Best places for Wine tasting in Napa Valley, California

Napa Valley is located in the San Pablo bay in California, Unites States and produces some of the most popular New World wines. In fact the region is now known as the premier region to produce wine in the entire world. The production of wine in the Napa Valley started in 1858, and despite many ups and downs, the region only grew in fame for its wine.

One of the best ways to sample the wine produced at Napa Valley is by a visit there for wine tasting. I visited the valley when I was a student at Stanford and here is the story of my experiences there :)

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Wine is surely an intoxicant, but sometimes even a discussion of the subject can make you do unusual things.

Like two good friends who love to trek, Abhinav and me started early morning one Sunday and were deciding on the mountain to climb. This went on absolutely fine, till we passed a road sign which said - Napa 'x' miles. Within minutes, the GPS device was updated with a new address and we were zooming towards Napa valley for wine tasting and possibly some interesting experiences in the wine country tours.

Well, in the beginning the place did kind of disappoint me as I was expecting the valley to be a cozy, and more personal. However, its pretty big and everything is far apart. Of course, goes without saying that having a car is must.

bringer wine tasting experience napa valley celler
Wine rack with some recently discovered old wine at Beringer

Mondavi wine tasting experience napa valley
A souvenir shop at Mondavi, beautiful space...
Mondavi wine tasting experience napa valley wine rack
Well...a wine rack

Mondavi winery wine tasting experience napa valley
Its a famous landmark at the Mondavi winery, nakedness works always :)

The Rhine house Beringer German brothers Mondavi wine tasting experience napa valley
Inside the fairytale castle (The Rhine House) at Beringer

We visited two wineries - Robert Mondavi and Beringer. Beringer was especially fun, as we got to walk around in the very old caves, some of which are still used for storing wine in barrels as it matures. The wineries always have some really interesting stories about their past and its past owners, and they are always rather mesmerizing. Beringer is oldest continuously running winery in Napa, and its also one of the most famous (often credited with starting the wine tourism in the valley in the 1930s).

Another famous vineyard which we couldn't go to is called Castello di Amorosa. This place is special as it's actually a family friendly vineyard :)

We (read I) did most of our wine tasting here. Abhi was the designated driver, so he had just one glass while I had about nine in total. It was simply fantastic to be drunk in the middle of the day, when you originally start it with the idea of trekking and surviving on protein bars and water :) Visiting the very cold San Francisco and walking around on the streets later in the day was even more fun!


Jazz Mondavi wine tasting experience napa valley
Jazz performances like these are common on weekends
Mondavi wine tasting experience napa valley
Not so tough to find pretty people anywhere in the valley :)

Inside the cave Mondavi wine tasting experience napa valley
Inside the cave (these were mainly built by the Chinese workers in the 19th century)

stored barrel Mondavi wine tasting experience napa valley
Stored barrels in the cave

Mondavi wine tasting experience napa valley
Ah...the tasty wine ;)
Rhine House Castle german brothers Mondavi wine tasting experience napa valley
The Rhine House!

Comments

  1. Magnificent looking house and woah, a lot of wine! 9 glasses of wine equals about 2 bottles or more. Yes, drunk you were! I like the naked statue. She wasn't perfect. Like me. lol

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    1. I wish I had two bottles...unfortunately in wine tasting a glass of wine is much less :(

      My guess is that I had a little less than a bottle...but it was good enough to make me all happy :)

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  2. The caves looked amazing....n I can totally imagine you getin drunk in the middle of the day...;)

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    1. Haha...its actually fun to get drunk in the day :) And I went to a street parade after that...and took many blurred pictures! :)

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  3. Wow! Looks like an absolutely fantastic day Sid! I love wine tasting! Sounds like you guys had a blast!

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    1. Thanks Adam, well...'we' didn't really have such a blast, only 'I' did :)

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  4. Did they tell you at all about the scandals behind Mondavi? It's actually a really interesting story.

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    1. Nope! They didn't...I am very curious to know though...

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  5. wow... Shangri-La for wine lovers! :-) love the Rhino House... such a beautiful building

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  6. Lovely...
    http://www.deccansojourn.com

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  7. wow, cool pics! This post brings back fond memories of my Napa Valley trip. Sterling Vineyards, Robert Mondavi, lots of wine. Not sure if it's the alcohol or not.... but I sure was in a good mood that day! :-D

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  8. It's been a while since I went wine tasting. I like that cave...looks like that's place I'm heading to next. :) Thank you for the idea, Siddharth.
    A place, I'd recommend is Sterling. It's really interesting (the buildings, views and all)...you should check it out. I'd love to see it on your blog too.

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    1. Did you visit Napa finally? Hope you had a good time :)

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  9. http://ssbiodesign2.blogspot.com/

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  10. A very interesting place Joshi! You made a great report and after seeing your photos of Napa Napa I would like to go there now! Wonderful mystical wine cellar, a perfect place for good wines. Delicious and great building too, I love the style of the Rhine House!

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    1. Thanks a lot, I absolutely enjoyed the place and especially the Rhine House! You can do wine tasting in there as well :)

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  11. Very beautiful and lovely photos.

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  12. You have been very quiet lately, Sids..

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  13. A very interesting post and photos!

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  14. It's an interesting place, that's for sure. There is also a whole of good wine there, but I really like where it is. It's beautiful...

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  15. Hi Jules, I have been very busy of late and hence nothing here...will be back very soon :) Thanks a lot for checking in on me...really appreciate that...

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  16. I would love to visit someday. My wife would be thrilled!

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