Everyone knows the number of visitors has dropped in the Napa Valley and all wine country regions. As seasoned travelers to the wine country, we know that there are a number of strategies that wineries can do to win back visitors and keep them coming back for more. We have talked to loads of tourist on our winery treks and from those conversations and our own experiences, here are just a few ideas that we think will encourage visitors. These are not necessarily in order of priority.

Tasting fees applied to the purchase of wine. It just makes good P.R. sense and we honestly do not understand why so few do this. It is a “win-win” for all.

Team up with hotels, websites, restaurants, the Destination Council, and provide two-for-one tasting coupons. We know a lot of wineries have these but few visitors know about them.

Offer a price range of wines with at least one wine in the price range of $15 for the budget-minded traveler. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week I visited three family-owned wineries that produce quality wines at the upper end of the price spectrum. I would recommend a visit to any three of these wineries and I am quite positive your experience will be memorable. This is the first of three blog posts on these wineries. I’ll start with Swanson Vineyards and follow this up with posts on Boeschen Vineyards and Corison Winery.

Swanson Vineyards is the most formal and elegant of the three wineries. The winery is hidden from tourists on Manley Lane, a small road that is off Highway 29 just north of Oakville. Almost all the clientele at Swanson is by word of mouth, and that provides enough visitors and wine buyers to make the winery about as busy as it wants to be. The tasting room, or salon as they call it, is open by appointment only on Wednesday through Sunday. There is a small adjacent tasting room for drop-ins, but the winery’s preferred way to taste their wines is for visitors to select one of the two sets of wine and food pairings. As you can see from the photo, the salon is wonderfully decorated and an exquisite place to experience the Swanson wines. We don’t do many of these formal food and wine pairings, but once in awhile, it is nice to give yourself a treat. We did the Harvey Tasting that features a tasting of six wines. We were greeted in the garden outside the salon with a glass of the 08 Swanson Rosato, a very dry Rosé wine, and we sipped that while we waited for the other guests to arrive for the 11am seating.

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Harvest season is underway and that should be a festive time for everyone in the Napa Valley. But that may not be the case. I spent the last two days in the Napa Valley driving from Napa to Calistoga, hitting the crossroads, doing some photography and of course wine tasting. During my travels I spotted some troubling signs that the recession is taking its toll on the Napa Valley wine industry. I’ve read the reports and watched news segments indicating that hard times are ahead for wineries and growers, but until you see some concrete examples it’s hard to judge the reality of those reports.

For the first time since traveling to the wine country I saw a sign in front of a vineyard by Whitehall Lane in Rutherford that read “20 plus Tons of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes for sale.” Wow, I thought, here we are 4 to 6 weeks away from harvesting these grapes and this vineyard as of Thursday, August 20, 2009 had no buyers. Out of curiosity, I called the phone number on the sign and talked to a person who did not want to identify himself. Last year he said these grapes sold for $4100 a ton and were purchased by V. Sattui Winery. This year V. Sattui has decided not to buy these grapes and now the grower is left holding the bag, so to speak. At this late date this grower is desperate enough to put out the sale sign in hopes of selling the nearly 7 acres of grapes by harvest time. By the way, the person on the phone told me that this vineyard is just one of many in the Valley in the same situation.

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Alert to U.C. Davis and Fresno State University wine schools, you have a major competitor in the Napa Valley Community College. NVCC is not only situated in one of the world’s most renowned wine regions, but how about those course fees! The Napa college is the first community college in California to have a bonded winery and students can participate in every phase of winemaking, including growing grapes and the selling and marketing of wine. This November the college will release and sell its first vintages of wines, a 2008 Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir.

Dr. Stephen Krebs is the head of the Viticulture and Winery Technology instructional program at the Napa Valley College and is the driving force behind a ten-year effort by the college to raise funds and meet the difficult legal requirements to become a bonded winery. The first vintage will yield some 350 cases of wine and the college will be able to legally make as many as 1000 cases of wine. The college currently has six acres of vineyards on the campus. The Napa Valley Vintners Association, Trefethen Family Foundation, Gasser Foundation, Doud Foundation and many others have made significant contributions towards the development of the operation of the wine programs. Read the rest of this entry »

Toasting and drinking sparkling wine is synonymous with celebrations. When Mumm Napa celebrates the Harvest, they do so in a most unusual manner. Friday, August 14, 2009 was the first official day of harvest for Mumm and when the first grapes arrive at the Mumm crushpad it’s cause for a jubilant celebration for all employees.

At 6.am that morning the harvest crew began picking Pinot Noir grapes at the Game Farm Vineyards in Oakville. The harvesters fill small yellow bins repeatedly with amazing speed and by 9:30 am the first truck load of grapes arrives at the Mumm Napa crushpad. This marks the beginning of the Mumm Napa harvest celebration. Read the rest of this entry »

I arrived at the Game Farm Vineyard in Oakville at about 6:45 a.m. this Friday morning to photograph the first harvest in Napa for the 2009 growing season. I got word yesterday that Pinot Noir would be harvested beginning in the early morning. I spent an hour shooting the amazing harvest team of workers make their way through several rows of Pinot Noir. Mumm uses a distinguishing small yellow bin that is carefully placed on the tracker and filled. At about 9:30, the first of these yellow bins will arrive at the Mumm crushpad. This will be followed by a toast by Mumm winemaker Ludovic Dervin marking the harvest of the 2009 season.

When we visited Argentina in March of this year, we were amazed at the number of new wineries and more amazed at their magnificence. It seemed no expenses were spared in creating architectural wonders, luxurious gardens, and winemaking rooms with the latest high-tech winemaking equipment. These wineries were created to dazzle and to make the finest wine possible. Two examples of these Argentine wineries are Bodega Salentein and Bodega Andeluna. Both of these wineries are spectacular in every aspect and owned by very rich men.

A couple of week ago, at a wine blogger conference, the bus that I was assigned took us to a winery that I had never heard have before, Palmaz Vineyards. It’s located east of Napa at the southern end of the Vaca Mountains at the foot of Mount St. George. Once I saw the winery from the outside, I almost felt like I was back in Argentina. It was similar in character to the new wineries I’d visited there. This is a winery where no expense has been spared. It is truly a marvelous wonder.

Palmaz Vineyards

If you are heading up to the popular Hess Collection Winery on Mt. Veeder, I have a recommendation. Before you visit Hess, take a small detour and stop in at the vineyard home of Rubissow Winery. Although Rubissow wines have been around for several years hardly anyone but a few have ever tasted Rubissow wines, and even fewer have visited their home base on Mt. Veeder. If you like adventure and something very different in the Napa Valley, schedule an appointment to view some of the most beautiful vineyards in all of Napa and taste some very exquisite wines. Read the rest of this entry »