Napa offers amazing first-class wines, beautiful landscapes, and patios to enjoy both. And drinking wine in Napa is an amazing experience you can not get in any restaurant or any other winery I have visited across the states.
I used to own a wine business and I also lived in CA for a period of time back in college. A time when I cared more about alcohol consumption than the taste and quality. Although annually my father and I would visit wineries and we would do educational tours. I became fascinated by all the factors that make up the taste. The soil, climate, rainfall, altitude, grape type, and the way the wine is produced. Whether it is in the barrels or steel drums and what type of barrel is used, There is such a science and elegance to the process. Now, I have learned to appreciate wine in a different way. Which has made it important and fun to order the right wine when dining.
So this bucket list trip was more about other types of experiences in Napa.
Comparison of different Cabs, do I like younger or older Cabernets? How do the different regions taste and which why do I like better?
What white wines do I like? Will I find a Chardonnay I enjoy? What about sparkling?
Learn more about vineyards, eat grapes off the vine, and drink from a barrel.
Napa has been on my bucket list for some time now. And a milestone birthday was the perfect excuse to check it off the list. I originally planned to go to Italy for my 50th, but like most things in the past two years, we have all had to shift a plan to plan B.
Happy birthday to me! So I may have celebrated my 50th birthday for most of the year! That is normal, right? It was wonderful nonetheless. I went on 4 different trips and made the most of celebrating that milestone. I love my birthday and celebrating my birthday. Especially when I hit a big milestone. And I feel better now than I did 20 years ago. Something about after I hit a certain age, my self-confidence and ownership of who I am and what I will and will not tolerate in my life did a major shift. As well as the ability to say 'no' when necessary. Setting boundaries in your life is not selfish, it is necessary for your mental health and well-being.
Do you love or dread your milestone birthdays? Let me know in the comments.
So let's get this birthday celebration recap started!!
Cliff Family Winery & Food Truck
Rosé all day! That is my new theme after a visit at Cliff Family tasting room.
This is a hidden gem that you should not look past when planning your trip. Although wine consumption will be your primary goal in Napa. You will need to eat. LOL. Cliff Family has a tasting room in the center of St. Helena. It includes a beautiful back patio and the best part, a gourmet food truck.
This was our first stop in Napa. Primarily because of location but also because I wanted t snack after our long plane ride before we started our drinking tour. We arrived in Napa at got settled into our hotel around 11:30 am pst. California is 3 hours behind Ohio time and we were starving and had some time before our first scheduled winery visit.
When we visited in late October 2021 all wineries were requiring reservations. I checked today and wineries are still not allowing walk ins. You will need to select the specific tasting that interests you and reserve your time slot. I am working on a blog post summarizing my tips and tricks for planning a visit to Napa that will talk you through all of this, as it can be very overwhelming.
It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and it was in the mid to upper 70s and I just wanted to soak up the sunshine sitting outside with a delicious glass of wine and lunch. It was the perfect way to decompress after a long morning of flying and get in the right mindset.
I am not normally a Rosé fan, but this wine was a perfect outdoor summer wine and so delicious. Just a touch of sweetness, but very light and crisp. I loved it so much that after I returned home, I ordered 3 bottles to have shipped to my house.
The food truck, is a must eat while you are in Napa. The menu changes regularly, so I will not go through the specifics of our choices, but it is plant based and there are gluten free options. We ordered two different bruschettas and a side. One of our bruschetta choices was mushroom and fontina cheeses and the other was a veggie. We loved everything we ate. So creative and prepared well. Here is the current menu.
Joseph Phelps - Bountiful Table Food & Wine pairing
My 1st quest was to do a mass food and wine pairing. Being able to try several cabernets at once and pair them with various types of foods. Several wineries offer food and wine pairings. I researched many of them. Joseph Phelps is a higher price point than most of the other wineries. I can first hand tell you, I was so happy with our selection. We sampled 6-7 different wines, I lost track. Including the Insignia. Which, was not my favorite, although I know this is an unpopular opinion.
The food was fabulous, we had 5 courses, plus they gave us a bonus item. The food was fabulous!!!! The quality and creativity of the dishes were excellent. And I learned a few new food pairing tips.
The weather was also perfect. The room we were in had a long table that sat around 14 and had sliding doors all along the back facing the winery and outdoor patio. The sliding doors were open so we could take advantage of the breeze and the wonderful 74 degree weather. It felt like we were sitting outdoors.
Our host was so friendly and had great stories and sense of humor. He made it a lot of fun. We also made friends with the couple sitting next to us. The experience lasted around 3 hours but the time flew by. It was a lovely afternoon.
What was a miss for me, was not being able to sit on the patio with that VIEW! Joseph Phelps winery is sitting down a very long driveway and nestled on a hill. They have an extensive back patio with views for miles. I want to go back and just spend the day sitting on that patio drinking wine. So if you are not up for the Bountiful Table experience, I highly recommend a terrace tasting. The wine is amazing and the views are spectacular.
On a side note, Joseph Phelps could you build a bed and breakfast on site. Just one room, for me. I would have coffee in the morning on the terrace and then wine in the afternoon and be one very happy girl!!
round pond- olive oil tasting
This was a happy stumbling. When I was researching wine experiences I came across Olive oil tastings. Round Pond is top rated for their olive oil. The grounds were absolutely beautiful and I was amazed walking around up close and personal with the various olive trees. I have a brief video of it on my Instagram highlights.
