It is somewhat of a rarity to find a deli in any Napa Valley winery. Napa County ordinances do not permit wineries to sell food, but these two wineries have permits that were issued long ago. The two new delis are in St. Helena Wineries, at Charles Krug and at the Cairdean Estate. We visited … Read more
This is a rewrite of a fun wine country adventure I had with my wine friend Mike Beltran at the Robert Mondavi Winery in St. Helena and at Domaine Chandon in Yountville. I found this in my archives and I feel it is very worthy of a post on the new WCG Blog. My friend … Read more
What new winery in the Napa Valley can boast that they have a restaurant, a bakery cafe & deli, extended tasting room hours, a separate merchandise store, and an event center for hosting weddings and corporate events? None, except for Cairdean Estate. Stacia and Ed Williams purchased 50 acres next to the old St. Helena Outlet … Read more
If you have been traveling in the Napa Valley this summer you may have noticed that traffic is heavier, restaurants and lodging more crowded, and tasting rooms jammed. The North Bay Business Journal reports that tourism in the Valley is up 68% since the recession low in 2009. Yes, the Napa Valley is booming, and … Read more
Wine, for me, is all about the experience and having fun with old friends and new. Goosecross Cellars, a family-owned winery in Yountville, delivers on both excellent wines and plain, old wine fun! The ideal wine experience for me includes more than delicious wines.
This is an article written by our friend Julie. She is a former student of mine and the daughter of a good friend and wine tasting buddy. Julie loves to travel and has a great perspective on how to have fun in wine country and enjoy wine tasting. Here is Julie’s Napa Valley Getaway and some of her … Read more
My, how things have changed at Raymond Vineyards! We’d visited Raymond Vineyards in 2007 and in our blog post wrote “nondescript tasting room and nothing memorable about the winery.” Today it is alive with activity for the wine country traveler, with several wine tasting activities and educational experiences to choose from. We had a lively … Read more
All the Napa Valley travel news that’s fit to make your Napa Valley wine country getaway a good stay. St.Helena Shuttle Did you know that the town of St. Helena has a shuttle service? This shuttle service works slightly different than the Calistoga shuttle that we mentioned in a previous article on our blog. During … Read more
Napa Valley cave tour and tasting at Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards One of the many fun things to do on a wine country getaway is to take a Napa Valley cave tour. Many of the wineries that have caves, old and new, are finding that wine country travelers enjoy the uniqueness of sitting in a … Read more
The tourist season is in full swing in the Napa Valley. Visitors will flock to the Napa Valley from now until the end of September. It is estimated that 5 million visitors travel to the Napa Valley each year, and you can bet most of those visits are in the summer months. Weekend traffic is … Read more