Napa Valley Events

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.

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.

The “grow local” organic food movement has become a big deal in the culinary world. Fresh, seasonal, local is the mantra behind the entire New American cuisine.

Now you can learn to cook this way while discovering some of the best local produce grown in the Napa Valley.

The Cooking With Julie cooking school will hold a special “Garden To Plate” class beginning September 24. During the 4 1/2 day class, students will tour local farms including Hudson Ranch and Dickson Napa Ranch, plus visit the Napa Farmers Market. Students will receive hands-on instruction in Julie’s home kitchen, including cooking in an Italian wood-burning oven.

Cooking With Julie is located in near-by Napa, CA, just 17 minutes from our hotel (get directions here)

For more information, visit the Cooking with Julie web site.