The results are in from our informal poll of favorite Napa Valley tasting rooms for the year 2007. We launched this poll on January 1st of 2007 on our main site, winecountrygetaways.com. We set up a survey for each of our 28 wine trails that cover nine regions of California. For the Napa Valley, we have seven trails listing 40 of Napa Valley and Carneros tasting rooms. There are over 200 “brick and mortar” wineries in the Napa Valley, so our survey represents only about 20% of the Napa Valley wineries. These wineries reflect the ones that tourists are most likely to visit. The idea of the survey is that visitors to winecountrygetaways.com would return to the Web site following their visit and then vote their favorite tasting room of their wine country getaway.

To be clear, this is a very unscientific poll, but nevertheless here are the results. The tasting room with the overall highest number of votes was Domain Carneros. Domain Carneros is on our Carneros wine trail. They garnered 38 votes, five more than runner up Domaine Chandon. How interesting that the top two tasting rooms produce sparkling wines. Third place overall went to Robert Mondavi Winery.

Our hope is that in 2008 more visitors will be aware of our informal poll and choose to cast their vote for their favorite tasting room. We have set up the poll so that a person can only vote once during the year. It is not totally foolproof but we hope everyone is honest. We doubt there is a tasting room manager out there that would go out of their way to vote repeatedly for their winery. If you would like to view the complete results, you can visit this page: Napa Valley Survey Results 2007

A few months back there was an article in the San Francisco Chronicle touting the Chardonnay Lodge as a recommended budget motel near downtown Napa. Most visitors to the Napa Valley like to bask themselves in luxury at an upscale B&B or inn. For folks like us who travel often to the Napa Valley, we look for bargain spots with comfortable accommodations. If you spend little time in your room, there may be no need for the lavish amenities.

We decided to try one night at the Chardonnay Lodge on a recent trip to the Napa Valley. We did find our room to be very clean and comfortable. The rooms have all been recently painted with warm colors and the owners are very friendly and accommodating. The cost for a midweek night in November was a mere $89. No doubt the Chardonnay is a bargain considering the lodging rates in the Napa Valley. If you are on a tight budget the Chardonnay might be a good choice. For us, it was not. There are 20 rooms at the Chardonnay spread out in a U shape and as near as we could tell, there were only two other rooms occupied that night. The motel is on a busy street and in a commercial part of town. It is possible to walk to downtown Napa from the Chardonnay Lodge. It is about a 20-minute walk, but on a cold dark night this is not a wise choice. We found ourselves a little too isolated here and prefer a spot where there is more action.

There are other budget possibilities in Napa and we have stayed at two, the El Bonita Motel in St. Helena and the Stevenson Motor Lodge in Calistoga. Both of these are better choices but you will have to pay slightly more. We also spotted a Travel Lodge in downtown Napa that looks good in terms of a budget price and central location.

The Good: Budget rates and very clean, friendly owners.
The Bad: Rooms small and two far from the mainstream of wine country.

Napa Wine Company is where a new breed of winemakers toil at their labor of love. The Napa Wine Company is what is called a custom crush facility. They provide anyone who wants to produce wine with all the equipment for crushing, fermenting, aging, and bottling wine. If the person is not up to snuff on making wine, they can hire a winemaker or consultant depending on their needs. These days, you don’t need to own a winery, a vineyard, or have a tasting room to be called a winery.

We visited the Napa Wine Company’s tasting room, which they call Cult Wine Central. At Cult Wine Central they pour 24 wines made by clients who use their crush facilities. The word “cult” used with wine usually means expensive wine. Yes, of course it means hard to find and limited production but, any way you divide it, the wines are expensive. There are a few exceptions here, the Joel Gott and Michael Pozzan wines are reasonably priced and bargain wines. The Napa Wine Company also has its own label and those wines are in the budget category.

Each day the tasting menu changes with a set of the 24 wineries available for tasting. For the most part, you are not going to find any household names of wines at Cult Central. Instead, you will find names like Crocker & Starr, Elizabeth Rose, Showket Vineyards, and Volker Eisele. The wines are sold only here or from the winery’s web site.

If you are interested in some unique wines and want to impress, stop in at the Napa Valley Wine Company’s tasting room. You are sure to find something to suit your needs. The Oakville Grocery is across the street and has picnic benches. Pick up a bottle of wine at the Cult Wine Central and head off to Oakville to grab a deli sandwich and enjoy a wine country picnic.

The Good: A chance to taste wines and buy wines that are not found elsewhere.
The Bad: Since the tasting room does not represent one winery, it is missing that winery ambience.

Ceja Vineyards To Open Tasting Room in Napa

One of our favorite wineries for many reasons is Ceja Vineyards. But, it is hidden and off the beaten path and only open by appointment. It is located at the very east end of Carneros. This Mexican family winery is making some great wines. While strolling along the streets of Napa we noticed a storefront with the Ceja logo. Sure enough, Ceja is set to open a tasting room in Napa any day now. We hope it flies, their wines are delicious but on the expensive side. The tasting room will be at 1248 First Street, Napa.

