Category: Experiences

Our wedding anniversary is at the beginning of December and for many years we have been celebrating it in Napa or Sonoma.  Besides being in Wine Country for our anniversary, we also get to enjoy an early Christmas. Christmas decorations are everywhere.  You walk in many of the wineries and you’re facing a beautiful Christmas tree, decorations on the fireplace mantel, holiday music and the spirit of the holidays everywhere you look.  One of our favorite Pinot wineries is Etude in Carneros. (We’re also club members there.)  The last time we stopped by for a visit, on top of being in heaven with the wines that we were being served, we had the joy of having our tasting by a huge, beautifully decorated Christmas tree.

The town of Napa is very festive but the top is in Yountville where, by the way, the famous chef Thomas Keller has three restaurants that we love (French Laundry, Bouchon and Ad Hoc).   As soon as you get off Route 29 and turn on Washington Street, you are in a different world. The town itself becomes a Christmas Wonderland.  We had never seen anything like this; the town is entirely lit with Christmas lights. It’s absolutely like being in a fairy tale.  It’s magical!

Most of the wineries have a shop where they sell souvenirs and wine related articles.  During the holidays they add all those pretty Christmas decorations, tablecloths, cocktail napkins, chinaware.  It is a great place to find a gift for wine lovers.  Some of these items are often found exclusively in wineries. We’re not talking about the wine itself, but corkscrews, glasses, wine books, etc.  One article that we have bought there over the years is a vine leaf that had been plated in silver or gold, with a little ribbon on top to hang in the Christmas tree.  That’s an exclusive and pretty wine gift!

Let’s not forget the hotels and restaurants.   You’ll be in the Christmas spirit wherever you eat and stay.  We love to stay at the Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa. When you enter in the driveway, you will face an enormous Christmas tree in front of the resort welcoming you, plus decorations all over the resort.  One late afternoon in December, we sat on the porch facing the Christmas tree sipping a glass of wine and watching the sunset.  Not bad at all!

If you’re looking for a different experience and atmosphere for a next trip to the Wine Country, try it in December.  You’ll not only get the Christmas spirit but also fewer tourists (but please don’t tell everyone).

Joyeux Noël

There is a lot of wine to taste in Napa Valley but some wineries offer something extra, which is art.  Turnbull Winery (www.turnbullwines.com) is one of them.  They have a rotating exhibition of historic black and white photographs in the Gallery Tasting Room, that they change twice a year.  Patrick O’Dell, the winery owner, has a vast collection that he puts on display.  The current show is an Ansel Adams retrospective, with some of the most famous of his silver gelatin prints up on the walls.   Each time we’ve been to Turnbull, we were so pleased by their exhibition but did not spend enough time strolling around.   We promised ourselves that the next time we will plan more time just to visit the exhibition which is always amazing … and of course taste their wine.

The building is beautiful, in a wooden barn-style with high ceilings and “Napa style” décor. While at the bar for the tasting you’re facing a large window from which you can enjoy the view of the garden and the vineyard.  They have built a beautiful green vegetable garden and when we mentioned how interesting and pretty it was, they offered us some vegetables.  Unfortunately we could not accept because we were staying at a hotel.

You can either have your tasting in the tasting room or outside in the garden where they have chairs and tables and also a fire pit for cooler days.

The guys are extremely nice and knowledgeable.  We were invited to bring our glass of wine with us and have a tour of their barrel room where all their wines from the last harvest were resting.  It was in December; the crush was in the barrels; everything was spic & span; an employee was making the Christmas decorations; and it smelled so delicious, we just wanted to stay there!

They are not pretentious and it’s worth a stop for a tasting because they know how to make great wines.  They say that some producers make good wine in a bad year and Turnbull’s 2011’s are proof of the saying.    Turnbull is certainly on our top list for our next visit to Napa.