Napa Valley wine trip trip report

[El Diablo]

Had a couple of friends visiting from NY. They come every year or so to do a wine trip and stock up.

Rented a limo to go up there. Definitely preferable to have someone else doing the driving. For the first time ever on one of these trips, we actually left right on time at 9am and were in Napa by 10am.

Sunday is definitely a million times better to go than on Saturday. So much less crowded and so much more time to talk to the wine people and sample more stuff.

First stop was Trefethen. Very nice, small winery. The $20 reserve tasting was an old library cab, a current release reserve cab, and a regular current release cab, and a couple of pinots. These wines were in the $50 to $80 range. Everyone else loved the pinot, I thought it was OK. I really liked the reserve cab. $195 for a magnum. Starting things off right, one of my friends bought 2 plus a case of the pinot. We also tried the dry riesling and the late harvest dessert wine. I thought it was actually too sweet. Turns out this was the only dessert wine I didn't enjoy this trip. This was a really great tasting, pouring tons of stuff not on the list and opening anything we wanted. The woman doing the tasting was super nice and enthusiastic and very knowledgeable. Highly recommended.

Next stop was Darioush. They make a really nice cab, but very expensive at $74. Would be good for $40-50. Their tasting was $20 for a chardonnay, merlot, and cab, a complete ripoff. Very corporate and impersonal. Really not a good experience at all, I do not recommend.

Signorello, a small winery, was next. Their $10 tasting was a chardonnay, syrah, pinot, and cab. They were great to talk to and had a number of good, reasonably priced wines. I picked up some of the Syrah ($36) here. They also happily poured some older stuff for us too. I would recommend this, but it's not a must-see.

None of these places actually made us pay the tasting fees, because we were buying at all of them. That was on purpose at all of them except at Darioush where I think they screwed up and just accidentally didnt charge us (we had two different people helping us).

Del Dotto was next. The thing to do here is a great cave tour where you taste tons of stuff straight from barrels. We didn't have time for this, so we did the standard tasting. I really liked the 04 Cabernet Franc as well as their 03 Rutherford Cabernet. We did head back for a quick tour of the caves and some barrel samples. Also tried a few ports - cab, zin, and zin syrah. Their wines here are quite good, but most good stuff was on the pricey side ($50 to $75). This was the only place on the trip where they actually made us pay our tasting fees. Still recommend it, though, especially if you do the whole cave tour. I started a trend of buying some dessert wine in addition to regular bottles wherever I could.

We were thinking about going up to Taylor's to get some burgers, but it was a little out of our way and we were on a mission to hit a bunch of places, so we picked up some sandwiches at Soda Canyon Deli. Sandwiches were pretty good there, but not as good as Oakville Grocery. But the notable part was the fact that they apparently only hire really cute girls to work there.

Sinskey was the next stop. Some great pinots here, plus a bunch of other good reds. My favorites were the Vineyard Reserve ($36) and Four Vineyards Pinot ($52). Of course, I also got some Zinskey Late Late Harvest Zinfandel dessert wine ($50), which is really good stuff. They have a nice range of stuff across a wide range of prices. Sinskey also always has great snacks. Olives and crackers plus special treats. This time they had some bacon and blue cheese wrapped dates to go with one of the wines. Highly recommended.

On to Miner after that. They have a $24 Sangiovese that I think is a great deal, plus a nice $35 Syrah. Their Viognier is usually a favorite of mine, but I'm not a big fan of their current release. Very friendly staff here, but besides the tasting they don't have too much other stuff to pour. Worth going, but OK to skip too.

Whitehall Lane was next. I thought their wines were decent, but nothing really great. I did really like the Belmuscato dessert wine ($22) and grabbed a couple. This was good, but I'd say probably skip this one.

Peju was our next to last stop. I hadn't been here before and it was great. The guy was busting out everything for us. I really liked their Syrah ($32) and 2000 Cab ($50). They also have a wine called Provence for $22 that's a really good bargain. And of course, I picked up some of their Zinfandel Port ($38). We tried tons of other really good stuff their, both current releases and older stuff. Another place I highly recommend.

We made a final stop at Domaine Chandon sparkling wine. This was horrible and we left soon after starting the tasting because it was just an annoying place to be and we were all drunk anyway and it wasn't very good. Don't recommend at all.

And that was it. I picked up something like 24 bottles, about twice what I planned to get. And somehow I managed to get 7 bottles of dessert wine, wtf?