Duckhorn Vineyards

Duckhorn is celebrating its 30th year as a winery. Unfortunately, the Duckhorn’s sold off the major interest in the wineries this past year. As we drove by the Duckhorn winery on Lodi Lane a couple of weeks ago, we noticed one of those official and legal signs posted by the Alcohol and Tobacco folks, a notice of intent to sell alcoholic beverages. The PR folks are hard at work to make it appear things will be the same at this landmark winery and producer of award winning Merlot.

Gordon’s

We were disappointed to find the Gordon’s, a favorite locals restaurant, has still not reopened. It looks identical to the unhappy state it was in six months ago when we last peeked in. Leslie Judd of Judd wines, Dean & DeLuca, and Oakville grocery purchased Gordon’s and plans to reopen it. Later in the day, while we were shopping for a deli lunch at the original Oakville grocery in Oakville, we asked the manager about Gordon’s. She said: “It will open around the Spring of 2008.” Let’s hope so and that it is just as good and homey as before.

Viansa sold out of Bankruptcy

This beautiful Tuscan style winery on Highway 121 in Carneros has been in serious financial trouble for the past several years. Basically, the place was mismanaged and owes a lot of money to a lot of people. We never could understand why the place is so popular. There are so many better wineries to visit nearby. Viansa is just too touristy for us. The winery building and the surrounding vineyards are beautiful but that is about it. The new owners are a hedge fund, so who knows what will become of Viansa.

Driving along Napa Valley’s Highway 29 in Yountville, you can’t help but see the Yountville Veterans Home and Cemetary up on the hill to the West. Ever wonder about the place? Well, here is some information.

Janelle wanted to take some time to stop by the Veterans Cemetery in Yountville to “visit” her great-grandfather who’s buried there. We stopped at the office first to find out where his gravesite was. The volunteer at the office was quite helpful and gave us a map to the cemetery. We were struck by the serenity of the grounds dotted with white grave markers in a beautiful green field covered with enormous oak trees. We easily found the gravesite of John Fallon.

After spending a few minutes at the site, we went to the office to find out what information they had on the veterans who are buried there. We had known that John Fallon had served in the Spanish American War and we were able to learn that he was born in 1859 and died in 1913. We also found out his dates of service in the Navy.

We then continued on to the Library to get some printed information on the Veterans Home and Museum. The library is located in what appears to be a very active Recreation Center.The center also includes a game room, a barbershop, and a fitness center.

The Veterans Home of California was officially opened in 1884 to provide shelter and care for disabled veterans. We did notice a lot of folks getting around with various degrees of help. They all seemed happy and quite busy doing something. Next time your in Napa take a moment to visit the place. A walk through the cemetary is quite a surreal.experience.

For more information on the Home, go to their website: http:calvets.org
or call (707) 944-4918.

If you visit the Veterans Home, you may want to take a few extra minutes to stop in at the Napa Valley Museum, located on the grounds of the Home. It’s small but has an interesting exhibit on the history of the wine country as well as works by local artists. www.napavalleymuseum.org

Perhaps you read our last blog post about not being able to use the wonderful picnic facilities at the Pine Ridge Winery. Just a few miles up Silverado Trail from Pine Ridge is the Robert Sinskey Vineyards. Here, they get everything right for the visitor. It is all about food and wine and making people feel right at home. There was no problem when we asked to use the picnic facilities. The only requirement was to drink some Robert Sinskey wine. How hard could that be? Robert Sinskey has a beautiful picnic area with a wonderful view of their hillside vineyards and the valley below.

When you taste wine at Robert Sinskey you taste wine with food. The pairings change daily depending on what the resident chef decides. The cost is $20 but $15 can be applied to the purchase of two bottles of wine. Great idea! We often wonder why more wineries don’t apply their tasting fee to the purchase of wine. It seems like a win-win situation for all parties.

The wines are excellent at Robert Sinskey. We think they make the best Pinot Blanc in the Valley. The other wines we enjoyed were the Pinot Noir and a fabulous Cabernet Franc. Besides the regular tasting, visitors can schedule a culinary tour, a cave and cellar tour, and on Saturdays and Sundays, a bento box tasting of five food items paired with Robert Sinskey wines. If you are interested check the Robert Sinskey Website for details.

Robert Sinskey’s vineyards are certified organic and the winery practices biodynamics throughout. The winery also has an organic garden where they grow herbs and vegetables that are used in their wine and food tastings.

The Good: The wines, the food and wine paring, the picnic area, a gracious staff.
The Bad: The Pinot Blanc comes only in a half bottle or magnum.