Over the past holiday weekend, I spent four days up in wine country with my mother. We attempted to hit about 6 wineries each day. (Don’t worry, we split the tastings). We also had some great food while we were up there, but I’ll get to that in separate posts. I think the easiest way to do this is to list the wineries we visited, bold my favorites, and if you have more in depth questions, feel free to leave comments.
Day 1- Napa
- Gloria Ferrer : primarily known for sparkling wines. Great views from the patio, have switched to a set-up where you order a glass (or a bottle) and sit on the patio to enjoy the views. Less about learning, more about enjoying.
- Domaine Carneros : also a nice patio with a good view. Wine isn’t as good as at Gloria.
- Paraduxx : had some surprisingly good reds. You need an appointment here.
- Elizabeth Spencer : one of my new favorite wineries. It’s in a tiny building in Rutherford (used to be the post office). They have great reds and whites, and aren’t too expensive. Also- super friendly people here.
- Honig : My mom loves their sauvignon blancs, and we also had a great dessert wine here. You need an appointment. Another one where you sit in the garden and the wine comes to you. We also had a super friendly guy here.
- Alpha Omega : good reds, and a nice patio with a fountain. They’re open til 6, and I would suggest ending the day here sipping a red while watching the sun go down.
Day 2- lower Sonoma
- Hop Kiln : Nothing remarkable.
- Kunde : They have a good tour here with caves. Also offer three different levels of tasting, from at the bar, all the way to taking a van ride to the top of a mountain.
- Dutton Goldfield : I love their chardonnay and pinot noir, but the new facility isn’t as charming as their old spot.
- Iron Horse : Another one with a great view. The “tasting room” is an outdoor bar up on a hill with a lovely view of the whole valley. I like their sparkling wine, but they have still as well. Very generous with the pours here.
- La Crema : Not as exciting, as you can find these wines in grocery stores. At the tasting room you can try some of their less-distributed wines. Still, nothing mind-blowing. Just solid, good wine.
Day 3- upper Sonoma
- Murphy-Goode : Some good wines, but mostly over-priced for the quality.
- J Vineyards : Another favorite of mine, they do both sparkling and still wine. They have a gorgeous, modern building and I’ve always had knowledgeable and friendly people help me here. I especially recommend the Nicole’s Vineyard pinot noir and the Brut Rose sparkling. (If you have the money, they have a Vintage sparkling that’s KILLER).
- Rodney Strong We tasted here because we had a free coupon. Otherwise I probably wouldn’t bother.
- Merriam Came here for the name. The wine isn’t any good, sadly.
- Francis Ford Coppola They just built a new facility, and it looks like it’s going to be amazing when its done. I like the sparkling wine they sell (Sofia) and a few of their other wines (Su Yen Syrah).
- Dry Creek Nothing outstanding.
- Quivira Another surprise gem. Apparently the winery is owned by the parents of a kid my brother went to school with. I loved their whites and reds, and my mom went home with a bottle of their Sauvignon Bland.
Day 4- Napa
- Caymus My mom likes their “Conundrum” wine, but was mistaken in thinking that was made in Napa. This Caymus branch only makes reds, specifically one Zinfandel and two Cabernet Sauvignons. The tasting is by appointment only, and costs $25 a person to try 3 wines. I thought that seemed outrageous. The wine was great, but even better was watching the *serious* wine snobs who were tasting at the same time we were. Lots of swirling, spitting, and name-dropping.
- V. Sattui AVOID. My mom aptly described it as “The Cracker Barrel of wineries.” I had to wait in the car because I got too claustrophobic.
- Hall This place mainly does reds, and at this point my mom laid down the law that she was only interested in tasting Sauvignon Blanc (her current fave, and we had a long drive back to the city ahead of us). Didn’t like their Sauv Blanc, can’t speak to the other wines.
- Grgich Hills Great wine and great history at this place.
- St. Supery Another middle-of-the-road stop. The wine was ok, but seemed overpriced based on quality.
- Girard A new find on this trip. I loved their wines, both whites and reds. I think in particular, the Sauvignon Blanc and the Old Vine Zinfandel were nice.
- hope & grace Everyone seemed to be talking about this winery, so we had to stop in. Maybe it was over-hyped, but I was underwhelmed.
- Cornerstone Only tried the Sauv Blanc here (Karen Merriam plan) and wasn’t impressed.
So- those are the wineries that I visited on this trip. My mom prefers white wine to red (red gives her a headache), so we focused on white and sparkling wine. I thoroughly enjoyed my fifth trip to wine country, and I know it won’t be my last.
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