{"id":1687,"date":"2020-11-30T16:20:09","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T16:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1687"},"modified":"2020-11-30T18:34:52","modified_gmt":"2020-11-30T18:34:52","slug":"visiting-napanoma-in-december","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1687","title":{"rendered":"Visiting Napa\/Noma in December"},"content":{"rendered":"

December\u2019s weather is very unpredictable in the Napa Valley and Sonoma County, which we elide to be Napa\/Noma.\u00a0 We have been there at times when it is absolutely springlike and on other occasions we have frozen in temperatures much colder than that which we left behind in New York.\u00a0 So before you come, by all means check your favorite weather app to learn how to pack.<\/p>\n

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A chilly December morning just off the Silverado Trail.<\/em><\/p>\n

There are many advantages to a visit in December and a few drawbacks.\u00a0 It\u2019s a rather relaxed time for the local folks.\u00a0 The hardest work of the harvest is over and the new wine is sleeping soundly in barrels.\u00a0 If you\u2019re taking a tour, you won\u2019t get to see people actually making wine (come in September and October<\/a> for that) but on the other hand, you\u2019ll be able to see all of the winery.\u00a0 It\u2019s not safe to traipse around when the destemmers and fermenting tanks are in full operation, with workers busy everywhere.<\/p>\n

The big plus is the celebration of the holidays<\/a>.\u00a0 Many if not all of the wineries decorate for Christmas, some rather splendidly.\u00a0 We can recommend Robert Mondavi <\/a>and Beringer<\/a> in Napa Valley and Arrowood in Sonoma County for the attractiveness of their displays.\u00a0 Wine tasting is a rather festive pastime by itself; it gets downright merry at Christmas.<\/p>\n

In addition, many of the wineries have private parties at this time of year, often on the first weekend of the month but later if that weekend is early in a given year.\u00a0 Most of them are for their club members and are often called \u201cpickup parties\u201d.\u00a0 The members from nearby are expected to pick up their December shipments in person and they get a little extra.\u00a0 If you show up and you\u2019re not a club member, they will almost never shoo you away.\u00a0 On those days, they normally have their best wines available for tasting.<\/p>\n

Also, many wineries hold fancy dinner parties for their club members, usually for a stiff price.\u00a0 If you\u2019re in a mood for a banquet dinner \u2013 always with great wine \u2013 you can join one club before you go and then sign up for the dinner.\u00a0 Many of them sell out early, so give yourself some time in advance if you choose to do this.<\/p>\n

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Yountville at Christmas.\u00a0 Photo courtesy of The Wine Stay.<\/em><\/p>\n

Some wineries have rather extensive (and often expensive) gift shops.\u00a0 What better time to shop for gifts than December?\u00a0 The shops are extensively decorated and of course many of the items are Christmas-themed.\u00a0 Among the best are Mondavi and Beringer, once again, but also Darioush and Rubicon.\u00a0 Moreover, the same can be said for the towns as well, where they are selling things to the local people, not just the tourists.\u00a0 (Yountville is especially beautiful at this time of year.)\u00a0 Among things we have bought over the years have been a gilded grape leaf to hang on a sturdy branch of a Christmas tree and a wreath made of grape vines.<\/p>\n

Of course, you may be rather cold if you visit Napa\/Noma in December, but the crowds will be sparser (except on party days).\u00a0 Hotels are more available, as are restaurant tables.\u00a0 With much of the previous release\u2019s wines already sold, you may have some difficulty tasting your favorites, but consider that a chance to discover something different.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t let the weather deter you.\u00a0 December\u2019s pleasures overwhelm the few disadvantages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

December\u2019s weather is very unpredictable in the Napa Valley and Sonoma County, which we elide to be Napa\/Noma.\u00a0 We have been there at times when it is absolutely springlike and on other occasions we have frozen in temperatures much colder than that which we left behind in New York.\u00a0 So before you come, by all … Continue reading Visiting Napa\/Noma in December<\/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],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1687"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1687"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1709,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1687\/revisions\/1709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}