We spent a very pleasant hour chatting and tasting wines with Julie Johnson, the owner and winemaker of Tres Sabores winery. Tres Sabores doesn’t get many visitors. It is well off the beaten path and the winery is open by appointment only. But that should not stop the tourists from making an effort to visit Tres Sabores because there is much to like here. This winery is not your typical Napa Valley tourist attraction. It is a rustic winery with no formal tasting room, just a homey welcoming atmosphere. It is just great fun to visit and get an inside view of a small boutique winery in the Napa Valley. Read the rest of this entry »

Our June 15th edition of the Wine Spectator arrived in our mailbox with a special wine country section focusing on five different California wine venues including the town of Yountville in the Napa Valley. We happened to have been there last week taking advantage of a $150 a night mid-week special at the Yountville Inn. After reading the Wine Spectator article we thought it would be a good idea to add our “two cents” to Wine Spectators take on Yountville. Read the rest of this entry »

Venge Vineyards will be changing its location soon. We found this out when we visited the winery earlier in the week. This is quite regrettable because the setting is so lovely and the wines so delicious. The winery is located at the base of Howell Mountain on Crystal Springs Road. Read the rest of this entry »

Last Saturday we attended the Burlingame Foundation Luncheon. Julia Flynn Siler, the author of the House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty, was one of three featured authors. We did not attend so much to hear Julia but to support the Burlingame Library Foundation, but having Julia speak was a huge bonus. Her presentation was limited to 20 minutes but she gave us a fascinating account of her trials and tribulations in writing the book about one of the most famous families in the world of wine. Read the rest of this entry »

Our last post on Dutch Henry Winery drew a comment from Dutch Henry owner and winemaker Scott Chafen. We mentioned in the post that we thought the Dutch Henry wines were priced on the high side. Scott responded by saying, “organically farmed, hand picked, barrel aged, and hillside grown all has its price.”

This leads to the subject of wine pricing in the Napa Valley or in any wine country. How is the price of wine set by a winery? Is there a set formula that takes into account the cost of wine production, how much profit to make, and other factors? Or, is the process totally subjective? Read the rest of this entry »