posted 04-15-2012 02:52 PM         

I totally blame all you active members for making us so excited and for steering us in the direction of such good winerys. We brought home more wine than I ever imagined that we would, but it was just all so good that we couldn't help ourselves.

posted 03-19-2012 01:55 PM         

Hawkeye - the Maximus is why we are going to Bennett Lanes. You made it sound irrestible.

We will take your suggestion carjeff regarding staying in Yountville on evening two. That makes the most sense anyway. We wanted to do Stag Leaps Cellars but just could work in the timing. I will look again at it for day one and check out Steltzner as well.

Now it is time to figure out what is happening in San Francisco for the rest of our few days.

Thanks again for helping plan our trip. I will let you know how it goes after we get back.

posted 03-19-2012 09:39 AM            

Your schedule looks good. I have a few suggestions for your late afternoon open spots. I would move Jessup, Girard or other Downtown Yountville tasting room from day 1 to day 2. That way it leaves you just a few blocks away from dinner at Bistro Jeanty. Since you like cabs, on day 1 I would visit somewhere in Stags Leap on your way back to Napa for dinner - possibly Steltzner(good, reasonable prices cabs) or Stags Leap Wine Cellars for the history.

posted 03-19-2012 07:24 AM            

I would call Rollie at (707) 967-0432 and talk to him directly.

"4:30 to 6:00 Here we are looking for suggestions in the Yountville area that are open later. Or even in Rutherford as we are in that area anyway. Anyone heard good things about Peju Province? That is open to 6 and doesn't need a reservation. Cosentino? Cornerstone Cellars? Beau Vigne?"

You have lots of options right in Yountville, all within walking distance. Jessup, Hope & Grace, Cornerstone, Hill Family, Chiarello, and others. Bistor Jeanty is one of our favorite restaurants.

I don't know about the 27 minutes from Bennett Lane to Pride Mountain. That is a narrow winding road and Pride is clear at the top. Don't forget to check out the Maximus at Bennett Lane.

Schedule sounds good.

posted 03-18-2012 03:32 PM         

I am not too sure about how long to leave for tasting and driving. Frogs Leap said tasting would be half an hour. Doesn't seem all that long but...

Day One - we are coming from San Francisco and I want to make sure that there is time to stop at a market and purchase a cooler as well as picnic supplies

11:00 tour and tasting at Robert Mondavi (75 minute)

1:00 tasting at Frogs Leap (no appointment needed)

2:00 Midsummer Cellars. I emailed for an appointment but haven't heard back yet. (could switch it to the 1:00 time as well)

3:00 Baldacci - left phone message but haven't heard back yet.

4:-5:00 - here we need help. Could go to to either Jessup or Girard tasting room or perhaps a walk-in somewhere going towards Napa. There seems to be several open later wineries in the Napa area that we could choose. Any suggestions?

5:30 Bounty Hunter for a tasting and then dinner hopefully around 6:30. They don't take reservations.

Day Two - stop again for picnic supplies

10:30 Bennett Lane

12:00 Pride Mountain (27minute drive from Bennett?)

1:45 Salon St. Helena

3:00 Hall Rutherford tour and tasting (90 minutes)

4:30 to 6:00 Here we are looking for suggestions in the Yountville area that are open later. Or even in Rutherford as we are in that area anyway. Anyone heard good things about Peju Province? That is open to 6 and doesn't need a reservation. Cosentino? Cornerstone Cellars? Beau Vigne?

6:15 Dinner at Bistro Jeanty

I wish we had more days!!

[This message has been edited by Cando (edited 03-18-2012).]

posted 03-10-2012 01:45 PM         

I went to OpenTable.com and just for fun tried to make a reservation at the French Laundry to see how it would work so that I am ready to make reservations. I couldn't get one! Surprise.

Also, Hawkeye - Thanks for the tip about charting our route using the map inserts on the WineCountry magazine. That is exactly what we will do.

I think we are now leaning towards the Mondavi tour, but I guess we will have to see if we can get in first!

posted 03-10-2012 11:54 AM            

I am going to copy your questions and then try to answer them.

