This will probably be my last pre-post-employment adventure post! Coming soon ~ new adventures!
As mentioned on the In Vino Veritas page, we’ve been going to Napa a bunch over the last 15-20 years. It’s changed A LOT over that timeframe. When we first traveled there, wine was much cheaper, tastings were free or a token amount, and you often got to keep the tasting glasses! It was such a great deal. Well, as the Napa wines have been recognized more and more for their quality and gained a cache versus European wines, the prices have increased and the deals disappeared. We still went - how could we not? The wines just suit us so much. That’s not to say that wines from other regions are not also delightful, we are big fans of the California central coast wines, for example, but there is nothing (to my taste) that competes with Napa Cabernet Sauvignons for my “favorite” wine.
Having said that, we are hoping to enjoy many, many more wine regions throughout the US (and the world) and will make a point to report back. In the mean time, I thought I'd share what I think is the best improvement in the Napa experience. It used to be that, with very few exceptions, the nicer the tasting room, the less likely we were going to like the wine. That has definitely changed and our last visit (this past spring), we enjoyed amazing wines poured for us in some beautiful tasting rooms with amazing views. Here are some highlights:
We went for the first time this spring to Stag's Leap Wine Cellars - not to be confused with the Stag's Leap Winery. That's right - there are two of them and they are very different! Stag's Leap Wine Cellars was one of the California wineries that won the Judgement of Paris in the 70s (see Bottle Shock and Wikipedia). So, obviously, the winery has been around for a long time, but the tasting room is new. And fabulous. Check out the view - it was inspiring:
Right next door is Odette, which one of our FAVORITE tasting rooms. It’s not that old, has great views of the hills, an outside patio and really comfortable furniture inside. Oh, and did I mention they have fabulous cabernet sauvignons? Their Adaptation line is probably my favorite, but all the cabs are amazing. They are also part of the Plump Jack family of wines (which includes Cade and Plump Jack). One of the times we visited, our server found out how much I loved the wines and offered me a taste test of the flagship Estate Cab for each of the brands. I was able to get them 100% right!!! (Craig only got 1 - ha!) The photos below are not from this spring's visit, but give you a good idea of why I like it:
One of my new favorites is the new Faust house tasting room - it’s a Victorian house with lots of devil/angel overtones that really appeals to the melodrama in my soul. The first floor is decorated in dark and heavy furniture/themes and gets lighter as you go up the floors. Check out the crazy house on the hill and the food/wine pairings they prepared for us.
One last note - we stayed this time at Alilah, which is a new Hyatt in St Helena. We had not stayed there before, but liked the location (and we were able to use points!). Most of the rooms have a balcony with a fire pit - which was greatly appreciated on this trip to combat the cold/rain. One of the other attractive features, there’s a bridge to the Beringer tasting room right next door! The photo at the top of this post is where we were tasting at Beringer - on a covered porch with adorable views and a heater to keep me warm. Hard to be upset about that. Oh, and here's our hotel balcony and our view of Beringer from there:
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