Napa
November 2018
I went to college in Sonoma County and somehow only managed to go wine tasting once. This was one of my biggest regrets when I decided to move back to Southern California, so adding this to the bucket list was a no brainer.
What I didn’t know at the time of adding “Wine Tasting” to the list, was that when I would eventually take this trip, my boyfriend (and his job at the time) would allow us to visit some beautiful wineries in Napa for FREE.
Joseph Pehlps Vineyards
Insignia Tasting
This was our first and only tasting on day 1, it also happened to be the only tasting experience that we were not alone, but in a small group. There is no better way to explain to you this experience than how “Wine Problems” described it within their review here.
David Arthur
Tasting
David Arthur doesn’t have a tasting room that is open for walk-in tasting, but rather by appointment only. It is a bit off the beaten path, I remember driving up this hill for ages and wondered if we were really meant to be up the hill this much. I did not really understand the uniqueness of the experience we were about to receive at David Arthur’s Vineyard. It was rainy day, which was a bummer because we couldn’t take a tour of the vineyards due to the mud, but they had us set up for out tasting on a beautiful farm table overlooking the property.
The director of sales who was leading us through our tasting was fantastic, and while the guys were talking business, I enjoyed my wine while wrapped in a cozy blanket. Tim and I agreed later that we regretted having booked another tasting after this one, we would have loved to stay longer. Before we left the property they’d arranged for us to meet David, who wished me a happy birthday and sent us on our way with a gifted bottle of Three Acre. I would HIGHLY recommend David Arthur on your next trip up to Napa, hands down my favorite tasting experience of the trip.
The Prisoner Wine Company
Tasting
Before this trip I think that Prisoner was the most expensive wine I’d had before, so I was most excited to try more of their wine. The new tasting room was unreal, the outside area I imagine would be lovely on a sunny day, the inside is a dark concrete structure that is very fitting to their brand. There is a full kitchen/tasting area and shops with local artisan made treasures. There are some unique tasting experience they offer with the kitchen and artisans their highlighting.
Here we got to try the most variety of wines (6 or 7 I believe) with a board of meats and cheese to enhance our tasting. (And thank goodness because evening would have been a lot worse had I not eaten something all day). Here we were lucky to have a private tasting, just the two of us an our guide. She was fantastic, and even sent us home with 4 of the opened bottles from our tasting. Which was only a shame because we were leaving the next morning (and I was not about to be able to drink 4 bottles of wine). But our hotel front desk staff were gifted and accepted them, so the bottles were not wasted.
Then it was over to ad-hoc & addendum for dinner (bucket list item #25), overall I had an amazing time. Thank you again babe for the amazing Birthday adventure!
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