Let me start with saying, there are things that are absolutely worth the money, as indulgent as some things may be. Think of it like this. You want a piece of cake but is that cake worth the calories? If you eat it and its blah then you have just wasted some serious calories on what you thought was going to make your day. Napa Private Tours is worth the calories from every standpoint.
Each year I go on a trip with my sister who lives in England. This year we ventured to San Francisco and Napa Valley. When with Toni (my sister), I always look for that extra special time to remember for both of us and this year was in wine country.
I did a little research online and found Napa Private Tours. I emailed them and got a return call almost immediately to plan our day. This was the start of a great relationship from inception to end of tour day. I worked directly with Cynthia at Napa Private Tours on exactly what I was looking for. Not too touristy, not crazy expensive, not too over explanatory of wine making – just pure wine tasting, perhaps a winery or two I could join (now that we can ship to MA) and a bit of educational fun. She heard everything I said and we got so much more, which made the day more memorable than me and my sister could have wished for.
David our outstanding driver/tour guide for the day and a boutique wine maker himself (more to come on David and his wine) picked us up at 9.30am at the Yountville Hotel just outside of Napa. First stop coffee.
Our first wine stop at 10am was at Silenus Vintners where we had a sit down private meeting with them and tasted a mere six wines. Highly recommended for their Ideology Pinot Noir… I immediately became a club member. There is seriously nothing more fun like doing something you shouldn’t… like drinking wine at 10am.
Silenus Winery
Next stop, a place I wanted to share with my sister as I love their patio was Mumm, famously known for their sparkling wines. We enjoyed a patio table service flight of three sparkling wines. Their Brut Rosé at just $24 is outstandingly dry and bubbly. I did purchase a bottle or 3.
Mumm Winery – Patio Tasting
Our next place was Vine Cliff and perhaps one of my favorites. We had the winery exclusively to ourselves and enjoyed a private tour with Alex, our winery tour guide of the wine cellars, a tasting of their wines as well as a picnic set up by David in their stunningly, beautiful gardens. While a little bit more on the pricier side of $64, the Los Carneros Chardonnay 2012 is worthy of the visit alone.
The cellars at Vine Cliff with our tour guide/driver, David
The afternoon was upon us and to date there were no complaints about our day. We were off to B Cellars, a place I had on my must visit list. Sat on their welcoming patio we were entertained by our wine server with a tasting of wine and cheese pairings. I did love their Manzana Pinot Noir 2013.
Our wine and cheese tasting menu
Our final stop was Del Dotto, affectionately known by local folks as Del Blotto – not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing, I do now know they give heavy tasting pours so totally get it. That said, Del Dotto is a stunning, Italian-inspired house of such grandeur, you feel a little intimidated upon walking in. 10 minutes later you are thoroughly enjoying their wines and disregarding the marble columns. We did get to chat to one of their wine makers, which was a special treat. I suggest their Ca’Nani Chardonnay 2012 at $45.
Del Dotto Winery
Throughout our day, David would pop his head into our tastings and just smile and wave letting us know we were ready to move on… no pressure or push to leave just a nod. We did actually get to know David a little, which is important given we spent almost eight hours with him and to me this makes him an integral part to the enjoyment, which I hope he also had. Toni and I can be quite entertaining :).
A very happy day!!
We laughed so much it hurt, tasted outstanding wines at wonderful wineries and had the most amazing, made for memories day.
This tour day is absolutely a treat but totally worth it. Thank you Napa Private Tours. You are a class act!!
