Sadly no longer. It used to be that both the walk-in and the longer sit-down tasting were free but they are now $35 and $45, respectively, last I checked. I believe this change came about some time last year. They have been requiring appointments, I think because of COVID - unclear if they will go back to walk-ins in the future.
Well that sucks. That was on my every visit list. Guess the change in ownership didnât help either
Agreed - used to be one of my top recommendations. My list of wineries that donât charge tasting fees is getting very, very short.
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In 2019, we took our daughters just to walk around and sightsee. I was surprised to see them charging an entry fee. It made it very easy for us as we were out of there in less than 30 mins.
We thoroughly enjoyed the Restoration Hardware Restaurant in Yountville. Never even knew they had restaurants.
Appreciate all the recommendations!
Just got back from a weekend in Napa. My favorite visits were:
Matthiasson â love their style of winemaking and their overall vibe. Great outdoor tasting in a beautiful setting.
Sinegal â doesnât get a lot of love on this Board, but their cabs are very impressive, albeit in a riper version than Matthiasson. The property is gorgeous and one of the more impressive settings. Doug White who gave us the tour is very knowledgeable and a great guide.
Olabisi â in my opinion one of the more exciting new wineries I have tried out of Napa. His Picnic Vineyard cab was the wine of the weekend for me, at least from a QPR perspective. While we toured the vineyards with their winemaker Ted Osborne, their tasting room is in Calistoga. Definitely worth a visit.
Now on the negative side. Had a VERY mediocre experience at Corison. My buddy made the mistake of setting up a tasting for the Kronos vineyard wines and there were four glasses already poured. At $125 a person, it was a costly mistake. Our tour guide was disinterested and boring and left us alone for a good 10 minutes while we drank the wines with very little to say about the wines or the winemaking. I think the â99 had some TCA issues or some other flaw, but the tour guide thought it was fine. It was completely out of character of the other three vintages, so Iâm not sure he even tasted it. He certainly offered no explanation for the difference other than it was âolder.â As someone drinks a lot of older cabs, that was not the issue. Honestly, I like their Napa Cab, but the Kronos â for the price â is not to my tastes. I know this is probably not shared by everyone here, but to me it is a hard pass, at least for the Kronos tasting.
Cakebread â my friend had a contact with this winery, so we thought we would do the tasting. Maybe one of the 2 or 3 most impressive buildings Iâve been to in Napa. The wine is not my thing, so it is hard to recommend other than the tour of the facility.
Are people allowed to walk around the winery grounds without purchasing the tastings?
At most of the places that we have visited I wouldnât necessarily expect anyone to chase you off but I canât imagine it being much of a rewarding experience either. Other than visiting the gift shop and in some limited instances having a quick look at the architecture, I canât imagine what one would do at the property if not there for a tasting. This would seem to be especially true post-COVID when there are no tours and the tasting experience is strictly controlled.
We had made many trips to Napa/Sonoma pre-Covid but in the past couple of years had shifted to Paso Robles and Santa Barbara as Napa especially had become so absurdly expensive and âmanagedâ. Whether it was Covid-related or just the natural evolution, Paso Robles seems to have made a similar leap in the past two years. After a trip to Paso Robles this weekend I am beginning to think that one would be better off just buying bottles of the full lineups of interesting wineries, renting a beautiful house, and hosting a weekend long tasting without the scheduling and driving from place to place. With four or more people tasting it would certainly be less expensive and you could really follow a wine and get a much better sense of the offering than the 1.5 oz pours at a winery tasting.
On the same theme, it has been mentioned above but for first-timers to Napa be sure to research tasting fees before committing your schedule to multiple days of multiple tastings. Tasting fees in Napa can easily be the single largest expense of the trip and Iâm not sure how many people who have never visited would expect how expensive it will be.
going onto a private property without engaging in commerceâŚsounds like trespassing.
Absolutely agree. We go to Paso once it twice a year and live it there. We feel that we should visit Napa and Sonoma at least once.
