Friends don't let friends drink Vueve.
Just kidding.

We're havin an Andre Clouet rose tonight.

Had some domaine carneros bubbly in the wine fridge and as we were staying at home, popped the top on it. Wasn't bad.

we popped a bottle of Argyle 2010 I grabbed at HEB. It was good for $19.

Wow, it was a long night on NYE. You can go through a bottle pretty darned quick when 4-6 folks want a sip.

The ones I remember taking to the curb late last night:
Williams Chris Emotion (pretty nice wine to start the night)
Josh Cab (not bad for a $13 bottle)
Freakshow (didn't care for it)
Smith & Hook Cab (thumbs up)
Saldo Zin (disappointing; didn't care for it as a bit too "sweet" for me)
Pouilly-Fume Vouvray (wife didn't care much for it; a bit sweet)
Layer Cake Malbec
Franciscan Cab.

Overall, a good time was had by all.

Wife and I are heading to Napa on Monday. We are staying at hotel yountville thru Friday night. This is our 1st trip and would love some of your recs

The only thing we have planned is Tuesday's dinner at Bouchon and a tour of Sonoma area wit platypus on Weds. Figured we would hit up the Oxbow market for dinner Weds.

Would love food recs, wine recs, (what wineries to splurge on the full tour and where to taste at) and anything non wine drinking we should do.

BSD is the go to guy, and if you go back through this thread there's a bunch of recs.

A couple we enjoyed were Pride Mountain and Sherwin Family, both on Spring Mountain. The upscale tasting at Pride was worth it to us. Also Jericho Canyon. And Heidi Barrett's La Sirena tastes out of Jericho so you can do both while you're there. Enjoy!

Oh, and for the big well-known ones Far Niente's tasting was very good. Along with the tour you get to go through their classic car museum. First time I ever saw my high school lust car, a Ferarri 365GTB4 Daytona!

Wherever you end up tasting, I would call today and set everything up. Most of the better tastings/tours book up weeks if not months in advance. That being said, you might get lucky with some last minute cancellations.

Just to list a few of many wineries not listed by Cecil:

Schramsburg- Sparkling wine, one of the most visually impressive tours I've been too. Literally 2 million bottles of sparkling wine stacked up in caves that you walk through.
Hall Rutherford- Primarily Cabernet and some pretty decent ones to boot. The tour is also visually appealing as they have a tasting room in their caves with one of the neatest chandeliers I've ever seen (they call is Chilean Red).
Stony Hill- Primarily white wines; this tour is very intimate as you literally walk the grounds with the owner and can ask anything and he has an answer. When we were there, the winemaker was pumping over a small batch of Syrah; we got to taste the juice and chat with the winemaker for a while. Lastly, the view while tasting is beautiful, you are up high on the West side overlooking the Valley and Howell Mountain on the opposite side.
Chappellet- Another primarily red winery located up Prichard Hill. When I was there, they were harvesting their Prichard Hill Cab grapes. We got to see the whole process up close; very cool. They were also in the process of maceration with some other blocks of the Prichard Hill grapes; we got to grab some grapes and juice and taste that too, tons of tannins. I think timing and luck of being there for harvest made this tour stand out.
Del Dotto- All reds, small cave tasting, all tastes are thieved out of the barrels, cool experience and if you're not careful will get you pretty lit up.

I'm sure BSD can chime in with some great ideas too.

As far as food, I highly recommend Auberge Du Solei for lunch, request a patio seating and enjoy the amazing views of Rutherford.



Hope his helps you create an awesome Napa experience.

*Edits- I think I figured out the pictures, they are compressed and are not as clear or vibrant as I would have liked but it gives a good idea of the views.

Thanks for the help. I was in the deer blind this morning and poured through all of the pages.

I have booked an early tasting at schramsburg on Thursday followed by lunch at AUBERGE. I had both of those places in my notes and pulled the trigger.

On the del dotto tour. Which location is better or do you guys prefer

We plan on trying to bike to Far Niente on Friday. The car collection intrigues me. If anything else comes to mind mind, please post. I will keep you guys updated while we are there

There are no wrong decisions, but I got to tell you we wouldn't go back to del Dotto.

Also, it's further (in time) from Calistoga to Napa than you might thing from looking at a map. Be careful not to spend too much of your day driving. We like Auberge just fine (an evening in the bar part) - but beware the $18 house margarita!

Ditto del Dotto comments by Cecil. Just did nothing for me, especially at a $60 tasting fee.

Just looked into Calistoga to Yountville is about 30 mins. Is a trip to calistoga worth it??
We would like to do one bubbly tour/taste. Is domaine Chandon worth checking out, it's right by our hotel.
Thanks for the heads up on del Dotto. I didn't know since we were beginners if the drinking from barrel etc was worth the visit

Chandon is a nice sunset place.

Wow, didn't realize Del Dotto was $60, it was the last stop and all I remember is tasting tons of wine out of barrels. It's a decent $20 tour but for $60 I would take a Far Niente or Nickel and Nickel or the like.

I haven't been to Chandon, that's on the list for next trip though.