Our olive oil tasting also included balsamic vinegar. This was one of my favorites experiences. For one, it was so unique and unexpectedly delicious. I know I enjoyed olive oil at home but had no idea how much I was going to absolutely love this experience.
What was so unexpected was we were not given bread to sample the oils, we dipped our fingertips into the various oils first. We tried 6 different oils. Some of their had flavors. My favorites were the Chili, Blood Orange and Myer Lemon. They were out of the Blood Orange but we took the others home. I can not describe how amazing the taste of this oils were. So pure, light and clean and all the flavors were naturally added during the process. We were at a private table with one on one time with our guide, to ask him as many questions as we could. He walked us through the olive oil and balsamic making process. It is much quicker than the wine process and produces less.
Now if you though the oil tasting experience was unique, wait til you hear about the balsamic. It was not with our fingers or bread. They provided sugar cubes. We dipped the cube into the vinegar and sucked the vinegar from the cube. Sounds odd...but brilliant. The vinegar was not overly potent or too acidic. It was pure and flavorful and light with the right balance of acidity. If our suitcase would have allowed, I would have cleared them out.
TIP: The shelf life of olive oil is only 6 months and it should be stored in a dark container that is closed tight. Air is not good for olive oil.
Chimney Rock- Golf cart vineyard tour
Have you ever eaten grapes off of vines? That was our tour at Chimney Rock winery. I have drank Chimney Rock wines before so I knew I would love this experience. We had the best guide. We were chauffeured around in a golf cart while our tour guide told us stories about the Stags Leap area and the vineyard. Our glasses were constantly being refilled. We were able to try several wines and even eat grapes off of Merlot and Cab vines.
The weather in Napa in late October can range from the mid-70s one day to rainy and high 50s the next. The colors were vibrant as it was the beginning of fall. The vineyards were full of colors ranging from deep reds to bright yellows, greens, and orange. It is beautiful this time of year and a bit quieter at the wineries, due to it being later in the season and after harvest. If you want a bit warmer weather and only prepare for a single-season wardrobe LOL, I would recommend coming in September or early October. The temperature will be warmer but not stifling hot or as busy as it gets in the summer.
silver oak -Anderson valley & napa valley Cab compare
Do you struggle with a wine list in a restaurant, not knowing which one to pair with your meal. That is me? I understand food pairing in general, and I do pick my wine variety based upon my entree, but I knowing whether I liked a 2016 vs a 2020 or Alexander valley vs Napa vs Sonoma. That is where I got tripped up. I either google quickly to read the tasting remarks on the wine menu choices or ask the waiter for his/her recommendation or I ask to sample the couple I am deciding between. To some this may sound over the top, Just pick one right? Who cares? For me, this is part of the dining process. My meal is complete when I have a really great glass of wine that pairs well with the meal. If I get through two sips and its a fail, the meal isn't as enjoyable.
This was the educational experience I was most excited for out of all of our bookings. Many restaurants have cabs on their menus that are from Alexander and Napa Valley. Finally, I was going to get some answers.
We were able to compare two vintages (2006 and 2016) from both valleys. Here is what I learned, I liked younger wines in Alexander Valley (2016 +) and more aged wines from Napa (2006). Fun fact: Did you know that your genetics impacts why you like one wine and your bestie likes another? It is your taste receptors.
I also enjoyed tasting the various fruits and cheeses on our charcuterie board to see what flavors they brought out in the different wines.
Tip: Many of the wineries will allow you to add on a charcuterie board. I would recommend you do this at your mid afternoon stop. It will help in between meals and you end up drinking more wine than you think after multiple stops in the day.
Castelo di amoroso
This was our last winery for our trip. It was also the furthest north in Calistoga. I will spend some time talking about the different regions of Napa in my Napa Planning post that is coming soon.
Castello di Amorosa winery is a castle. The owner is the grandson of Vittorio Sattui of V. Sattui wines. He had the castle built to reflect his Italian heritage and much of the elements of the castle were brought in overseas from Italy.
We choose the Diamond Estate Tour & Reserve Wine Tasting, which including a guided tour of the castle, cellars, production area and torture chamber (yup). The room is both cool and disturbing. I would not have wanted to get on his bad side. Check out my Instagram stories this week for a video of the chamber.
It was cold and rainy this day, a perfect setting for the castle actually. The tour was so interesting and the castle was beautiful. It was also a lot of fun to taste wine directly from the barrel.
What is even more impressive is that I found a Chardonnay I enjoy. I enjoy a white wine in the summer. If I am sitting outdoors in the summer I will always choose a white over red and my go to white is a Sauvignon blanc. But after this trip I have now found both a Rosé and a Chardonnay that I truly enjoy drinking. What a wonderful and memorable experience.
We went to a few other wineries and those can be found in my IG posts, but these were my favorite. This is not an exhaustive list of wineries in the area. There are so many others to choose from, I will be doing another blog post to outline how I researched and planned my trip, tips & tricks along the way including a few others that we had on our Plan B list.
I would also return during late spring or late summer when it was about 10 degrees warmer. Much better outfits to choose from and then we could sit outdoors the entire visit. You know, I love a good patio.
Next visit, I am staying at Joseph Phelps, they just don't know they are hosting a B&B yet!
Cheers!!
Lisa
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