Wine country is a year-long destination and in even in December we’re still touring with clients, albeit not with the back to back scheduling common during grape crush. But late fall and winter is also the rainy season here, and wine touring is an outdoor activity in part, so when the skies open up it helps to know which wineries are the most fun on cloudy days.
“It doesn’t rain in the tasting room.” Ralph’s often heard refrain in winter time.
Being farther from the ocean Napa is incrementally drier than Sonoma, since it’s from the Pacific that the rain clouds roll in like roiling white express trains arriving from the far beyond. Being a broad, long valley Napa also offers better vistas on rainy days than Sonoma, so for the outdoor experience it is preferable.
Another key is how far is the walk from the car? Wineries are food factories and often it is a hike from the parking lot to the front door. As a driver guide I deliver my clients as close to the front door as possible before heading off to the lot. Hiking is my job, not theirs, they are on vacation. In southern Napa on the Silverado Trail Signorello is a good example of a small winery with a short walk from the lot to the tasting room. The views over the valley are wonderful and the inside experience is intimate and friendly.
Farther north just before the Yountville Cross Road is the Robert Sinskey Winery. This is a favorite on rainy days, a short walk from the lot into their high ceiled tasting room fronting their winery, and the smell of wonderful, fresh made snacks in the air. They have a commercial kitchen in the tasting room and there’s not much that compares to those aromas for making one curious about their very interesting wines.
Just a bit north Goosecross is another small family place with a short walk and a fun tasting room. The view is different here with the valley rising on both sides before you walk past the fermentation tanks into the barrel room to enjoy the wonderful variety of wines. For a bigger winery the new facility at Silver Oak is grand, all of those great stone blocks and stained glass. Those big, hefty Cab blends warm the soul on a cool, wet day.
A little farther north the inside tasting room at Mumm Napa is delightful in the cool weather, with its glass walls and comfy seating. Sparkling wines always stimulate the conversation and their world class photography gallery needs to be visited. Bring a glass of wine with you. Almost forgot! They have one of the most fun gift shops in the valley. Just to the south of them on the Silverado Trail ZD winery has a beautiful tasting room, high, airy and still cozy.
North of St. Helena the Rombauer winery is a just a short walk from the lot and the views from the covered porch are great, although so is their wine. Across the way Failla’s by appointment sit down tasting in their cozy cottage of their Pinots, Chards and Syrahs is perfect on a rainy day.
Around Calistoga the Summer Winery is such a homey place to taste, relaxed, delicious with the feeling of authentic wine country without the airs and ego that often fly around the valley. Surprisingly the four big destination wineries around Calistoga, Sterling, Clos Pegase, Schramsberg and the Castello de Amorosa are not great rainy day locations. They all depend on a lot of time outside. In that neighborhood we much prefer Frank Family, or Cuvaison, or even Revana with their by appointment tasting in their elegant little salon.
So much of wine country is made up of small, family wineries that finding places with a short walk and a cozy fire place is pretty easy. The tasting rooms are dry and the wine is wet, and when the mists cling to the verdant green hills of Napa you would think you were in Ireland, if the Irish grew grapes.
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