Thank you to everyone who post here. I researched our trip for months and the knowledge and tips everyone shares helped us have a FANTASTIC trip.
Thursday - Chicago to Sacramento airport. Very quick and we were on our way.
Lunch at Bistro Jeanty. Thank you to everyone who recommended the tomato soup. It was so good I can%26#39;t wait to try and duplicate the recipe. We had the beef stew and the chocolate creme brulee. Delicious!
Our first stop was O';Brien we had an appointment. I had read about O%26#39;Brien on TA shortly before Valentine%26#39;s Day. I ordered Romance of the Heart and Seduction and gave them to my husband on Feb. 14. We drank Romance of the Heart and I was online Feb. 15 to order another bottle. It is a limited production so you can only order 1 bottle at a time. It is only $30.00 a bottle and is better than many $200.00 bottles we have had. We also enjoyed Seduction at $40.00 a bottle.
Bart O%26#39;Brien poured for us. We had a great conversation with him and we liked all of his wines. We ordered a case to be shipped to us and we joined the wine club. This is a small winery and the tasting is in Bart%26#39;s backyard. Very casual and truly relaxing. We felt this was a very special Napa experience for us.
We then checked into the Old World Inn. Our first stay at a B%26amp;B and we loved it. I highly recommend this Inn. I did a separate TA review on them. They helped me plan our itinerary weeks in advance and made all reservations for us.
Dinner - We walked a few blocks from the Old World Inn to Uva. We split a pizza, we were still full from lunch. We never ordered dessert after dinner because the Old World Inn provided 3 desserts each night that we would eat sitting outside by the fire pit.
Day 2 - Joseph Phelps -appointment and $20.00 per person tasting fee. We have had Insignia and liked it. The view from Joseph Phelps is beautiful. We did our tasting outside and it included Insignia, which is $200.00 a bottle. After ordering a case at O';Brien we knew we didn%26#39;t have to spend that much money for good wine. We loved the view and left without purchasing anything.
Lunch - We stopped at Dean %26amp; DeLuca and got everything for a picnic lunch.
Arger - Martucci - Old World Inn recommended this one and we had another special Napa experience.
Chris the wine maker sat with us and poured and chatted for about 1 1/2 hours. He told us about the area, the vineyard, the wine making and he answered all of our questions. He couldn%26#39;t ship to Illinois so we purchases 6 bottles. He let us stay and have a picnic lunch here. What a great experience! Great wine including Dulcinea for $45.00 creme brulee in a bottle and we also bought 3 bottles of Cab Sauv. and 2 bottles of Odyssey their Estate Reserve.
Frazier - tasting - had an appointment. It was 107 degrees and Frazier is in a cave. The cool temperature felt so good. We toured the small cave. They were setting up for a corporate dinner and had candles everywhere. I was jealous of whoever was attending that night. What a great place to have a dinner party. We were the only ones tasting. We liked the wine, tasted out of the barrel and bought 2 bottles of the futures cab.
Terra Valentine did a private tasting at Old World Inn for the guests at 5:30. Everyone staying at the Inn attended and we had a good time.
Dinner - We walked to Bounty Hunter no reservations accepted. We had the BBQ sampler of ribs, pulled pork and brisket. Good meat but being a Midwesterner I needed fries, mashed or baked potato. We ordered the potato salad and didn%26#39;t like it.They do not have Pepsi or Coke products to drink only Root Beer.Back to the Inn for dessert.
Day 3 - Old World Inn reserved a driver for us this day.Casey from Elegant Tours picked us up in a Town Car at 10:00. Casey was a great guy we highly recommend him! We knew which wineries we wanted to go to so we were off.
Silver Oak - tasting - no appt. needed and $10.00 tasting fee per person.We enjoyed the wines but we knew we would be purchasing Oracle at Miner so we did not buy any wine. You get to keep the tasting glass.
Miner Family - tasting - opens at 11:00 and $10.00 tasting fee per person. Miner%26#39;s Oracle is one of my favorite wines. We had fun tasting and chatting with another couple. Jeff Cole poured for us and he works on Saturdays. We enjoyed tasting so much we spent more time than expected here and we were 35 minutes late for lunch reservations. We bought a case of wine that they shipped to us. Good wines.
Lunch - Mustard%26#39;s. We were late for our reservation so we had to wait about 20 minutes. The food was good which I definitely needed after tasting (drinking ) at Miner.
We had planned on going to Pine Ridge for a tasting but didn%26#39;t have time. We enjoyed ourselves at each winery and never rushed.
Del Dotto - we had an appt and it was $40.00 per person to tour. This is the real reason why we had Casey for a driver. Thanks to everyone for the warning on Del Blotto. We enjoyed their wines. I did a lot of puring out. After barrel tasting you have port and chocolate. The disco ball and disco music was fun. We bought 3 bottles: a 2005 Giovanni%26#39;s Tuscan Res., 2005 David and 2005 Cave Blend.
Back to the Inn for 11/2 hour nap.
Dinner - We walked to Cole%26#39;s Chop House. Great steaks and potato.
Day 4 - Started at Far Niente with an appt. $50.00 per person tasting fee. Although the fee is high it is worth it. The grounds were gorgeous. Very friendly and knowledgeable tour guide not snobby at all.We went to the garage where Gil Nickels has his classic cars on display. They paired the tasting with cheese. The wines are pricey but we bought a bottle of Oakville Cab Sauv. Dolce was another creme brulee in a bottle but is was $170.00. After the tour we walked around a bit admiring the grounds.
Lunch - Oakville Grocery for sandwiches and salads. Ryan at our Inn called Bouchaine and asked if we could bring lunch to our tasting and they said yes. Bouchaine no longer offers Table for Two.
Bouchaine - for lunch and tasting. We enjoyed the afternoon breeze while tasting on their patio.A perfect Sunday afternoon! The wines were good and we bought a Chardonnay.
Artesa - tasting - had a beautiful view. They have fountains as you walk up the stairs into the building. The tasting is inside which is a shame because you can%26#39;t enjoy the view. We did the $15.00 Reserve and Limited Release Wine Flight. We liked the wines. The Chardonnay had a butterscotch taste that I liked and we bought a bottle of the 2006 Limited Release.
We had some time left so we just stopped in Folio. I think the tasting fee was $10.00 and you choose any 6 wines to taste. We split a tasting here. They have a back porch where we did our tasting. A great place to end the day. They didn%26#39;t ship to Illinois and we had already bought 12 bottles to ship back so we%26#39;ll order the Renteria Q-Hill Cab on line.
Our last stop of the day was Buffalo%26#39;s Shipping Post. We had a case of wine to ship home.It cost $152.00 to ship next day.
We brought a cooler with us, thank you TA for that recommendation. We had plenty of water and pop to drink in between each winery. When we bought a bottle of wine we put it in the cooler. Otherwise your newly purchased wine will be baking in the heat.
Dinner - We walked to Ristorante Allegria. Sat outside to eat. Great pasta.
We had a memorable trip and will be returning.Thanks again to Russ and everyone who posts here.
4 days and 10 wineries a long reviewWhat a wonderful report, with the help of Old World Inn, it sounds like you had the perfect trip! :)
4 days and 10 wineries a long reviewI love hearing these kinds of reports. Having innkeepers like Russ and Sharon makes a huge difference. I hope you can come back soon.
Thank you for your awesome post. I%26#39;m planning our trip in two weeks, and your detailed descriptions of the wineries are a great help!
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