dropped out of all of the Clubs except one: Ledson Winery since that is not available anywhere else. Plus, that winery is the most elegant one we have ever seen. Last year we put our membership on hold. But if you ever get back make a trip to this place.

 

Owen Bawn

Garden party cupcake scented
I hear you. I have turned down glasses of 30 year Port because I knew it would ruin the taste of the $17 stuff I usually buy.
 
@jason10mm glad you guys were able to visit and enjoyed it, Napa is a neat experience. Was it crowded? Hopefully you got to enjoy some good food too, there’s some killer restaurants!

Now I really want to go back...
 
congrats! napa makes a great trip!

wine 4112.jpg
 
Lived there a few years ago, still a member of a few wineries...Imagery and Venge.
In 2015 we vacationed in SF, but took a couple days to visit family in Sebastopol. On the drive back to SF, we came down the Sonoma Valley and visited a few wineries, including Imagery, because a family member designed a bottle label and they have a relationship with the winery. The wife has had several cases of Imagery wine delivered to FL. It was easy to see how people get involved with the wine culture in Northern CA!
 
I lived in the East Bay about 20 years ago. I used to make day trips or a weekend trip up to Napa. One of my favorite local vineyards was Milat. It was a small family owned operation and made a handful of wines. I would recommend people new to wine to stop by there and try the chocolate port and the chenin blanc. For people who were out of town and wanted to rent a place to stay for the weekend, Milat also had a couple rooms it rented out for visitors. Unfortunately, Milat closed down about ten years ago.

Another local favorite was/is V. Sattui. I still recommend people go there. One of my favorite things to do there with friends was to buy a bottle of wine and enjoy it with a picnic (either bring your own picnic food or buy from their deli) either at their picnic tables or anywhere picnicking was allowed. I still have an unopened bottle of V. Sattui's madeira I bought from around 20 years ago. It's not that I planned to age it, but rather I kept forgetting about opening it and have finally decided to open it only for some celebration.

Another favorite Napa vineyard of mine is Heitz Cellars. It's a smaller vineyard, but it does have distribution agreements with some outside vendors. Heitz has been known to make some pretty good red wines. That said, there have also been years when some of its reds weren't quite ready for drinking. But as a whole, I do like Heitz.

For those who have never been to Napa, I also recommend stopping at Domaine Carneros just for the views. They have an indoor/outdoor sampling area where visitors can enjoy a selection of finger foods with a sample flight of bubbling wines. The building and nearby grounds are impressive and picturesque. It's worth a visit just for that, if nothing else.

Still, I think I prefer Sonoma over Napa. It's quieter and there's more to do there. I took a girlfriend to Sonoma for her birthday one weekend. We stayed in a cozy but lovely private cottage tucked away in the woods somewhere. We also went horseback riding through the hillside, had a picnic in a park, went wine tasting, and wandered around downtown Sonoma. I'm trying to remember what all else we did, but it's been a while and my memory was never the best.
 
I'm lucky enough to live just half an hour away from Napa and Sonoma. SWMBO and I had a destination wedding (for our families) at Gloria Ferrer, and so we're members there. We, too, tend to prefer Sonoma over Napa. Whichever you choose, though...so many good wineries, so little time...

We like Gloria Ferrer, Buena Vista, Castello di Amorosa (look up the history - it's awesome), plus Hop Monk Tavern for food and beer.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom