{"id":2448,"date":"2023-08-29T17:52:38","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T17:52:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2448"},"modified":"2023-08-29T17:55:38","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T17:55:38","slug":"tasting-value-wines-in-napa-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2448","title":{"rendered":"Tasting Value Wines in Napa Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One definition of <em>value<\/em> is \u201cwhatever someone is willing to pay\u201d.\u00a0 By that token, the most valuable wines in Napa Valley are those that are unavailable for tasting by the average visitor to Napa Valley.\u00a0 These would include Screaming Eagle, Dalla Valle, Harlan Estate or Schrader.\u00a0 By reputation, we\u2019re sure that these are great wines, but we haven\u2019t had the opportunity to taste them.<\/p>\n<p>But another way to look at value is the ratio of quality to price.\u00a0 While some would have you believe that the more something costs, the better it is, this is not necessarily true and certainly not when it comes to wine tasting.\u00a0 In these days when a wine tasting trip to Napa Valley is bound to be costly, it is well to consider this definition of <em>value<\/em> as you choose which wineries to visit and what to try while you\u2019re there.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/wine_patio.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-2449 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/wine_patio-213x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"381\" height=\"537\" srcset=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/wine_patio-213x300.jpg 213w, http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/wine_patio-768x1080.jpg 768w, http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/wine_patio-728x1024.jpg 728w, http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/wine_patio.jpg 843w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 381px) 100vw, 381px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Photo courtesy of What the Fab.<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Lesser known wineries can make very good wine.<\/strong> Sure, the big labels you read about in the wine columns of your newspaper make good wine (usually, but not always).\u00a0 But we have discovered that smaller, less renowned wineries often have a few wines that offer excellent quality.\u00a0 Our recent experience at <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2376\">Black Stallion<\/a> falls into this category.\u00a0 In many instances, these better wines are only available at the winery or to their club members.\u00a0 If they are opening them at their tasting rooms, it is often to entice you to join their clubs.\u00a0 But you can enjoy them without joining.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Some wineries that make mass production wines can also have a few that excel. <\/strong>Even though you may have bought some of their easily available wines and not cared much for them, it\u2019s worth giving these wineries a chance when you\u2019re in Wine Country, especially in Napa Valley.\u00a0 We have tried \u2013 and bought \u2013 some gems from Clos du Val and William Hill, for example, that really exceeded our expectations.<\/li>\n<li><strong>With the prices for seated tastings running so high, it might make sense to include a few lower cost wineries when you\u2019re in Napa Valley. <\/strong>Remember that the overall experience provides as much pleasure as the wines themselves.\u00a0 If you know of a tasting room or patio that has something extra to offer, such as art or an attractive setting, you may choose to just relax with a few tastes of wines that don\u2019t leave you in awe, but are enjoyable in themselves.\u00a0 And you may find that there is one wine that is better than you anticipated.\u00a0 Our experience at <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2421\">Cosentino<\/a>, with a tasting fee of \u201conly\u201d $30, falls into this category.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Visit wineries that you already know make less expensive wines you know you like.<\/strong> Many people have a few go-to wines you buy just for an informal meal or an easy afternoon outside.\u00a0 Visit those wineries.\u00a0 You know in advance that they make at least one wine that suits your tastes.\u00a0 It may well be that they have others you haven\u2019t had the occasion to try.\u00a0 It\u2019s certainly worth taking a chance with them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One definition of value is \u201cwhatever someone is willing to pay\u201d.\u00a0 By that token, the most valuable wines in Napa Valley are those that are unavailable for tasting by the average visitor to Napa Valley.\u00a0 These would include Screaming Eagle, Dalla Valle, Harlan Estate or Schrader.\u00a0 By reputation, we\u2019re sure that these are great wines, &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2448\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Tasting Value Wines in Napa Valley<\/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":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448"}],"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=2448"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2453,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448\/revisions\/2453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}