One of my friends took the prize, though, picking up 136 bottles + 3 magnums on the trip.

A lot of places have tastings for $10 and $20. A number of places that only do one tasting flight have moved the price up to $20 now - wasn't so long ago that was free! In any case, I highly recommend getting the $20 tastings at places that have a regular and a reserve tasting. What you get is WAY, WAY, WAY better, and especially at the smaller places when you talk about what you like they'll usually bring you out some other stuff to try as well. And if you buy some wine, most places will comp the tasting. Definitely recommend the smaller, less well known places. Trefethen and Peju were two that were especially great. Not only do you have a more fun time at those places, you get to try and buy wine that you can't find anywhere else except at the winery.

Cliff Notes:

Trefethen - Highly Recommend
Peju - Highly Recommend
Sinskey - Highly Recommend
Del Dotto - Recommend
Signorello - Recommend
Miner - Recommend
Whitehall Lane - Ambivalent
Darioush - Do not recommend
Domaine Chandon - Do not recommend

[SossMan]

[ QUOTE ]
Turns out this was the only dessert wine I didn't enjoy this trip.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ever been to Prager Portworks? Small family owned Port Specialty place. I've always enjoyed it. Also, way on the otherside of the valley is Van der Heyden, which I've always liked.

Oakville grocery is always awesome around 2:30pm for a killer sandwich with much too expensive cheese and mustard. Never been to Taylors.

[renodoc]

I can get the Darioush locally for about $55. I have heard others echo your sentiments about their tasting room though.

Joe Cafaro used to have his barrels stashed below Miner. They have a vast caveroom down below. A phone call ahead can arrange a private barrel tasting.

Del Dotto used to have tastings at their house/winery in Oakville. I think they moved south to Napa proper about 5 years ago. After tasting at Saddleback one day the very friendly staff called up DD and arranged a visit. Nothing like sitting in their tasting cave listening to the blues, looking out upon their beautiful villa-like estate, and simply pouring the wine on the concrete floor if we didn't think it was perfect-- only to have our glasses filled up with something else a few moments later.

[TheMetetron]

Good post Diablo. I've been to Napa many times before, but being so young don't have the experience that you do. I'll keep this post in mind for later this year when I am back in the Bay Area.

I am also incredibly amazed by how expensive wine is in the United States. I don't remember it being that bad, but I'm sure these are really good wines. I might do a similar thread as this with the Mendoza area of Argentina which produces some really good wine that I can buy for like $5-10 for some incredible stuff and $3-5 for some pretty good stuff as well.

[ImsaKidd]

Sorry I've never done a trip like this (not old enough to drink), but do you have them ship the wine to you? I dont see how you fit so much wine in a car (or limo in your case).

[octopi]

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I dont see how you fit so much wine in a car (or limo in your case).

[/ QUOTE ]

http://www.sftravel.com/images/limousines/limousine_san_francisco_wedding_prom.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v186/Spunkmyer/805386-R1-050-23A.jpg

Maybe not all of it had to make it home?

[El Diablo]

Im,

You can fit a lot of cases of wine in a limo. But the guys doing most of the buying were having it shipped to New York.

[KDawg]

[ QUOTE ]


I am also incredibly amazed by how expensive wine is in the United States.

[/ QUOTE ]


it all depends on what you're drinking, and where you are drinking. California Cabs have exploded in price to where you have to do some real digging to find good values on the dollar. I've noticed though that Syrah's and Pinot's are still solid in price and you can find some great values still in california and you can find some amazing Pinot values from oregon.

With you being in Argentina, you're lucky right now as Malbecs haven't exploded in price yet and you can find some screamers for values. The same goes across teh border in chile for their cabs. If you get the chance, I'd love to see a Malbec Wineries trip report

[Zeno]

[ QUOTE ]
I might do a similar thread as this with the Mendoza area of Argentina which produces some really good wine.....

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that would be great. Wines from Argentina (and Chile) are served more and more at resturants in the states. Good to get an inside look.

-Zeno

[Zeno]

Enjoyable and informative post, thanks. If I get up to the bay area again a wine tour will be on list of things to do.

-Zeno

[Evan]

D, how much was the limo for the day? Scrub, schneids and I wanted to do a trip to Napa last time I was in SF but jason_t made us stay at Bay 101 all night because he was down $11 or something, so we didn't get home until 7 am and then didn't have time to go.

