Napa Valley Weekend Wine Tasting Guide

You’ve heard of Napa Valley. You’ve probably tried some of the region’s unmatched cabernets and chardonnays, pinot noirs and sauvignon blancs.

If you’ve been craving a visit to one of the world’s most renowned wine regions, you’ve come to the right place! With hundreds of the wineries and vineyards to choose from, we know it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the options before you.

We’ve assembled a list of just a few of our favorites in Napa Valley, so read on for a head start planning your trip.

Traveling with Wine

Before we jump into our favorite Napa wineries, we’re going to give you a pro tip that will make your visit much easier. If you’re anything like us, you’ll want to take home a bottle or two (or three) of your favorites from each stop along your tasting journey. If you’re traveling by air, you might have wondered how you’ll safely get those prized bottles home.

During our last trip to wine country, we quickly realized after our first tasting that we would need to either: a) ditch the clothes that we brought with us or b) purchase a separate suitcase to transport our wine. We agreed on a second suitcase (because we like our clothes), but wondered how we’d protect the bottles. We could snag some towels from our hotel, or use our clothing to wrap them, but what if they were to break during travel like in the past (a story for another time)?

To our relief, our friend Amber Moshin of Moshin Vineyards helped us solve this conundrum.

The answer? The Wine Check.

The Wine Check is Federal Aviation Administration approved, and can hold up to a full case of wine. The best part? It stays under the 50-pound airline weight list for checked baggage, even when fully packed with 12 bottles! We typically fly Southwest and check two bags, so we could bring along the Wine Check without incurring any additional fees. Score!

The sturdy red nylon bag includes adjustable straps and a reinforced handle with easy-roll wheels. The Wine Check includes a styrofoam shipper box, a carton and a 3oz cold pack.

We recommend ordering your Wine Check before your next trip to wine country. You can order yours by clicking here!

Wine Tasting in Napa Valley

The Napa Classic: Beringer Vineyards

If you’re looking for the classic, quintessential Napa Valley experience, let Beringer Vineyards be your first stop. Known for their big and bold California cabernets and chardonnays, Beringer has a rich history in Napa and several award-winning vintages to back it up.

As you approach the vineyard, you’ll drive along a narrow, winding road through a grove of old growth California oak trees. On your left, you’ll pass the Rhine House—a breathtaking Victorian constructed in 1884 as an homage to the Beringer brother’s childhood home along the Rhine River in Germany.

For your first foray into Beringer’s vast history and range, go for a tasting at the Rhine House on its picturesque veranda. The structure is a masterpiece with 17 rooms, coal-burning fireplaces, original stained glass windows, detailed brickwork, and gables and turrets that all showcase the very best of Victorian architecture.

Our visits to California wineries and vineyards have taught us well, so we made sure to arrive 30 minutes ahead of time for an opportunity to take in the magical property before our reservation. Do the same! Stop for a glass of Beringer sauvignon blanc to sip while you stroll around the sensory gardens, as well through as the towering redwood grove planted by the Beringer brothers themselves in the 1880s.

The highlights of our tasting included Beringer’s 2019 Private Reserve chardonnay—an absolute masterpiece made in the style of a white Burgundy with the richness of a Montrachet. Delicately oaked for a touch of vanilla and spice, this white has gorgeous roundness without being too buttery. On the nose, we found aromas of citrus and honeysuckle, followed by crème brûlée and lemon curd on the palate and a long, lush finish.

The 2016 private reserve cabernet sauvignon was a juicy, full-bodied showstopper that we knew would only get better with age. We took a bottle home and can’t wait to pair it with a slow-cooked beef bourguignon with truffle pomme purée.

Read more about our visit to Beringer Vineyards here.

The Fantasy: Castello di Amorosa

Napa Valley locals refer to Castello di Amorosa simply as “the castle.” The winery’s stunning focal point is an authentic 121,000 square foot 13th century medieval Tuscan castle, with four levels aboveground and four cellar levels below.

Castello di Amorosa represents a truly unique marriage of old with new—and a visit to this one-of-a-kind winery is a must, especially for those who appreciate medieval architecture. We highly recommend the “Diamond Estate Tour and Reserve Wine Tasting” to get the full experience of the castle and their superb wines. You don’t want to miss out on a tour of the torture chamber!

Everything about the building is true to medieval architecture. The stones were imported from Europe, and the construction was done using old-school methods to ensure authenticity. It really is a breathtaking step way back in time, and unlike any other structure here in the United States.

In the tasting room, the 2019 dry gewürztraminer was our favorite of the white wines. Gewürztraminer literally translates to “spicy grape of Tramin,” and this wine lives up to the name. It’s dry but at the same time fruit-forward and tropical, showcasing floral aromatics and just a touch of funk on the finish.

Of the reds, we loved the 2015 La Castellana, translating to “lady of the castle.” The voluptuous super Tuscan blend has a superb balance of silkiness and power, with dark fruit alongside sweet raisins and warm spice. We took a bottle of this home to save for a special occasion, keeping its strong potential for aging in mind.

