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| V. Sattui Winery - Napa California |
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| Black Stallion Winery |
Before we get into this article / review I absolutely, positively MUST
thank my loving Wife, Mrs. Desert Wine Girl as this article would not be
complete nor would the trip even be possible without her blessing. Mrs. Desert Wine Girl allowed me to stretch
our budget (very far) as I purchased much more wine then I should have and all with
her lovely blessing. Thank you honey, I truly appreciate it.
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| Pine Ridge Vineyard & Winery |
Where else in America would The Desert Wine Guy be at home then in the Napa Valley? The answer is of course, nowhere. The other day my Family and I came back from a week long trip to just that place and boy was it awesome. Not only did we get to see one of our Daughters who had some big news to share but I got to experience wine as I never have before. Today I want to write about that trip and some of the wine highlights as well as the wine .....well, low lights (there was a big one). The first thing that I want to talk about is the drive itself. From Las Vegas the trip took around 11 hours. Between us needing to stop for Bathroom breaks and food as well as The Desert Wine Guy needing to stop at the farms along the way that were open for fruits and things of that nature, it was a long trip. I didn't mind the trip though as I found it relaxing. There were plenty of beautiful green Pastures, Cows, Sheep, fruit trees and Vineyards to keep me occupied as I drove. The scenery was just incredible and it was really nice to see the different animals rather then the usual Lizard or spider. Traffic was good as well and overall I thought the trip out there was nice. Gas prices were crazy in California at $4 a Gallon by the way.
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| Black Stallion Tasting Menu |
Now as for our room.....yeah. Mrs. Desert Wine Girl booked us a room for the week at Americas Best Motel in Vacaville, California and it was a straight out DUMP! I know that this is NOT "Americas best" and that this great country has much better to offer. Tweakers, Addicts, Criminals and other social deviants were our neighbors and they were mixed in with a few decent working folks who must have been fooled as well by the website into thinking that the Motel was at least halfway decent. There was free "Breakfast" if that is what you could call it which consisted of Waffles, cold cereal and Oatmeal packets along with Orange Juice which tasted mostly like water as well as Apple Juice which was better. While the stay was uneventful for us, the room was old and not kept up very well at all. It appeared as if the dirt was covered with thick paint and the patches in the walls probably from drunken or drugged fools appeared to have been done by the local residents in exchange for a free nights stay. The sink had a large crack running from one side to the other and was patched again by someone who probably received a free night as payment for the...... repair. Whatever they did, the sink had almost fallen in and was hanging on barely by the extra thick Caulking. The bed was okay in my opinion but Mrs. Desert Wine Girl had a different opinion. There was a Refrigerator and Coffee Maker which was plugged into a power adapter which looked like it was from the early 90's and probably a fire hazard. By the way, speaking of the paint an entire wall was .......... dark Green, pure Green while the others were an off White. I will leave you with this. The Curtains never opened and my Second Amendment rights were no more loved then while at this Motel.
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| Herta Peju & The Desert Wine Guy |
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| Dave Becker & The Desert Wine Guy |
So here we go, let's talk about the Napa Valley now. I want to tell you guys that I learned
a lot as far as proper spacing of the vines goes as well as the Pruning of them
goes. I observed that the average spacing on the vines was about three
(3) feet. The Cordons themselves were around two (2) feet
on either end as well. This was indeed an eye opener to me as my vines are
spaced around 6 feet apart. If I had this knowledge prior to planting I
would have been able to double the amount of vines that I currently
have, I guess that will have to wait until I move (say what). From a wine perspective the Napa
Valley is indeed the homeland. Vineyards everywhere and Wineries that I have
never heard of before were super abundant. The Peju
http://www.peju.com/) Winery was amazing as I just had to experience their different wines as only the 2014 Cab and 2018 Sauvignon Blancs are available locally. I was looking at the Grapevines which made my favorite Cabernet Sauvignon.
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| Peju Winery |
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| Beautiful Vineyard |
Wow, was that Stags Leap? Was that Robert Mondavi Vineyards? Yeah, you bet it was. Seeing all of those famous Vineyards and wineries as we drove by was really cool. The weather was amazing and allowed for a few Picnics at the V. Sattui Winery (
https://www.vsattui.com/) where they sell hundreds of cheeses, meats, oils, spices and of course outstanding wines of all types. If you get to the area I HIGHLY recommend you take the family or if it is just you and a significant other grab some food. By the way, one other thing that I should mention is that Children were more then welcomed provided you as a Parent controled them. There were a lot of highlights but I will leave them for another time. One which I do wish to make mention of is finally meeting Dave Becker who at one time owned Acre Vineyards (
https://www.acrewines.com/our-story) but has recently sold that endeavor yet is still very involved in wine
grape growing in the Stags Leap AVA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-H20LSRis0&pbjreload=10)
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| Pine Ridge Vineyards Tasting Menu |
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| Stags Leap Wine Cellars |
Dave appeared very
humble in our conversation and I will tell you what I told him. Dave
missed his calling as he is just an incredable teacher and I wouldn't be
surprised if he got into that vocation at the same time while maintaining his Vineyards. All of the Wineries were
beautifully manicured and a lot of the vines appeared to be of
substantial age as well. The Tasting rooms employees themselves were completely knowledgeable about the products they were selling as well as the actual Vineyards, wineries and the actual grapes for the wines they were selling. While I am certainly not an Environmentalist of any kind, I thought it was nice as well to see that all of the Vineyards / wineries were into the recycling of the water and using safer and more
Organic growing practices. I was a little surprised that the entire area was not busier but perhaps my next Paragraph might explain why there were not more people at the wineries. Driving onto the properties themselves was awesome as you were seeing the actual Grapevines which were used to create some of the actual wines you were about to taste.