1. How far in advance do we need to make wine reservations?

When I am planning my itineraries, I layout a page for each day on PageMaker (software, you could use word or many other packages) I will begin each morning at 10:00 AM at which time most Napa wineries open. I list the wineries that I would like to visit that day, most of the time I plan 5 visits, two before lunch and three after. My time schedule looks like this (and can vary by the length of the tasting but most can be done in an hour or less) First tasting 10:00 AM, Second 11:00 AM, LUNCH Third tasting 1:30 PM, Fourth 2:30 PM, Third 3:30 PM. There is some flutter time in there. Some of the wineries I tasted may only have 1 or 2 wines which gives me a little extra time on the end for traveling. NOW TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION. I start making my appointments anywhere from 1 to 2 months out (that was sure a long way of getting there).

2. How far in advance do we need to make restaurant reservations?

As soon as you know what you want and where you want. Many of the restaurants are very small and fill quickly.

3.Which of the tours is the best and most comprehensive? Del Dotto, Hall Rutherford, Mondavi Signature. Or are they all good and we just have to pick one and go with it!

This really depends on what you want to accomplish. For the best overall information tour, as Yesilovewine states, the Mondavi Signature tour is among the best.

Del Dotto has a good cave tour but a little on the pricey side.

Hall Rutherford (not St. Helena) has the most spectacular tour. You start with a glass of chardonnay in their welcome center which has several pieces of the Hall's art work. Then you go down into the cave and into the crystal tasting room where they have this huge table and above it is a magnificent Swarvoski (spelling ?) crystal chandelier. It is spectacular. Their wines are a little on the high side but in my humble opinion, well worth it.

posted 03-10-2012 11:38 AM            

I did not know there was a Sonoma version of Preiser Key. I use the Napa version in all of my itinerary planning. I find many of my small, family owned wineries on there. If they state, "Not open to the public', I take that as a challenge. Some of them mean it, some mean that you have to make an appointment to visit. I find that the wineries that I have to make an appointment at are some of the better wines that I have found, so don't count out making appointments.

Another thing I like to do is to Pick up enough issues of WineCountry magazine (free all over the valley). When I get my itinerary set for the next trip, I remove the maps of Napa Valley from the center section and will plot the wineries of each day on a separate map. This helps in locating each day's visits. You can do the same thing by going to WineCountry.com and printing off the map of NV.

posted 03-09-2012 06:20 PM         

I'll take # 2 about dinner reservations (don't tell anyone else, but we go for the food as much as we do the wine!). Make them now. I made most of our dinner reservations 3 - 4 weeks ago and we don't go until the week before Memorial Day. The top spots will fill up, or you will be stuck with less desirable times.

posted 03-09-2012 02:34 PM         

My Preiser Key came today. It is great. A good magazine to take along as well as pour over now.

Poohh66 - thanks for the mention of the Bounty Hunter. I checked out their menu and it has now gone into the "must do" pile.

I have a couple questions that I hope someone can help with.

1. How far in advance do we need to make wine reservations?

2. How far in advance do we need to make restaurant reservations?

3.Which of the tours is the best and most comprehensive? Del Dotto, Hall Rutherford, Mondavi Signature. Or are they all good and we just have to pick one and go with it!

posted 03-03-2012 07:17 AM         

The only things that I know for sure is that I would like to eat at Mustards Grill, Bistro Jeanty, and the Rutherford Grill. I think we would like to do a cool cave tour, maybe spend time in Yountville -(could we do tasting rooms here?) and of course enjoy the scenery as we go from tasting to tasting.

We like red wines - mostly cabs but always up for trying others. We won't be spending a fortune on wines - maybe a bottle or two at each place that we like and we are not in a position to join any wine clubs. What we like we will have to either find them at home or wait for our next visit.

My problem is that I don't know which winerys to go to. (I am fine to make appointments) I don't want to go to any winerys that expect a big pay off in the end because we just can't afford that kind of spending right now so we don't want to be embarrased - but we still would love to taste some great reds and see what there is to see.

Can anyone help with winery selection as well as routes to fit in where we are starting from and where we would like to eat.

As you can probably tell I have been reading this message board for a long time now so hopefully I gave enough info to get some great advise. I appreciate any help we can get.