posted 07-27-2012 01:43 PM         

We had so much fun on our trip last year we are going back again in October. Since you guys were so helpful in planning our first trip, I am once again seeking your wonderful advice and opinions! We have six days and are going to do three in Napa and three in Sonoma I think. Where should we go??? We have a solid handle on Napa from last year, but Sonoma is totally new to us. (I will post in the Sonoma forum for that.) Here’s what we did and liked last year from what I can remember:

Anaba
Bouchaine
Obrien

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellar
Sinskey
Baldacci
Stags’ Leap Winery

Ladera
Duckhorn
Sequoia Grove

Lava vine
Vincent Arroyo

We enjoyed almost all of the wineries. Baldacci was fabulous (thank you Hawkeye!). Ladera Howell Mnt Cabs are now some of my favorite. We had an amazing experience at Sinksey – love them – they did a great farm-to-table lunch for us and opened up a ton of bottles. We had been enjoying Sequoia Groves Cabs well before our trip and the vineyard experience was great. Notably though, they introduced us to a Chardonnay, the first of which I have ever genuinely liked! (Carneros Chardonnays seems to work for me and I am NOT a white drinker, although it’s amazing what a trip to Napa will do to change that ). For a larger winery, Duckhorn was very fun – we did a food paring thing with a smaller group, which made the experience more intimate. O’Brien has some of the best Merlots I’ve had and we really enjoy their Bordeaux-style reds. Anaba makes fantastic Pinots and dessert wines. Our driver took us to Lava Vine and Vincent Arroyo after getting to know our tastes and we had some delicious wine there as well. Lava Vine Cabs and their younger Cab Franc that we got in a wine club shipment are just so good. Vincent Arroyo makes one of the most unique Pinots I’ve had, and along with one from Anaba that you cannot get anymore, they are my two favorite Pinots. We joined the wine clubs of Anaba, Obrien, Ladera, Lava Vine & Vincent Arroyo. I am going to join Baldacci.

We learned from last year that we tend to like the smaller vineyards, with more intimate experiences. I hate crowds and lines. We enjoy almost all reds and particularly appreciate big, smooth reds. However, I must say that I have a short list of specific whites that I like now thanks to our tastings last year. Generally we are very open. The best part about last year was discovering new wines and expanding our palates. So there is a little background. Where should we go this time?