Welcome to Napa Bound

On this site I'll try to share with you my experiences as I visit many of the wineries in Napa Valley and elsewhere in California.   Much of the focus of this feature will be about the wineries themselves, not so much about reviewing individual wines.  From time to time, I’ll visit other California wineries, including some of those in my own back yard here in San Jose.  There are some highly noteworthy wines in this and other parts of the state that compete favorably on the world wine market.

There is something enriching about a visit to Napa Valley, even before the wine starts to pour.  Every season has something special to offer.  On a sunny day in February and March, the bare vines poke their dark silhouettes through a blanket of shimmering mustard blooms.  In May and June, the same vineyards are rich with greenery.  By early October, giant bunches of nearly black grape clusters dangle from the vines.  By mid-November, the leaves start to turn a shade that ranges from golden yellow to cranberry red.  By Christmas, the vineyards have dozed off, dropping their foliage to the ground.  After the harvest come the smells that waft through the brisk air as all the fruit, recently harvested, ferments and winds its way into barrel.  I find the aroma of a barrel storage room intoxicating, as the fruit and oak begins its journey together toward what will become a delightful glass of wine in a few years time.

My motivation for starting this feature comes from my friends, who have often asked me what places to visit in Napa Valley.  I also run into visitors at wineries who started at a better known place, not knowing where to go next.  Your question might naturally be, “What qualifies me to give advice on visiting wineries in Napa Valley?”  Of the nearly 400 wineries now in Napa Valley, I have visited only 65 of them (about 15% or so).  There are many wineries in Napa Valley that do not offer tasting to the public, so when considering only wineries open to the public, that percentage is actually significantly higher.  I have also visited a number of wineries in other parts of California and can combine what I have learned there with my experiences in Napa Valley.

My first trip to Napa Valley was in the summer of 2005.  During the next four years, I joined four different wine clubs in the area, and found myself visiting every three to five weeks, each time visiting four wineries.  I also found myself with a basement full of wine, so I dropped two of the club memberships (and the frequency of my visits).  In 2007, I started to keep track of the different places I had visited.  I now maintain a simple spreadsheet that lists the wineries I have visited so far.  On each trip to Napa Valley I try to visit at least one new winery.  Most of the time I am successful at this, but sometimes I just want to revisit a few places I know to see how the latest vintage is developing.

Each time I head to Napa, I’ll try to list the places that I visited on that trip.  I’ll try to capture a few pictures with my cell phone, and describe my experience, from the drive to the winery to leaning on the counter in the tasting room, to sobering up outside before heading onto the next place.  I’ll also give a summary impression of the wines, commenting more on the winemaker’s style than on the enjoyment of any individual glass.  I’ll describe what I like about the tasting room, or what puts me off about it.  And I’ll end with a simple, numeric assessment that I have adopted in my winery list.  In it, I rate my impression of the winery and the wines separately on a scale of one to nine.  A rating of five is average for a Napa Valley winery.  For this, I needed a benchmark, average Napa Valley winery.  As it turns out, the first winery I ever visited in Napa Valley is my benchmark, Beaulieu Vineyards (BV).  Like many folks, I chose my first stop to be someplace well known.

That’s it for now.