another Where To Visit in Napa thread – but with a twist: let's keep it under $100/bottle

Mark_Thompson · January 6, 2022, 6:11am

This was also my favorite the one time we went, for many of the same reasons. We had our 4 month old up on Pritchard Hill at Chappellet and their were giant bird circling looking like they wanted to take him out. He’s now an 8 year old hockey goalie and I’d like to see them try! Great wine and a great family story, with family members that gave our tour—would love to take some 70s Chappellet out next time and open a bottle up at one of their picnic tables up next to the vineyards!

David_Baum · January 6, 2022, 7:04am

Chappellet. Family owned, family operated for over 50 years. Their Signature Cabernet is a great value. Plus they have some interesting Pinots & Chards from single vineyards in Carneros and Russian River.

This is a great recommendation and would go had I not been there before. I’m headed for two days in Sonoma and one and a half in Napa. Staying in St. Helena so was thinking of starting the day off far north (Chateau Montelena or Rivers Marie) then making my way back to lunch at Farmstead and something around there like Heitz, Freemark Abbey or Phelps and then finish off the day at Pride Mountain. Day two we’re thinking of heading south to make our way out of Napa and hit up Sonoma square (Auteur, Bedrock, maybe) before heading to Healdsburg. Been to Sonoma quite a lot and feel like we’ve hit up every major pinot producer in RRV.

Rule #1 in Napa. Don’t finish the day at Pride, start the day at Pride if your going there

Zachary_Mancini · January 6, 2022, 7:26am

Chappellet. Family owned, family operated for over 50 years. Their Signature Cabernet is a great value. Plus they have some interesting Pinots & Chards from single vineyards in Carneros and Russian River.

This is a great recommendation and would go had I not been there before. I’m headed for two days in Sonoma and one and a half in Napa. Staying in St. Helena so was thinking of starting the day off far north (Chateau Montelena or Rivers Marie) then making my way back to lunch at Farmstead and something around there like Heitz, Freemark Abbey or Phelps and then finish off the day at Pride Mountain. Day two we’re thinking of heading south to make our way out of Napa and hit up Sonoma square (Auteur, Bedrock, maybe) before heading to Healdsburg. Been to Sonoma quite a lot and feel like we’ve hit up every major pinot producer in RRV.

Rule #1 in Napa. Don’t finish the day at Pride, start the day at Pride if your going there

Ya the drive up and down pride is pretty tough when your 100% sober lol

Ed_Steinway · January 6, 2022, 2:32pm

David Baum wrote:
Rule #1 in Napa. Don’t finish the day at Pride, start the day at Pride if your going there

Very true. We went to visit there several years ago, and there was a group that started at the bottom of Spring Mountain Road and worked their way up. One of the visits along the way was Charbay. It was a bit of a train wreck. That being said, visiting Pride is a great experience but give yourself more time to navigate the road.

David_Baum · January 6, 2022, 4:03pm

It’s a great 10 o’clock tasting and then you can enjoy the lunch you packed at the picnic tables in the vineyard before heading back down. Great views from the picnic area

Karen_Troisi · January 7, 2022, 12:01am

Thanks for the mention - very much appreciated.

Albert_R · January 7, 2022, 2:30am

You can do Bougetz and Jean Edwards since they are right next to each other. Tom from Bougetz is absolutely awesome. He provided the best and most educational tasting on our last visit. We compared valley vs. mountain fruit and compared several different vintages of the same wine. Just a great overall tasting and experience. (Full disclosure: I am a wine club member)

I missed Karen, but her team took really good care of us. The is an excellent one-two punch.

Karen_Troisi · January 7, 2022, 3:54pm

Sorry we missed you but glad to hear our team took good care of you! We are very good friends with Tom Bougetz and love when people visit both tasting rooms. There is a third tasting room (Prime Solum owned by Bill Hill) at our location also.

Peter_Shurman · January 9, 2022, 3:20am

Not enough love on this board for JEC.

G_Singh · January 9, 2022, 9:18am

Great thread - perhaps we should make a similar one for Sonoma?

Bruce_Rudman · January 9, 2022, 3:01pm

First, there is a great thread for Sonoma that Brian created a few years back - it is still a pinned thread at the top of Wine Talk

Secondly, it is easy to go to Sonoma and keep it under $100. Harder to keep it under $50 these days though.

Karen_Troisi · January 10, 2022, 6:14pm

Thank you for your support Pete - it’s customers like you that make this all worthwhile!!!