Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Wine Tastings in Napa Valley

I've been doing a lot of fun and happy things here in sunny San Francisco. Let's see, I don't even know where to begin. Basically I've been eating my way through the city since I got here a month ago, but since we're in wine country, let's check out some wineries!


My dear friend Sandy came to visit me last week and I am so happy she did - because that means I've got a buddy to go wine tasting in Napa Valley! We went to Robert Mondavi (my favorite) and did the tour + a guided 3-wines tasting.


Robert Mondavi uses a gravitational system to move their wines from the fermentation room to the barreling room so they don't have to use any pumping system. If you're lucky, you get to see their wine bottling process in the basement. Oh, and they'll show you their barrel room!


They say in Napa, Cabernet Sauvignon is the King, Chardonnay is the Queen, Pinot Noir is the Prince, and Sauvignon Blanc is the Princess.


There's a lot of interesting wine tasting tours in Napa, but I really enjoyed Castillo di Amorosa (a castle winery in Napa Valley). Yes, it's a castle winery! They have a moat, goats in the garden, and a fluffy chicken running around. I'm not kidding you, it's looks like a chicken-dog! What is this thing!?


We had a very entertaining experience touring the castle and had a chance to barrel taste. but the best part was that you get to choose which wines you want to taste for the 5-wines tasting. I like white wines, so my tasting flight was a mix of 3 whites and 2 rose. Sandy did the reserve flight tasting for an additional $10, and she said the guide was kinda cute! He's very entertaining and knowledgeable, well I guess you have to be... What do you think?


Oh yes, and I found my favorite wine that evening. It's the 2013 La Fantasia, a sparkling rose wine. When i took a sip, I'm sold. I bought 6 bottles and shipped them back home. They'll be waiting for me when I travel home next week!