Definitely hit Del Dotto for the tasting experience. They are the Dr Frankenstein of wine makers. They throw different combinations of grapes and barrels together just to see what it would taste like. They also have the usual standard collection of wines as well.

I'm also a big fan of Frank Family, Cakebread, Silver Oak, and Kellum (small family winery with a white wine I actually like).

For the # of wineries in a day, it all depends on how spread out they are, and what day you're going. Traffic on 29 can get pretty bad on Saturday and Sunday after about 11am.

We did Mondavi, I thought the tour guide was the most knowledgeable person I've ever heard speak about wines.
We also did Rombauer, it has a beautiful outside area with a little trail that goes down looking over the mountainside.. very cool scenery.
We also did Del Dotto that day, plenty responses on that one.


Also, there's a brewpub in Napa, Silverado, if you're looking for a change of palate and/or lunch or dinner.

Do you mean Kelham? If so, I heartily agree. Great place to visit. we spent over an hour there drinking wine, listening to tunes and smoking cigars outside on their deck. Great place. They also make very good reds.

Another vote for Far Niente and Nickel & Nickel.

Hou16- try to see if Bruce at http://www.winecountrysafari.com/ can take you around. He brings enough buyers that his guests pay no tasting fees which makes his tour price a wash but he'll take you to the best places and handle all the driving.

The big tours and town car services get paid by the head by the wineries, you are being 'delivered' by those services.







[This message has been edited by yakman (edited 12/7/2011 9:00p).]

MAROON....Yes. Kelham. Thanks for the correction!

Was there last weekend for a company trip - I didnt pay for anything on the weekend, so I cant comment on value.

Stayed in yountville at a place called Bardessono - WOW - one of the top 3 nicest places I have stayed - rooms were fantastic.

Visited 3 vineyards: Domaine Carneros, Silver Oak and Rubicon Estate.

Domaine Carneros had an awesome view. If you like sparkling wine I reccomend it - if not - skip it.

Silver Oak - best red wine from the trip. Nice facilities.

Rubicon - coolest and most historic of the places. I think this place gets a little bit of a tourist trap rep and its probably deserved, however I thought the wine was good and the place is beautiful and definitely worth checking out.

Weather was perfect and I snuck in a 10 mile run.

We visited several during our trip last October. These were some of my favorites.....

Silver Oak
Mumm
Groth
Merryvale
Darioush-Must do the tour and tasting. Awesome
Frank Family
Duckhorn

Enjoy your trip!

Just got back from our trip and we had a blast. Stayed at the Wydown Hotel (formerly 1424) which had great accomodations.

One of the days we went to Del Dotto and did the last tour of the day. To our surprise David came down and did the tour for us. It was an amazing experience. Two to three hours later we were still tasting some of his limited production wines (1 barrel tests). It was interesting hearing everything from the owners perspective on why he tried certain combinations.

Really enjoyed stops at Round Pond (because of a glass we had at Cindy's), Cliff Lede, the Castle, and Twomey. And had some pretty good beer at Silverado Brewing Company.

Also enjoyed eating at Farmstead and Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen.

Figured I'd try here instead of starting a new thread. My wife and I are going up to Napa later this month. Those of you who recommend Del Dotto, are you recommending the winery and caves in St. Helena, or the historic caves in Napa? We have a reservation for a tour at the historic caves, just wondering if I should try to change it to the other location.

Also, looking for a less expensive dinner recommendation. We are going to Bottega, Ad Hoc, and Bouchon; we have one more night open, but we want to be a little nicer to our budget on this one. We are staying in Napa, so are there plenty of places to pick from as walk-ups, or do we need reservations pretty much every place not named In-n-Out?

Definitely go to Cindy's in downtown St. Helena.

We went to Del Dotto in St. Helena so I can't speak for the historic caves. They're different experiences from what I hear. It's also where we ran into David and it sounds like he offices out of there more than the historic venue now.