Jen and I will briefly be in town in early November, and I have a couple tastings already booked, but it’s pretty open. We only have time for one day in Napa area, one day in Sonoma basically.
In keeping with my newfound love of mountain fruit, I wonder what recommendations people have for either Napa or Sonoma area. I guess Pride is always a good option, and I’d love to taste at Forman if possible.
Hanzell for sure during our Sonoma trip…
David Arthur
Viader
O’Shaughnessy
Outpost
Robert Foley
Togni
I took a look through some older threads, looks like Keenan would be a smart visit - mountain fruit, and value pricing, which is double-appealing.
Thanks, Arnie - good suggestions. Forgot about Viader and Togni, and Outpost is always a good call
Kamen
Great call, thanks!
Smith Madrone is great too. Charlie and Stu are a lot of fun to talk to after the tasting if they aren’t too busy.
Agree wholeheartedly with Smith Madrone, that was a great visit for us and completely beautiful up there. Keenan great as well. I haven’t been but I hear the experience at Chapellet is mind blowing, and excellent wines.
For Sonoma, Calluna is an excellent, personal experience. Not the highest of “mountains” but definitely hillside fruit. More reasonable pricing here, too.
Lagier Meredith
We did that last time - so incredible…
Stonestreet is the largest mountain estate in Sonoma County (likely all of California) and has a great estate tour! Chard and Cab mostly with a bit of mountain Sauvignon Blanc.
I reached out to Smith-Madrone - tried their website booking system, powered by VinoVisit, and I’m hoping it’s not terribly accurate, although if it is, I’ll just work around it, and get my other Spring Mountain tasting in around that time. Just means a bit more running around, back and forth, from Oakville area up to Spring Mountain, then probably back south a bit. We’ll see.
I’ll check Calluna, thanks
Hanzell is a must as well and I’ll second Calluna, David is a really nice guy and attended the local wine tech group meetings when they were still being held.
Howell Mountain? Outpost?
Black Sears???
Mayacamas? Is it still open?
Peacock probably has the best views in Napa and I like their wines. The cab ages well. Drank an 03 two nights ago and it was singing.
Interesting - haven’t heard of them, but in the same area as two others - Smith-Madrone and Keenan, so I’ll definitely reach out
Contact Terra-Valentine!!!
Let me know if you need any assistance. Small producer but good juice!
Not really mountain but Frick winery has a great view and really nice rhone wines at a fair price.