Napa Valley Events

If you’ve been reading us you already know that wine and chocolate are both good choices for the health-conscious. But did you know that Yoga goes well with wine too?

Beringer Vineyards is out to prove this very thing with yoga instructor and wine enthusiast Suzi Potts, creator of the Sip & Stretch program, a unique blend of yoga and wine education.

Experience wine and yoga in a setting that fosters fun and relaxation. Breathing, basic Hatha yoga poses, wine education and tasting will be woven together to create the perfect practice. All levels of practitioners are welcome.

The event is on Sunday, February 21st, from 11 AM - 12:30 PM. Please arrive 15 minutes early and bring your own yoga mat. Beringer will supply the wine!

Cost is $30 with advance registration, and space is limited so click here to sign up. It all happens in the Beringer Vineyards Old Winery Fermentation Room in St. Helena. Click here for directions from our hotel.

If you love wine, an experience not to be missed is tasting a wine straight from its barrel, before it reaches the bottling stage. In this unfinished state it’s often easier to identify the distinctive characteristics of a wine and to become familiar with it evolving from barrel to bottle to table.

The practical purpose of barrel tasting is the sneak preview that allows the buyer to discover the potential legend in the making, and to order future delivery of a wine that may become limited or impossible to find.

Merryvale Vineyards is holding a barrel tasting this Saturday featuring six wines sampled directly from their French oak barrels. They’ll also offer pre-release, current release and a selection of library wines, along with light fare. Cost is $25 per person for Profile Club members and $45 for non-members.

The event is in the Cask Room at Merryvale, this Saturday, February 20th, from 1-4 PM. For more information and to RSVP click here. For directions from our hotel click here.

Sorry, France. We know Cabernet Sauvignon came from Bordeaux, but the grape really does give its best as it ripens fully, here in the longer sunshine days of Napa Valley.

Winemakers tell us Cabernet Sauvignon has a complex flavor that dramatically reflects the space it was grown in. It can change even in different sections of the same vineyard.

You can taste this for yourself at Girard Winery’s sneak preview of three 2007 Cabernet Sauvignons from different growing areas.

Watch a short video clip of winemaker Zach Long discussing the characteristics of each here:
• 2007 Atlas Peak Cabernet Sauvignon
• 2007 Diamond Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
• 2007 Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon

The 2007 Mountain Series Cabernet Sauvignon Sneak Release Party happens on Saturday, February 6th, at Noon-5 PM. Tickets including gourmet snacks are $25 (complimentary to Wine Club members).

The Girard Winery Tasting Room, 6795 Washington Street in Yountville, is about 18 miles from our hotel. Click here for directions.

When you’re 130 years old you get to celebrate in any way you want. If you’re the Napa Valley Opera House you offer a performance by internationally acclaimed soprano Ruth Ann Swenson. And of course you follow it with a party.

Accompanied by Whitney Crist on piano, Ms. Swenson will honor the tradition of Luisa Tatrazzini, the world-famous Italian soprano who graced the Opera House stage in the early 1900’s.

The party in the Café Theatre will offer festivities, dessert, sparkling wine and a display of rarely seen historic photos and memorabilia.

The celebration is January 30 at 7 PM. It’s $75 for the performance only, $130 to include the party. Remember the Opera House has been selling-out crowds since January, 1880, and click here to book your tickets and for more information.

The Napa Valley Opera House is at 1030 Main Street in Napa. It’s just 9 miles from our hotel, click here for directions.

The Wine Country harbors many caves, perfect as cellars but also with incredible acoustics for voice and music. Every Christmas season multi-instrumentalist Dave Auerbach brings a variety of rare instruments into selected caves for his annual Carols in the Caves event.

This year “The Improvisator” brings his show to the gorgeous Hans Fahden vineyard, regaling us in a candle-lit mountaintop cave with dulcimers, drums, harps, flutes, accordion and more. The audience is invited to join in, and the cave lends every voice resonance. At the end every guest leaves reverberating with the Christmas spirit.

With a wine-sipping break during the performance, the event is both festive and moving. Check some video clips here, here and here.

The 24th offering of this annual tradition occurs at 2 PM on Saturday, December 19th. This event is not for children under the age of 10 please. Tickets are $50, available here or by calling 707-224-4222.

