After weeks of trying to schedule a trip to Napa for a visit with my client and friend Chris from My Napa Valley Driver, this week I was finally able to make it happen. For those who’ve spent time in and around Napa, the experience can be overwhelming. Of course, the expectation of anyone who’s seen an ad for Wine Country is for lustrous vistas that seem to be plucked from the hills of southern France or Tuscany. People place themselves in those photos and seek out the same picturesque and sensuous experience. Napa delivers.
After some work talk, Chris and I packed up our gear and he took me around to visit some out of the way vineyards and wineries. This was my third trip to Napa but my first being guided by a local –and a professional on top of it! I wouldn’t ever say that the first trips were wasted. But I don’t think I knew anything about the area until this time around.
Chris was an apparently inexhaustible resource for all things Wine Country. I learned about Napa’s virtual demise during Prohibition years and it’s relatively recent resurgence, viticulture factoids, and about the endless variety of grapes and where they originate. He clued me in on why the 2004 Grenache at one winery was stellar and why the weather in 2005 made that vintage sickly sweet. To see the panorama of the valley laid out in front of you and taste something exceptional, be sure to visit Viader!
Napa truly offers a taste of the amazing. And if you go, the experience is just that much more complete with a trusty guide!
