We had never considered ourselves wine connoisseurs, but after living in northern California for six months, we might now fit into that category. We lived about 1.5 hours north of Napa Valley in Lake County. There are actually a lot of great unknown wineries in Lake County (see our Lake County blog), but we also made it down to the world-famous Napa Valley several times to explore the wine country. As expected, wine in Napa Valley is more expensive than wine in Lake County or in other states, but you also get greater variety, higher class, and more history.
Beautiful day in Napa Valley!
Napa Valley is quite overwhelming, as there are over 400 tasting rooms. It is very difficult to determine which ones are “the best” so that your trip is worthwhile. We were only able to scratch the surface, but below we try to outline the general vibe we got from each of the wineries we visited. Napa Valley is pretty spread out, so we organized the below list from north to south.
Calistoga
Napa Valley is composed of several towns; one of the most northern towns is Calistoga. During the off season, the wineries aren’t as busy, so this is the time you can get the most bang for your buck! We purchased one of the Winter in the Wineries Passports for the Calistoga area. They offer these every year from December through the first weekend of February. They are usually $60, and you can get tasting deals (such as 2 for 1) at 17 wineries in the Calistoga area. We only made it to three of the wineries on the list, and it was still a better deal for us to use the passport versus paying for each tasting/tour at each winery separately.
Chateau Montelena
Our first stop in Calistoga was Chateau Montelena. This is a beautiful winery with a spectacular history. They are most famous for their Chardonnay that beat out some French wines in the blind tasting, “Judgement of Paris,” in 1976. Bottle Shock, a movie about this story, was released in 2008. We would recommend watching this movie before you visit Chateau Montelena to better understand its history. In addition to their ornate building, Chateau Montelena has a wonderful Japanese Garden in its backyard, built by one of its former owners.
Chateau Montelena
Proof that this Chateau Montelena white wine beat out French wines in 1976!
This is a Hollywood movie about the history of Chateau Montelena and the wine competition in France.
Japanese Garden in the backyard of Chateau Montelena
Chateau Montelena
Proof that this Chateau Montelena white wine beat out French wines in 1976!
This is a Hollywood movie about the history of Chateau Montelena and the wine competition in France.
Japanese Garden in the backyard of Chateau Montelena
Sterling
About four miles south of Chateau Montelena, you will find Sterling Vineyards. Sterling has a great location at the north end of Napa Valley; you take a gondola to get to the white, fortress-like winery that sits on top of a hill. You arrive at the first tasting area right off your gondola ride which provides great glimpses of the valley and lets you know what to expect with your visit. Sterling has a bit more of an industrial feel, but in a clean and crisp fashion. They have an awesome deck near the end of the tour where you can sip on their wine while enjoying some spectacular views!
The gondola ride up to Sterling!
View of the Sterling Vineyards from the gondola
Back porch of Sterling
Pretty great view from Sterling!
The gondola ride up to Sterling!
View of the Sterling Vineyards from the gondola
Back porch of Sterling
Pretty great view from Sterling!
Castello di Amorosa
A quick jaunt down Highway 128 will land you at Castello di Amorosa. You will feel like you’re at Disney World if you decide to give this castle a visit. They give tours of the authentically-styled 13th century Tuscan castle that was shipped over from Italy, including the Knight’s Hall where there’s a museum of armor. The Castello di Amorosa experience seems to be more focused on the castle than the wine though. If you are looking to check out castle architecture and have a unique experience, you should pay Castello di Amorosa a visit!
Castello di Amorosa
Almost felt like we were at Disney World!
Armor Room
Castello di Amorosa
Almost felt like we were at Disney World!
Armor Room
Beringer Winery
About five miles south on Highway 128 from Castello di Amorosa, you will find Beringer Winery in the town of St. Helena. Beringer definitely has an estate feel and the surrounding grounds are expertly groomed and spectacular. They have a few nice houses on their property filled with wine tasting opportunities. Beringer was founded in 1876 and is considered “the oldest continuously operating winery in the Napa Valley.”
Beringer Winery
Robert Mondavi Winery
Driving another six miles south of Beringer on Highway 128 will bring you to Robert Mondavi Winery in the town of Oakville. Robert Mondavi passed away in 2008, but he was an important player in making Napa Valley famous. This was our favorite winery/vineyard tour because it was very educational, and our guide was very personable. The tour was about 90 minutes, and, in that time, we got a lecture about the history of Napa Valley, we briefly walked the vineyard, we saw the impressive tank and barrel rooms, and had a nice tasting with some food pairings. We ended this tour with one of our favorite dessert wines, the Robert Mondavi Moscato.
Robert Mondavi Winery
The Robert Mondavi Experience: our favorite tour!
Robert Mondavi Wine Cave
Robert Mondavi Winery
The Robert Mondavi Experience: our favorite tour!
Robert Mondavi Wine Cave
Cliff Lede Vineyards
About five miles SE from Robert Mondavi Winery, you will find Cliff Lede Vineyards in the town of Yountville. Cliff Lede has a smaller tasting room with a nice patio area if you’re looking for something off the beaten track. We enjoyed the casual environment here.