[MrMon]

I'll be in Napa in mid-April and you've got some interesting ideas here, but you've got much more expensive tastes than I can afford. Still, I can always taste 'em without buying 'em. I'd like to see what other places you think I should hit. I've got 3 days, but like to go at a much slower pace than you go.

I always thought Chandon was okay, but given the price ranges you were working at at the other places, of course it's going to not stand up. Decent at $20/btl, it's just not going to stand up to $75 cabs.

I'm curious how they're getting the wine shipped to NY, considering it's not a reciprocal state. I guess when you spend that kind of money, all sorts of things can happen that aren't allowed to the "little people".

[El Diablo]

MrMon: NY is now a reciprocal state. This changed a year or two ago. Until then, what you did was stop by the shipping place on the way back (the wineries know this place) and ship it all back yourself (still have to do that for some states). Now you get to ship to NY straight from the winery. This trip was unusual because one of my friends is on a mission to fill his new 500-bottle wine fridge. Normally we do about five wineries with a leisurely lunch in the middle. Five is about the right number imo. Of the wineries on this trip, Miner and Peju had quite a bit of reasonably priced stuff in the $20 to $30 range. Del Dotto, Darioush, Trefethen are three without much good lower priced stuff. However, I'd still recommend making an appointment and shelling out $40 for the Del Dotto cave tour and tasting. Cakebread, Grgich Hills, and Clos Du Val are some others I like to visit.

Evan: Limo for 6 to 8 people runs about $65 to $100 per hour depending on the limo. Plus 20% automatic gratuity plus 10-20% in taxes and fees. You'll want the limo for 8-10 hours from SF. So call it $700 to $1400 depending on what you get for how long. If you look around a bit you can sometimes get SF->Napa day packages a little cheaper. Here's the first thing that came up on a search: http://www.mrlimo.com/8_hour_stretch_wine_tour_package.htm
BTW, note that a 10-person limo usually really only seats 8, an 8-person limo usually really seats 6, etc. Ask them when you book.

K: The Syrah I bought on this trip was definitely a much better value than the Cabs.

[renodoc]

I have to add my 2 cents to the "must do" list for Napa:

Dinner at Martini House. If you have a party of 2 or 4 you can request table 50 which is by itself outside on a deck. Totally baller. Also, order the "Flight to the Moon" for dessert, a trio of stickies that usually includes a good vintage of d'yquem (they were pouring the '88 last time I had this)

Private tour at Togni on Spring Mountain. You will have to call in advance and make an appointment. Tell them you've tried his wines and dig em. The place isn't marked and they give you the combo to the lock on the gates. Tiny operation, but they will let you barrel taste and buy from their inventory.

Private tour at Behrens and Hitchcock (or whatever the new name is). Also on Spring Mountain.

Private tour at Viader in Angwin.

Trip report please if anyone follows through on these.

[El Diablo]

reno,

That sounds like an awesome list for my next trip that I'll actually plan ahead for and make a bunch of reservations. Stag's Leap and Far Niente are two others I'd like to taste at.

[milliondollaz]

crap, i've got a ton of work to do, and i just checked this forum on a whim.

i'll include my TR in a bit...

[milliondollaz]

4 weekends ago, my girl flew up for the weekend, so we did the Bed n Breakfast on Saturday night, then wine tasting Sunday. It should be noted that the only drawback to Sunday is that Silver Oak is closed, so that sucks. But more people in Church = more wine for you! Yes!

On with the trip report, I’ll try to keep it short, with lots of pics.

Stop one when we got up there Saturday afternoon was Mondavi. It’s real touristy, but from what I gather, Mondavi offered to buy a lot of grapes off people in the 70’s and 80’s, and tons of succeful vineyards feel indebted to Robert, and it seems like everyone likes the guy. Cool place too. We took a simple tour, which was great for a new wine guy like me (only been into wine since 2004). I recommend the tour, but you should check out the website and book some cooler stuff, they have 3 hour courses where you learn how to taste certain flavors, but they book up early. We tasted three wines, the Cabernet was great.

