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Planning trip to Napa Valley, mid November...advice welcomed!

4,017 Views | 27 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by BSD
SouthTex99
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AG
Very excited, I love cabs and merlots. We'll do the wine train first day. We'll have a good 3-4 days to enjoy the sites and wine. Staying at the Napa River Inn. Any Napa vets on here? I have a draft itinerary penciled in but would love to know what you guys that have been there recommend.
HTownAg98
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Go to google and type in "site:texags.com Napa Valley" and you find all the threads posted about it.

Unless you have some burning desire to do the train, don't. Share your itinerary please.
JCA1
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Big fan of Alpha Omega's wines. Recommend stopping there. If you want to stop by a winery run by an Aggie, swing over to Italics.

If you're a food person, French Laundry starts taking reservations 3 months out. It's expensive but definitely a cool dining experience. For something a little less upscale, Mustard's can't be beat. The Mongolian pork chop is incredible.
BQ92
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AG
Rent a convertible
inch05
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Bouchon and Ad hoc are cheaper Thomas Keller options, too...both really good, as well.
schmendeler
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ad hoc was excellent.

we hired a driver for the day. that was fun. not sure if Uber is prevalent enough in that area to make that unnecessary these days or not. when we went, uber and lyft had just come out.
JCA1
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Eaten at Bouchon. Very good. Haven't made it to Ad Hoc yet. Need to try it one day.

And I agree with the comment about hiring a car service. We've used Napa George. He's very good and will help plan your itinerary. It was a couple years back, but the savings we got on tasting fees from his connections took care of a pretty good chunk of his fee.
752bro4
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This is the email I send to people who ask me about our trips to Napa
Quote:

Getting there:
SFO -
Pro: Prettier drive, novelty of driving over GG Bridge, stay in San Fran if so choose, and probably more flight options.
Con: Stupid traffic (2:40 from Sonoma to SFO leaving at 7:00am), airport is near city center, so very difficult to navigate through, expensive tolls/fees for rental cars, rental car place is a hassle to get to

Sacramento -
Pro: Small airport (about Love Field/Hobby size), easy in and out, rental cars are abundant and close, easy 75 minute drive to Napa/Sonoma
Con: Not as pretty of a drive, fewer flight choices, nobody wants to hang in Sac for an extra night like you would San Fran

OAK/San Jose -
No personal experience here, but I imagine traffic is dumb.

We decided we'll fly in/out of Sacramento going forward unless we have a reason to be in San Fran. The traffic was just that dumb. Like I-10 to Katy from downtown at 4:00 on a holiday weekend dumb.

Transportation:
Rent a car from whatever airport you're coming from to/from. If you're doing more than 2 tastings in a day, I'd suggest a driver. There are dozens of these services, and it's about $200-300/day. CHiPS out everywhere. There are also winery tour packages you can do... basically $40-60/person and they'll take you and 15 others to different places that they've pre-selected. It's a good way to see places you wouldn't otherwise. But think of these drivers as cab drivers in big cities...the wineries pay them to bring people to them, kind of like strip clubs pay cabbies.

Lodging:
Personally, I'd look at AirBnB or VRBO for something in Yountville (best food options), Oakville, Rutherford, or St. Helena. Napa proper to where all the fun wineries is about a 20-30 minute (or more with weekend traffic) drive each way.

We have stayed at Napa Marriott, and it was the most expensive/least impressive hotel I've ever been to. I think it was $499/night, and it reminded me of the ****ty hotels we would stay in for Aggie football weekends. We also have stayed at the Meritage Resort (south of Napa proper). It was nice, reasonably priced, etc. It's large, but it's a good ways from Yountville.

