Napa Valley Review

Made a 3 day trip this weekend to Yountville in Napa Valley to surprise the wife for her 40th. Here are some highlights for those interested.

Stay:

Vintage House at the Estate Yountville. Spacious and well appointed. Excellent service. Would 10/10 recommend. They also have partnerships with local tasting rooms that are pretty sweet deals.

Tastings:

Handwritten. We are members here. Service is like nothing you’ve seen before. Wine is also great. They have ties to the Champagne region in France so they have a champagne under their label if that’s your thing. My wife’s favorite by far.

Sequoia Grove Winery. Kind of a smaller one on 29 between Yountville and St. Helena. We did the lunch pairing. Great food, decent wine. For me the Chardonnay was the best. They did do a little science experiment where you try a certain base taste (acid, salt, fat) then sip the wine and it shows how your pairing has an effect on your perception of the wine.

Orin Swift Cellars. We are Equinox club members there so we did the Scissors tasting. Very well curated. All the wines tasted there were not released publicly but were available to purchase.

Pine Ridge Vineyard. Do the explorers cave tour. Pretty unique. Good wine, better guide.

Baldacci Family Vineyard. Small winery. Family feel. Spent about 3.5 hours at the tour/tasting. This was the best experience for me.

Noteworthy Meals:

Bottega. High quality Italian food and drinks. The carbonara was phenomenal. We split the fish for an entree. Worth it.

Goose and Gander. All I’ll say is get the burger. You won’t be disappointed.

Aztecas. This one is a roadside Mexican grocery/taqueria between Yountville and St. Helena. Dirt cheap and as authentic as it comes.