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.

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 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.

People who don’t live in the Napa Valley think it’s the middle of winter. We know differently, because while the grapevines are resting, the vineyards come alive with wild mustard in bloom.

The scenery is spectacular and the season begins - it’s Mustard Festival time!

It’s talked about all over the world, and a magnet for winter refugees from around the globe seeking to banish the winter blahs. The Napa Valley Mustard Festival signifies three months of bustle, cheerfulness and festivity.

And who better than the world-class chefs of the Culinary Institute of America to stage the Grand Opening Gala of the season? It’s Mustard Magic, when theater, food, wine and art all mingle with music and the everyday magic of the Valley.

It’s a sumptuous event filling all three stories of CIA’s magic castle at Greystone, one of Napa Valley’s most historic and majestic properties.

Mustard Magic happens on January 30th at 7 PM. Tickets are $125 for advance booking here, $150 at the door. More information is available at the official Mustard Festival web site.

CIA at Greystone is at 2555 Main Street in St. Helena, less than 30 miles from our hotel. Click here for directions from our hotel.

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.

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.

Family-owned V. Sattui Winery is one of Napa Valley’s oldest and most scenic wineries. On Saturday, September 19 the winery hosts their 25th Annual Harvest Ball.

A highlight of the Napa Valley social season, the event will begin with champagne and antipasta on the winery’s outdoor terraces, followed by a six-course banquet prepared by Michelin-star chef Stafano Masanti, served in the vineyard under the big top. The event continues inside with a dance featuring San Francisco’s Big City Revue.

The event starts at 6:00 PM and costs $225 ($200 for winery club members). For more info, visit the V. Sattui web site.

The Napa Valley Wine Train will be celebrating its 20th Anniversary on Saturday, September 19. The birthday event features a five-course meal by nationally-known Chef Kelly Macdonald and featuring special wines from four of the Valley’s most interesting winemakers:

• Jericho Canyon 2008 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc
• ZD Founder’s Reserve 2007 Carneros Pinot Noir
• Judd’s Hill “Wine Train Cuvee” 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon
• Salvestrin “Napa Valley Wine Train 20th Birthday Cuvee” 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

The train, which takes guests daily from Napa to St. Helena in historic Pullman dining and lounge cars, has carried over 2 million passengers over the past two decades.

The event runs from 5:30 - 9:30 PM. Tickets for this event are $165-$195.

The Napa Wine Train web site has more info on this event.

Walter Scheib was the White House Executive Chef during the Clinton and Bush administrations. On Saturday, August 22 you have a chance to eat a meal fit for a president when Chef Scheib comes to Duckhorn Vineyards in St. Helena.

It’s your chance to have a 5-star meal while hearing some fascinating behind-the-scenes stories about the White House (We’ve read Scheib’s book White House Chef and it’s quite a good tale).

The event costs $175 per person and seating is limited. Visit the Duckhorn web site for tickets and more info.