Food:
Most places start taking reservations 60 days in advance, and can be done either through OpenTable or Rezy or Yelp.
Yountville/St. Helena/Rutherford/Oakville:
Ad Hoc (Keller's smaller restaurant), fantastic fixed menu brunch, great dinners as well
Redd - Michelin star chef, one of the best pairing/tasting menus I've had
French Laundry - duh. Haven't been, but it is what it is, and expect to pay $1k for dinner plus wine pairing
Bouchon - Keller's bakery. People will be standing in line for this place at all times.
Bottega - Fantastic Italian place, Mario Chiarello is the chef, one of the best meals I've ever had. Very reasonably priced wine selection as well.
Mustard's Grill - upscale road-side dinner/cafe if that makes sense. Great lunch spot.
Gott's Roadside - think of this as their version of a 50's Whataburger/In-n-out. Order ahead online and don't stand in line like everyone else. Eat outside on a picnic table with an IPA.
Goose and Gander - another excellent restaurant, upscale bar food would be how I would describe it
R&D Kitchen - same as the R&D or Houston's we have in Texas, but they have a great courtyard/bar area to grab some wine and hang while waiting on your tables at one of the above restaurants
Oakville Grocery - never been, but everyone says it's an awesome gourmet deli
Brasswood Bar & Kitchen - it's right where Modus Operandi (winery below) is, and was fantastic little place. Order the buffalo mozzarella.

Yountville is just a cool little area. Park there and you can walk to most of the above places in a few minutes. Lots of cool shops and tasting rooms to hop in and out of.

Downtown Napa is alright, but Yountville is definitely where you are going to want to be.

Wine:
We're members at O'Brien and Modus Operandi
O'Brien is my favorite place in the the US, 40-acre estate, all grapes grown here, also some of the best wine I've ever had.
Modus is a small tasting room at Brasswood Winery, and the owner is from Dallas and we got hooked up with him and really enjoyed the wines.

You're likely going to need reservations at just about every single one of these, well ahead of time. Each tasting will be 45, 60, 75, or 90 minutes long. They'll be anywhere from $25-100 per person, but usually if you buy enough wine there or join, they'll waive the fee. I'd also suggest not booking every single moment while you're there, and take some time to stumble across a winery or tasting room, or just enjoy the drive up and down Silverado Trail and St. Helena Highway.

Others I've been to:
General rule of thumb for us now - the big wineries that you've probably already heard of are mostly corporately owned (hedge funds are buying them lately). They've got the financial resources for making the place as pretty as possible, but their wines aren't as great as the smaller ones, in our opinion.

Robert Mondavi - the biggest there is, it's pretty, wine is above average, but nothing that will blow your hair back. They do a good tour of the behind the scenes of wine-making. It's one of those tours that you probably only need to see once.
Far Niente/Nickel & Nickel - prettiest place we've been to, but even had a behind the scenes hook up, and were less than impressed with the wine or the tasting experience
Rombauer - excellent views, we just got a couple bottles of wine, walked down this little trail, and hung out down overlooking this cliff. Wine is good, views are great. Rombauer Chardonnay (aka cougar juice) will bring in the 40-50 something newly divorced types, so great for people-watching.
Silver Trident - tasting room in Yountville - thought it was great. Wife's favorite Rose and Sauv Blac. I dig their pinot noir. Their tasting room is also a display room for Ralph Lauren Home, and is decorated unbelievably.
Beau Vigne - tasting room in Yountville - a decent one to pop in to if you're looking for something.
Domaine Carneros - looks like a castle up on a hill, right as Napa and Sonoma merge. Unbelievable views. We just ordered bottles of sparkling wine and cheese/meat trays and hung there for a few hours. Great people watching as well.
Hall Winery - it's another one of the "big" wineries, but isn't corporately owned. Mr. and Mrs. Hall are from Dallas and bank roll it completely. Great wines, but more expensive than I cared for. We didn't tour, but did do a tasting.
Del Dotto - Do this one for the cave tour. Cool experience, but make sure you get to their winery instead of their tasting room.
Duckhorn/Decoy - Another big winery/hedge fund, but great tasting experience on their patio. It's like a wrap-around porch/country home tasting place, enjoyed it a lot.
Italics - we have not been here, but watched a documentary (Decanted, on Netflix) and this was one of the featured places. It's Aggie-owned, gig'em whoop, and we'll probably check it out next time.


FarmerJohn
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AG
Quote:

We'll do the wine train first day.
Never done it, no desire to do so.

For a first time visitor, +1 on Domaine Carneros. It feels fun. There is lots of good advice on this board, the only thing I would add is that it is better to do too few tastings and visits than too many. You don't want to be always looking at your watch.
Greener Acres
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The email posted above has some great information.

