{"id":663,"date":"2017-07-29T19:50:48","date_gmt":"2017-07-29T19:50:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=663"},"modified":"2019-01-29T17:48:21","modified_gmt":"2019-01-29T17:48:21","slug":"visiting-napanoma-in-april","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=663","title":{"rendered":"Visiting Napa\/Noma in April"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the second in Power Tasting\u2019s series on the best times to visit Napa\/Noma.\u00a0 Since all months are good months, this isn\u2019t much of a challenge.\u00a0 We wrote about visiting in January<\/a> in a previous issue.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ah, springtime!\u00a0 T.S. Eliot may have said that April is the cruelest month, but we bet T.S. never went to the Napa Valley or Sonoma County in April.\u00a0 It is a particularly lovely time of the year.\u00a0 If you go in the early part of the month, you may catch the end of mustard season, in which the space between the rows of vines is occupied by brightly colored yellow flowers.\u00a0 Even if you don\u2019t, you will be there for bud break and the initial flowering of the vines.\u00a0 In the colder areas, like Carneros and in the mountains it will be later in the month (or even into May).\u00a0 In warmer spots like Calistoga you are likely to see greenery earlier in the month.<\/p>\n

With winter past, you won\u2019t have the freezing days that can happen even in Napa\/Noma in winter.\u00a0 There probably won\u2019t be any rain either.\u00a0 You might want to have a light sweater or a long sleeve shirt in the morning but you\u2019ll leave the sweater in the car and roll up your sleeves in the afternoon.\u00a0 If you come from colder climates, you\u2019ll think that summer is upon you.<\/p>\n

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Napa Valley in April, with art on display among the vines.\u00a0 Photo courtesy of Visit Napa Valley.<\/em><\/p>\n

But note that we said you won\u2019t see freezing days<\/em>.\u00a0 It can get pretty cold at night, sometimes getting below 32 degrees.\u00a0 As bad as that temperature is for visitors, it\u2019s a lot worse for grapes.\u00a0 The tender buds are at their most vulnerable and a snap freeze can cripple a harvest before the grapes even appear.\u00a0 You\u2019ll see giant fans in the vineyards to blow the cold air away.\u00a0 Others wet the vines so that the resulting ice insulates the vines.\u00a0 It gives you an alert to bring your jacket with you for dinnertime.<\/p>\n

The crowds of wine tasters are not as intense as in the summer months but they\u2019re not as sparse as in the dead of winter, either.\u00a0 If you can get away for a few weekdays, you should have plenty of time to chat with a wine educator or to sip without someone crowding you at the bar.\u00a0 Weekends are another matter.\u00a0 This may be the first chance for many others to taste springtime and you\u2019ll see plenty of them all along the roads and in the wineries.<\/p>\n

While there are leaves on the vines, the scenery isn\u2019t as lush as it is at the height of the summer.\u00a0 If taking in the view is part of the reason for your visit (as it should be), this isn\u2019t the time to visit wineries with grand commanding panoramas, like Sbragia Family<\/a> in Sonoma\u2019s Dry Creek or William Hill <\/a>in Napa.\u00a0 It would be better to think in terms of snuggling up to the vines, which makes Grgich Hills<\/a> in Napa Valley\u2019s Rutherford or Limerick Lane<\/a> in Russian River in Sonoma County better April destinations.\u00a0 If springtime brings a smile to your lips, all the wines will taste better then.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the second in Power Tasting\u2019s series on the best times to visit Napa\/Noma.\u00a0 Since all months are good months, this isn\u2019t much of a challenge.\u00a0 We wrote about visiting in January in a previous issue. Ah, springtime!\u00a0 T.S. Eliot may have said that April is the cruelest month, but we bet T.S. never … Continue reading Visiting Napa\/Noma in April<\/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":[5,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663"}],"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=663"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":687,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663\/revisions\/687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}