Huh? Depends on the type of access the winery offers, of course. But any winery that has open gates, parking, signs that say âopen for tastingâ, etc., is fair game to stop into, even if you decide not to taste. We do it routinely at wineries that have art or photography exhibits. Sometimes weâll taste something, sometimes not. No different than browsing a store without purchasing anything. I have zero qualms with stopping into a winery to check out their offerings, prices, etc., then deciding not to taste.
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Hi. Appreciate all the comments and suggestions. we decided to stay in Sonoma and travel from there. Being Angelinos one hour commute is not a big deal for us.
Here re is my itinerary so far. Comments and suggestions always welcome and appreciated. Is there a dress code at restaurants? ( we wonât be wearing shorts and sandals, but do I need a jacket? )
Sunday
11am Calluna
12:30 quick lunch if hungry
2pm : Matanzaâs Creek
possible walk around Jack London Park
5:30 pm : Dinner at Girl and Fig
Monday
10am: Chat Montelena
2pm: Rivers Marie ( suggestions on how to kill some time in between ?)
Dinner-open to suggestions
Tues
11am: Gary Farrell
Walk around town of Headsburg
3;30pm : Ridge
Dinner-open to suggestions
Wed
10am : Chappellet
12PM: Lunch at Auberge de Soleil
1;30PM: Round Pond
Dinner: open to suggestions
Thurs
Morning; Town of Yountville
1pm: Darioush
3pm: Piazza del Dotto ( I know its silly, but I think it will be fun )
6:15 pm: Dinner at Bistro Jeantly
Fri ( Flying home in the evening)
11am : Patz and Hall ( still not sure about this one )
1:30 pm : Bedrock
David, looks like a good itinerary, I like that you havenât tried to crowd too much in. For your dinners, Girl and Fig is a great choice, as well as Bistro Jeanty. On Tuesday, if you want to stay up north there are several good options in Healdsburg: Barndiva (a favorite); Valette; Guiso Latin Fusion (cool little place). Itâs a bit of a drive back to Sonoma from there, though. Otherwise, in Sonoma El Dorado Kitchen is very good, and we like Maya for Mexican food. Also Della Santina. Another alternative on Tuesday, since youâll be up that way, is Diavola Pizzeria, which is a cool, funky Italian/pizza place in the tiny town of Geyserville, also a favorite, though we donât get there often enough.
Where is Rivers Marie? Is it in Calistoga? If so, you probably donât want to travel too far south. An option would be to wander around the grounds of Beringer, which has nice gardens, and the old Victorian building that houses its tasting room.
No dress codes at any of the places you are going, you can wear literally anything. Nice casual is always the way to go, not much different than youâre used to in LA.
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Rivers Marie is in Calistoga. Was thinking he should stop and have a nice lunch in Calistoga. Also some options in St Helena that arenât terribly far away. Gotts or Charter Oak come to mind.
Other solid dinner places - Farmhouse Inn, Press, Ad Hoc, Farmstead all come to mind.
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Solage would be a great lunch in Calistoga. You might be able to sneak some bocce in as well.
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+1 on Barndiva and Diavola
Solage is great and right by Rivers Marie
Charter Oak was one of our favorite lunches last time we were in Napa
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Thank you Alan.
Just checked Barndiva and itâs closed on Tuesday:(. Will check out some of your other suggestions
The new restaurant complex The Matheson in Healdsburg is now open. Very good food in a gorgeous roof top setting, been there a couple times already. It is open on Tuesday. The first floor has a fancier restaurant that has just opened a few days ago but havenât yet been.
Worth a stop even if itâs only for a drink or glass of wine, 88 wines on tap.
Tom
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Just returned from 5 days in Napa. An all time favorite for food is Brasswood. Northern St Helena, so not too far from Rivers Marie in Calistoga. If you go, make sure you ask for the mozzarella (not normally on the menu).
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