{"id":988,"date":"2018-07-30T14:01:11","date_gmt":"2018-07-30T14:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=988"},"modified":"2019-01-29T17:47:47","modified_gmt":"2019-01-29T17:47:47","slug":"visiting-napanoma-in-june","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=988","title":{"rendered":"Visiting Napa\/Noma in June"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article continues our occasional series on the \u201cbest\u201d month to visit Napa Valley and Sonoma County for wine tasting.\u00a0 Of course, there is no best month; they\u2019re all great and each has its own special attraction.\u00a0 In past editions we\u2019ve discussed January<\/a>, February<\/a>, April<\/a> and October<\/a>.\u00a0 It\u2019s time to include a summer month.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ah, June! The days are warm; the nights are short; the bees are buzzing and all\u2019s well with the world.\u00a0 All surely is well in Napa\/Noma.\u00a0 The vines are full of leaves and the aforementioned bees have done their job of pollinating the plants, so fruit is beginning to appear.\u00a0 What will be formidable grapes in a few months are only be tiny green berries, but the hope of great wine has been lit.<\/p>\n

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An afternoon in June at Ch\u00e2teau Montelena.<\/em><\/p>\n

The weather will often follow its usual California pattern.\u00a0 Mornings will be grey and dank, sometimes downright cold.\u00a0 Then sometime around 10:30, as if on cue, the clouds will part and disappear leaving blue skies and bright sunshine.\u00a0 You\u2019ll like it and so will the grapes.\u00a0 By midday it will start to get hot and by the middle of the afternoon there will be no doubt about it.\u00a0 Fortunately, when the sun goes down, the evenings will be pleasantly warm and you may want a sweater on occasion.<\/p>\n

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June 15, 9:00 p.m., Etude Winery in Carneros.<\/em><\/p>\n

Many of the wineries have special events for their Club members in June.\u00a0 If you are a member of one or more, these make visiting in June even more alluring.\u00a0 If you aren\u2019t a member, you might be able to participate in a barrel tasting or the opening of special bottles just because you\u2019re there and it wouldn\u2019t be polite to exclude you.\u00a0 But you may also find visiting hours curtailed for an event, so it\u2019s best to call ahead if you plan to visit near the end of the day.<\/p>\n

Tasting rooms can become quite crowded in June, especially on the weekends. You will see more tour buses, stretch limos and bachelorette parties at wineries. The locals have been enjoying good weather since March, even if the vineyards haven\u2019t been at their best.\u00a0 Visitors from northern climes are drawn to Napa\/Noma this month for the combination of scenery, temperature and fairly new releases of their favorite wineries.\u00a0 Try to come on weekdays and if that\u2019s not possible, prepare to be patient and maybe schedule some appointment tastings<\/a>.\u00a0 With an appointment, you will make sure you will be served the wines you are looking for. \u00a0\u00a0They may even set a table for you to avoid the weekend crowd.<\/p>\n

Hotel reservations may be a bit harder to get in June and prices are certainly going to be higher than in cooler months.\u00a0 On the other hand, this is generally the first time in the year when you can come back from wine tasting and take a dip in the pool.\u00a0 [We particularly enjoyed doing that at the Wine Country Hilton which was, sadly, a victim of the 2017 fires.]\u00a0 The sun doesn\u2019t go down until 8:30, so you have lots of time for a dip and maybe a sunlit aperitif too.<\/p>\n

Many restaurants and groceries feature seasonal local produce.\u00a0 You\u2019ll find some of the best strawberries, peaches and plums you\u2019ve ever tasted.\u00a0 Santa Rosa\u2019s Night Market<\/a> is a great place to sample them.\u00a0 Again, it is always a good idea to make a reservation at the restaurant where you\u2019d like to eat.<\/p>\n

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What is so rare as a day in June\u2026in Napa\/Noma Wine Country?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article continues our occasional series on the \u201cbest\u201d month to visit Napa Valley and Sonoma County for wine tasting.\u00a0 Of course, there is no best month; they\u2019re all great and each has its own special attraction.\u00a0 In past editions we\u2019ve discussed January, February, April and October.\u00a0 It\u2019s time to include a summer month. Ah, … Continue reading Visiting Napa\/Noma in June<\/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\/988"}],"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=988"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1008,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988\/revisions\/1008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}