We went recently and thought we wanted places we had heard about and seen. The idea was that if we liked their wine we could easily get it. The problem was that the wineries were nice, but had no personality and we didn't enjoy the wine as much as we did at the smaller places. Plus, all the wine we could buy back at home, wasn't the wine we actually wanted.

So, the smaller places with smaller footprints ended up being our favorites. Their wine clubs seemed to be more beneficial and they seemed to work harder for business.

The exception was CADE, which is funded by the Getty family. Awesome place, awesome wine, no real good benefits, and its pricey.

Didn't care for Del Dotto cave tours as it seemed more about getting drunk than enjoying wine. Didn't enjoy Paraduxx (part of the Duckhorn family) - while the setting was nice it was a bit dull in wine and ambiance.
JCA1
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For bubbles, I definitely like Carneros over Chandon.
sockerton
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I'm a member of O'Brien also. It's the best.
Tex_Ag_2017
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Wife and I went on our honeymoon back in June. We didn't get an opportunity to do any winery tours because they were all booked up for the days we spent there. We thought that we could basically walk up to one and take a tour so I would advice booking online ahead of time. Since we didn't get to do the winery tours, we did a few tasting rooms instead which were very informative and helpful since we didn't know much about wine. JAM cellars produces over 1 million cases of wine a year and the tasting room is really cool. We found them on Groupon actually.
Salome
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We live in the area. SFO is not "near city center". It is, however, on the opposite side of the city from where you want to go. If you expect to travel during typical commute times, expect to sit in traffic and add an hour to an hour and a half to your travel time. Stop at Mumm for bubbles. Do the tour. Do the tasting on the deck.
gigemags87
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Off the beaten path worth trying:

- Vinatieri (older cousin of Adam)
- Bure Family (Vlad Bure of hockey fame)

CowtownAg06
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Wine:

I'd try to go to places that offer something else in the experience besides just a tasting. The wine is really going to come down to preference and budget, so look for places that have something else to them. Here are a few of my recommendation.

1.) Del Dotto: Do the cave tour. I think there is a fee, but it's worth it. The people at Del Dotto are pretty eccentric and hilarious. This is also one of the most educational tours you can do. They take you in the caves and let you try wine straight from the barrels. It's a great way to do comparisons of what different barrels do to the same grapes.

2.) V. Sattui: Good wine at at good price (we are members of their monthly delivery club). However the best part is a small grocery store attached with fruit, meat, and cheese. There are tables outback for a great picnic lunch.

3.) Chateau Montelena: Beautiful grounds and the winery that basically put Napa on the map in 1976.

Other stuff:

You've got good food recs on here already. I'd add Farmstead to the list. It's attached to Long Meadow Ranch and I'm a big fine of their wines as well.

We visited the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena and did a cooking demonstration. Check the calendar for what they have going on, but it's a good break.

We stayed at the Wine Country Inn.

Besides SFO and OAK, you can look at flying into Sacramento. It's a little closer and an easier drive.
Ag_N_Houston
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Have dinner at Press in St. Helena. Get the lobster Mac and cheese as a side.
ladyinmaroon11
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Went in May and stayed in Calistoga. Favorite wine was Brian Arden and the cave tour at Rutherford Hill was fun and a nice change of pace.

We hired a group called Wine Tour Drivers, they use your rental car (yes, they are insured) and drive you around for about $45/hour with a minimum of 4-5 hours. The owner recommended all of our wineries and helped us book the tours based on our budget and preferences. It was a great service for our first trip.

Ad Hoc for brunch was our favorite meal of the trip!
tx.ag11
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Great recs so far...

I would do Gott's for lunch anytime...great food. Big burger and fries helps soak up some of that alcohol.

Take snacks and water with you if you're driving...and actually eat the snacks and drink the water. Also, if you're just doing a tasting somewhere, feel free to split tastings. My wife and I did individual tastings if it was part of a tour package, but if we were sitting down somewhere for just a tasting, most places are okay with you buying one and sharing. That way you still get to enjoy everything, but you aren't drinking as much. Otherwise you're taste buds will be shot by the end of the day.

Del Dotto is great, but save it for last cause your day will be over after that. They pour with a heavy hand.

Cakebread has a quintessential Napa tour/tasting and is around $25 for the basic one. Walk around vineyard, see the whole process end to end, and then do a tasting upstairs with a fantastic view overlooking the vineyard; and the wine is great too.

