Our Wine Tour was due to start at about 10am and when we went down to Reception, there were three other people waiting.We wandered outside and we'd only sat down for two minutes when the bus arrived. The three other people let us know it was there as they had guessed, quite rightly, that we were all on the same tour.
We'd chosen PlatypusTours as they'd had great reviews and the numbers were kept low. Our driver for the day was Sarah and she welcomed us onto the bus which had lovely comfortable seats in a U formation.
She told us there was to be nine of us on the tour and we had to go to another couple of locations to pick them up before we started. We set off and drove into Napa first. The other three people were Barry, Sally and April and they were really lovely and friendly. Barry and April were from New York and Sally was from Massachusetts. We had seen them at the wine tasting last night in the hotel and they weren't that impressed with the wine, either!
The couple we picked up in Napa were Gisa and Mark who had driven over from Stinson Beach, very near to Muir Woods so quite a drive away. They were from Montreal and spoke French to one another. They were young and glamorous!
The last couple we picked up were Sarah and Nick from Philadelphia. They were nice, but very quiet. We all introduced ourselves and had to tell each other a fun fact! It broke the ice and there was a great atmosphere as we headed out into the Napa Valley. Sarah took us to Yountville first, just to show us the small town as it's so beautiful. The French Laundry, one of the most expensive restaurants in the world is situated here so you can imagine what the town is like...think Stepford Wives on steroids!
It was sheer bliss for me to be driven about and the scenery was stunning. The Napa Valley sits in between two mountain ranges and is truly beautiful. We visited Rutherford Ranch first and took our seats at a table overlooking the outside terrace. The winery looked expensive and the tasting here cost $20 because the four wines we were going to taste had been paired with chocolate! What could be better!
The wines we tasted today on all the tours were mainly Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and some red blends. We tasted a Rose at Rutherford Ranch, a Sauvignon Blanc and three reds. The prices ranged from about $30 to well over $100! The chocolate did go very well with them, but I wouldn't necessarily have paired the two!
The tasting here was quite formal but it was very enjoyable. If we didn't want all of the wine we could pour the leftovers into a pot, and I did warn Sophie not to drink too much as we had four tastings lined up and if there were about four wines at each one, we could get pretty tipsy!
Some people bought bottles of wine and if you bought two or more, the tasting fee was waived. After the tasting we wandered around the shop and looked outside and then it was off to the next one! On the way we enjoyed some cheese and biscuits and there was plenty of bottled water available so we could keep hydrated.
Tudal winery was completely different from Rutherford Ranch and is a small family owned vineyard with some old vines that were planted in the 1970s. We were met by a real character - a man called Doug wearing a Stetson who handed us a glass of "Honker Blanc" Sauvignon Blanc. We made our way through to where the wine is actually made and he gave us a short talk on the whole process.
We then took our seats at a large wooden table and tasted four more wines. We each had to say what we thought the wine tasted of, which was a bit embarrassing as some people felt slightly uncomfortable and I think saw it as a kind of test! I know I find it hard to describe a wine, even though I've worked in the wine trade!
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| Sarah and Nick in the background |
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| Doug (with hat) and Gisa and Mark |
After we'd tasted the wines Sarah served us lunch - delicious sandwiches served with salad followed by a little cake as dessert. We were able to wander around the beautiful gardens and go and see the vines.
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| Lunch table |
Sophie and I decided to buy a bottle of the Honker Blanc Sauvignon Blanc as it was lovely and will be a great reminder of our wonderful day in Napa. Because of this, Doug waived our tasting fees which was brilliant, as he felt sorry for us because they don't ship to the UK (thank goodness!) and we are really restricted with how much wine we can take home. All the wine we buy is put into a box by Sarah and we choose a sticker colour so there's no confusion at the end of the tour.
After Tudal we were back on the road again and the next winery was Fairwinds Estate Winery which does a cellar tour. Sarah and Nick opted out of this one but still accompanied us on the tour. The cellar was dug into the side of the mountain and was cool and dark. Thousands of barrels were stored here and the majority of them were French Oak. We were asked to guess how much a barrel cost and Barry suggested $600...it was closer to $1200! However they can use them up to eight times!
We didn't buy any wine at this winery, in fact nobody did and although it was enjoyable, it was the least favourite of all the vineyards we toured. However, the surroundings were beautiful and they cater for weddings in the grounds and inside the cellar.
Our fourth and last winery was Hans Fahden which was utterly beautiful. The tour was led by a very ebullient man who was a great host. The winery is set amongst the mountains and has gorgeous lakes in the grounds. We were given a Sauvignon Blanc to start with and he said that most wineries start with this wine as it cleanses the palate.
The main tasting was held in another cellar and we relaxed into lounge chairs which had little holders for our glasses. There were fairy lights everywhere and it was incredibly romantic. By now we were all flagging a bit and most people took a couple of sips and then poured away the wine as it was all getting a bit too much! It was bliss to relax and enjoy the wine, though and I think the most expensive one we tasted was over $100!
At the end we decided to buy the Merlot that we liked. We'd talked about Merlots during the tasting and the film Sideways was mentioned. Our host (I think his name was Stuart) said that one line in the film when the main star says he hates Merlot, affected sales of Merlot considerably. I'm not sure I believe that as the film wasn't a huge blockbuster, but we've always liked Merlot and we particularly liked the one we tasted today. Because we'd bought a bottle we were waived a tasting fee and then I paid Sarah for the day. At $110 each it was well worth it, but of course, a tip was expected as always. However, we didn't mind as she had made the day so memorable, had made us all a lovely lunch and given us some great insight into Napa wines.
On the way back to Napa we called to see "the castle" and I have to admit that it did look authentic, but that was probably due to the fact that they had pilfered stones and building material from real castles!
We sadly said goodbye to everyone but hoped we would see Barry, April and Sally at breakfast the next morning. We just had time to run up to our room, dump the two bottles of wine we'd bought and then rush over to The Forge Pizza restaurant opposite. It was about 6.45pm and our film was booked for 7.30pm!
We ordered truffle fries, pork ribs and a pizza to share and gobbled it all down really quickly! The food was good but I didn't feel like we'd appreciated it properly! This evening we only tipped about 18% as the waitress was good but not exceptional. The tipping business is beginning to get to us now as it's like taking another person out for a meal!
We raced across the square and made it to the film at just after 7.30pm. We needn't have worried as there were lots of trailers and adverts before the film began. The Intruder was great but was a bit predictable, as I had anticipated! It was filmed in Napa, though, so that was good and we also saw some great views of San Francisco!
The film finished about 9.30pm so it was back to the room and a relax before bed!
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