Napa to Calistoga isn't a bad drive, especially not if you do it earlier in the morning. When we stay in Napa, our preferred path is to drive north early and work our way back south, usually ending the day near Yountville so we can hit Bistro Jeanty or Bouchon for dinner.

For beginners, I'd recommend Benesseree. They mostly do Italian grapes, and it's not a terribly crowded place. Look for the red truck on the side of the road in St Helena. The last time my wife and I were there, we spent a couple of hours shooting the **** with the operations guy (not the winemaker, but the guy who does the work) in their barrel room.

One other lesson we learned is two or three wineries in a day is enough. We did five in one day our first time and turned down wine at supper that night!

We also did Cakebread, and other places where you just show up. IMO it's worth the money to go to less traveled places and pay the money for the upscale tour/tasting. Pride Mountain was outstanding for that.

And once again, there are no mistakes, you're gonna love it no matter where/what you do!

Once again: Ditto my bud, Cecil. it's like he and I are aligned or something!

wh00p: I've compiled several years of my and other people's lists, reviews, thoughts and comments on an Excel spreadsheet. If you'd like to see it, PM me your email. I take little to no responsibility for it's accuracy,...

I will also recommend getting a flat of bottled water, and leaving it in the trunck of your car. After you leave a winery, you have to drink at least one bottle of water before you drink more wine. If you're going to only do two to three tastings a day, this isn't a big deal. But if you're doing more than three, you need it to keep yourself from getting intoxicated or feeling like ass the next morning because you have a wicked hangover.

If you want to try and get to four wineries a day, you'll need to pack a lunch. You'll want to check with the wineries, because not all of them will let you picnic since California and Napa County have some f'ed up health code regulations.

Cecil, do you recommend the standard tasting or the summit tasting at pride. The summit is $75 and the standard tour is $25.

Summit definitely! Don't eat prior to going!

I'd skip pride and do schwieger or fisher. Thought pride was terribly overrated.

But pride will let you picnic, so that's good- they're wine is just too expensive for what it is. Another good picnic place is Nichelini- kind of around Pritchard hill if I remember right...

Sherwin is pretty much the ideal picnic spot.

Very much disagree about the Pride tasting experience. Don't want to spoil any surprises, but it was one of, if not the, top tasting experiences for us. And I should add that I'm commenting on the ambiance and experience every bit as much as the wine. Myriad tastes out of Carter and the facility is pretty much nothing - but the wine is great. Napa tastings, for us, are more about the whole "dating" thing getting away together.

If you are ending a day on Spring Mountain, I would suggest going to Medlock Ames tasting room in Alex Valley area. Try to get there between 4 and 4:30. they have good wines, especially their Sav Blanc and their Bell Mtn Cab. But, what is really cool is the tasting room closes at 5 and the bar opens. Great cocktails and a nice change of pace from all the wine tasting. I mention the place all the time, just really like what they are doing.

It is located right on 128, so easy to find (just west of Jimtown Store).

from my tasting experiences on my few visits, i like doing fewer wineries but doing the full blown, high end tasting. Yeah, you spend more money, but you get to taste better stuff and get a much more intimate experience. As someone mentioned above, being able to actually talk to the winemaker is just really cool, no matter the winery.

Ah, Yountville. My home away from home. Is your hotel close to the highway? If it is where I think it is, it's still an easy walk to restaurants (if sober) but you can always call the Yountivlle Trolley to come get you...(707) 312-1509 It's free so enjoy! For Monday night, call Ad Hoc and see if they are serving fried chicken. If so, jump on that. Bouchon is always awesome. The onion soup is hard to beat, as is the Mac and Cheese. It's also truffle season so be sure to get black truffle fries. Other restaurants I like are Redd, Redd Wood (pizzas), bistro Jeanty (tomatoe soup is unreal), and Bottega. A stop at the taco truck next to Pancha's is always good.

Further up in St Helena, I'd eat lunch at Cook, and dinner at Farmstead or Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen. I like the atmosphere at Press but I love in Texas, so a steakhouse anywhere else always leaves me a bit disappointed. That said, go have dessert and some port or Sauternes at the bar. Along the same line, I always skip Gotts Roadside Burgers (Taylor's Refresher).

You really can't go wrong on Spring Mountain but try to get to Erna Schein/Relic. That is a fun tasting. I like Barnett, too. As others have said, plan ahead and cal l for tasting reservations and pack a lunch for that day...there aren't any restaurants up there. Also take some water and maybe some bread all week as you drive around. Model Bakery makes some good bread and the world's best english muffins.

As far as Del Dotto, it has its place. If go late in the day if you decide to do it. I always found it fun and a good way to end the day with a heavy buzz.

As Cecil said, if you are up in Calistoga, give Envy a call and see if you can taste Mike Smith's wines (Myriad ,Carter, Ancillary, etc). Mike's a good guy and makes some damn good wines.

There are so many wineries...it's tough to name them all but I've posted some ideas in the past on this thread. One I liked for a private tasting was Garguilo. I haven't been there in about 6-7 years but I've heard the wines are getting better and better. Crocker and Starr is a good tasting as well



What does your lineup look like so far?

