3 of the Best Napa Valley Wine Tastings
Whether you desire Napa’s known for Cabernet Sauvignon or a great glass of sparkling wine, Napa Valley has an almost endless array of offerings for wine tastings and tours at a variety of price points. Regardless of budget or tasting preferences, we recommend hiring a guide or utilizing a tour service for both safety and the quality of your experience.
We used Tim with Napa Terroir Wine Tours on our last trip to Napa Valley and had a wonderful experience. Tim curated our tour based on our preferences for off the beaten path, quaint vineyards with unique stories.
Based on our time with Tim and a few favorite stops of our own, here are three wine tasting experiences we highly recommend:
Chandon’s property has fabulous outdoor seating where you can enjoy a glass or two of their sparkling wine on the patio, on the lawn, or in a tent.
Chandon is known for their sparkling wines and the property in Napa Valley provides a beautiful setting to taste their products.
We enjoyed sampling the sparkling wines at Chandon under one of the tents.
Organized tastings occur Thursday- Sunday by reservation, but they also welcome walk-ins. We went on a Monday afternoon where Monday- Wednesday you can enjoy by-the-glass or by-the-bottle options from 10 am to 4 pm.
Our favorites to try: The Reserve Pinot Noir Rose and The Vintage Carneros Brut
Follow them @chandonus
At Hunter Glenn a brother and sister team cultivate wines they “want to drink” mainly from the Shifflett Ranch and Vineyard which has been a part of their family back to their great grandparents. You can enjoy a laid back tasting with Caroline and her brother’s two dogs complete with the best herb cashews their mom makes.
We also loved all of their branding which Caroline told us her husband creates for them.
Our favorites to try: If you like bourbon, we recommend the 2020 HG Red Wine. It definitely has a hint of bourbon flavor along with vanilla. We aren’t usually Merlot fans, but their Merlot was excellent!
Follow them @hgestate
Cimarossa means “red hilltop” in Italian, and we had a divine experience atop Howell Mountain with Daniel Hauch, Director of Sales at this quaint vineyard. Owned by Italian physician Dino Dina, Cimarossa’s tasting experience included food and wine pairings to remember along with an ATV ride through the property to learn about the different blocks planted and their uniqueness based on grapes, age, soil, and location in relation to the sun.
Our favorites to try: The Rian and and their Olive Oil (this is a must get!) along with Dino’s Cookbook.
Follow them @cimarossav
Bonus Wineries to Try
Two others we enjoyed were Pride Mountain Vineyards and Reverie II. From Pride, try the Reserve Claret or the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, especially with a good steak. At Reverie II grab a bottle of the Grenache Blanc to enjoy sipping on a summer day.