04 Pinot Noir Reserve ($50)
02 Fume Blanc Reserve ($35)
03 Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville District ($40)

Mondavi
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/billy_ocean/Napa/mondavioutside.jpg

Outside the reserve casks
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/billy_ocean/Napa/mondaviwall.jpg

Mondavi Cellar
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/billy_ocean/Napa/mondavicellar.jpg


We went out that night to Bounty Hunter, which offers 400 bottles and 40 glasses (or more?!?). I had an Italian flight, and we met an awesome Mexican guy who was a cellar master at some place. He ordered a bottle of Mi Sueno syrah, which rocked (so I ended up buying it), and he gave us some recommendations for the next day, including Darioush. He said stick to the Silverado Trail, which is less popular than 29. Good idea in my book.

Bounty Hunter
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/billy_ocean/Napa/bountyhunter.jpg


So we head to Darioush first thing Sunday. Stopped by Pine Ridge on the way, but they were booked for tours, so we went on to the Persian palace. I loved it. It looked like Las Vegas, real over the top, with granite and marble, huge ceilings, very opulent. The guy from the night before told us David was the manager working, and we introduced ourselves, and told him this was our first stop. Well, he got someone to give us a private tour of the cellar while we tasted. The wines were excellent, and I actually ended up getting the Merlot, since it was great and was a little less than the $74 Cab Diablo mentioned (I think the Merlot was $44?). But downstairs was sweet, and if you call ahead, you can get in on a cheese and wine pairing that happens ever now and then in the private tasting room. I probably liked it more because I got a private tour, and nobody else did while we were there, but I loved the place, so to each his own.

Welcome to Napa!
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/billy_ocean/Napa/welcometonapa.jpg

Quick stop at Pine Ridge
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/billy_ocean/Napa/pineridge.jpg

Darioush Pillars
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/billy_ocean/Napa/daroush1.jpg

Darioush Statue
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/billy_ocean/Napa/daroush2.jpg

Darioush Cellar w/ peek at private tasting room
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/billy_ocean/Napa/daroushcellar.jpg


Huge Stags Leap fan, so we had to go there. They offer two tastings, $15 one and a $40 reserve one. I went cheap. Tasted 4 great wines though.

05 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($22)
05 KARIA Napa Valley Chardonnay ($32)
04 Napa Valley Merlot ($42)
04 ARTEMIS Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($50)

They were good, until we started BSing w/ the guy working there. I told him Stags Leap was my favorite winery (it is) and that I first had it at Morton’s in Chicago, and was hooked on the “Napa Cab’s” My girl got me a Stags Leap hat while we were there too, and out of nowhere he brings over a glass of red wine, and tells me to try it. I taste it, and it was actually much better than the ARTEMIS. Well, it was their top of the line wine,

03 CASK 23 Estate, Cabernet Sauvignon ($175) /images/graemlins/heart.gif/images/graemlins/heart.gif/images/graemlins/heart.gif

and it had been decanting for a while. So yea, that kicked ass.

Stags Leap
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/billy_ocean/Napa/stagsleap.jpg

The “poor people” tasting bar (the “rich people” one is directly across from this one)
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/billy_ocean/Napa/stagsleaptasting.jpg

The $15 wines
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/billy_ocean/Napa/stagsleaplineup.jpg

Most expensive wine I will ever drink
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/billy_ocean/Napa/cask23.jpg


Went to Bouchon for lunch. Some joker told me it was owned by the same people that own French Laundry, which a bunch of you have listed as your favorite restaurant ever. So we had to check that out. Same person also told us they have the best French fries in the world too. I might have gotten Punk’d on both remarks, but the food was great, and lots of people were ordering the fries. The dude sitting next to me at the bar paid for his fries w/ an Amex Black. I felt poor, but the wine helped…

View from the bar (not of lot of people snapping pic’s either)
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/billy_ocean/Napa/bouchon.jpg

The fries!
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/billy_ocean/Napa/bouchonfries.jpg


On to Cakebread. Very nice place, very fun tour. A couple chicks from Google joined us on that one, and the Cakebread staff comp’ed my glass for some reason. Little stuff like that is really cool. They had some great wines, but the absolute standout was their 2004 Chardonnay Reserve. Absolutely mindblowing. I’m a red wine fan, but had tasted and enjoyed Chardonnay’s all day, including the regular Cakebread Chardonnay. But the Reserve just blew them all out of the water. Lots of butter and oak, very strong and dry for a white wine. Crisp finish too.

