The Napa Valley is a county located north of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. Napa Valley is considered one of the best American Viticulture Areas in California, and all of the United States. By the end of the nineteenth century there were more than one hundred and forty wineries in the area. Of those original wineries several still exist in the valley today including Charles Krug Winery, Shramsburg, Chateau Montelena and Beringer.
We previous booked a tour at one of the more well known wineries in Napa, Robert Mondavi. The cost of the tour was $25 and runs for approx 75 minutes. It started with our guide explaining the history of Robert Mondavi and the winery he created. We then visited the vineyard where there were acres and acres of grapes, the tour moved into the storage area where the wine sits in French Oak barrels for 40 days before they are pressed. Down in their cellar, we can see many hundreds of barrels. Up to the tasting room where there was a magnificent long table where we stat and tasted our wines. The first was a 2009 Fume Blanc (Sauvignon blanc). It was a pleasant wine, and crisp with a lot of citrus flavors @ $40 it was overpriced.
The second wine was a 2008 Carneros Pinot Noir. It had intense aromas of black fruit and wasn’t a bad wine at all for $27 per bottle. The last bottle was a 2007 Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon at @ $45. This bottle had a rich bouquet of black cherries and blackberries and a little spice. It has a good after finish but still doesn’t stand up to some of the Australian wines that are less expensive.
The grounds of Mondavi are magnificent and well worth a visit.