Napa/Sonoma - For the winos

[Jyard]

That's pretty close to having an actual man cave. Sweet pictures, I'd love to go somewhere like that and see some actual scenery.

[GE]

Cool cool. I just can't get into hardly anything from Krupp Brothers though, even with Sandy being the local rep and tasting their stuff time and time again.

[no4njnk]

What were your favorite wineries in Sonoma? My wife and I are heading out there in a few months

[Fern]

yessir.

thats what im talmbout.

[AdamLX]

Cool cool. I just can't get into hardly anything from Krupp Brothers though, even with Sandy being the local rep and tasting their stuff time and time again.

Blasphemy!

It's really hit or miss. I dig Veraison which is disappearing once they go through the rebranding/merging the names together. Joshua/Black Bart/Veraison are the choices for us.

[AdamLX]

What were your favorite wineries in Sonoma? My wife and I are heading out there in a few months

Any types of wines that you prefer? Whites, merlot, cabs etc? Post up some preferences if you have any and I will give you some opinions/suggestions for Napa and Sonoma.

[Trick Pony]

As far as wine goes I mostly drink cab when I'm having a steak. My favorites from that area come from Stag's Leap, Beaulieu Vineyard, and Robert Mondavi.

[no4njnk]

I like cabs and wife like cabs, pinot noirs, and blends.

[AdamLX]

I like cabs and wife like cabs, pinot noirs, and blends.

Sounds like us.

These are just wineries to visit for the experience: Beringer, BR Cohn, Domaine Chandon, Domaine Carneros, Sterling and Rubicon.

Some favorites of mine are Rubicon, Stag's Leap, Silver Oak, Paraduxx and Krupp Brothers.

My absolute favorite wine and winery to visit is Far Niente. You need to book an appointment ahead of time and it's $50 per person, but you will taste some premium/vintage wines and the estate is absolutely amazing, plus there's a car collection.

Whitehall Lane has a well priced tasting menu and is easy, but it's not much on the experience. It's more of a big room with tasting areas, but you get your money's worth. This is down the highway about 1 mile from Far Niente.

You can go to Folie a Deux about 5 minutes futher down the highway which is the same set up, but it's something like $7 for a tasting of five wines. This is the company that makes Menage a Trois.

Napa can be divided in two sections if you want. You have Hwy 29 (St Helena Hwy) which has Rubicon, Far Niente, Whitehall Lane, Opus One, all the big names in Cabs etc. Then about a mile East across the valley you have Silverado Trail which is where you find Krupp Brothers, Stag's Leap Quintessa, Paraduxx, Joseph Phelps, ZD Wines etc.

Once you've done a tour of a couple of places then they all start to become the same unless you have a vested interest in the winery or are a huge of it. Get those done then just hit up the tasting rooms of several places.

If you like Silver Oak, they are in the middle of the valley between both highways.

You cannot go to Napa without doing lunch at Auberge du Soleil. Make a reservation for LUNCH unless you are feeling like spending $90 PER PERSON on a fixed brunch menu that did not look appealing at all. They do not start lunch until 3pm or so. Make sure to reserve a table on the patio as this place has the best views in the area and the food is excellent.

Random google image of the patio

[bcoop]

I've just recently had a change in taste buds, and have started to like wine. I'm still on mellow stuff, like Cabs, Pinot Noir, and Blends. Just went to a wine bar the other night though, and had a bottle of Malbec that was more of a medium body, and I really liked it.

That's something I'd like to do eventually, once I appreciate it more and can venture off in to the different stuff.

[AdamLX]

I love me some Malbecs.

If you like blends, try a Meritage. It's 50/30/5/5 ish blend of Cab/Merlot/Petit Verdot/Malbec in that order. It's a good way to ease into it and figure out what you like.

I wasn't a wine person until about 4 years ago. Once I started just trying this and that wine I figured out what I like it was much easier and better. Now I'm trying to figure out how to cram in a bigger winecooler in the kitchen, (about to cut up the granite).

Not to mention it makes dinner better especially when you can bring your own wine into a restaurant and pay a $15-$20 corkage fee and avoid the 100% markup on the wine list.

[GE]

I'm thinking about doing the El Centro program this fall to test for the Sommelier I and II.