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars
One of the southernmost towns of Napa Valley is Napa. Slightly off the main drag in Napa, you will find Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, not to be confused with Stag’s Leap Winery. Remember the 1976 Judgment of Paris blind tasting we mentioned above? Well, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars won the Cabernet Sauvignon competition over its French counterparts. This is a very classy winery with floor to ceiling windows providing beautiful views of the surrounding landscape while enjoying the service and wine provided by their employees.
My college friends came to visit!
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars
My college friends came to visit!
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars
Trefethen Winery
Another four miles south from Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars in Napa is Trefethen Winery. It is family-owned and operated. Trefethen’s tasting room is unique because it’s in a restored barn building that was built in 1886. They did a very nice job preserving the history of this building while making it an inviting place to taste their delicious wines. We were all sat down at a large wood table with one of their staff members periodically checking in with us and leading us through their tasting menu. Our favorite wine we tasted here was the 2015 Dragon’s Tooth, so we purchased a bottle and are saving it for a special occasion!
Trefethen Winery
Hendry Winery
About five miles south of Trefethen and further off the main highway, you will find Hendry Winery. We would consider this place the best bang for your buck! They offer a 3-hour seminar tour daily at 10:00 a.m. as long as you reserve ahead of time. The owner-winemaker himself, George Hendry, gives a tour of the grounds and then provides samples of at least seven wines including food pairings and lots of education. It’s $75 for all of this, but if you buy a bottle of wine that amount goes toward your tour price. For example, Megan purchased a $60 bottle of wine, so she only owed the extra $15 for the tour, education, wine tasting, etc. It was nice to have a change of pace here and explore a winery that was a bit more quaint. The authenticity of this winery really stood out.
Hendry Winery
Hendry Winery – We got to spend three hours learning from the head wine master!
Hendry Winery
Hendry Winery – We got to spend three hours learning from the head wine master!
Domaine Carneros
Another winery in the town of Napa is Domaine Carneros, approximately five miles south of Hendry. You will be welcomed by a grand entrance, climbing seemingly endless steps surrounded by well-groomed gardens up to a dazzling mansion. They specialize in sparkling wines and are supposedly very good at it. Their tour was extremely informative on how sparkling wine varieties are different from normal wine. If you like bubbly, Domaine Carneros is the place for you!
Domaine Carneros: known for their sparkling wines!
Domaine Carneros: known for their sparkling wines!
Healdsburg
There is another very large wine area just west of Napa Valley in Sonoma County. Again, there are too many locations to possibly choose from, but we got lucky. We had a “small world” experience at a wedding we went to in MN when we met Ray and Taylor, a couple who works for Arista Winery in Healdsburg. They were kind enough to offer us a private, behind-the-scenes tour of Arista Winery! Arista is appointment only, so you will need to reach out ahead of time to plan your visit to this beautiful farm and vineyard. We were very impressed by their lush wine tasting areas spread out across the property. Our favorite wine here was the Rose.
Arista Winery
We got our own private tour of Arista Winery!
Arista Winery
We got our own private tour of Arista Winery!
Food in Napa Valley
Going back to the north end of Napa Valley, you will find our favorite restaurant, The Rutherford Grill. Our favorite dish here is the French Dip. If you bring a bottle of wine from one of your wine tastings earlier in the day, they will open and pour it for your table. If you don’t have your own bottle, we believe they have plenty of wine options. If you are looking for a fine dining experience that won’t completely break the bank, check out the Gatehouse Restaurant run by The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. You can get either a three or four course meal for a decent price because it will be culinary students serving you. A less formal place to find food is at the Oxbow Public Market in downtown Napa- where there are several street food options under one roof plus a brewery if you want to switch it up from the wine. Another option in downtown Napa would be Bounty Hunter, a classic BBQ joint serving up great brisket and pork.
Lodging in Napa
With Napa being a world class destination, there’s a wide range of lodging options. We went for economy during each of our Napa Valley visits; we’d rather splurge on wine tastings/tours than on a fancy room to sleep in. The best deal for centrally located lodging that we found was at the Napa Winery Inn. This place has very reasonable prices and every night in their main lobby they hold a wine tasting for one white and one red wine from the Napa County area.
General Tips for Planning a Trip to Napa Valley:
- Make reservations ahead of time because not all places even accept walk-ins. If it is off-season (Dec-Feb) you may get away with week-of reservations, but not for in-season.
- Start your wine tastings/tours as early in the morning as possible because most wineries close by 4:00-5:00 p.m.
- Find at least one educational tour so you can better understand wine!
- Try to visit the various areas of the valley, as the wine varies based on the soil and temperature.
- Use Uber to get around if you have no designated driver. For in-season, try to plan your winery route for the driver to make mostly right turns, as the single lane highway gets too packed to attempt left turns. It will waste a lot of time.
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