Today I am taking advantage of a cool summer night to catch up on some Napa news. We have had fantastic weather here in New Jersey so far this summer. Except for a couple of weeks when temperatures were more like midsummer Napa Valley temps with over 100 degree days on two occasions, we even broke a long standing record. Anyway, back to the point of my writing. We are in the early stages of planning for an October return to the valley. I guess you could say we are getting a little greedy, returning within a seven month period. I am sure I have mentioned before that I would be living in Napa year round if possible so returning so soon is not surprising.  We are looking at the third week in October when harvest season should be winding down and... »View More

Added Monday, July 26, 2010 in Napa Times Add a Comment

Only ten days left until we are on the plane to Napa Valley! All of our plans are completed and the tasting reservations made, all there is to do now is pack and wait. Judging by the comments on facebook and in Emails I would say our entire crew of eight is more than ready for this trip! Weather in the Valley appears to be improving so we hope for a good week. After a quick photo op at the Golden Gate Bridge for the first timers, it will be off to the valley with a first stop at an old favorite Regucci Winery on the Silverado Trail. Regusci has been our first stop in the valley for many trips and I am sure the new group will be impressed with their wine. Our first day in Napa just happens to be St Patrick’s Day and of course we will celebrate,... »View More

Added Sunday, March 7, 2010 in Napa Times Add a Comment

Here in my New Jersey home on an unexpected day off, I am watching the snow build up outside as we are hit with what will probably go down as the blizzard of 2010 for our area of the state. You see until now we have been very lucky with the past two major snow storms staying in the southern portion of our state, which is rather unusual. As I have lived in the area all my life I knew it was only a matter of time before at least one good winter snow storm hit us this season, and today is “the big one”.  Aside from clearing the snow, a job I hate, I don’t mind a day off. It allows me a chance to catch up on many things, including the web site which is something I have been a ways behind on. I can also day dream and do a little planning for that... »View More

Added Wednesday, February 10, 2010 in Napa Times Add a Comment

A new year as well as a new decade has arrived, 2010 is already 21 days old and I am looking forward to a far better year than last. There are signs the economy is on the way back, the stock market has improved, and I am back to working full time after a furlough in 2009. I was never one who was overly excited about the changing of years, after all it is just another day, but I do have a good feeling about this one. I am already filled with great excitement to an event planned for March. My wife turned 40 on January 12th and part of her present was a trip to Napa Valley. I thought it fitting as she gave me the same gift when I turned 50 five years ago which began our love of Napa Valley and annual return trips ever since. Not wanting to brave... »View More

Added Thursday, January 21, 2010 in Napa Times Add a Comment

Our last stop of day four was another return visit and by chance turned out that we got to meet one of our favorite winemakers; Nils Venge. Back down Silverado Trail we headed to Saddleback Cellars located in the heart of Oakville. Saddleback is owned by Nils Venge; a name we had run into on numerous occasions during our trip, including finding out at our earlier tasting with Fortress Vineyards that Nil’s is a consulting winemaker for them. While we love Saddleback wines, and we were so excited to meet Nils, this was simply a bad choice for us as a last stop. The taste buds were burnt out from a long day of tasting and we should have known better. Next time we will visit Saddleback early in the day so as to appreciate the fantastic wines... »View More

Added Saturday, August 29, 2009 in Napa Times Add a Comment

Our next stop was an old favorite and was just a matter of changing rooms. We left the Frank Family VIP room and headed over to do a tasting of their reserve wines in the newly renovated tasting room. Frank Family has been one of our many favorites and we return each year to try the latest vintages of their reserve wines and champagne which are not sold locally. Shortly after our visit last year Frank Family opened their new tasting room in the original Craftsman House on the property. The former residence of the original winery owner was lovingly restored including a brick fireplace that was found underneath layers of plaster and paint. I will admit for a moment I did miss the old neat “no frills” tasting room, only for a moment though.... »View More

Added Saturday, August 29, 2009 in Napa Times Add a Comment

After leaving Silver Oak we headed up to Calistoga for our appointment with Fortress Vineyards. Fortress does not currently have a tasting room of their own, so they hosted us in the new Frank Family VIP tasting room. My brother-in-law found Fortress while researching places to visit on our day trip up to Lake County which is where the vineyard is located. Owner Barbara Snider was our host for the tasting and I can’t say enough about how good the Fortress wines are. We came away with two new favorites; the Sauvignon Blanc and Petite Syrah, with the Petite being one of the best I had ever tasted. I will not go into a lot of detail on Fortress as a forthcoming write up will be posted on our Unique U.S. Wineries page in the near future. However,... »View More

Added Saturday, August 29, 2009 in Napa Times Add a Comment

Day 4 began at one of our old favorites, Silver Oak Cellars. We headed out to the Napa tasting room located in Oakville. As you may know, there is also a tasting room in Sonoma County where you can sample the latest Silver Oak vintages, but we were all very excited to get to the new Napa Valley winery and tasting room as the rebuild had been completed since we last visited. While the new tasting room made its debut almost a year ago now in late September our last visit to Silver Oak was in May while everything was still under construction. We entered the tasting room through the massive cellar doors to an elegant, yet, cozy tasting room complete with a fireplace that looked well broken in. The room is mostly limestone with a tasting bar crafted... »View More

Added Tuesday, August 11, 2009 in Napa Times Add a Comment

Our intension after Raymond Burr was to head back to the Inn. Well, plans change and we came upon a sign with balloons on Wine Creek Road which is just off of West Dry Creek Road, announcing Mounts Winery. Of course we decided to check it out so up the long driveway past rows of vineyards we went to the top of a hill with a beautiful view of the surrounding vineyards. Mounts is family owned and operated and we were greeted by the family themselves, and welcomed to the tasting area set up outdoors on the patio for the holiday weekend. The set up was complete with a barbeque, including ribs that were some of the best I have ever tasted. Rich Mount and his son David are the owners with Rich doing the farming (he is also responsible for those fantastic... »View More

Added Tuesday, August 11, 2009 in Napa Times Add a Comment

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