{"id":326,"date":"2016-07-29T14:18:28","date_gmt":"2016-07-29T14:18:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=326"},"modified":"2016-08-24T20:14:51","modified_gmt":"2016-08-24T20:14:51","slug":"beringer-vineyards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=326","title":{"rendered":"Beringer Vineyards"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a lot of history in Napa Valley.\u00a0 And then there\u2019s history<\/em>.\u00a0 If you\u2019d like to get a glimpse and a taste of Napa Valley\u2019s past and it\u2019s transcendent present, there are few places more suited for that than the Beringer winery in St. Helena (www.beringer.com<\/a>).\u00a0 Some may think that successful California winemaking started with the so-called Judgement of Paris in 1976.\u00a0 And indeed the Beringer brothers were making wine in \u201976\u20261876 that is.<\/p>\n

The overall effect of the first view of the Beringer property is that is not so much a winery as a park.\u00a0 The grounds are adorned with fountains and ancient trees that keep everything cool even on the hottest summer days.\u00a0 There are two venues for tasting, the Old Winery and the Rhine House, the latter the 19th<\/sup> century home of founder Frederick Beringer.\u00a0 (His brother\u2019s Hudson House is also on the property.)\u00a0 So even if you have people in your party who are not wine drinkers, there\u2019s a lot to see and do.
\nStill, Power Tasting is about wine tasting, so let\u2019s talk about that.\u00a0 Now owned by Australia\u2019s Treasury Wine Estates, Beringer makes wines that range in quality from everyday table wines to some of the finest wines in California, if not the entire world.\u00a0 We recommend that serious wine enthusiasts choose the reserve tasting at the Rhine House, which gives you a chance to sample the famous Beringer Private Reserve.\u00a0 This wine was the creation of former winemaker Ed Sbragia, who propelled Beringer to the front ranks of American winemaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The Rhine House at Beringer Vineyards<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Let us relate a few stories from our previous visits.<\/p>\n

On warm afternoons, you can take your tasting to tables on the porch surrounding the Rhine House.\u00a0 On our first visit, we arrived late in the afternoon with about an hour to go until closing time.\u00a0 We found the wines to be spectacular and took our time, with Steve going inside to collect the next pour while Lucie stayed at the table.\u00a0 After luxuriating in great wine and the shafts of golden afternoon sunshine piercing the trees, Steve went to pay\u2026and all the staff had left for the day!\u00a0 We do recommend a late-afternoon visit but also encourage you to pay for your tasting.<\/p>\n

We have previously discussed Christmas in California\u2019s wineries; Beringer is one of the loveliest.\u00a0 For one thing, Rhine House looks as though it could be made out of gingerbread.\u00a0 For another, they erect a magnificently decorated Christmas tree in the center hallway.\u00a0 Their shop also has many lovely gift items.\u00a0 It\u2019s impossible not to feel the spirit of the holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\"IMG_2851\"<\/a>Christmas at Beringer<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

We have found the servers at the Rhine House to be knowledgeable and helpful.\u00a0 We have long enjoyed Beringer\u2019s Knight\u2019s Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and one time wanted to taste it in comparison to the reserve wines.\u00a0 However, the Knight\u2019s Valley is not served in the Rhine House.\u00a0 So an attendant hopped in a golf cart, drove off to the other tasting room and brought a bottle back for us.\u00a0 How\u2019s that for service?<\/p>\n

We have always found that if you are obviously interested in fine wines, the servers at Beringer have some special treats stashed away.\u00a0 So if you particularly admire, say, the 2010 Private Reserve, there might just be a 2004 under the bar for you to compare it with and get an idea of how it will age.<\/p>\n


\n<\/a>Beringer is one of our favorite destinations in Napa Valley.\u00a0 We recommend that you visit it too.\u00a0 We think it will become one of your favorites, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a lot of history in Napa Valley.\u00a0 And then there\u2019s history.\u00a0 If you\u2019d like to get a glimpse and a taste of Napa Valley\u2019s past and it\u2019s transcendent present, there are few places more suited for that than the Beringer winery in St. Helena (www.beringer.com).\u00a0 Some may think that successful California winemaking started with … Continue reading Beringer 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\/326"}],"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=326"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":347,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326\/revisions\/347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}