clifbob

So many to choose. We love buttery chards...we love Zins . Are the wine passes that are sold as scam..or really worth it. What wineries during our four days should we definitely do. Help?

denisea

We loved Benessere...good Zin and Italian style wines. I also loved Schramsburg but we love sparkling wines and the property is so pretty.

Kal

Cakebread and Rombauer Chards are excellent. Rombauer has some great Reds, esp the Zin.

Rombauer has some nice grounds. Bring a little nosh and pop a bottle there.

NewbE

I don't mean this to sound like a cop out, but I asked this on your other Napa thread: what Napa wines have you had that you loved? Those would be a good place to start, and then we like to ask the pourers to recommend places they like--we've discovered some cool places we'd not have found otherwise doing that.

Anyway...I second Rombauer. Far Niente makes a huge chardonnay. I love Chateau Montelena cab and chard, and that's a must-stop IMO for the history alone (Google if you don't know what I'm referring to ). Make that your first stop of the day right when they open, though, they get super crowded. As long as we'e talking Napa history, stop at Grgich, too. Great chard; don't know if they have a zin as we're not big zin drinkers.

clifbob

Thanks newbE.... i'm far from a wine expert so I really can't answer the question about NAPA wine that I've had. I'm more of a novice when it comes to understanding wines, I just know what I like. So with that said I'd like to hit wineries that have wine with a similar flavor profile to my favorite types of wine which are Rombauer Chardonnay N Zinfandel. I will say those two are probably my all time favorite's. However because of their price I tend to drink them on special occasions. I try to keep my more every day wine closer to the $10 range. I love butter Chardonnay so I will definitely be visiting jam cellars. I'm more of a creature of habit. Lately my go to wine is butter Chardonnay and some of the ménage a Tois labels. I'm interested in trying different wines but I'm also interested in visiting wineries in Napa that are just so beautiful they shouldn't be missed. I'm not loaded with money so we are doing this trip on the best budget that we can. That being said. I won't be doing any tasting at opus LOL

NewbE

< I just know what I like>
Nothing in the world wrong with that, that's what it all boils down to anyway

Opus One is my every day wine--NOT!!

There is no more painless way to learn about wine than to just visit wineries and taste taste taste.

If you love zin, you might consider spending some time in the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma Valley--I can't remember how many days you have out there, maybe you could swing a day trip? Because there are some gorgeous zin producers out there: Ridge is an all-time great, a must, really, and we also love Hartford (where you'll find some gorgeous big chardonnays as well); Zichichi is a small zin specialist that does barrel tastings, we really like their old vine zin; there are many more.

mlgb

Have you considered Sonoma Dry Creek and Russian Riveras mentioned above..If you have a Visa Signature card that gives some discounts on wine tastings such as buy one get one.

We like Zichichi, Papapietro and Peterson in the same spot as Papapietro. Peterson and Rued are two that we thought wer good values and fun tasting rooms. Love the Rued Shameless Red blend.

mlgb

Sorry it's Peterson that does Shameless Red, not Rued

Kal

We may want to stop by a wine shop in Yountville formerly named Groezinger's, now Wine Country Connection to taste some wines as well as pick the brains of the new owners as to where and why.