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.
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.