SS Vats
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/billy_ocean/Napa/cakebreadvats.jpg

French oak barrels are popular w/ all the Napa wineries.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/billy_ocean/Napa/cakebreadbarrels.jpg

Cakebread has a lot of ‘em
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/billy_ocean/Napa/morecakebreadbarrels.jpg

Looks like a Church, but way more fun!
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/billy_ocean/Napa/cakebreadview.jpg

Hope you enjoyed. I’m going up again April 14-15 when my little sister flies in. We plan on stopping by the Laird Family Winery, after they were written up in this months GT Alumni magazine (http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/gatech/alumni-winter07/index.php). It looks pretty dope, and I’ve already emailed the guys there, and they’ve got me in a tour.

Work is going to suck tomorrow...

[MrMon]

Bouchon and The French Laundry are owned by the same guy, Thomas Keller, although Bouchon is way easier to get into.

My restaurant list is already set:

Mustard's (Been to Napa many times, but never to Mustard's, but since it's a legend, time to go.)
Terra (Our favorite place in Napa, we go every time we go to Napa.)
The Restaurant At Meadowood (Our splurge place this time. I love how you can pick your level - 3, 4, or 5 courses, or Chef's Tasting Menu, all with wines paired optional.)

On wine, only two places are set, so the suggestions so far are great, but keep suggesting. Some I've already done. We're definitely doing Clos Pegase because we're wine club members and we get to taste everything for free, which is usually 8-10 wines, and Schramsberg because I've always wanted to go there and keep missing. The wine caves sounds great as well. Let me know if I need to book some of these ahead, I'd like to get those as soon as possible.

[TheMetetron]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I might do a similar thread as this with the Mendoza area of Argentina which produces some really good wine.....

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that would be great. Wines from Argentina (and Chile) are served more and more at resturants in the states. Good to get an inside look.

-Zeno

[/ QUOTE ]

It is definitely coming, it is just a question of when I get a chance to go out there (because Mendoza is sort of far away). Probably whenever my parents visit because they are huge wine people.

El Diablo,

Question. If they had to take the bottles back with them on the plane, how many do you think each person could bring and how would they do that? I'm thinking ahead for when my parents visit Argentina... shipping from here to the States would be expensive but I'm sure they will find a few bottles they can't get there that they may want.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm thinking ahead for when my parents visit Argentina... shipping from here to the States would be expensive but I'm sure they will find a few bottles they can't get there that they may want.


[/ QUOTE ]

you are going to run into customs issues. iirc 3 bottles is the limit until you have to declare it.

[turnipmonster]

I thought Mustard's was really fun and great food, I can see it being a madhouse on the weekend though.

[TheMetetron]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm thinking ahead for when my parents visit Argentina... shipping from here to the States would be expensive but I'm sure they will find a few bottles they can't get there that they may want.


[/ QUOTE ]

you are going to run into customs issues. iirc 3 bottles is the limit until you have to declare it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've brought five bottles in the past, declared it, and owed no duty. I'm sure at some point they may owe some duty, but they probably won't bring back more than 5-10 bottles anyways.

[MrMon]

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I thought Mustard's was really fun and great food, I can see it being a madhouse on the weekend though.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's why we're going on Thursday.

[Weebl]

Sounds like a good day.

I am a Napa resident and work in the industry. I often have out of town guests and have put together a list of wineries that do not have national distribution or may be small production facilities. Visiting these places is a different Napa Valley experience. These suggestions are geared to wine buyers and those that appreciate wine. I did include some suggestions at the end that are more geared toward overall experience.

You can find all these places by Googling WINERY NAME Napa.

Cab houses:

Reynolds Family Winery. Great big cabs, solid pinot too.
Steltzner, Distinctive cabs.
Revana Family Vineyards. Superstar winemaker, expensive of course.


Good Variety:
Venge, check out the Scouts Honor.
Pride. Cab Franc rules, if you're into cab franc.
Goosecross. Good variety, easonably priced.

Merlot with Backbone: Twomey. Sister winery to Silver Oak Cellars. They also have a Pinot now that's kick ass.

Cool staff, fun environment:
Miner, great staff. Very different than your usual Napa Valley experience.
Sequoia Grove.
Peju, dude with guitar on the weekends is a real crowd pleaser.
Casa Nuestra. Hippies, decent wine. Organic I think.

Good Tour: Schramsburg, cool caves, make sparkling wine so its great way to start the day.

Nickel and Nickel. Good experience overall, most of the wine they pour is not ready to drink for a year or so but quality nonetheless. Tour is a good example of what billionaires do as a second act. (see also: Far Niente and Hall).

I appreciate feedback and discussion.

