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

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.

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.

So you’re in a nice restaurant with your special someone and the waiter brings over the bottle of wine you just ordered. He offers you a taste and… what are you supposed to do exactly?

Kathryn Borel Jr. has the answer in a nifty video post over at BoingBoing.

If you can’t watch the video, the short answer is that you are supposed to swirl and sip the wine to see if it has gone bad (or become “corked”). The waiter doesn’t especially care if you approve of the vintage, he just wants to know if he needs to go back to the cellar to get you a better bottle.