For many years the Cuvasion tasting room in Calistoga has been a favorite of wine country visitors. Now these visitors have a second option for tasting Cuvaison wines, an absolutely amazing and beautiful new tasting room located in Cuvasion’s Carneros vineyards. The Carneros tasting room opened in the spring and last week was our first chance to visit this stunning tasting room. It is a modern but classic tasting room that is open and airy, with the most amazing views of the Carneros vineyards.

When the folks at Cuvasion planned this tasting room they decided to take a different approach to the old tasting room idea of people standing up at a long bar. They decided with the mood and pace of Carneros, the tasting experience would be better as a sit-down wine tasting. When visitors arrive they are asked to sit at one of the tables either inside or out. It almost feels like a private tasting. At first, we were a little apprehensive thinking this might be one of those elaborate over-the-top and expensive wine tastings. Not so, we had a choice of two sets of tasting of four wines each for $15. Our server snuck in a couple of extra wines because as she said “We have these wines open and we don’t want them to go to waste.” Read the rest of this entry »

Last week we spent one night in downtown Napa. That is not much time to explore Napa but enough for us to discover some wonderful delights and a few things not so appealing for tourists.

The new Avia Hotel is where we lodged for one night. It is certainly a very beautiful venue but so new that a few kinks need to be ironed out. The price for our room was listed at $900 a night on the door. We received an alert from the Travel Zoo and paid $119 for our room. I can’t imagine anyone paying the full price in this economy. Read the rest of this entry »

At 6:45 on this Wednesday, I arrive at one of Truchard’s beautiful Carneros vineyards where 30 harvesters are hard at work amid the rows of Chardonnay grapes. There is no fog this morning in Carneros and the sun is not over the hillside as yet. It is an ideal temperature for the grapes to be picked and also for the harvesters. The plan is to finish this vineyard by 9:30 a.m. and move on to another nearby vineyard.

About half the harvesters are year-round and long-time employees at Truchard. The others are contracted just for the harvest. For working hard and furiously during the harvest, some of these contracted workers can make up to as much as $200 per day.

The team of harvesters works about four rows at a time, with about 7 to 8 men in each row. When they fill their container they toss it, turning it over and into the half-ton bin. The foreman tosses back the empty container and off the harvester goes to pick another load.

As the bins are filled the tractor driver delivers the bins down below where I later catch owner Tony Truchard joyously loading the bins with his pallet tractor on to the truck to be transported back to the winery. From the expression on Tony Truchard’s face, I get the impression this is going to be a very good harvest. The previous day, I’d tasted the 2007 Chardonnay at the winery. It’s a beautiful Chardonnay, with some acidity and light oak. It is just the way I like Chardonnay. It is a delight to have the opportunity to take photographs of this wonderful event that nature has given us and to know that these grapes will become a wonderful Chardonnay wine.

Cathy Corison is one of Napa Valley’s first women winemakers and is well recognized by her colleagues as one of the more influential winemakers in the entire Valley. Her Corison Cabernet wines have long been noted for their quality and character. We visited with Cathy at her wonderful winery and vineyards in St. Helena.

We have long been admirers of the barn that houses the Corison Winery. The best view is during Mustard season. The vibrant colors set against the grey siding and the green roof make for an awesome view and a photographer’s delight. The barn is set back from Highway 29 and easy to miss. As one drives along Highway 29, by the time you catch a glimpse and are intrigued by the building it is too late; you have driven past the entrance. By all means turn back at the next chance and pay a visit to Corison Winery. It is traditional Napa Valley. Read the rest of this entry »

Boeschen Vineyards is a very small winery located on the Silverado Trail in St. Helena. Case production is just a mere 375 cases of wine of just two types, a Bordeaux blend and a Cabernet Sauvignon, priced at $60 and $75. This year the winery will try its hand at a third wine, a Sauvignon Blanc but case production will just hover around 400. Like many small boutique wineries that make high-end wines, one has to wonder if it is possible to make a go of it in this economy. We have already seen a few wineries of this type up for sale or on the brink of financial disaster. Read the rest of this entry »