During our travels through Sonoma three years ago, we happened upon Raymond Burr Vineyards. Since that time we have been returning every year to taste the newest vintage of Chardonnay which is one of my favorites along with the Cabernet and Cabernet Franc, both very good also. This year we arrived at Raymond Burr on the 4th of July weekend and they were having a small picnic celebration with tasting out on the patio. They have a lovely picnic area outside the tasting room with tables under shade trees over looking rolling vineyards. It was a nice day to sit outside, take in the view and taste the latest vintages. It reminded me of a family celebration with a neighbor doing some pouring and old friends helping out. There was a grill fired up... »View More

Added Friday, July 31, 2009 in Napa Times Add a Comment

We left Stryker for a short trip over to Geyserville and a stop at Locals Tasting Room. Locals is a winery collective, or tasting room that features wines from boutique wineries that either do not have or want tasting rooms of their own. Locals presently features 10 award winning wineries with a selection of over 62 wines. Our reason for the visit was to try a selection of Portalupi wine after meeting the winemaker, Tim Borges at Envy the day before. We ended up doing a flight of wines from several different wineries including Portalupi. I have to say I am not a regular of collectives as I find the experience somewhat like shopping at a super market. I feel the experience is more personal at tasting rooms on winery property with small groups,... »View More

Added Friday, July 31, 2009 in Napa Times Add a Comment

We headed out on our third day over to Sonoma to visit a few favorites such as Raymond Burr and also wanted to explore some new stops as well. If you have ever been to Sonoma you know that most roads have street signs with arrows pointing to the direction of the local wineries. While driving towards our intended stop and looking for a new find, we saw the sign for Stryker. That struck a familiar cord with us as it was one of the first bottles that we received as a gift for our new wine cellar many years ago from our brother in law. We opened it several years later and it was outstanding. It had been purchased in California and we had never tried the wines again until that day. As we arrived at Stryker we thought the rolling vineyards surrounding... »View More

Added Thursday, July 30, 2009 in Napa Times Add a Comment

Our last stop for the day was at an old favorite, Freemark Abbey. Their tasting room happens to be within walking distance of the Wine Country Inn so it was an easy choice. Freemark has a long history in the valley beginning back in 1886 when Josephine Marlin Tychson became the first woman to build and operate a winery in California. The site where Tychson Cellars once stood is now Freemark Abbey. The winery has changed hands many times over the years and is presently owned by Kendall Jackson Estates. Their tasting room recently went through an extensive renovation complete with a fireplace, 25-foot bar and private estate tasting room that can accommodate 12 people. Most of the Freemark wines are distributed, and the complete line includes selections... »View More

Added Wednesday, July 29, 2009 in Napa Times Add a Comment

One of the things you find out in the valley is many times there is a connection between wineries. Well known winemakers will help out other wineries and vineyards by do consulting work for them. Smaller vineyards or locations without sufficient property often do not have crush pads, tanks, or storage areas and will work out agreements for sharing facilities. Sometimes it may even come down to a trade type agreement, you work for me and I work for you. There is also the making of friendships with either money or talent to start a new venture. Remember growing grapes and making wine is not an easy or inexpensive under taking, and not something the inexperienced should try alone. Our next stop suggested by Lin at Venge Vineyards was one of these... »View More

Added Wednesday, July 29, 2009 in Napa Times Add a Comment

After our visit to Venge with Lin, she was able to get us a quick tour at Schramsberg as her husband Ron works there and luckily had some time to fit us in. We appreciated that very much as two members of our party had never been to Scrhamsberg and were looking forward to it. They were looking forward to it partly because of how we had described the uniqueness of the champagne caves and partly just due to the vast amount of history the world famous Schramsberg has to offer. As we waited for our appointed time with Ron, we stood outside by the lily pad frog pond and observed the beauty of nature in action. The pond has lots of frogs, plenty of tadpoles and bright colorful flowers bursting off lily pads with the most fascinating bugs flying... »View More

Added Wednesday, July 29, 2009 in Napa Times Add a Comment

Our first full day in Napa Valley was one I was looking forward to as we would pay a return visit to one of my favorites, Venge Vineyards. The day began rather early for me at around 5:45 am breakfast and coffee was not yet available so I decide to make a trip down to the hot tub and pool at the Inn. A twenty minute sitting in the hot tub then a swim in the cool morning water of the pool and I was ready for a great day. As always we had a nice full breakfast before leaving the Inn and then it was off to the local St Helena Sunshine Market to pick up a picnic lunch. The Venge appointment was for 10:00am and we arrived right on time to their new location in Calistoga. A short ride up the driveway past rows of vineyards and you arrive at a large... »View More

Added Saturday, July 18, 2009 in Napa Times Add a Comment