I'm not a fan of V. Sattui at all. Sorry. I'm a bit of a wine snob though and love big Napa cab. I'm in the wine clubs so my typically stops are Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Pine Ridge, cut over the Oakville cross to Silver Oak. Then stop in at Oakville grocer and go to the Reserve tasting room at Mondavi. I live in SF so I can do often. Phelps makes great wines and my favorite, the Insignia (2002 vintage is Wine Spectator's wine of the Year). Their tasting isn't that great. Love Rombauer. Love Caymus but not a good tasting room. Nickel & Nickel is good wine and a decent tasting with a reservation. Oh well, just my two cents.
listen to haxxxter on this (I'd forgotten to mention Pine Ridge - another of my favorites); Silver Oak is fantastic, but the pricing on that has gotten a bit out of control trust me, though, especially if you go to Stag's Leap, make sure to stop by Cliff Lede - pretty close to Stag's Leap (location wise), and very good
Bump. Although I've been out here a few years, we haven't gone up nearly as much as I would like, and we've opted for more quiet days in Sonoma than Napa. Inspired by this thread, we hit Napa this weekend. Thanks 1990txgirl for a great itinerary, although we didn't really follow it after the first few stops. However, starting off with an 11am champagne tasting at Domain Carneros was lovely - great setting (ok, a Disney Chateau, but the grounds are beautiful), and I'll disagree with Texas97 - the sparklings were far more than alright. They poured a late disgorged that was particularly nice - approaching that elusive buttery toast style of aged French Champagne that I love. Clos du Val was a nice setting, and a few of the wines were good, but I wasn't all that impressed. They finished with a Lodi Zin that I thought was particularly overbaked – it’s tricky making wines out there, and most of what I've had from that region isn't to my taste. Like a watery tawny port. We did make it to Stag's Leap, and this was a real highlight - not only generous pours but (predictably) fabulous wines. We ended up taking a Chardonnay and a Merlot for a lunch at Rutherford Grille (no corkage there, as recommended by our pourer at Stag’s Leap). Wasn't sure about the place when we arrived - kind of corporate "Houston's" look to it - but everything on the table, including my ahi tuna burger, was great. Did a taste next door at BV afterwards that was expectedly underwhelming. The other standouts were fantastic wines at Grgich Hills, and a few real great wines at ZD - you know that after a long day of tasting if you can still taste something interesting it's a pretty nice wine. Ended at Clos Pegasse, with good to fair wines and an abomination of architecture, but that's another story. I had last gone to Napa years ago when I didn't know where I was going. I never strayed far from highway 12 and came away from the whole experience nonplussed (and more likely to wind my way through Kenwood as a result). But I was surprised with the feel of many of the places we went too off of Silverado - relaxed and low-key.
I'll throw in Quintessa. The wine with their sample cheeses was fantastic. And Go to Mustard's....Get the quail... Forget about it...
I was there a couple of weeks ago, and I am surprised no one mentioned: Grgich Hills Cabernet. It is the most award winning Cab in the valley and their 1999, 2000 and 2001 are all outstanding in particular their Yountville Selection which is one of the very few 100% cabs you will find. Tasting was free there because we bought wine. Twomey - This place is outstanding though somewhat pricey. The best merlots that I have tasted and they just released some new Pinot Noir. Merryvale - has some good stuff Stag's Leap Cellars - Cask 23 is really outstanding Lewis Cellars - Very small but incredible particularly thier Chardonnay Jordan - Small and a pretty good srive up there, but also voted best winery several years running. Rosenblum - makes some very bold highly tannic zinfandels that are inexpensive. Markhum - liked this one Cakebread - mentioned and everyone raves about it. I have given it 3 shots and personally think it is the most over rated, over priced crap out there. I think people must think it is a cool name and give it great reviews. Overall I am terribly disappointed though I though their Savuignon Blanc was pretty good.
I think you should check out the Del Dotto cave tours. Make sure to make a reservation. This is a 1.5 hour tour, cost is $40 per person, but they make great cabs that are traditionally >91-93 points by Robert Parker et al. Make it your last stop of the day, but make sure you aren't buzzed going in -- they pour A LOT of wine and it is really good stuff. At the end they let you taste their vintage ports. Make sure to ask to try more than the one or two they feature on the tour.
With this thread and the previous Napa thread, I am confident that I will have a good outing. Any travel guide suggestions are also appreciated...
After spending 2 days of wine-tasting, if I could do it again, I would do 1 day and about 5 wineries. Stay in SF instead of Napa as well. We stayed with a friend of mine who has an apt in SF in a great area but then went to Napa 1 day, spent 1 night in Calistoga and then back down Napa the 2nd day and back to SF. But after 2 days and 10 wineries, I was pretty "wined-out". And honestly Calistoga wasn't as nice as I had hoped.
Can anyone recommend a place in Napa that has the best or a really good Pinot Grigio...my wife loves that stuff.
There aren't many vineyards in Napa that do a pinot grigio. I personally haven't tried it but Ferrari Carano in Sonoma might be worth a try. They have some pretty good wines and I would assume their pinot grigio would also be nice. They also have a really nice facility and it is well worth the drive up there to go see it.
My GF and I did the 5 wineries in one day thing and it was perfect. Be careful if you drive out there bc there are a lot of po-po. The one vineyard that sticks out in my mind immediately is Silverado and their Sangiovese was excellent. It sits high on the valley and the views are great. It think its off of the Old Sonoma road, IIRC.
****, I started reading down through the posts and got to the third one and said...."damn, that guy likes the same **** I do"... And, it was ME from two years ago. As for somebody wanting good Pinot Grigio.... I think Cakebread has a really good Pinot Grigio. And, try Sterling.
Was out there with my wife two years ago and most of the high points have been hit. One small out of the way that was mentioned is Steltzner. It is family run. They do the tour and the tasting. Make a very nice Sangiovesse (I am sure I screwed the spelling) and a very nice Port made from Merlot. My wife doesn't like strong reds and loves this stuff. In truth, there are several places like this up there that you have to have some time to literally find by accident. Great place though.
So if you have to hit up either Beringer or Mondavi, which would you recommend? I know they're both the more bigger commercialized wineries but my wife drinks both and wants to at least visit one of them. Then we plan on hitting up a couple smaller local wineries as well. So which do you feel is the better one to hit up?
I cannot recommend the Far Niente tour/tasting enough. Outstanding location and grounds, great wines, cool caves, and a nice car collection. It is expensive ($50 per person) but worth it in my opinion.
The coppola vineyard has changed over to Rubicon now right? Also if you are into the sparkling wines at all you should and hit Domaine Carneros as well as Chandon. It is an impressive looking place. Their tour was pretty neat i think? (4th stop of the day and I generally do more than just taste!!) My wife and I drink more of their stuff than any other sparkiling wine.
