{"id":296,"date":"2016-06-29T16:42:26","date_gmt":"2016-06-29T16:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=296"},"modified":"2016-06-29T17:26:41","modified_gmt":"2016-06-29T17:26:41","slug":"rombauer-vineyards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=296","title":{"rendered":"Rombauer Vineyards"},"content":{"rendered":"

The wines at Rombauer are undeniably BIG, but the experience of visiting their winery for a tasting is definitely an intimate one.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s because the proprietor\u2019s family is descended from the Irma Rombauer who wrote The Joy of Cooking<\/em>, which was once America\u2019s basic cookbook.\u00a0 There\u2019s something homey about a visit to the Rombauer winery.\u00a0 It\u2019s still family-owned and operated and has been a part of Napa Valley\u2019s wine history since 1980.<\/p>\n

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The view from Rombauer\u2019s porch<\/em><\/p>\n

To get to the winery, you have to turn off St. Helena\u2019s Silverado Train and climb a long hill until you are greeted by an astonishing view of Napa Valley.\u00a0 (See our previous article on wine with a view.)\u00a0 Visitors are invited to bring your lunch and sit at one of their eight outdoor tables overlooking the valley.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to buy anything from them, but it would be impolite not to get something.\u00a0 As we said, it\u2019s a bit like going to Grandma\u2019s for a picnic.\u00a0 You feel very welcome.<\/p>\n

The tasting room is very \u201ccountry\u201d style, in keeping with the Rombauer family\u2019s overall attitude.\u00a0 It\u2019s in a long, narrow room that doesn\u2019t accommodate many people at the same time so they don\u2019t take parties larger than six people.\u00a0 There are no buses and no stretch limos; which is a distinct plus as far as we\u2019re concerned.\u00a0 It would be hard to fit more than a dozen people in the room but you can take a glass out onto the porch if it ever gets squeezed (which it never has in our experience).<\/p>\n

We must say that those who serve you are more pourers than educators, but they make up in enthusiasm for what they lack in detailed winemaking knowledge.\u00a0 There\u2019s usually someone around who does can answer your questions if the server gets stuck.<\/p>\n

Now, as to the wines themselves there is some controversy.\u00a0 You\u2019d better like a very distinct California style, from back in the good ol\u2019 days, or you\u2019re going to be overwhelmed at Rombauer.\u00a0 They are best known for their Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Chardonnay and these all have considerable depth and flavor.\u00a0 And they all have a lot of alcohol;\u00a0 almost all their wines are over 14% alcohol and a few of their Zins top out at 15.9%!\u00a0 \u2018Nuff said.<\/p>\n

It would be one thing if they just poured you a few meager sips.\u00a0 But the Rombauer folks are very generous, indeed, especially if you take their Proprietor Flight for $30.\u00a0 You\u2019ll get everything they offer you and then someone will say, \u201cWell, which one did you like best?\u201d\u00a0 Upon answering, the server will often say, \u201cIn that case, I think you\u2019d like this\u201d\u2026and this, and this, and this.<\/p>\n

Knowing that this is likely to happen, one of holds back a little in order to drive away safely.\u00a0 The idea of sitting down for a picnic at that point sounds very attractive.\u00a0 In all seriousness, each of us has walked away from Rombauer at one time or another feeling just a little woozy.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t think that Rombauer will ever build a Napa Palace unless the family
\n<\/a>decides to sell out to an international wine conglomerate.\u00a0 Given the history of the winery that seems very unlikely.\u00a0 But who knows?\u00a0 If you like your wine tasting experience to be rustic, friendly and welcoming by all means include Rombauer in your wine tasting plans.\u00a0 If you prefer glitz, there are other places in Napa Valley that are likely to fit your bill.<\/p>\n

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The wines at Rombauer are undeniably BIG, but the experience of visiting their winery for a tasting is definitely an intimate one.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s because the proprietor\u2019s family is descended from the Irma Rombauer who wrote The Joy of Cooking, which was once America\u2019s basic cookbook.\u00a0 There\u2019s something homey about a visit to the Rombauer … Continue reading Rombauer Vineyards<\/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\/296"}],"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=296"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":298,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296\/revisions\/298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}