Oct 1st through 3rd 2003 wine country trip

Pictures and info page three
      On day three we were scheduled to meet up with a friend of mine from Mountain View that I knew from when I lived in CA. It was actually their wedding anniversary weekend, as our last trip to CA was last year during the same week of October when I was a groomsman in his wedding. We headed to Napa and had a crappy breakfast in a run-down, corner cafe in downtown Napa. For such an upscale looking, classy northern California small-town, downtown Napa didn't have anywhere to get breakfast, fast-food or otherwise.
      We were under the gun to get to Opus One by 10:30AM because according to their website there was a tour. We made it on time, but unfortunately either because it didn't say on the site or there was an error on my part, reservations were required for the tour. We were in luck though as someone had cancelled and the woman doing the tour graciously allowed us to join at the last minute. (Note, contrary to other trips I had made to Napa, we elected to dress a bit more upscale than just jeans and I think it was reflected in the treatment we received.) If I had been in my favorite comfortable clothes of jeans and a t-shirt instead of my dress pants and a nice golf shirt, we may not have been invited to join the tour at the last minute. As with other wineries we had visited, Opus One was doing their harvest so we were able to witness the grapes being sorted and loaded into gravity-press, stainless-steel tanks. The tour lasted about an hour and we elected to skip the tasting offered because it was $25 a taste, per wine! Our stops after Opus One on Thursday Oct 2nd were in the following order. The winery names are links to their websites, if they have one.


      Our first stop after Opus One was Niebaum-Coppola, hardly a 1/4 mile down the road and across the street. More commercialized that what we had become accustomed to in Sonoma, it was still a beautiful setting with excellent wines. It was also quite crowded. Hardly worth getting back in the rental car to drive to since it's so close, our next stop was Grgich Hills on the same side of the road as Niebaum. This was a smaller atmosphere, but I wouldn't say it was relaxed. One of the people serving the tastings was quite rude and couldn't be bothered to answer any questions or even come back in a timely manner when you wanted to move onto another wine. The wines here were excellent, but we felt uncomfortable in a snobbish atmosphere. We didn't buy anything.
      We had enough time for one more winery before we met our friends, so on a whim, we stopped at Cardinale, right next to Opus One back down the road from where Grgich Hills was. The winery is up a very steep hill and commands a beautiful view of Napa. My wife and I shared a tasting of the Merlots as the tasting fees were a bit pricey. They were quite good, and the people were very friendly educating us on who Cardinale was and what kind of wines they produced. Most of their wines are a bit out of our price range (the Cardinale brand is actually the lowest rung), but it was a nice stop.
      Our friends met us about 15 miles down the road at Domaine Carneros, a huge, beautiful chateau situated on a hill along the road between Napa's main drag, and Sonoma. We only met there, but didn't stop for tasting. We went down a side country road near there and trekked to Artesa, a secluded, and immensely beautiful winery on a HUGE hilltop. This winery is just over the top. Modern artwork everywhere, fountains, this place just subtly conveys class and sophistication. It doesn't hurt that the wines were second only to Murphy-Goode in Sonoma. We have had Artesa before at a friend's in Chicago who buys a case each year of the Merlot. It was outstanding, so we were looking forward to the trip to Artesa during our visit. It didn't disappoint. The tasting fees were reasonable for my wife to taste the regular menu and I tasted the reserves (we tasted each others selections to compare them).
      From Artesa, we went to Cakebread which was at this point of mid-afternoon on a Friday on Napa's main winery alley, VERY busy. Parking was difficult and the tasting room was crowded. The wines were top notch, and we bought two bottles. We had some time before our dinner reservations at the very excellent Mustard's Grill so we went to a winery on the Silverado Trail road (off the main path in Napa, Silverado Trail has some great wineries including Stag's Leap and Clos du Val to name a few). We went to Silverado which is again situated on a hilltop, with a commanding view of the valley. Their wines are excellent and once again (we'd been before to visit them), the wines didn't disappoint. The view from the tasting room of the valley is worth the visit alone.
      We arrived early at Mustard's and brought a bottle of the Cakebread red blend we had purchased with us for dinner. Their pork sandwich was excellent and my wife had to order an entre that featured their fabulous garlic mashed potatoes.
      Our trip to wine country was concluded and after saying goodbye to our friends who were driving back south to Mountain View, we lugged our wine treasures back to our hotel to relax before the wedding we attended Saturday in San Francisco. We had a fabulous time, and staying overnight instead of trying to visit wine country for a day made a big difference, allowing us more time to savour the visit and plan a full schedule of visits. As I said, we were very impressed with Sonoma and would return again. We have been to most of the larger wineries in Napa at least once now, so when we come again in a few years, we might try doing a more in-depth visit to Sonoma. We were regretting the 12 bottles we purchased when it came time to carry them all around the airport before boarding our plane, but thankfully they all survived the trip and are waiting for the completion of our basement wine cellar.

Opus One winery tour, sorting
Opus One winery tour, sorting
Opus One winery tour, sorting
Opus One winery tour, sorting
Opus One winery tour, barrel aging
Opus One winery tour, barrel aging
Niebaum-Coppola
Niebaum-Coppola
Cardinale
Niebaum-Coppola
Artesa

Artesa
Artesa
Artesa with our friends
Mustard's Grill