{"id":855,"date":"2018-01-30T22:56:09","date_gmt":"2018-01-30T22:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=855"},"modified":"2019-01-29T17:48:04","modified_gmt":"2019-01-29T17:48:04","slug":"visiting-napanoma-in-february","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=855","title":{"rendered":"Visiting Napa\/Noma in February"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is another in Power Tasting\u2019s series on the best time of year to visit Napa and Sonoma Counties for wine tasting.\u00a0 The answer is that there is no \u201cbest\u201d time; each month has something special to offer.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

One thing to be said for wine tasting in Napa\/Noma in February is that you\u2019re one month closer to warm weather than you were in January<\/a>.\u00a0 It\u2019s still winter to be sure and you are more likely to get a rainy day<\/a> in February than you are in the summer.\u00a0 But we have also experienced some wonderfully warm days<\/a> in February, when with a sweater or light jacket you can sit outside and enjoy your wine under blue skies.<\/p>\n

A particular advantage of going wine tasting in February is that many of the wineries issue their new releases that month.\u00a0 We have always made sure to include a visit to Heitz Cellars in St. Helena in February, because that\u2019s when you get to taste the Martha\u2019s Vineyard (although we have recently found it in recent visits in other months as well).\u00a0 Of course, there is a cloud to this silver lining; new releases haven\u2019t had a much time in the bottle.\u00a0 You\u2019ll have to bring your imagination with you to have an idea of what these young wines will taste like when they grow up.<\/p>\n

Another advantage is that the mustard is in full flower in the vineyards, a lovely sight to compensate for the absence of leaves and grapes on the vines.\u00a0 The yellow flowers brighten up even the coldest day.\u00a0 And yes, it can get fairly cold in February, despite the possibility of warmth \u2013 and often on the same day!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mustard in the vineyards and lilac on the trees, as seen in February at Domaine Carneros.<\/em><\/p>\n

That hot restaurant where it\u2019s impossible to get a table in June has lots of empty seats in February.\u00a0 The streets of Yountville and Healdsburg aren\u2019t as crowded with tourists; you can actually take time in front of the paintings in the galleries; and the salespeople in the gift shops are actually glad to see you.\u00a0 Many hotels have special package deals.\u00a0 On the other hand, February has Presidents Day weekend and then every place is as full as in high season.\u00a0 That weekend may be your only chance to get away for wine tasting, so anticipate the crowds.\u00a0 If you can choose another time, especially midweek, we recommend you do so.(We experienced it and it was very unpleasant.)<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll get more attention from the servers in the tasting rooms those days.\u00a0 In particular if you\u2019re tasting on a cold miserable day, \u00a0the servers may be so glad to see anyone that you\u2019ll be treated like visiting royalty.\u00a0 To be fair, that advice applies more to smaller, out of the way wineries.\u00a0 The big ones, especially those that take busloads of visitors, are still likely to be packed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A February afternoon at Limerick Lane Winery<\/em><\/p>\n

Everyone has a different idea of what constitutes cold weather.\u00a0 If you\u2019re a Floridian or a Southern Californian, February in Napa\/Noma is definitely the depth of winter.\u00a0 But if you\u2019re a New Yorker or a Qu\u00e9b\u00e9coise, a day when you can walk around outdoors sporting only a sweater is the first sweet breath of spring.\u00a0 No grapes on the vines?\u00a0 Forget about it; the buds will surely be breaking soon.\u00a0 You can have the satisfaction of having your wine tasting vacation sooner than anyone else and the pleasure of doing so without the crowds.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is another in Power Tasting\u2019s series on the best time of year to visit Napa and Sonoma Counties for wine tasting.\u00a0 The answer is that there is no \u201cbest\u201d time; each month has something special to offer.\u00a0 One thing to be said for wine tasting in Napa\/Noma in February is that you\u2019re one month … Continue reading Visiting Napa\/Noma in February<\/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":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855"}],"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=855"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":862,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855\/revisions\/862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}