Schramsberg does a great cave tour as well. Primarily sparkling (not my thing but I still enjoyed it), but they have some solid reds too. It's a great one to start the day with.
Austintm
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I won't try to re-tread everything, but:

1. Gott's for lunch and Press for dinner are great recommendations above. Farmstead, Goose & Gander, Brasswood, and Market are all great. Mustard's is fine, as is Brix next door.

2. I really prefer the small production places and that's basically the only ones we go to anymore, but they are harder to get into without knowing people, and the etiquette (and the wineries' economics) are going to require that you purchase a decent $$$$ amount in return for them taking the time and pouring expensive wine.

With this being your first trip, the recommendations for the larger places are fine so you can get a feel for what you like. But try to check out something a little smaller -- I would suggest somewhere like Krupp -- much smaller production than most of those listed (they do 3000-3500 cases), and the people are very nice and accessible.

I would also recommend Chappellet (mid-sized production) just because they have a great view of the Valley, and it's a pretty drive up there. It's as good of a view as Sterling but better wine.

You can also probably get into Revana, which has nice cabs and is also not a place that over-produces
John Francis Donaghy
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Make reservations at the wineries you want to visit now. Without reservations, all you'll get to taste is a bunch of mediocre pinots from wineries you've never heard of.
Austintm
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Dang -- almost forgot. If you are there on a Thursday-Saturday, go to Addendum for lunch. It is right behind Ad Hoc in Yountville. It's a shack owned by Thomas Keller, that serves only fried chicken, pulled pork sandwiches and ribs. It's all great, but go with the fried chicken.
BSD
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Austintm said:

Dang -- almost forgot. If you are there on a Thursday-Saturday, go to Addendum for lunch. It is right behind Ad Hoc in Yountville. It's a shack owned by Thomas Keller, that serves only fried chicken, pulled pork sandwiches and ribs. It's all great, but go with the fried chicken.


It might not be open at that time. They usually shut it down from nov-march (or so). I'm hoping that's not the case since I'll be there in November as well.
JCA1
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Just got back Monday from Napa. Great time. Visited about 8 wineries but the highlights were Anomaly, Aonair, and Dakota Shy. Pricey wines, but very good experiences. I'd never heard of any of them, but our trusty driver set up the visits and we rolled with it. I thought Anomaly and Dakota Shy were the best wines. Aonair was probably the best experience. It's situated halfway up Howell mountain with a great view of the valley. Wine on the porch, then a trip around the vines in a Polaris, followed by barrel tasting in the cave, including blending various mountain fruit from different barrels. Highly recommended.
thisguy05
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On the 1st, I booked The French Laundry for the end of December. Can't wait!
schmellba99
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My family winery is Trefethen wines. I've never been out that way though, would like to make it one day. These threads are interesting reads.
JCA1
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thisguy05 said:

On the 1st, I booked The French Laundry for the end of December. Can't wait!
Ate there last Thursday. Awesome experience, but man, it's pricey. Just FYI, they'll do a wine pairing for you and you just tell them how much per person you want to spend. That's what we did and the wines were great and paired well. We did $250/person for wine so the dinner ended up being $1,200/couple. If you can stomach the price, it's worth doing once or twice, but not sure I'll be in a huge hurry to do it again.

BSD
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thisguy05 said:

On the 1st, I booked The French Laundry for the end of December. Can't wait!


Ask them about the extended menu (need to ask in advance). It's double the price and double the food. You'll leave in a coma!
BSD
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BSD said:

Austintm said:

Dang -- almost forgot. If you are there on a Thursday-Saturday, go to Addendum for lunch. It is right behind Ad Hoc in Yountville. It's a shack owned by Thomas Keller, that serves only fried chicken, pulled pork sandwiches and ribs. It's all great, but go with the fried chicken.


It might not be open at that time. They usually shut it down from nov-march (or so). I'm hoping that's not the case since I'll be there in November as well.


So I did some research (checked past twitter posts) and found that Addendum is closed from around Nov 19 thru March 22. Luckily I'll be there the second weekend in November so I am cancelling Cook Tavern that Saturday and getting me some fried chicken!!!
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