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Tour Vin Wine Tasting in October

Published on: October 29th, 2014

Wine tasting during this year’s Napa Valley Crush was once again amazing! An incredible time was had by all of the Tour Vin guests during a weeklong wine tour in the Napa Valley.

After landing in Oakland, we began our trip with a luncheon at Chez Panisse in Berkley. The food was, of course, outstanding! Our next stop was wine tasting and dinner at the famous Mustards Grill. A special request by one of our guests, this venue offers truly amazing cuisine options and, again, the food was out of this world.

The next few days of the trip included wine tastings at Palmaz Vineyards, Failla Wines, Shafer Vineyards (with an introduction to owner Doug Shafer), Anderson Conn Valley Vineyards, Luna Vineyards, Vineyard 29, Raymond Vineyards, Carter Cellars, Odette, Realm Cellars and Robert Biale Vineyards. One of the most unique wineries we visited was Palmaz. This included a wine and food pairing in addition to a two-hour tour featuring the winery’s state-of-the art, gravitational flow, technological advanced wine making facility.

Our guests were also in for a special treat at Failla Wines. Not only did we meet the winemaker/owner, we were also invited to partake in the food and wine tasting in their caves. Have I yet mentioned the special Ghost Horse wine tasting we also partook in with our host Todd Anderson of Anderson Conn Valley? Another special treat, for sure!

Our group stayed at the North Block Hotel in Yountville – a truly first class hotel. One of our guests took advantage of a midday massage, while others enjoyed a shopping spree in Yountville’s boutiques and shops. We also like to recommend that any stay in Napa Valley include an adventure outing and some of our guests enjoyed a hot air balloon ride with Napa Valley Aloft, capped off with a champagne brunch.

Dining in Napa Valley is always a wonderful experience. We dined at Solbar, Farmstead, Bottega and TORC. Each day, remarkable cuisine rounded out the experience. Tour Vin also visited our favorite bars: 1313 Main and Bounty Hunter Wine Bar – great folks, and the wine and food never fail to please.

We also visited a relatively new venue during the trip. City Winery Napa is a music venue, restaurant, wine bar and winery. While enjoying one of the many concerts offered during the year, you can also enjoy dinner and wine tasting in a very relaxed atmosphere. This new hot spot is a definite must-try!

Napa Valley has so much to offer and Tour Vin visits all the hot spots before we recommend them to you so that we can tailor your trip to your travel, wine tasting and cuisine preferences. Contact us to help plan your next Napa Valley vacation!

Cheers!

Ed Pollard
Tour Vin
Napa Valley Concierge

Tour Vin Explores New Wine Country Venues

Published on: May 22nd, 2014

Tour Vin just returned from a wonderful trip to Sonoma County (specifically the Russian River Valley) and Napa Valley where we explored new venues to recommend to our clients. Here is a brief recap of our experience!

Sonoma County – Sonoma is known for Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Sauvignon Blanc varietals. We tasted them all! Wineries that we recommend you during your visit include Copain Wine Cellars, Patz & Hall, Rochioli Vineyards, Seghesio Family Vineyards, Twomey Cellars, Gary Farrell Vineyards, Siduri Wines, J Vineyards and Winery, Papapietro Perry, Arista Winery and Rodney Strong.

Our accommodations in Sonoma were awesome, particularly the Bella Villa Messina and the Raford Inn. Both were exquisite in style, comfortable and friendly! Our trip through the area was over a five-day period and careful logistics were very important to minimize driving time. Tour Vin can help plan your trip to maximize your time so you can fully enjoy the wine tasting experience.

We dined at Corks Restaurant (and met with the owner), Bistro Ralph, Applewood Restaurant and Zazu. All provided us with amazing meals served by very friendly staff in casual dining atmospheres.

While in Napa Valley we revisited some wineries that had either been remodeled since our last visit or were offering a different wine tasting experience. Our amazing wine tastings included varietals from Sullivan Vineyards, Anderson’s Conn Valley (you must sign up for the exclusive Ghost Horse Wine tasting!), Silverado Vineyards and David Fulton Winery (a must taste is their Bromance wine). We stopped by Napa Juicebox and Chris Doran, proprietor of J Doran Vineyards, was kind enough to take me on a tour of this custom crush facility. Thanks Chris!

We dined at the new hot spot in Napa called TORC and enjoyed a wonderful dining experience. Our one-night stay was at Inn on First where we reconnected with our friends Jim and Jamie (proprietors). They provided incredible hospitality and a great breakfast.

There are so many options when exploring the wine country and Tour Vin visits them all before recommending them to our clients. Call us to help plan your trip!

Ed Pollard
Tour Vin
Napa Valley Concierge