If you are thinking about getting away to the Napa Valley with that someone special on Valentine’s Day, you’d better think quickly. Although tourism is down in the Napa Valley, Valentine’s Day is always one of the most popular weekends in the entire year and waiting until the last minute can get you in the doghouse. So, you have two things to do immediately after reading this posting. Make a lodging reservation and dinner/lunch reservations.

Maybe a balloon ride?

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 »

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 »

Amazon Closer to Selling Wine
When New Vine Logistics closed its doors a couple of weeks back many were predicting that Amazon would either drop or have a long delay in launching their plan to sell wine online. Amazon had contracted New Vine Logistics to handle the sales. New Vine Logistics is back and word has it that several key wine industry people (not me, however) have been invited to a sneak preview of the Amazon wine website. For Napa Valley wineries this just might be the help they need to clear building inventory. This is good for the consumer as well, more chances to find the ultimate wine bargain. Wine.woot is cool but Amazon will be fierce competition. My source for this information is from “Tech Flash“.

Events for the Wine Traveler
It is heating up in the Napa Valley with events and happenings scheduled for the summer wine traveler. One of the main attractions is next Saturday evening, June 20th, 6 pm to 10 pm. called the Solarbartion. This event is taking place at the new, chic, and very “green” hotel, the Bardessono in Yountville. Ten solar-powered Napa Valley wineries will be represented. This event features wine tasting, food, and live entertainment. Tickets are $50. Read the rest of this entry »

With redevelopment projects along the Napa River and the buzz created by the Oxbow Market, you would think that all is joy among Napa businesses, restaurants, and lodging establishments. Not so. The last few weeks have not brought good news to the city of Napa.

One of Copia's exhibits,
interesting or humdrum?

Copia continues to have its share of financial problems. Copia recently announced layoffs and surprisingly their winter hours leave Copia open only on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The Copia store and Julie’s Kitchen restaurant remain open on a daily basis. We stated in a blog post a year ago that on our last visit to Copia we felt that the exhibits were sparse and not very compelling. The most interesting area to us was the vegetable garden and now we hear that the garden plot might be up for sale to shore up Copia’s financing. You would think that with the addition of the Oxbow Market next door, Copia would see an increase in visitors. Apparently, that has not happened. Read the rest of this entry »

Schramsberg Vineyards is the last of the wineries on our sparkling wine trail to be reviewed. It is perhaps the most interesting and fascinating of the five wineries that we have visited and posted to our blog.

Jacob Schram originally built the historic winery and the magnificent Victorian house in the mid 19th century. After Jacob Schram’s death in 1905, the winery remained largely abandoned. The Victorian house went through several owners until Jack and Jamie Davies purchased the entire estate in 1965. Jack Davies, a successful businessman in L.A. had decided in his mid forties to quit the “rat race,” move to the Napa Valley and become a winemaker. When Jack and Jamie took over the winery, they had the daunting task of renovated the winery, the house, and the vineyards that were all in disarray. Amazingly, Jack Davies chose to tread where no other winemaker had in the Napa Valley. His mission was to produce the finest sparkling wine in the world. Today, the Schramsberg sparkling wines are highly acclaimed and their wines have been served to nobility around the world. Read the rest of this entry »

Mumm Napa is the fourth winery on our Carneros – Napa Valley Sparkling Wine Trail. After visiting Domaine Chandon we head up Highway 29 to Oakville Cross Road and take that road over to the Silverado Trail. Mumm Napa is about two miles north. At Mumm Napa there are three things a visitor must do. Read the rest of this entry »

The third winery on our sparkling wine review is the historic Domaine Chandon winery in Yountville. Several characteristics make Domain Chandon a favorite tourist spot. The winery was established in 1978 by the great French Champagne house of Moet & Chandon. An attractive and beautifully landscaped garden lead the visitor to the winery’s entrance. Domain Chandon also is the only winery in the Napa Valley that has a gourmet restaurant. Read the rest of this entry »

The second winery on our search of sparkling wines is Domaine Carneros. As you approach this winery from Highway 121 a spectacular French Chateau will suddenly come into view. You might have to blink your eyes twice to remind yourself that you really are in Carneros and not somewhere in the middle of France’s wine country. The Domaine Carneros Chateau is truly a beauty and one of Napa’s landmarks. Read the rest of this entry »

Any day of the year is a great time to enjoy Sparkling wine but in the warm days of late summer, this bubbly wine is particularly refreshing and tasty. Carneros and the Napa Valley have several wineries that produce great sparkling wine. With this blog post we begin a series of posts on some of these. But first, here is some quick information about Sparkling Wine. Read the rest of this entry »