Honeymoon in the Napa Valley (the wineries - pt 1)

Finally, we come to the end of our honeymoon in the Napa Valley. In previous posts, I have discussed the restaurants and the wine tours & private tastings. Thus, this brings us to the remaining wineries that we visited during the week.

Grgich Hills Estate

In their tasting room, which is open daily to the public from 930am-430pm, Grgich Hills offers two options, five of their current releases for $15 or three of their special selections for $30. Another bonus is that you get to keep your glasses (at least for the second option). I have to admit, I was totally blown away by their 2006 Chardonnay Carneros Selection ($75), which uses wild yeast and no malolactic fermentation. It is substantially better than their 2007 Chardonnay Napa Valley, ($42) and definitely ranks up there with my all-time favorite chardonnays. Comparing their cabs reminded me once again that cost isn't everything. Both Joy and I, along with the folks tasting beside us, favored their 2006 Cab Napa Valley ($60) over their much pricier 2005 Cab Yountville Selection ($135). Their late harvest 2008 Violetta ($85/375ml) was also delicious with its botrytis. All in all, nice people and very nice wines. I would recommend stopping by if you're in the neighborhood (which isn't hard since they are right on HWY29).

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars (*also one of the best winery websites that I've come across)

If you are going to visit SLWC (open daily, 10am-430pm), which you should, I would recommend their estate collection tasting flight ($30pp) over the Napa Valley collection ($15pp). Its a lot of fun to taste their three estate cabs side by side and see how vineyards right next to each other produce such different wines because of the difference in soil. The 2006 Fay was spicy and delicious, while the 2006 SLV was so ridiculously smooth and fruity. But the best of all, made from the best barrels of both, is their Cask 23 ($195, but found it for $115 on wine.com). My tasting notes say it all: "HOLY CRAP!!! Best cab of my life!" Absolutely magnificent! This wine, however, reaffirms my belief that the wine critics scoring system is broken. I just cannot fathom how Wine Enthusiast gave this wine a meager 91. That's right, a 91. Their Cask 23 was the only wine I tasted all week that I honestly thought was worth the sky high price (if you could afford it). So Joy and I agree, if you are coming through the Stag's Leap District, you really should drop by.