{"id":402,"date":"2016-11-29T16:24:58","date_gmt":"2016-11-29T16:24:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=402"},"modified":"2016-11-29T17:22:12","modified_gmt":"2016-11-29T17:22:12","slug":"artesa-winery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=402","title":{"rendered":"Artesa Winery"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first time we ever tasted wines at Artesa (http:\/\/www.artesawinery.com<\/a>), it was a rather exclusive visit.\u00a0 We needed a reservation and as we approached the property, we had to enter a code that they had given us.\u00a0 A large gate opened slowly and then we drove up a long road to a mountain top.\u00a0 Okay, maybe a hilltop, but it was pretty high up.<\/p>\n

Today, the gate is left open during business hours.\u00a0 The road and hilltop are still there but it is hardly exclusive.\u00a0 In fact, in recent years the tasting room is quite busy, seemingly every day of the week and twice on weekends.\u00a0 Aside from the wine, of which more later, the reason for Artesa\u2019s popularity is the architecture of the winery and its view out over Carneros.\u00a0 Oh, it\u2019s a Napa palace all right and those aren\u2019t always to our taste.\u00a0 (See Not for Everyone.)\u00a0 But in the case of Artesa, the winery itself make a visit worthwhile.<\/p>\n

As you walk towards it from the parking lot, you\u2019ll pass lovely terraced fountains but you won\u2019t see the winery, just the hilltop.\u00a0 Oh, wait, there\u2019s something black jutting out of the hill over there.\u00a0 And there\u2019s a portal entering the hill.\u00a0 You\u2019ve arrived.<\/p>\n

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The modern interior is airy and spacious and has a lot more than a bar and a gift shop.\u00a0 There are side rooms and reflecting pools, with paintings and sculpture everywhere.<\/p>\n

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The utter joy of visiting Artesa is the view, as you can see in the photo below.\u00a0 The term \u201csweeping vista\u201d hardly does it justice.\u00a0 That little dot in the distance is Domaine Carneros, the champagne (oh, excuse me, sparkling wine) house and its impressive chateau.\u00a0 At the horizon is the north end of San Francisco Bay.\u00a0 And in front of it all are vines, lots of vines.<\/p>\n

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The actual wine tasting experience is a bit dodgier.\u00a0 The tasting room space is quite large but it also can be quite crowded.\u00a0 Because of the aforementioned beauty of the place, Artesa has become a tourist attraction as much as a wine lover\u2019s destination.\u00a0 So you may well be there with large groups or families with children.\u00a0 We well remember one visit in which a baby was literally crawling between our legs as we sipped our wine near the child\u2019s parents.\u00a0 We do love little kids, but there are times and there are places.\u00a0 (See Taking or not taking your kids to wine tasting.)<\/p>\n


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\n<\/a>Before our first visit, we were familiar with some of Artesa\u2019s wines, especially the Sauvignon Blanc.\u00a0 A wine store had recommended this wine as an accompaniment for asparagus, which worked quite well.\u00a0 We have also enjoyed their Merlot in the past.\u00a0 To be honest, we weren\u2019t as impressed in recent visits as we have been in the past. \u00a0That\u2019s the beauty of wine tasting, though; maybe next time we\u2019ll fall in love with Artesa\u2019s wines again.<\/p>\n

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The first time we ever tasted wines at Artesa (http:\/\/www.artesawinery.com), it was a rather exclusive visit.\u00a0 We needed a reservation and as we approached the property, we had to enter a code that they had given us.\u00a0 A large gate opened slowly and then we drove up a long road to a mountain top.\u00a0 Okay, … Continue reading Artesa Winery<\/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":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402"}],"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=402"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":423,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402\/revisions\/423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}