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| Stags Leap Cellars Tasting Menu |
This man was instrumental in me
becoming The Desert Wine Guy and I told him so. If you are planning on starting a Vineyard of any size, I highly recommend that you check out his YouTube Channel (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-H20LSRis0&pbjreload=10)
Okay, so you guys know that my Family and I had a great time but unfortunetly there is an issue that I want to discuss here with you. I wasn't going to talk about it at first but this article / review would truly not be complete without that discussion as it could indeed make or break your trip to wine country.
What I need to talk with you about will perhaps surprise you and
dishearten you, I know it did both for me as well as Mrs. Desert Wine Girl. The first Winery that we
stopped at was Pine Ridge Vineyards (
https://www.pineridgevineyards.com/) and the tasting fee was $45 and no,
that is not a misprint, I said $45 and yes, you can share that tasting.
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| The Desert Wine Guy At Peju Winery |
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| Luch Time At V. Sattui |
The fee at this particular winery is waved if you purchase two or more
bottles but of course that assumes that you first like the wines in the first place doesn't
it? The least expensive wine at Pine Ridge was $65 a bottle which was for their
2016 Cabernet Sauvignon (I got two). If you don't like that particular wine then you are moving up to the line to the next least expensive wine which is the 2016 "Cave 7" Cabernet Sauvignon which costs $85 a bottle. Now
I ask you, how many people are able to do that or would want to do
that? Keep in mind that is the first Winery that you have stopped at and
you are already out of pocket a minimum of $45 and that is without
even purchasing any wine. You should also know that Mrs. Desert Wine Girl does not drink but if she did the Tasting Fees could come up to $130 just to TASTE wine!
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| Stags Leap Winery Tasting Room |
At the very minimum should you buy one (1) bottle of wine you are going to spend that $45 (Tasting Fee) and $65 for the 2016 Cab and your total is going to be
$110, that's basically for one (1) bottle of wine folks. Let's go to the Peju Winery now (one of my favorites) and see what is going on there. At Peju
your tasting is costing a minimum of $45 in order to taste their basic wines but if you choose the Reserve Tasting you
are spending $75 and at this winery, neither levels of tasting that you choose refunds
your tasting fee if you should purchase any wine. How about the Black Stallion
Winery, what are they charging? Well for starters their tasting fee
starts at $25 and tops out at $45 depending again on the tasting you choose.
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| Black Stallion Winery |
As a reminder, all of the Wineries by the way have different levels of tastings depending on the
wines you choose. If you want older wines or more prestigious wines you
pay more. Let me now go ahead and include one more Winery which is the
V. Sattui
Winery that I recommend. The tasting fee here was $20 and you can upgrade for $5 more. While the Black Stallion Winery and the V. Sattui wineries are a heck of a lot more
reasonable, the tastings all together add up to a lot of money. Remember that walking
into the Wineries(s) and doing a Tasting you are spending this without any guarantee that you
even like the wine(s).
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| V. Sattui Picnic Grounds |
Middle Class wine lovers, I feel hard pressed to
recommend that you guys go to Napa although in the end I have come to the conclusion that I do overall recommend the trip at least for the experience. Remember foks that I myself am Middle Class, I am not rich. I also pride myself in writing my reviews geared
towards the Middle Class wine lover. It is super difficult for me to suggest that you go to the Napa Valley when
the mere tasting fee is so cost prohibitive for many. In my last
Paragraph which is next, I will attempt to justify my answer the question of do I recommend you going. Luckily for you we are at that last paragraph.
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| Peju Winery - Wines Aging |
Here is my justification to the question of should you go to the Napa Valley. Remember that this is a difficult one for me.
My answer is based upon the belief that you, the wine lover are truly into great wines so
much that you know that you are going for a truly unique experience, which you are. With that in mind remember that the area itself is absolutely
beautiful and the Vineyards that we have all heard or read about are
available for us to experience as well as the wines they produce and are
known for. Wines from the Vineyards are layed
out right in front of you at the tasting counter and the experience,
starting at the initial appearance of the property and continuing to even the
Bathroom where you will be afraid to touch the beautiful Faucets as well as use the softest Paper Towels you have ever felt, all the way to the Tasting
Room experience itself which includes the staff and their knowledge of the history of the particular grape used in the wine you are tasting, it is all truly top notch and will never be forgotten.
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| Black Stallion WInery Gift Set |
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| Stainless Steel Fermenting Tank - Peju |
Folks, Napa
really does raise the bar and maintain the standard for wine and it's
presentation. I have to say that I tasted a lot of wines with a lot being cost
prohibitive to purchase and I did not taste one wine that I disliked. Here is the bottom line. If
you plan to go to the Napa
Valley plan to spend at least $800 - $1000 on wine alone. Desert Wine Guy would you do it all over again? Well it really
killed me to spend $45 in order to simply taste (sample) a product that
someone is trying to sell me in the first place (Costco gives free
samples by the
way:) but yes, I would. If you are budget conscious do not go expecting to buy many wines to
bring home however. If on the other hand this is a vacation or a destination
for which you have saved up for and have been longing for then yes, I do highly
recommend it.
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| Peju Tasting Menu |
The last thing that I want to say is that this trip truly has re-inforced
my belief that there is good to great wine that is reasonably priced
at your local store and also that I review on a regular basis. As of now I will be sticking to my usual price point and review format. Yes, there might be occasions
such as when I review the wines that I bought on this trip that I review a
wine that is higher priced but for the most part I am sticking to reviewing wines
for the Middle Class, just as I have been doing all along.
The Desert Wine Guy
www.desertwineguy.blogspot.com/
www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy?fref=nf
https://twitter.com/DesertWineGuyLV
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgCUb3w1n2S_UGU2yYRkFYQ/videos
https://www.brighteon.com/channel/thedesertwineguy
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