The 2019 La Fantasia Frizzante-Style Rosé is an Italian-style soft sparkling wine and was a delightful surprise ending to our tasting. We don’t usually go for sweet wines, but we found this wine to be balanced and bright enough to change our minds. It’s a definite crowd-pleaser and might even change the minds of people who have sworn off sweet wines (hint: us)! That’s what we love about tasting wines—you never know what might surprise you. This rosé is a welcome addition to our collection!

Read more about our experience at Castello di Amorosa here.

The Upstart: Smith Devereux Winery

California Date Night is all about adventure and trying new things, and we know our readers are out to do the same. When seeking out new wines, we love finding winemakers who embody this spirit. We found them at Smith Devereux.

The wine makers are as dynamic as they are passionate about making wines that are approachable, balanced and inviting. If you’re curious about the up-and-coming in Napa, we highly recommend reserving a tasing with Ian White at Smith Devereux’s sustainably-farmed vineyard in the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley (just outside of downtown Napa).

Ian is fun, vibrant, down-to-earth—just like his wines. We love that he’s out to create exciting and impressive award-winning wines at approachable price points. The vineyard is home to their prized cabernet sauvignon grapes. Those grapes have proven fruitful—recently receiving double gold notoriety with their 2016 Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon.

We started bright the 2020 Charismatic Fool— a playful, delicate and fruity sparkling rosé. It was crisp and dry, with notes of citrus and stone fruit thanks to its sauvignon blanc presence. This is a ‘must have’ in your wine fridge and guaranteed to be the highlight at a gathering with family and friends.

The 2018 SB white blend— a two gold-medal winner at the 2020 East Meets West Wine Competition—is not to be missed! It’s bright and refreshing, but also perfectly rounded, complex and lush on the palate from its muscat presence, bringing forward notes of tropical guava. The blend was born of feedback from their wine club members expressing their interest in lighter, more tropical wines in lieu of traditional Napa Valley chardonnays. We appreciated its crowd-pleasing potential, and can’t wait to serve it as a white option for our next dinner party.

The 2017 IBEX single vineyard merlot comes from sustainably-farmed, hand-picked grapes in the famed St. Helena AVA (American Viticulture Area). It’s a single-vineyard iteration of 100% merlot—pretty unique for Napa! The IBEX, which has won 16 gold medals in only three vintages, is vibrant and complex with notes of juicy dark fruit and soft black pepper. It’s memorable, and we can’t wait for the next vintage to roll out.

Smith Devereux has something more than wine up their sleeves: the Gran Paradiso Brandy is their first foray into spirits, with nearly ten years in the making. We found notes of caramel, campfire and spice, thanks to its finishing in the winery’s IBEX merlot barrels. Only 300 bottles were made from a single barrel, and Ian and his team corked and sealed them by hand.

Ian delivers a world-class experience, so much so that we are now members of the wine club.

Read more about our time at Smith Devereux here.

Storing Your Wine

When we got home from our last trip to wine country, we ran into another dilemma: storage.

Historically, we’ve stored our wine in two places. Bottles we planned to open within a few weeks lived in a wooden wine cabinet in our living room. Wines that we planned to lay away for a while went in a box in the garage, which sits below our home and generally maintains a 60 degree temperature (give or take 5 degrees). This temperature is doable, but not the best when aging stellar bottles for the long haul. Living in San Diego has many benefits, including the year-round moderate weather. We live 10 minutes from the beach, so our home generally stays cool throughout the year—until it doesn’t.

Our strategy has worked well enough for a few years, but we didn’t want to take any chances that a wild weather swing might damage our building collection. We decided it was time to invest in a wine refrigerator.

We searched for a fridge that could hold at least 36 bottles, maintain a consistent temperature (hint: a door that seals properly), is energy efficient (for the climate and my utility bill), runs quietly and looks sleek.

After reviewing at least two dozen wine options, we ultimately landed on the 51 Bottle Single Zone Freestanding Wine Refrigerator by Ivation.

We’ve had this wine fridge for about a month, and it meets all the marks and more. The seal on the door is tight, and the temperature has stayed consistent at a cool 55 degrees.

Of note: the refrigerator is promoted to hold up to 51 bottles, but we know that there are so many different bottle shapes that take up various amounts of space. We estimate that the fridge will safely hold about 40 bottles of varying shape and size, and that works perfectly for us.

It’s also worth mentioning that this fridge is deep and needs about 6” of space from the back of the unit to the wall. We did not measure prior to ordering (rookie mistake!) and the unit stuck out too far where we originally planned on keeping it. We ended up finding space in our home office, and all is well. The bottom line is that measuring to ensure proper fit in your ideal space is a must. All-in-all, we love this fridge and our storage problem is officially solved!

Final Word

There’s so much to learn, explore and taste in Napa Valley. We compiled this guide with our best tips in mind. We can’t wait to hear about your visit!