Napa Valley - September 2009

We booked a long weekend trip for Napa during Labor Day weekend taking the chance that it wouldn't be too crowded or too hot.  It turned out to be a perfect weekend of exploring and tasting lots of wine.  We flew into Oakland and rented a car to drive to Napa.

On Friday, we visited Napa's downtown tasting rooms.  On Saturday, we visited Artesa, V. Sattui, Del Dotto and Van Der Heyden.  On Sunday, we visited Plumpjack, Mondavi, and Cakebread.

I read the book "A Moveable Thirst" before our trip and it helped me learn a lot about wine and wine making.  It is a great book that is informative and funny at the same time.  This book goes through 2 guys' personal experience at several tasting rooms, but then will break away to educate you about wine.

We chose Napa as our base for our first visit to the Valley.  We stayed at the Embassy Suites (TA Review) and we were able to walk downtown our first day and we had easy access to the highway to explore the rest of the Valley.

It is tough figuring out an itinerary as there are lots of wineries and restaurants and you just can't do it all in one weekend!  We focused on staying in certain areas each day, although Saturday really didn't fit this idea, because our friends really wanted to go to V. Sattui and we really wanted to see the views from Artesa.  I'm really glad we went to Artesa, because they had the best views of all the wineries we visited.

We definitely plan to go back again and stay in Sonoma and Calistoga to explore those areas.

Our itinerary included:

FRIDAY

After arriving and checking into our hotel, we went to find the La Esperanza Taco Truck.  I heard about this taco truck on the Napa forum on TripAdvisor and we set out to find it when we arrived in Napa Friday afternoon. It was right where they said it would be, at Soscol Ave and Napa St. across from the Westin and Wine Train.

You just walk up and order and take it to go or stand around the truck eating. We opted for the latter as it was such a nice day. We ordered tacos: shrimp, fish, pork and carnitas. I'd have to say the carnitas were pretty darn good. They serve seeded jalapenos with them and they are soo good too.

After lunch and a little rest, we visited downtown Napa tasting rooms.  We bought the tasting card online for $20 which allowed us tastings at 14 places in the downtown area. The tasting you would get by showing the card varied at all the places, but it was usually 2 tastes.

It was a nice way to get acquainted with tasting wine and asking questions. It was also nice that we could just walk all over downtown as well. We tasted at (in this order):

Wineries of Napa Valley - 3 tastes. We ended up buying a bottle of 2006 Goosecross Syrah here for dinner that night. The card allows you to have the corkage fee removed, just have the winery put a sticker on the bottle too.

Trahan Winery and Olabisi Winery - 2 tastes. We liked their tasting room, it was all black with some barrels and a big mirror. We bought a bottle of 2005 Olabisi Petite Sirah from JW Warehouse. I may have become a fan of Petite Sirah because of this wine.

X Winery - 5 tastes, they'll let you taste whatever is open basically. Our least favorite wine though. I wanted to drink a lot of water afterwards.

Ceja - 2 tastes. Nice tasting room with bar and menu. We overheard the pourer talking to another couple about some "liquid gold" and we asked nicely for a taste and he gave us a little of the port. Another couple came in to buy some chocolate sauce and we asked about that as well. He let us have a taste as well. We ended up buying a case of that for Christmas presents and they were a big hit!

Napa General Store - 2 tastes. These were quick and small pours. Not really impressed by anything although the pourer was really nice.

Silo's - Either 2 tastes or 1 big pour. This is a cool place that is a night club with a doorman, black decor, and black table clothes. We sat at a table and the server brought us our tastes. There was a guy playing guitar and singing. They have various performers in the evenings as well.

We had dinner at Allegria (Yelp Review)

SATURDAY 

After getting some coffee at a local coffee shop, we headed to the Napa Farmer's Market.  It's located on the north side of the Wine Train. It's 730 - 1200 Tues and Sat from May to Oct.  We wanted to check it out to get snacks and fruit while we were there and to take with us when wine tasting in the valley. There was one stand that had awesome nectarines. One of the guys was yelling he had the best fruit in town and had pieces out for tasting. We ended up buying his fruit and some hummus from a lady. This is a great market with several booths of fruit, veges, eggs, etc.

Artesa - We went there to check out the views and to see if we could see San Francisco from there. We could make out the buildings downtown, but it wasn't completely clear. We didn't taste here, but the grounds are pretty cool and modern.

