If you are going to the Napa Valley

Posted on April 1, 2010 by joe

This may not be as fancy as a video produced by the Napa Valley Vintner’s Association or the Napa Valley Destination Council, but our new video on travel tips to the Napa Valley is just what our readers have been asking for. We must get several emails each month with the same essential comment: “We are going to the Napa Valley for the first time and we don’t know where to begin.” We are always a little bit bewildered by this because our Napa Valley Web pages on WineCountryGetaways.com are all about simplifying a trip to the Napa Valley and helping visitors to decide which wineries to visit. We realize now that many folks don’t want to spend a lot of time searching around, so we decided to create this short but informative video. The video explains how to select wineries and also many of the “Do’s and Don’ts” of wine tasting Continue reading →

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Buehler Vineyards — Strange Encounters and Other Napa Valley News

Posted on March 29, 2010 by joe

Spring is here in the Napa Valley, the sun is warm, and many of the vines are alive with recent bud break. It is a very enjoyable time to travel to the Napa Valley. Not only does spring bring tourists to the Valley but other creatures as well. We had just finished tasting some delicious Buehler wines and were on our way to the terrace to enjoy a picnic lunch. There it was basking in the beautiful sunshine, a rather long and ominous looking rattlesnake. John Page Buehler was the first to alert us and then quickly raced into the tasting room and returned with a shovel. Page with his handy long shovel was able to corral the snake and move it away from the picnic area. What a man! Continue reading →

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Napa Valley Bits & Pieces of Wine News – Napa Valley Under Attack

Posted on March 14, 2010 by joe

Last week bad news came on two fronts for Napa. The first came from a Silicon Valley Bank report about a potential swath of Napa wineries on the verge of bankruptcy and land values dropping 15% from their peak in 2007. Then came more bad news with the European grapevine moth on the attack and quarantine orders in place for big portions of the Napa Valley. If that is not bad enough, other wine regions are trying to kick poor Napa Valley when it is down. We keep hearing the same old song when we visit other wine regions about Napa Valley’s overpriced wines finally getting their comeuppance. The truth of the matter is any wine that is currently priced over $20 is going to be a tough sell in 2010. In every wine region we travel, even lonely Lodi, there are many wines priced above the $20 and well beyond, from $40 to $60. All wineries, no matter where, are facing a very tough consumer frugality and need to take a new tack if they want to survive. Now for some pleasant news! Continue reading →

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A Vineyard Year – My Perspective

Posted on March 6, 2010 by joe

It has been awhile since I made a post to this blog. About two weeks ago I got caught up in making a video slide show about a year in wine country. I have seen many of these depictions in my years of wine travel and have always wanted to try my hand at putting one of these together.

I shifted from film to digital photography in 2004. The program I use to catalog my images, Adobe Lightroom, shows that I have some 28,000 digital images on my computer. I would venture to say that about 75% of those are of wine country. We travel to wine country every month of the year and often twice during a month, so I knew I would have no problems finding the images I needed. In fact having too many photos was the issue. It was hard to decide which photos to include and which ones would give the best representation of the vineyards during that particular season. I whittled it down to 42 images and 3 minutes of time.

About half the slides were taken in the Napa Valley and the others shot at various wine regions throughout Northern California. There is one slide from Spain and it’s one of my favorite photos, a close up of an Albariño cluster moments away from being harvested.

The background music is provided by jazz artist Marc Cary from his CD “Focus.” The title “Walk With Me” is so appropriate. Watch the video and walk with me through my rendition of the four seasons in vineyard.

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Napa Valley – What it was like in 1970

Posted on February 17, 2010 by joe

My last post was about Napa Valley wine prices in 1970 so I thought it might be fun to try and describe what the Napa Valley was like back then. Our first trip to the Napa Valley was in 1968. We were newly married and just a mere 25 years old. I had actually been there once as a teenager but of course could not have cared much about visiting wineries. We owe our interest in wine and wine country traveling to my brother-in-law and to a teaching colleague who were both 12 years our senior. Both of these individuals introduced us to wine and we traveled often with these folks to the wine country. My guide back then to wine country was the first edition of Sunset Magazine’s California Wine Country. It was published in 1968 and was priced at a whopping $1.95. Continue reading →

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Napa Valley Wine Prices in 1970 – Roll them back!

Posted on February 9, 2010 by joe

I was digging through some of my old wine books and came across two items of interest from 1969-70. In those days I kept very meager notes of the wines I purchased, this of course was well before computers and spreadsheets. I scanned one of the pieces of notepaper so you can take a look at what I paid for these wines back then. The second item I found was a wine list from Orsi’s Restaurant in San Francisco. I scanned one page that listed the Claret wines from the Napa Valley. Take a look at the prices, very interesting! Continue reading →

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Valentine’s Day Getaway to the Napa Valley — Ideas

Posted on February 1, 2010 by joe

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?

Maybe a balloon ride?

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Napa Valley Bits & Pieces of Wine News: Cabernet Under Attack

Posted on January 25, 2010 by joe

Three factors to ponder for the makers of fine Napa Valley Cabernet: First, the criticism by many wine critics on the high alcoholic content of Cabernet Sauvignon. This ball has been rolling along for a couple of years but it seems to have been gaining steam in recent weeks. The latest comes from wine writer Dan Berger’s “The Collapse of Cabernet,” his article appearing in the St. Helena Star last week. James Laube also addresses the issue in the latest Wine Spectator. Next, is the economy, still? All signs once again are pointing to a dismal year for wines priced above $20 and most Napa Valley Cabernets are well above that price point. The third factor and one I don’t think has been mentioned much is how the American diet is beginning to change. The American diet, especially among the fine-wine drinking crowd is shifting. What is in are soups, salads, fish, more grains, more vegetables and fruits. What’s out are eating lots of red meat, creamy sauces, etc. Not altogether out, but the creed is to cut down. Healthy meals are more easily paired with white wines, rosés, and lighter reds such as Pinot Noir. If this trend is true, will that translate into less Cabernet sales? Continue reading →

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Napa Valley Bits & Pieces of Wine News: Tasting Room Booking Widget

Posted on January 17, 2010 by joe

VinoVisit and Cellar Pass — Reservation system for tasting rooms

These two competing companies are battling toe-to-toe to sign up wineries with a new concept that is designed to attract wine country tourists to the tasting room. VinoVisit seems to have the head start with more wineries signed up plus a few publishers like our own Wine Country Getaways. The reservation widget for both companies will work much like widgets used by the Trip Adviser to find and book hotels or like Open Table to reserve a restaurant. With the tasting room widget the tourist will be able to book a tour, tasting, and other winery events. For VinoVisit, each winery in their system will have its own individual Widget on its Website, and publishers like Wine Country Getaways will eventually have a general Widget containing information on all the VinoVisit wineries. You can check out this page to see the current wineries using VinoVisit on WCG. Continue reading →

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Will the Real Charles Shaw, Please Stand Up!

Posted on January 9, 2010 by joe

Remember all those rumors when Charles Shaw wine first appeared in 2002 on the shelves of Trader Joe’s stores? My favorite was the one about a major airline having to dump the Charles Shaw wines because new airline regulations after 9/11 would not allow wine corkscrews on board. So the rumor continues with Trader Joe’s purchasing all the wine for a song and then selling it for an amazing price of $1.99. Of course most of us all know by now that Napa Valley’s good friend, Fred Franzia, owns and produces Charles Shaw wine. But few people who walk out of Trader Joe’s with a case of Cabernet in hand know that there really is a Charles F. Shaw, who once had a real winery by that same name in St. Helena.

shaw
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