The vineyard is located at 4855 Petrified Forest Road, Calistoga. It’s an hour’s drive from our hotel, directions are here.

Is Francis Ford Coppola becoming the Godfather of wine? Long a Napa winemaker, he creates one of the Valley’s greatest wines, and his overseer Scott McLeod was just named 2009 Winemaker of the Year.

But his real marvel is Rubicon Estate itself, a century-old vineyard given a loving Hollywood polish by Coppola. The lush and elegant estate features movie-scene landscaping, rooms of dark wood and stained glass, filmmaking antiques and countless wonders.

See for yourself this Saturday, December 6, at 5 PM - 7 PM, when Rubicon Estate hosts a Holiday Open House. It’s a great chance to taste, munch and shop. And there’s music from the St. Helena Community Band, a classy ensemble founded by Coppola (he sometimes plays in the band).

Rubicon accepts visitors in small groups only, so be sure to RSVP first by calling 707-968-1174.

Rubicon Estate is at 1991 St. Helena Hwy, in Rutherford, south of St. Helena on Hwy 29. It’s 23 miles from our hotel, click here for directions.

Can anything be more relaxing than holding a glass aloft with loved ones in the comfort of a winery setting, with its stunning postcard views of nature in every direction? Well, how about drifting from one winery to the next in an entire wine-growing region?

This weekend offers an elegant daytime getaway, as over 20 wineries in the Carneros wine region reveal their treasures in a multiple open house known as Holiday in Carneros. The occasion features food and wine pairings, rare and special tastings, tours, live music, art and craft shows, family activities and discount offers.

Mellowed by fog and sea breeze, the Carneros wine appellation is renowned for its cooler-climate varietals like Pinot noir, Chardonnay and sparkling wines. The region spans the southern ends of both Napa and Sonoma valleys, just 40 minutes away from San Francisco and the East Bay.

10 AM - 4 PM this Saturday and Sunday, November 21-22. One $40 ticket covers both days. To purchase and for more information call 800-909-4352 and go to www.CarnerosWineries.org.

One of the jokes in the film Sideways was how much Paul Giamatti’s character hated merlot. Now, we loved that film, but feel it did an injustice to a whole grape varietal. To this day there are probably people who feel a twinge of shame when asking for a merlot in a fine restaurant, as if the waiter will sneer and say, “Monsieur! Did you not see Sideways?”

That’s part of the reason filmmaker Rudolf McClain made Merlove, his indy documentary praising merlot. Merlove has been making its way through the film festival circuit and is now available on DVD.

On Saturday, November 14 McClain himself will be on hand for a DVD signing at V Sattui Winery. As part of the event the winery will be offering a free tasting of two merlots, the 2006 Henry Ranch (Carneros appellation) and 2006 Napa Valley.

The event is open to the public, no reservations necessary. More info at the V Sattui Winery web site.

The Carneros Wine Appellation is known for producing fine Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and sparkling wines. The region spans the southern end of both Napa and Sonoma Valleys, running from just southwest of the town of Napa to just southwest of Sonoma.

The area gets fog and breezes from nearby San Pablo Bay, giving it a cooler climate than other parts of wine country, an ideal climate for Pinot Noir. Wine Spectator recently awarded the region 94 points for its ’07 Pinot Noir vintage.

On Saturday, October 17 you can experience harvest season with a unique Carneros Wineries wine trail. The event features 18 wineries, including Cuvaison winery and several wineries never before open to the public.

The event runs from 10 AM - 4 PM. Advanced tickets can be purchased from the Carneros Wine Alliance web site. The site also includes a map of participating Carneros Wineries.

Franciscan Estate is one of Napa Valley’s most venerable wineries, with a history reaching back more than three decades. The Estate is especially well-known for their Cabernet and Cab-blends. Franciscan Estate Stylus is a blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot; 5% Merlot, and 2% Malbec created from grapes grown in the vintner’s favorite vineyard blocks.

On Saturday, October 17, 2009, you can be among the first to taste the 2006 vintage of this fine wine at Franciscan Estate’s Stylus Release Party.

The event runs from 1-4pm and costs $50 per person. The event includes food and wine together with flamenco guitar and dancers.

Franciscan Estate Winery is located in St. Helena. Click here for directions from our hotel.