 V. Sattui - Our friends wanted to take us here.  Wow, this winery gets crowded! They also only sell their wines there. Our friend with us had VIP passes, so we got to go into the tasting room in the basement. They say you get 6 tastes, but you could really have whatever you asked for. It was a little busy in there as well, but I didn't see the tasting room upstairs to compare.  At first, the pourer wasn't interested in explaining the wines to us and would pour us all the same thing when someone wanted something different. We finally got him engaged when we asked about making Maderia and ports. We bought a bottle of the Maderia and 2007 Zinfandel.  They supposedly have great grounds for picnicking. It was so crowded there and in the store to buy sandwiches. We ended up having to rush off to a tasting appointment and eating our Margherita and Mozzeralla Turkey in the car.

Del Dotto Vineyards - We chose this winery for the cave tour.  We had a 3pm Sat reservation ($40 pp). We got to taste several (6 or 7) wines from the barrel. Our tour guide made it a lot of fun, but his ways of trying to sell you the wine at the end were a little humorous, a little pushy. This is a place to go for fun and it gets a little loud. At the end of the cave tour, they give you some cheese, meat and crackers and pour you more wine. The last wine they poured was actually pretty good. It was a 2007 Giovanni's Tuscan Reserve (75% Cab, 25% Sangiovese) $85. We just aren't the type of couple to spend more than $40-$45 on wine.

Van Der Heyden Vineyards - We left Del Dotto with some friends that didn't go on the tour, but waited for us. They wanted to hit another winery. We decided on Van Der Heyden, because it was one of the few wineries close by that were open until 6pm. Most wineries close by 5pm.  When we arrived there were only 2 other groups there, when we left it was packed. The tasting area is outside next to the house under an old car port. We decided to share a tasting at this point ($10). They poured 5 wines outside. Then, we went into a little air conditioned room where the winemaker, Andre, poured us a late harvest Cabernet. It's sweet like a port. You can buy a small bottle of it right there for $55. Online you can only get a whole bottle for $125.

We had dinner at Celadon (Yelp Review)

SUNDAY

PlumpJack - We were driving around on our way to Mondavi and was early, so we stopped to visit this winery.  The grounds here are pretty cool. They have a long driveway leading up to the tasting room that goes through the vineyards. We ended up sharing the tasting here, $10 for 3 tastes. The servers were super nice.

Before our Robert Mondavi tour, we headed to the Oakville Grocery Store for lunch. They have a deli and sandwiches and lots of snacks. I asked the guy behind the counter what he recommended. We ordered the Mediterranean Chicken and Beef and Bleu based on his recommendations. We started out sitting in front of the store, but the traffic from the road was a little loud. We went around back and found a picnic table under a tree...much nicer. The Beef and Bleu was probably the better sandwich.

Robert Mondavi Winery - Robert Mondavi's Cabernet was my first favorite wine and we used to drink a lot of it, so I really wanted to visit the winery.  I called and made a reservation for 12pm a month and a half in advance, but somehow it got messed up or lost or something. We ended up getting a 1230pm Signature Tour ($25 pp). Our tour started in a room telling us about different regions of wine in CA and some history on Mondavi. We went out to the demo vineyard and was told about the vines and harvesting. We went into the cellar and saw wine fermenting in hugh barrels and then went to where the barrels are stored to sit for a couple of years. We ended the tour in a room with a huge dining table for a sit down tasting of 3 wines plus a port.  The tour group was 16 people and went 1.5 hours. I thought it was a little too long. Our group like to ask questions though.

Cakebread - We chose to go here since their wine is usually expensive in the stores.  This was probably our favorite winery on this trip. We had a 2pm reservation. When you turn into the place, you are stopped by a guy that has a list with your name on it.  After checking in, we were given a glass of wine while we waited for everyone to get together. Our tour guide took us in to see their barrels and up to a room overlooking vineyards to have a sit down tasting. We had 5 more wines. For someone that doesn't like Pinot Noir, I have to say their 2006 was pretty good. We really liked their wine. And, we got to keep our glass that has Cakebread etching.  I'd have to say this was probably the best tasting experience on this trip. It's only $10 pp and you get information, a small tour, several pours and you get to keep the glass.

We had dinner at Bottega (Yelp Review)

**Things to remember when wine tasting in Napa Valley:  drink water, eat, and don't visit too many in one day.  We brought a collapsible cooler with us and carried water and food in it.  I thought tasting at 3 wineries a day was plenty!  You can always visit wineries without tasting like we did at Artesa or share tastings, which we did at Van Der Heyden and PlumpJack.