For non-wine stuff in sonoma county, go to Russian River Brewing Company for some of the worlds best craft beer. Flying Goat Coffee makes some excellent cups of joe, too. You can also visit Armstong State Park for some hiking and cool redwoods.

quote:

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Figured we would hit up the Oxbow market for dinner Weds.

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I would advise against this. I was not impressed with the Oxbow market. Part of that is that it seems like it is set up on an anti-competition strategy. So there is one vendor for each "concept". I guess it depends on what you are looking for. If you have a specific vendor in mind, go for it. If you are going without a plan and expect to have a wider range of options, you may end up disappointed.

As for the rest of the advice on here, pretty spot on. Some of these guys have helped me on my two trips. the only one I would throw in is Round Pond. We liked it so much we joined their club. It's the only club we belong to.

I greatly appreciate everyone help on our upcoming trip. Here is what we have planned so far... We leave tomorrow
Tuesday. Should arrive around 3.
Domain Chandon or Hope & Grace in Yountville
Dinner @ Bouchon
Wednesday
Taking a tour w/ Platypus through Sonoma. Leaving out of Napa. No idea where we are going
Probably will do something low key in Napa for dinner, planning on Oxbow for oysters and maybe a pizza
Thursday
Going to Armstrong Park to check out the redwoods and do a hike. I feel after Weds tour we will need a break
Doing lunch at Russian River brewery
On our way back through Calistoga we are going to Storybook vineyard to try their Zins
Dinner @ Bottega
Friday
10am tour at Pride
Lunch at Cook St Helena
3pm tour at Chappallet
Trying to find something b/n lunch and Chappallet wanted Far Niente or Hall Rutherford but neither answered their phone today
Dinner unsure thinking of Marimoto (please advise of this)
Flying out Saturday AM
Please critique

"Tuesday. Should arrive around 3.
Domain Chandon or Hope & Grace in Yountville
Dinner @ Bouchon "

I'd do Domaine Chandon. Chances are you won't get too much sparkling wine the rest of your trip. Girard is near your hotel and is sometimes open late so it could make for a nice pre dinner drink after the bubbles. We used to stop by there often before dinner.


"Wednesday
Taking a tour w/ Platypus through Sonoma. Leaving out of Napa. No idea where we are going
Probably will do something low key in Napa for dinner, planning on Oxbow for oysters and maybe a pizza "

I have no idea what platypus is...but have fun!

"Thursday
Going to Armstrong Park to check out the redwoods and do a hike. I feel after Weds tour we will need a break
Doing lunch at Russian River brewery
On our way back through Calistoga we are going to Storybook vineyard to try their Zins
Dinner @ Bottega "

That's a good day. If in Calistoga, swing by Envy for some of Mike Smith's wines. You'll be there anyways!

"Friday
10am tour at Pride
Lunch at Cook St Helena
3pm tour at Chappallet
Trying to find something b/n lunch and Chappallet wanted Far Niente or Hall Rutherford but neither answered their phone today
Dinner unsure thinking of Marimoto "

Both of those wineries are good, but they are very far apart from each other, even with lunch breaking up the trip. That said, it's a pretty drive. Hall should be open to the public with no appt necessary. If you have time, what about a stop at Alpha Omega? No appointment is necessary and the wines are solid. See if they are barrel tasting anything in the back. Ask for Jean if necessary. If morimoto doesn't work, Redd or Bistro Jeanty will treat your right.

BSD. Thanks for the help. I've been going over page after page on this thread and really enjoy your wine insight.
Platypus is supposed to be a small group tour company that takes you to small high quality wineries. We figured we would let them drive us around for a day to get a lay of the land.
Glad to know about the drop in visits for Friday will definitely check those out.
Do you have a review on Marimoto, I'm hoping this won't be a let down. The menu looks pretty good

Sounds like a great trip. Post highlights so we can live vicariously through you!

I'm jealous and I was just there a month and a half ago for my first trip. We did Bottega for lunch on our wine tour day and it was fantastic. Highly recommend. We also did morimoto's for dinner which was very good as well.

Sorry. Didn't see you asked specifically about morimoto's. The food was really good, so if the menu intrigues you, you'l prob enjoy it. I'm not a big sushi person, but with that said, the rolls we had were fantastic. FWIW, our tour guide recommended the duck duck goose, but I went with the steak.

Sounds like a good trip. I've never dined at Morimoto. It's rare that I get into Napa proper. I've heard nothing but good things, though.

Pls report back on the tour- I always feel like tours are gonna take you to their brother in laws or sisters place; I probably need to get over that...

Stop in at Alpha Omega. It is right off the road and a good time, no call ahead needed.

I am one of those that truly enjoyed Del Dotto for the experience. Frankly they wanna getcha drunk and you are in a cave drinking straight from barrels, how is that bad???

And for the people balking at the $60 price tag, you are vacationing in NAPA FREAKING VALLEY. Talk about a first world upper middle class freaking destination. Don't go if you aren't willing to spend some money. That is like people going to Vegas and taking $20 to gamble...