The Napa Valley
California wines cover a wide spectrum - from high volume production and heavily-marketed brands to small individual producers. If you can avoid the hype, California and the Napa Valley (not Nappa Valley or Napper Valley), in particular, has much to offer the genuine wine enthusiast.
The Napa Valley, an hour's drive north of San Francisco, is considered by many to be California's leading wine area. There are nearly 300 wineries crowded into a valley about thirty miles long and just a few miles across. Many of these wineries are open to the public for wine tasting and vineyard tours. Some also offer accommodation, fine dining, art exhibitions and music. Most have wine clubs and will mail information about their latest wines to interested parties all over the world.
A number of companies organize Napa Valley excursions. However, probably the most interesting way to enjoy the area is to take a trip on the Napa Valley Wine Train. The Wine Train offers tours round the Napa Valley, including gourmet meals, on a train with a restored 1915 Pullman dining car and a 1950s observation car. Some excursions include stop-offs to visit to the Chandon or Grgich Hills wineries.
Some of the wineries have a touch of Disneyland about their buildings. The Beringer winery looks like a German gothic haunted house while Sterling Vineyards has a whitewashed Greek style. Unsurprisingly, the French chateau "look" is also represented; Niebaum-Coppola's Inglenook Chateau being a particularly fine example.
The Napa Valley is famous for its red wines, particularly Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, the best of which compete seriously with Bordeaux. However, most of the classic red and white grape varieties are grown in the area. An increasing amount of high quality sparkling wine is also being produced, as a result of investment by European champagne producers.
Whatever your favorite grape, the Napa Valley has much to offer the wine connoisseur!