Napa Valley Events

Some things in life are so good that you start speaking French spontaneously. Such a time is the flowering of the vines, a magical time of pollination and fertilization that determines what kind of crop is being created. Vintners hold their breath and mutter in all languages, praying for perfect climate through the days.

French wins out eventually of course, as it will whenever a party arises. To prove it, the Trefethen family are celebrating this year’s flowering of the vines with Fête de la Fleur, and we’re all invited.

As if the Trefethen Family’s beautiful estate and tour of their sustainable operation weren’t reason enough to visit, our hosts have laid on music from the legendary California Malibu’s, savory bites and wood-fired pizza, and their award-winning 2005 Reserve Cabernet sauvignon.

It’s this Saturday, May 22, 11:00 am - 3:00 pm. Tickets are $45 for non-members. RSVP is requested at 800-556-4847. Trefethen Family Vineyards is just outside of Napa: click here for directions from our hotel.

If there’s anything in Napa Valley better than tasting the abundance of wines it has to be the feasting that goes with it so very often. Witness this coming Sunday, when HALL Wines hosts its first annual Cabernet Cookoff.

Eight professional chef teams will compete against eight amateur teams to blow the public’s mind with some favorite dishes. The (mostly meat) dishes will be made primarily with organic and sustainable ingredients. Sample the foods and decide which cuisine pairs best with Hall’s Cabernet Sauvignon (see, there was a wine point to this exercise).

The menu looks pretty awesome for a Sunday afternoon - you may want to hedge your dinner plans for that evening. This event looks like a keeper for years to come, should be a lot of fun - and Hall St. Helena is a great place to visit.

Tickets are $60 to non-members. The event is open to all on Sunday, May 16, at 12-4 PM, and it happens at Hall St. Helena, click here for directions.

If you love your mother, that’s just fine by a host of wineries around Napa Valley who suggest you do something special for her this weekend. Many of them suggest chocolate as part of the treat. Here’s a tiny sampling of the fun.

Saturday celebrations include Goosecross Cellars in Yountville - they maintain chocolate goes too well with wine to pass up the pairing on Saturday afternoon - and Mom gets a rose too.

Sunday afternoon Hall in St. Helena offers music and massage for Mom, as well as treats and sweets and artisan wines. Also in St. Helena, 125-year-old V. Sattui Winery offers Music on the Grounds, flamenco guitar open free to all.

Moving south on the Silverado Trail, organic grower ZD Wines offers complimentary tastings for Mom all day, while in Napa itself Wineries of Napa Valley offers Sweet Treats for that feted lady late afternoon.

And if you’re Wild About Your Momma, try Safari West wildlife preserve for an elegant adventure with mimosa brunch.

If it’s a gaggle of geese and a pride of lions, what are wineries when they flock together? Surely it must be a Weekend of Wineries.

To prove our theory, we predict that this weekend an entire, ah, group of wineries in the Rutherford Appellation will gather together to present their finest offerings.

Sixteen wineries will offer tastings, food pairings, futures, special pourings and barrel tastings. Participants this year include Rubicon Estate and St. Supéry - click here for a full list of the appellation’s member vineyards.

Peju Winery is hosting the event between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. next weekend, May 1-2. Cost is $65 for the full weekend and $50 Sunday only. You can buy tickets online.

Peju is south of St. Helena, about 30 minutes along Hwy 29 from our hotel: map and directions.8

The Napa Valley Wine Train may just be the coolest way ever invented to treat your special someone to a romantic dinner. Moonlight upstairs in the elegant Vista Dome rail car. Five-course gourmet dinner. Rolling along under the stars. Can we stop talking now?

This Friday is a full moon, in fact the Full Pink Moon, named from the moss pink wildflowers that bloom earliest in spring. Celebrate on the Wine Train, as the Vista Dome’s panoramic views take on the magic of silver moonlight.

The Full Pink Moon run is this Friday, April 30 at 5:30 - 9:30 PM. Cost is $154 per person. You’ll want to book early, there’s room for 24 couples.

The train starts in downtown Napa and travels the length of the valley to St. Helena and back again. Click for more information and to reserve seats, and for directions to the station.