[nolanfan34]

Nice reports in this thread. The mrs. and I will be in Napa for a wedding this summer, so I'll have to check some of these places out.

[Weebl]

Oh yeah,
I would recommend appointments at all these places.

[MrMon]

This is perfect and exactly what I'm looking for. I've done most of the obvious tours and tastings and am looking for something different, but some of the small producers are tough to know if they're worthwhile or even open. I'm going to go through this list and all the other suggestions so far and start making calls.

[El Diablo]

Weebl: Some great recs, thanks much. I usually try to hit a couple like that each trip. I've found some of my favorites by asking the people doing the tasting, they know who's doing what at the moment.

Met: No idea. You can no longer carry a box of wine on, so that sucks for people visiting. There's a site I think can help you out with specific info, Google.com.

Mon: Mustard's is great and so is Schramsberg. Not sure if that's one where you need an appointment, but every place has all the details on their website now.

m: Great report. That experience you had at Stag's Leap is what happens at cool places if you actually talk wine with the people doing the serving. That sort of stuff definitely makes the trip special, glad you got to try that. That's the opposite of how the experience generally is at Darioush, which is why I'm so down on that joint, even though I've been a fan of their wine for a long time. They were much more fun when they were still building and the tasting was out in a trailer.

[TheMetetron]

[ QUOTE ]
Met: No idea. You can no longer carry a box of wine on, so that sucks for people visiting. There's a site I think can help you out with specific info, Google.com.

[/ QUOTE ]

Crap, you can't carry on liquids anymore. I totally forgot about that. Thanks for the site, I'll look at it right away!

[MrMon]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm thinking ahead for when my parents visit Argentina... shipping from here to the States would be expensive but I'm sure they will find a few bottles they can't get there that they may want.


[/ QUOTE ]

you are going to run into customs issues. iirc 3 bottles is the limit until you have to declare it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've brought five bottles in the past, declared it, and owed no duty. I'm sure at some point they may owe some duty, but they probably won't bring back more than 5-10 bottles anyways.

[/ QUOTE ]

Your post has inspired me to look up the actual rules on alcohol importation, which I've been meaning to do for some time. They are not what people think.

First off, the limit on duty-dree importation of alcohol is 1 liter of anything, beer, wine, spirits. Kind of stupid, but that's the rule, and it's per person over 21. So, two adults returning from Argentina could bring back duty free 2 2/3 bottles of wine duty-free. In reality, Customs apparently lets larger amounts through free, up to several bottles per person, as long as you declare it, for reasons that will become apparent in a moment.

So, can you import more than the duty-free limit, and if you do, what's the penalty? The answer is, as long as it's for personal use, there is no federal limit, but you do have to pay duty and federal excise tax on amounts above the duty-free limit. So, those duty-free limits, which everyone thinks are the absolute limit, are no limit at all.

But what's the duty and excise tax? Pretty low, actually. The duty beyond the 1 liter limit is 3% for the first $1000, there's a variable rate beyond that that I haven't determined, but it can't be much. That's less than sales tax! The excise tax is a bit more, and varies by alcohol content. For wine, per bottle, it's either 21 or 31 cents per bottle, champagne is 67 cents. For alcohol, it's $2.14 per bottle at 80 proof. (Note that all this assumes 750ml bottles.)

So, if the alcohol is a good deal, the duty and excise taxes certainly aren't going to stop you from bringing it in, but what will? That old bugaboo, state limits. It's really hard to find them, but I've seen limits for some states on the order of 2 cases of wine per year per person, if your state allows imports at all. And Customs says they will enforce state importation laws, though if you claimed you had just moved to a state with the highest limits, would they check you out? You'll have to test that one yourself. If you're thinking of hauling back 15 cases from your trip to Bordeaux, you might want to check ahead of time on the rules for your state. You might be able to do it easy, with a slew of paperwork, or not at all.

The short version:

1. The duty-free limit for persons over 21 is 1 liter of any alcohol per person, except for the Carribean and U.S. possessions.

2. You can import beyond the duty-free limit for personal use. The duty and taxes are so low, you shouldn't even consider it when bringing in stuff. If you can get six bottles of Scotch cheap on your way out of Europe, do so and pay the damn tax, it's still a deal and it's not illegal.

3. Your state may impose more rules on alcohol importation than the feds. The more you're bringing in, the more likely you are to set off Customs into enforcing those rules. If you bring in a case of wine and your state allows imports, probably not a problem, 5 cases, might be a problem, 50 cases, and you should have checked ahead or you may be leaving it at the Customs desk.

