Napa Wine Tasting Review

We started our day wine tasting with an appointment at Cakebread Cellars, just up the road from our bed and breakfast. The tasting included a walking tour of the grounds and tasting along the way. The tour was with one guide and four of us, the other couple also raced in the Vineman; we kept conversation to wine though. I absolutely loved this place and wanted to move into the house on the grounds which would have been great for some back yard entertaining. We were surprised how much we loved the white wines here and our other stops, being red wine drinkers.

Cakebread Entryway

Next stop was a vineyard Jason had found online called Frog's Leap. Here they set you on a large porch overlooking gardens and vineyards. The family dog visits and it's more of a mom and pop vineyard feel. You can take your time and just enjoy hanging out, they bring you wine and will answer any questions and also a great cheese plate.

Frog's Leap Porch

After lunch in St Helena we headed to Duckhorn, which was recommended to us by Sarah and Corbett Elsen. The wine here might have been the best we tasted, but we did not buy any- way out of our price range. So we made good use of the tasting, which seemed never-ending. The group next to us made fun of us for leaving wine on the table!

Duckhorn tasting- they brought 6-7 instead of the typical 4!

Next we headed up to Calistoga to visit Castello di Amorosa. This place is built to look like a castle with a mout and a dungeon and all. We found the place overall cheesy, but the tasting was held in the basement and our server was hilarious. He really made the trip worth while and the wine was great! No need to visit this place just to see the castle though, unless you have kids who would think it was cool. Speaking of kids, many of the vineyards have a home-made soda tasting they serve in wine glasses for kids and pregos. I thought that was cute.

Our final stop was a small vineyard called Peju, 85% of there wine is sold direct consumer, so we won't find this one in the store. It was great wine. The tasting was held in door along a bar with about 20 other people, the way I remember tasting last time I was in Napa. One wine was a blend of both white and red grapes which was interesting. We didn't take any photos here.

WE LOVED OUR B and B! Here are a few shots for La Residence- owneded by Hall vineyard.
Each morning you had a sit down breakfast prepared by a chef. In the evening a wine and cheese reception. The rooms had fireplaces and plenty of space. Outdoors there was a pool and small vineyard you could sit and hang out near.