You might think you’d have to jump into the fast lane to catch up with Mario Andretti, but not so fast there young’un, slow down, relax a little - here, have a glass of wine. Say hi to Mario.

Mario Andretti has done everything, won everything. He is one of the most revered race-car drivers in America, perhaps because of the extraordinary human qualities that enabled him to earn his living for decades at speeds most of us dream about in our daily commutes.

With the world at your feet, where else do you go but Napa Valley? Nowadays you can find the man at Andretti Winery in Napa. This Sunday you can meet him to talk to, over a glass of his own wine, in a very Italian setting.

It happens April 18 at 11 AM - 3 PM, $15 at the door or online. For more information contact Ruth at 877-386-5070 ext. 225, or by email.

Andretti Winery is just up the road from our hotel - take a SLOW drive over there - directions are here.

It’s not just April where you are, it’s April in Carneros. It’s time to explore the unique wines of the Carneros wine appellation. The Carneros region spans the southern ends of both Sonoma and Napa valleys, with a distinct fog-and-breezes climate all its own, creating a cooler and longer growing season.

Expect complexity and depth from these slowly maturing grapes. Sample the gifts of 21 wineries offering their best for you, in food and wine pairings, live music, arts and crafts, special prices, and tasting upon tasting from barrel, reserve, library and new release.

Don’t miss this great annual celebration, coming this weekend, Saturday and Sunday,  April 17-18, at 10 AM - 4 PM.

Check the Carneros website for more information, a map of the wineries, and to buy tickets ($35 advance).

Carneros is less than an hour from San Francisco, and our hotel makes a perfect gateway into the event if you want to relax overnight or through the weekend. See this map for directions.

Casa Nuestra Winery produces some unique and unusual wines, in a hand-crafted, organic operation yielding limited amounts of award winners. You can enter Casa Nuestra’s intimate magic this Saturday for a winemaker dinner.

Join Casa Nuestra Winery & Vineyards’ founders and winemaking staff for an assortment of appetizers paired with specially selected library wines from proprietor’s private collection (some dating back 30 years!) then sit down for four more courses, all paired to Casa Nuestra’s current releases.

You can buy Casa Nuestra tickets here at $99 all-inclusive. The event starts at 6:30 PM this Saturday, April 10th. You might want to move quickly - yesterday there were only 12 seats left according to Casa Nuestra.

Casa Nuestra Winery is at 3451 Silverado Trail North in St. Helena, click here for directions from our hotel.

This Easter Sunday give your family a thrill they’ll never forget with an Easter hunt among the animals at Safari West, the fabulous, 400-acre African wildlife preserve near Santa Rosa.

The theme is looking for Mr. Hare, a 6-foot  tall character strangely gone missing from the festivities being cooked up for Sunday’s gourmet brunch. Kids and grown-ups board the Safari’s tour wagons to search out the missing bunny and lure him home to Mrs. Hare in time for the party.

Along the way, all will be amazed at the sights and animals they will encounter - cheetahs and giraffes are just the beginning.

It’s the most fun way to tour the preserve we’ve heard of, and your kids will glow for days afterwards.

Oh, and the Safari’s make-up artist will use face paint to make kids look like their favorite animal for the day. And everyone wins Easter eggs.

Tour and brunch is $65 for adults, $30 for children. Get more details at Safari West. The location is about an hour from our hotel - click here for the map.

While the rest of the nation is waking up to springtime, here in Napa Valley we know that March means only nine more months until Mustard Festival starts again. Yes, it’s that good.

And we have more to show for it than just memories, we have the photographs. It’s time for the season finale: The Photo Finish.

Put on some duds you’d be happy to wear in a photo-op, and mingle and admire the Photography Contest and Exhibit, with images capturing the season’s beauty forever, and also available for purchase.

Francis Ford Coppola’s Rubicon Estate is the hosting winery this year. Enjoy a heady array of wines, along with sweets and savories, amidst the Rubicon’s mind-boggling décor. And until the next time, dear friends, revel in the party to the last dance.

The Photo Finish is next Saturday, March 27 at 7 PM. Tickets are $95 in advance - buy here - and $125 at the door if you can get in. Rubicon is in Rutherford, click here for directions from our hotel.