Napa Valley Events

Do you have a script or a great idea for a movie? All you need next is an opportunity to pitch your project or your talent to the studios. And now you can do it in Napa, when Hollywood’s agents, producers and studio execs step outside of Los Angeles for the first time ever to hold a pitch fest.

Screenwriters, filmmakers and actors will have a chance to network with industry professionals in the expo, which includes two days of classes and presentations by top names and talents.

Oscar-winning screenwriter Bobby Moresco (Crash, Million Dollar Baby) tells his encouraging tale of making it in the movies. He’s joined by acting coaches, talent spotters and a host of industry insiders.

For full details on this unprecedented event click here. Click here for the companies auditioning in the pitch fest.

The expo is March 26-28. Cost is $395 (3-day pass), $149 (1-day) and $199 (pitch day Sunday). It’s hosted at the Silverado Resort just outside Napa a few miles from our hotel - click here for directions.

We all love gourmet food, and if we can get it without snooty waiters and the whole stuffed shirt scenario - why, we must be in Yountville, the gourmet capital of Napa Valley and a world-class culinary legend.

One of the great treats of Mustard Festival is the Taste of Yountville, a downtown walk-around immersed in live music, when the town’s award-winning chefs bring out their finest foods and flavors for us to sample.

The 17th Annual Taste offers the delicious reason why Yountville is so Michelin-starred. The culinary magic showcases incomparable dishes along with olive oils, vinegars and mustards as well as wines and micro-brews - and a tour of the famous French Laundry restaurant’s 2-acre garden masterpiece.

It’s a festive stroll amidst food and shopping to die for and it takes place on Saturday, March 20, 11 AM to 5 PM. It’s free, with $1 tasting tickets or a universal tasting passport available. For more information call 707-944-0904 or click here.

Yountville is 18 miles north of our hotel, click here for directions.

Running a marathon the length of Napa Valley is such a perfect experience that you almost want the haunting strains of Vangelis music to come down from the skies. For something this good there should be a soundtrack.

The 32nd Annual Napa Valley Marathon course is fast, certified and a Boston qualifier. Racing southward along the fabled Silverado Trail, the terrain rolls gently and mostly feels downhill or flat. The scenery is just gorgeous, past the many wineries amidst wild mustard blooms, with cows and roosters and mist on the hills.

The route is largely closed to traffic and the atmosphere is friendly and relaxed. Always brilliantly organized, the race has a mass of volunteers to aid runners. Proceeds support local charities and schools, and sponsors are generous, which makes the goody bag very cool!

To run or volunteer, or watch and cheer, visit the event website for full information. Be sure to check maps carefully.

The 26.2-mile race starts in Calistoga on Saturday, March 7 at 7 AM sharp, and the finish line in Napa means it’s time for a fabulous lunch from one of the valley’s gazillion fine eateries.

Are you a jazz fiend or foe? Either way, get ready for the annual jazz festival in Calistoga. This year’s Mustard, Mud and Music Festival takes over Calistoga’s scenic downtown all weekend. There’s wine tasting offered by some two dozen wineries, and the air will be filled with some very groovy music.

Some of the best jazz artists in the Bay Area will be touring through with music ranging from solo flamenco guitar to Chapman Stick to full bands. Check the event website for full information on the acclaimed musicians performing at multiple venues.

The jazz is free, wine tasting is $25 per person for one-day (10 tastings), $40 (and 20 tastings) for both days. For online tickets and a 10% discount, click here.

The festival fills the weekend of March 6-7, 1-6 PM. Call 707-942-6333 for more information, or else just get yourself to Lincoln Avenue in downtown Calistoga and the fun will find you - click here for directions.

There’s just no thrill like the circus, no sights, sounds and smells more guaranteed to remain in a child’s memory forever. And there’s no circus like the Moscow Circus, called the world standard of circuses, with fabulous entertainers and performers who push the limits of the possible.

Bring your wide-eyed children to the Lincoln Theater and get ready for some eye-popping times yourself. You’ll be on the edge of your seat as the circus presents its unparalleled death-defying acts. Russia’s cultural heritage dazzles in a mix of ornate costumes and backdrops, music and dance, beautiful artistry and funny clowns that has wowed audiences of children and adults worldwide.

Moscow Circus comes to the world-class Lincoln Theater for just one day, in a beautiful 1,200 seat venue in the heart of Napa valley.

The date is Sunday, February 28th, at 3 PM. Tickets are $29-$39 with $12 tickets for kids 12 and under. Click here to buy online.

Lincoln Theater is at 100 California Drive in Yountville, click here for directions from our hotel.

Oh yeah? Sez who? It’s fight time again at Rutherford Grange Hall as Napa Valley takes on Sonoma Valley, this time in a battle for the best Cabernet Sauvignon. Twenty select wines from each region will be presented in a blind tasting, and you can join in.

Watch the judges go through their paces too as they guess the county, year, barrel program, blend, price point and AVA of each wine.

Last month in the test of Zinfandels, Napa won by one point, although the public score favored Sonoma. Maybe this time the judges will agree with you.

The event is on Sunday, February 21st from 4-8 PM, in Rutherford’s historic social hall. Cost is $10 per person. Cheese plates are available for $5. Also dinner for $8 (must be pre-ordered by email here).

Call 707-254-9773 or see the Sibling Rivalry website for more information and click here for directions from our hotel.

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.

Napa Valley glitters with art galleries and talented artists, and the Mustard Festival is a great occasion for them to show off.

Over a dozen galleries team up with St. Supéry Winery and Hall Winery to present A Weekend of Fine Art. All through the weekend of February 6th-7th, the galleries will feature special exhibits and presentations.

On Saturday evening at St. Supéry the event’s featured artists will appear at a wine and hors d’oeuvres reception, at 5-7 PM. Hall Winery will host an artist’s reception on Sunday at 1-3 PM.

This year’s official Mustard Festival work of art, Reverie by Thomas Monaghan, has already opened bidding at silent auction, and will be on display at Hall Winery through the season.

All events are free and open to the public. For more information click here, or call (707) 938-1133 ext 106.

St. Supéry is at 8440 St. Helena Hwy, Rutherford, 23 miles from our hotel. Click here for directions.

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.