Napa Valley, California
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Our Napa Valley Wine Tasting tour started with a 90 minute bus ride from San Francisco to the Domaine Chandon Winery in Napa. We received a tour through the Chandon facility and learned about the wine-making and aging process. Afterwards, we tasted three of their Chandon's most popular sparkling wines. From there, the bus drove us to V. Sattui. We tried 7 of their premium wines, including their most popular dessert wine, Madeira. There was also a free cheese tasting and a complimentary gourmet lunch here. After lunch, Flora Springs, just across the street from V. Sattui, was our next destination. This facility was much more modern and trendy, although the service and wines were nothing special. Lastly, the bus drove us to Mario Andretti’s winery in Napa. This winery was off the beaten path and had a "Tuscan" feel. The entire tasting was outdoors, and we were able to walk into the grape vineyards. After visiting the wineries, a bus drove us back to Vallejo, CA. From there we took a bay cruise back to San Francisco.