[mattsey9]

[ QUOTE ]
reno,

That sounds like an awesome list for my next trip that I'll actually plan ahead for and make a bunch of reservations. Stag's Leap and Far Niente are two others I'd like to taste at.

[/ QUOTE ]

We went to Far Niente last Memorial Day weekend and I recommend it highly. I'm biased, as they make my favorite wine, but we had a thoroughly enjoyable day. The grounds are immaculate, and they have an incredible antique car collection that you can check out. They're not giving the wine away, but I've always found it worth the cost.

The tour guide was extremely knowledgeable. She told us she had worked at some of the other wineries in the area so she was able to recommend some other places for us to visit.

[suzzer99]

El D, just out of curiosity, did you split the limo evenly? I love the idea but I don't think I'll ever have 6-8 friends that balla.

[El Diablo]

suzzer,

Split evenly, limo from SF is usually about $100 to $150 per person for a full day Napa trip.

[Spleen]

This has got to be my next trip. Much too poor to have all the wine I would like but I am opening a '97 Stags Cab this weekend for g/f bday, looking forward to it.

[milliondollaz]

since i mentioned the french fries at bouchons in my trip report, i figured i would post this article i just found.

Thomas Keller uses Frozen French Fries (http://nymag.com/daily/food/2007/01/in_his_cookbook_bouchon_thomas.html) from Sysco in that restaurant! They still rocked.

[mike l.]

solid. 2+2 napa wine tasting trip/drunken bay 101 limited mix game weekend anyone? will you help us set it up diablo if i get gabe and death donkey and whoever else riled up for it?

[J.A.Sucker]

mike,

Wine tasting is better in the Santa Cruz mountains than Napa to tell you the truth. You can go to Testarossa, Ridge, Savanahh-Chanelle, and Pachetti in one day. All this is 15 minutes from Bay 101. It doesn't get any better than this, and yes, I'll be in for sure.

Sucker.

[Gabe]

I hope it'll be better than that wine tasting in pasadena that you set up and didn't end up going to. LMD, Joe, and Death Donkey were the youngest people there by several decades, and people were giving speeches.

[mike l.]

i tried some wine tonight with bakku, death donkey and stinkypete:

2005 winner's tank shiraz. smells like raid, tastes worse. astringent is the first word that comes to mind. not much else going on here just a rubbing alcohol flavor. really really bad. did not improve after a few hours.

2001 aries los carneros merlot. more of the lysol astringent tone going on here, this one opened up a but after 3 hours but was still basically undrinkable swill.

2004 evesham wood seven springs pinot noir. boring pinot, very traditional and floral nose and taste. not awful but not embraceable either. 85 points.

2004 melka CJ cab sauv. cocoa puff/coffee/mocha nose as always, little chalky but great long finish. 91+ points. need to restock on this one.

[El Diablo]

Sucker: "Wine tasting is better in the Santa Cruz mountains than Napa to tell you the truth." No it isn't.

mike: Sounds like a plan.

[J.Brown]

[ QUOTE ]
mike,

Wine tasting is better in the Santa Cruz mountains than Napa to tell you the truth. You can go to Testarossa, Ridge, Savanahh-Chanelle, and Pachetti in one day. All this is 15 minutes from Bay 101. It doesn't get any better than this, and yes, I'll be in for sure.

Sucker.

[/ QUOTE ]

can we make this a date dr. sucker on my next trip to the beautiful bay area? seriously.

i love testarossa and ridge beyond words.
you could be my hero. J.

[El Diablo]

J/J,

Count me in for Ridge/Testarossa trip.

[James282]

D,

Great read - making me very excited for when the Mrs. and I make our yearly trip out to SF and Napa. Sounds like Darioush has upped the ante even since I've been there. What a shame. When T and I went it was 15$ for the Cab, Chardonnay, Syrah and a Pinot if I'm not mistaken. The Cab was also 62$ then, and while a ripoff, was a sick bottle nonetheless.

I could drink that Miner Sangiovese with every meal - that was definitely our favorite wine from our Napa trip. And for 24$? Yowza. They're giving it away. I think we're going to have a case ordered when we come out in April/May. Excited to read about your most recent trip - definitely bookmarking this thread and hitting some of these ones I haven't been to when we come. Count down the days my friend - maybe this time you can join us when we head up there!

James