In my life I have travelled a lot, I can proudly say I have been in 6 of the 7 continents missing only Antarctica, and I'm completely confident that the coolest, fun, and probably most enjoyable trip I have ever done so far was to Napa Valley with the gang. We got together 6 friends including significant others, living in 4 different countries for a two days trip to the wine region.
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| The Gang © Lili DuBois |
Lovely Heather was in charge of the logistics, and she was brilliant, the itinerary couldn't be better, perfect for a chaotic and disorganised group as we are. Napa vineyards date back to the nineteenth century, some of them are still operating, but in the 60s was when they raised as a first rank wine region.
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| Ze Ladies! |
We started our trip with some bubbles, yes let’s get fizz at Domaine Chandon, we browse around a bit, but let’s face it, this was our first place, so we were desperate to get some tasting going on, or should I say drinking going in some cases. The varietals they grow are Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, two of the three traditional French Champagne varietals.
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| Domaine Chandon |
We went straight to etoile restaurant in the winery, award winning restaurant, only fine dining within a winery in Napa, and chef Perry Hoffman was awarded best new chef by Food & Wine. We got bottles of the etoile Brut, Rose, and the Tete de Cuve. A great start, all were brilliant, my favourite definitely the Tete de Cuve which is a winery exclusive.
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| etoile |
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| bye bye Chandon |
Domaine Chandon and etoile Restaurant
T: +1 888 242 6366
Winery / French Cuisine
Approx Damage: $190 per the 3 bottles
Area: Napa Valley
Yountville
Twitter: Chandon
Our second stop was in Robert Mondavi winery, the first major winery built in Napa post prohibition era, he opened his winery after he was fired from the family winery Krug over a fight with his little brother. We did the proper tour of the winery, 75 minutes following the path of the grave from the vineyard, to the cellar, to the finished wine. We had to wait for our tour but free of charge we were able to try most of their wines, including the original Fume Blanc Robert created in 1966.
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| Robert Mondavi Winery |
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| Tasting |
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| Waiting for our tour © Lili DuBois |
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| Wine barrels |
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| I have a bad feeling about this! © Lili DuBois |
Robert Mondavi Winery
T: +1 888 766 6328
Winery
Approx Damage: $25 for the tour
Area: Napa Valley
Our third stop a last for the first day was Castello di Amorosa, 121 thousand square foot 13th century Tuscan castle/winery that opened in 2007. Having visited castles around Europe Amorosa looks a bit tacky, we didn't take the tour as the general entry gives you access to most of the areas and you can try some wines as well, at that point half of the group didn’t know even their names, having said that we continue with the wine tasting mission, the entry gives you to try 5 wines but our friendly bartender in the main tasting bar gave us a couple more so we could try a bit more of the set of wines they commercialise.
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| Castello |
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| Reuter making friends © Lili DuBois |
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| Tasting Bar |
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| Does anybody knows where we are? © Lili DuBois |
Castello di Amorosa
T: +1 707 967 6272
Winery
Approx Damage: $18 for the general admission (includes 5 wines to taste)
Area: Napa Valley
Next day, new batteries, and ready for more wine, we got to Reynolds Family Winery, Heather reserved a private tasting there, the more family style winery we visited, less commercial than the other ones, we got the reserve flight tasting, went through their wines, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Persistence (Bordeaux blend) and Reserve Cabernet.
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| RFW |
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| The winery |
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| Love the labels |
Reynolds Family Winerty
T: +1 707 258 2258
Winery
Approx Damage: $20 for the wine tasting
Area: Napa Valley
Our next stop was Clos Du Val, founded by two French wine businessman who travelled the world for two years looking for land to produce Bordeaux style wine, finally they settled in Stags Leap District. For this one what instead of paying for the taste each, we put the money together and bought the bottles that were in the tasting. Great day, we went to the yard, sat in a table, got some cheese and charcuterie and enjoyed the wine while relaxing contemplating the vineyards.
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| Clos Du Val |
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| Wine time |
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| Vineyards |
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| Al fresco tasting |
Clos Du Val
T: +1 800 993 9463
Winery
Approx Damage: $15
Area: Napa Valley
Our final stop was Sterling Vineyards, the winery has a cable car, in order to get to the top of the hill where it’s located. Greek inspired architecture, outstanding views of the valley, a self-guided tour so you go at your own pace, and you taste 5 different wines, for $5 more you can have additional tasting of their reserve wines, and $10 more you can have single vineyards and limited release wines a great ending for our trip.
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| Cable car © Lili DuBois |
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| Enjoying the view © Lili DuBois |
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| Last tasting © Lili DuBois |
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| Looking forward the next trip © Lili DuBois |
Sterling Winery
T: +1 800 726 6136
Winery
Approx Damage: $35 for the Silver experience wine tasting
Area: Napa Valley
Calistoga
Twitter: sterlingwines
George: I did it! It's all done!
Jerry: Hey
George: I did it. Hun, we're going out as soon as she gets off of work and it'll still be daytime. You know I, I'm much better in the daytime than I am at night, it's less pressure
Jerry: I love the day date. No wine, No shower
George: Yeah
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