Hill and I took a trip to Napa with some good friends for a little one nighter getaway. First stop, always a must Patz & Hall. We had our usual sit down with three chards and three pinots. My favorite was the Burnside Pinot. Earthy, mineral-ly with a cherry cola finish.
Second stop and I must admit the most disappointing was Far Niente Winery. Craig our host was friendly, knowledgable and funny. Although we had a pleasant experience, the wine was a let down. I mean hello 150$ for a bottle of wine that really should be around 80$ at the most. They are living off of their name rather than living up to it. The winery itself was beautiful with gorgeous views. We did taste the Dolce and it was good but not for 85$. Paso Ports makes way better dessert wine. Happy that we stopped by but won’t be back.
We ended our day at Mumm. Who doesn’t love a sparkling wine at the end of the day? Nothing out of this world but did the trick. My fav was the Cuvée M slightly sweet with a refreshing taste.
The plan was to stop by Trespass on the way home. Boy am I glad we did. The owner Donny was such a delight. Down to earth and funny. I felt like I was in Paso instead of Napa because he did not have the Napa arrogance…..but he did have some great wine. He does all reds mostly cabs and great blends. My favorite was his 2009 Cab. Very complex and so good you could drink it all by itself or pair it with a nice juicy steak to create a memorable dinner.
On a whim we stopped at Paraduxx Winery. Travis helped us with our tasting. My favorite was their “GSM” more like SMG as Travis put it. So tasty with chocolate covered cherry flavors on the finish. Smooth, light and beautiful in color and taste.
Overall a great time exploring with new found favorites and one big disappointment. Oh well it can’t always be perfect and I guess I’m not too sad because if Far Niente was all that and a bag of chips I would be broke 🙂 I guess it’s all in how you look at it.
Napa Explored
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