{"id":1525,"date":"2020-03-29T18:46:50","date_gmt":"2020-03-29T18:46:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1525"},"modified":"2020-03-29T18:46:50","modified_gmt":"2020-03-29T18:46:50","slug":"far-niente-winery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1525","title":{"rendered":"Far Niente Winery"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you plan to visit Far Niente (https:\/\/farniente.com<\/a>) for a tasting \u2013 and it is a very pleasant visit \u2013 there are a few things you should know.\u00a0 For one, you really do need an appointment.\u00a0 Tastings are restricted to no more than eight people at a time, which enhances the experience for those who do make reservations.\u00a0 The second is to consult a map.\u00a0 Maybe Google has improved its map service recently, but our experience is that following the GPS on your phone gets you way, way lost.<\/p>\n

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The Far Niente winery.\u00a0 Photo courtesy of Far Niente.<\/em><\/p>\n

Once you have found your way there, you\u2019ll encounter a beautiful stone manor.\u00a0 It is palatial, but it\u2019s not a Napa Palace.\u00a0 It\u2019s a home that was built in 1885 and restored in the late 1970\u2019s by Gil Nickel, the ancestor of some of the current owners.\u00a0 It is surrounded by acres of gardens and the estate is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.<\/p>\n

On arrival, you are given the sense that you are guests in a gracious home.\u00a0 There is no bar to belly up to; rather you are in a salon with a large table at one end set not for dinner but for a few glasses of wine.\u00a0 Once all the visitors are assembled, you are given an introductory lecture on the history of the estate, the winery and Far Niente\u2019s approach to sustainable agriculture.\u00a0 You are then led on a winery tour.\u00a0 It\u2019s a fine enough tour, but with regard to winemaking it is generally similar to those given at other top-end wineries.\u00a0 There is only so much variation on the theme of growing grapes and transforming them into wine.<\/p>\n

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A corner of Far Niente\u2019s antique car collection.<\/em><\/p>\n

But a tour at Far Niente has a unique attraction.\u00a0 At a certain point in your tour you are ushered into a large garage \u2013 really more of an indoor parking lot \u2013 full of Gil Nickel\u2019s collection of antique cars.\u00a0 There are race cars, delivery trucks, touring cars and a few motorcycles and a Rolls Royce.\u00a0 You are invited to ogle these perfectly maintained specimens, on the basis of \u201clook but don\u2019t touch\u201d.\u00a0 Rarely would we complain about moving on to a tasting, but you don\u2019t get to see cars like these every day!<\/p>\n

The tasting itself is a seated affair at the aforementioned table in the salon.\u00a0 There will be a recent vintage Chardonnay, often a Pinot Noir and always one or more of Far Niente\u2019s justly famous Cabernet Sauvignons.\u00a0 Each wine is carefully explained by your host\/guide\/server.\u00a0 Little extras, like a dessert wine from their sister vineyard, usually appear.<\/p>\n

If there is any negative to your visit, it\u2019s the somewhat heavy sales pitch of Far Niente\u2019s wine club<\/a>.\u00a0 Joining is, of course optional, but just a brief mention might suffice.<\/p>\n

This winery, nestled in the foothills of the Mayacamas, is a destination for those who enjoy the total winery experience, with fine wines as the main draw.\u00a0 From cars to Cabs, it\u2019s well worth finding your way there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you plan to visit Far Niente (https:\/\/farniente.com) for a tasting \u2013 and it is a very pleasant visit \u2013 there are a few things you should know.\u00a0 For one, you really do need an appointment.\u00a0 Tastings are restricted to no more than eight people at a time, which enhances the experience for those who … Continue reading Far Niente Winery<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1525"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1525"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1528,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1525\/revisions\/1528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}