It feels like my love of wine has REALLY amped up this past year. No longer do I find my $12 bottles of red from Trader Joes satisfactory and I’m the person at the open bar at work events commenting on how awful the (free!) wine tastes.
I partially blame my newfound snobbery on my multiple recent wine tasting trips. After tasting all of these fancy reserve and single vineyard varietals, it’s hard to go back! All that said, when I found RT tickets to San Francisco for the weekend for $70, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit Napa! For those who have never been or are looking to take a quick trip, here are my Napa wine tasting tips and a list of the places we visited:
Napa Wine Tasting Tips
Make reservations ahead of time
One of the things i found most annoying about Napa is that you have to make reservations everywhere. We learned it’s because of a law in place that requires the wineries to have appointments for everyone, but can really hinder spontaneity. If for some reason you find one you want to go to once you get there, just try calling when you are driving over and we found they try hard to accommodate.
Take a Tour!
Most places you visit, a simple stop at the winery’s tasting room will suffice, but for some of those extra special places, opt for a tour of the grounds! A tasting is usually included, but you get a more in depth look at the winery and their process. We decided to visit Jarvis as our tour. For a whopping $80 each, We got to visit their underground cave where they make and store their wine. The tour was completed with a seated tasting that included 6 pours and a small cheese plate.
Split Tastings
If you are traveling with others, I cannot suggest enough that you share tastings. this way, you are able to hit up more wineries in a small amount of time and your taste buds wont be completely shot by the end of the day. This can also help you cut down on cost since tastings can be QUITE expensive up there!!
Visit a selection of big and small wineries
Everyone has a different goal when visiting so my napa wine tasting tips may not have the same priority as others, but if you are only going for a weekend or it’s your first visit, I would try to visit a few of the giant wineries and a few of the boutique ones as well.
Again, it just depends on what you want your experience to be! Our first stop was at Castello di Amarosa because, well, its a literal castle. Come on, how COOL is that?? The problem we found with the big fancy ones is that they are just trying to push as many people through the door as possible (or try to sell you on their wine club *eyeroll*).
While you may have never heard of some of these tiny places, usually their wine and your experience is better because they take the time to actually talk to you and tell you about their process. So, go visit Duckhorn and Stag’s Leap, but try out some smaller places like Elyse as well!
Start from the top
What we heard from a lot of the locals was the people tend to start in Napa proper and work their way up through St Helena and Calistoga which are farther away. So, we drove around and started from the top and worked out way down. It was still crowded, but i think we missed a lot of the traffic jams we would’ve encountered if we had gone the opposite way.
Flying Alaska Airlines or Southwest?
If not, you should be!! We discovered by sheer luck that both airlines allow you to check a case of wine for free! We stopped at a local shipping store and bought a shipping case for wine and saved ourselves some serious $$ we could have wasted paying for shipping at the wineries.
Our Itinerary
I did a lot of research before our trip and was sad at the amount of places we had to leave off. That being said, I’ll share with you below how we spent our two days as my final tip.
SATURDAY:
10:15a – Wine Tasting at Castello Di Amarosa
- 4045 St Helena Highway Calistoga, CA 94515 | (707) 967-6272 | open 9:30am-6:00pm daily March – October
- Reservation: Not needed
- Price: $30
- Notes: Access to grounds included. Everyone must purchase ticket to enter which includes tasting.
12p – Wine Tasting at Charles Krug
- 2800 Main Street, St. Helena, CA 94574 | (707) 967-6272 | open 10:30am-5:00pm daily
- Reservation: Not required, but recommended
- Price: $45
- Notes: Oldest winery in Napa
1p – Wine Tasting at V Sattui
- 1111 White Lane St Helena, CA 94574 | (707) 963-7774 | open sunday-saturday 9:00am-5:00pm
- Reservation: Not required for standard tasting
- Price: $20 – Market Place Tasting, $35 Reserve Tasting
- Notes: Delicious food and deli options. VERY large and crowded. Go early. Signed up for the wine club!
1:45p – Lunch at at V Sattui
3p – Wine Tasting at Cakebread Cellars
- 8300 St. Helena Hwy Rutherford, CA 94573 | (800) 588-0298 | open Mon-Fri and Sat-Sun
- Reservation: Required
- Price: $25 – Current Releases Tasting
- Notes: Tasting took place in barrel room
4p – Wine Tasting at Regusci
- 5584 Silverado Trail Napa, CA 94558 | (707) 254-0403 | open daily 10:00am-5:00pm
- Reservation: Required
- Price: $25
- Notes: Beautiful outdoor seating area. Last tasting at 4p.
6p – Dinner at Bounty Hunter Wine Bar
Sunday:
10a – Wine Tasting at Robert Biale Vineyards
- 4038 Big Ranch Road, Napa, California |707.257.7555 | open daily 10:00am-4:00pm
- Reservation: Required
- Price: $30 – Valley Vista Tasting, Other options avail.
- Notes: Known for their Zinfandel
11a – Wine Tasting at Elyse
- 4038 Big Ranch Road, Napa, California | 707.257.7555 | open daily
- Reservation: Required
- Price: $30
- Notes: Tasting fee waived w/ 3 bottle purchase
1p – Wine Tour & Tasting at Jarvis
- 2100 HOFFMAN LANE, Napa, California 94558 | 707.944.2900 | open daily by appointment (10a, 1p, 3p)
- Reservation: Required
- Price: $80 each
- Notes: 2 hour tasting
2:30p – Late lunch at Oxbow Market (610 & 644 First Street Napa, California 94559)
4p – Head back to SFO for flight
That’s it folks! I know that was a lot, but I’m telling you, Napa is really a place where you want to plan ahead of time. If you have any other advice or questions I would love to hear below!
