{"id":2425,"date":"2023-07-27T15:32:56","date_gmt":"2023-07-27T15:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2425"},"modified":"2023-07-27T15:32:56","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T15:32:56","slug":"affordable-tasting-in-napa-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2425","title":{"rendered":"Affordable Tasting in Napa Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Less than four years ago, Power Tasting\u2019s January 2020 issue contained an article entitled, \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1458\">How to Enjoy Wine Tasting in Napa Valley without Spending a Fortune<\/a>\u201d.\u00a0 It makes rather odd reading today, since at least half the piece is no longer true.\u00a0 Of course, when that was published, we didn\u2019t know that a deadly pandemic, which closed down California wine tasting for many months, was just ahead.\u00a0 On this side of those dreary times, as we have noted in a <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2369\">previous edition<\/a>, wine tasting in America\u2019s prime winemaking region has become so expensive that it prices out many potential visitors.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/napa_wine.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2426 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/napa_wine-300x171.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"602\" height=\"343\" srcset=\"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/napa_wine-300x171.png 300w, https:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/napa_wine.png 545w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 602px) 100vw, 602px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Photo courtesy of Napa Valley Tours and Transportation.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Today, there are no longer any free tastings; buying a bottle won\u2019t result in waived fees; and the less expensive tasting flights offered are as costly as the pre-pandemic reserve tastings.\u00a0 Sharing a tasting glass is far more difficult when almost all tastings are seated and served.\u00a0 Nonetheless, there are some things wine lovers can do in Napa Valley to make the trip more affordable, if not cheap.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Pass up the \u201cbig names\u201d. <\/strong>It is not unusual to find tasting fees of $125 or more per person at the better known wineries.\u00a0 Lesser known wineries, such as <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2421\">Cosentino<\/a> (reviewed in this edition) or <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=902\">Hagafen<\/a> offer tastings at far lower prices.\u00a0 You should do some comparison shopping online before you leave home.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Look for discoveries. <\/strong>The reason to visit the wineries you\u2019re already familiar with is that you know what you will get.\u00a0 There is an alternative approach.\u00a0 If you are already experienced in going wine tasting, try to cast your mind back to when you first started coming to Napa Valley.\u00a0 You have the chance to discover wonderful wines that you didn\u2019t bother with in the past.\u00a0 In many ways, we have found that we have gotten the most pleasure from enjoyable wines we had never heard of.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Maybe splurge on one expensive tasting.<\/strong> Yes, the fees wineries charge are outrageous.\u00a0 But that\u2019s what\u2019s happening to many other forms of entertainment.\u00a0 Consider what you would pay for a Broadway show or a hockey match.\u00a0 With the way tastings are presented today, it is not unusual to spend more than an hour sipping wine.\u00a0 Add the time to walk around and look at the gift shop, and you can be at a winery for quite some time.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t make the price of tasting easier to take, but it is easier to understand.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Choose wineries with interests other than the wine<\/strong>. In addition to tasting, you might find it fun to take in some interesting architecture and beautiful grounds.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1213\">Chateau Montelena<\/a> or <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2395\">Stags\u2019 Leap<\/a> might be good candidates.\u00a0 If you\u2019re a shopaholic, <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1595\">Robert Mondavi<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2227\">Darioush<\/a> might be just the ticket.\u00a0 These won\u2019t reduce your cost for sipping wine, but will expand tasting experience.<\/li>\n<li><strong>And as we said, there are other great places for wine tasting<\/strong>. Napa is wonderful but it\u2019s not to everyone\u2019s taste.\u00a0 If you prefer your tastings to be more rustic and laid back, you might find Sonoma County, Central Coast or <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=629\">Amador County<\/a> more amenable.\u00a0 Take your dollars elsewhere and maybe the owners of those Napa palaces will lower their prices.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Less than four years ago, Power Tasting\u2019s January 2020 issue contained an article entitled, \u201cHow to Enjoy Wine Tasting in Napa Valley without Spending a Fortune\u201d.\u00a0 It makes rather odd reading today, since at least half the piece is no longer true.\u00a0 Of course, when that was published, we didn\u2019t know that a deadly pandemic, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2425\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Affordable Tasting in Napa Valley<\/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":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2425"}],"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=2425"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2427,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2425\/revisions\/2427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}