When I plan a visit to wine country, I try to make the driving logical, trying to start at the farthest point north and make our way back down, trying to schedule our last tasting that we can walk to. Our first stop on Saturday, Castello di Amorosa, the famous castle in Calistoga. It took me years to visit this winery, had heard things that made me think it was to commercialized. Well, several years back we decided to try it, it is a totally fun experience. You can do a guided tour and tasting, a self guided tour and tasting or just a tasting. We’ve done the self guided tour several times, now we just do a tasting. The bars in the lower levels of the castle have multiple stations for you to get good service. I highly recommend trying to find Vicenzo, I LOVE him. He wasn’t working this particular Saturday morning, but we were lucky enough to get a barrel tasting of a Cabernet to be released next year. Likes it so much, I pre-ordered a case at futures pricing. Can’t wait to get that next year.
Another one of my clubs was having a Rose release party, that was stop number two on this visit. Bennett Lane is in Calistoga and a short drive north of the castle. The weather wasn’t our friend for this event, it was pouring rain on Saturday, but the event moved inside to the barrel room. There were food stations and lots of the newly released Rose. We met other wine club members and had a fun time. I was excited to see Donna, she was at the winery for my first tasting there and the reason I joined their club. I love the small, family owned wineries. I like supporting them with my purchases instead of the big commercial wineries.
Our next stop was at Duckhorn, I had visited the year before and had a not so good experience. But to their credit, they responded to a review I posted on Facebook and provided a complimentary tasting to prove they are better than that bad experience. We were seated in the tasting room and provided a charcuterie board with cheese and sausage to pair with the wines. Sam was our wine educator and she was so much fun. We discussed all the different wines we tasted and I asked about some favorites in their portfolio I hadn’t had in a while. We tasted their Sauvignon Blanc (a personal favorite), two merlots, two cabernets, a Goldeneye Pinot Noir and their proprietary blend The Discussion. The visit was so good I shipped 6 bottles home for my cellar. I’ll also note, The Discussion is available at Total Wine.
To end our tasting day, we stopped at Jessup Cellars, my wine concierge was working the tasting room and I wanted to meet Mike in person. It was so much fun. Also tasted a few wines that I hadn’t had in a while, like the Petite Sirah.
And on to dinner, visited Celadon in downtown Napa. It was a nice quiet dinner is a small location.