On my most recent trip to the Napa valley, I invited my good friend and VP of Marketing, Don for two days in the valley. Our goal was to visit some quality wineries and not try to do the usual “hit as many as you can” trip. Our goal was met and definitely did not disappoint. Here is a brief run-down of the wineries we visited.

Our first stop was Larkmead Winery. This was my second visit in a few months. That was not done by accident. We arrived a few minutes early and were greeted by Colin with a genuine and heartfelt “good morning”. His enthusiasm carries over into their wines as they were all very good.

In fact, I enjoyed their cabs so much; I joined their wine club so that I can receive some of their limited edition reserve cabs. I would highly recommend a visit.

Our next stop was Quintessa. This was a winery that had been on my radar for almost a year. The tour was good and they have a beautiful new facility. We met a nice couple from San Louis Obispo who sent us a copy of the picture of the four of us (more on the picture later).

While the quantities of wine that were poured for the tasting were a bit small, the quality was very good. If you like great cab, Quintessa has it.

Our next stop was Stony Hill Winery, about 15 minutes up Spring Mountain. The tasting is done in a private setting on the back patio as if you were visiting a friend…and we felt like we were. Mary was a wonderful host and the views were spectacular.

The Stony Hill Chardonnay is, I am told, one of the favorite wines of the Queen of England. While the wine was very good for its style, it was not my “cup of tea”. The queen can have it. Don liked it enough to buy two bottles so we definitely had different tastes on this one. The wine just did not have enough fruit for me but the experience was well worth the visit.

Next, we headed up the hill to Cain. Sheila gave us a private tour including the pool. It was absolutely beautiful. I could see the Hospital in St. Helena where I was born…pretty cool. I took a few pictures at Cain as well.

The wines were outstanding with the famous Cain Five leading the way. Well worth the drive up the hill.

Next, we headed on over to Miner. My friend Steve decided to take his family to Hawaii instead of hanging around to see us…go figure. Anyway, we were well taken care of, as always. I think we tasted at least ten wines.

I would highly recommend the Oracle if you like cab…outstanding…also the Benadetto, another great cab. The Chard is very good as well. I’m not that great at telling people what “flavor” is in a wine, I just know what I like, BUT, I went out on a limb with the 2004 Petit Sirah… I said “BANANAS”.

The whole tasting room was like “huh?” They all had to have a taste and sure enough…bananas! Go to Miner, taste their great wines and see if you can taste the banana in the Petite Sirah.

We returned to our room at the Best Western in Calistoga (highly recommend) and got cleaned up for dinner. We went to the Wappo Grill. Awesome food…terrible service…I guess that’s better than the other way around, but …

The next day we started out at St. Clement, another winery with a beautiful view and great wines to match. Marlys treated us well and was very knowledgeable. The Abbot’s Vineyard Chard was outstanding, as was the Oroppas cab…both worth the visit.

Our next stop was Alpha Omega a newer winery with outstanding wines and a lively tasting room. Rick took great care of us and I would highly recommend a visit.

Our next stop was Sequoia Grove. I have always liked their Chardonnay and their Cabs. They continue to make great wines year after year. Matt does a great job running the tasting room and we were treated like royalty by Sarah. The reserve cabs are drinking awesome right now.

Our next stop was at Groth were my friend Ken is the director of sales and marketing. We tasted all they had including the future cab reserves in the barrel. I will say this…Groth is making some of the best wines in the valley…all of their wines were outstanding.

The reserve cab will be one of the best EVER when it is released. Remember, I said it here, if you can get some when it is released, do it. An awesome way the end the day…thanks, Ken.

SO that concluded our trip. We tasted incredible wines, met a lot of new friends, and had a great time.

Now about that picture…I decided that I just look a little to “heavy”…just not what I used to be, well actually MORE than I used to be. Don and I decided on a little weight-loss bet…We each have 90 days to lose 30 pounds.

I will be back in the valley on September 17th and 18th. If you see me say “hi”…just don’t feed me…Don loves brownies and cookies…his address is… 🙂

Cheers,

Paul Evans