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Luxury Wine Tours in Napa-How to Do it the Right Way

by nptadmin on 2015-03-31 in Filed Under: Wine Tours

On a regular basis we receive referrals from five star hotels in Napa looking for a transportation company that is able to handle VIP guests with discretion and flawless service. When it comes to marketing wine experiences we tend to agree with many critics that feel the word luxury is used way too frequently causing a great deal of dissapointment for wine buyers and collectors that are not only looking for the best and most exclusive wines but also seek out experiences that allow them to learn directly from winery owners, wine consultants and wine producers that truly take pride in every step of the art of wine making.

As we sat in our weekly meeting putting together wine tour itineraries for guests with superior appreciation of wine we had to challenge ourselves to deliver a true luxury experience in wine touring. Guests of such caliber are seeking opportunities to be the first to taste and purchase the finest wines that Napa has to offer and want to do so in a setting that is beautiful, conducive to full appreciation of each glass and intimate enough to understand what took place behind the scenes to make each wine possible. A wine after all, must always have a story.

While this list is not all-inclusive and does not take into account individual preferences of the more refined palate we wanted to share with you some of the wineries and restaurants we have included as part of the wine and dine touring plan for our VIPs.

Keep in mind some of the venues we are listing are in high demand and only cater to a limited number of guests by appointment only. For gastronomical experiences some of the restaurants we have listed are often fully booked up to 90 days in advance.

If you are hoping to have us craft a multi-day wine tour experience in Napa that includes some of the highlighted venues please plan to book in advance. We are highly relational with some of these partners and sometimes can take advantage of a last minute cancellation but we rather plan ahead to ensure you and your guests have a delightful experience and the opportunity to source some of the best wine in the world.

Vineyard 29

An absolute favorite of ours. If you love Pinot Noir consider adding a few cases of their 2011 vintage to your collection.

Dancing Hares Vineyard

A highly exclusive winery with superior wines that consistently rank among the best. Their level of hospitality during private wine tastings is simply the stuff dreams are made of.

Bure Family Wine

If you are planning on a multi-day luxury wine tour you might want to include Bure. There is some travel involved but you won’t regret it. The route is scenic and it will allow for you and your guests to engage in conversation and compare notes from prior tastings.

Constant Vineyard

Words cannot begin to describe the beauty and view from this boutique vineyard. Small in size but large in character their wines are so coveted you need to sign into a waiting list for future vintages.

Gastronomical Adventures

The culinary landscape in Napa is not only seductive is highly coveted and features both classical cuisine and chefs with the gift for culinary innovation. Among our top picks these restaurants stand out for excellence in service and perfection in execution.

The Restaurant at Meadowood

The written language cannot capture the magic at Meadowood. Most of you have read about it or heard your friends describe the seductive qualities of the cuisine offered by the Meadowood culinary team.

French Laundry

The brainchild of Chef Thomas Keller this culinary experience is essential to the bucket list of real foodies. A stop at French Laundry is an experience and not simply a meal.

Give us a call or email us to discuss your wine touring preferences and help you book a true luxury wine tour of Napa.

Cheers!

Javy, David & Jona

The Ultimate Napa Experience-Tour Napa with a Winemaker

by nptadmin on 2015-03-20 in Filed Under: Wine Tours

As Movie Stars are to Hollywood, winemakers are to wine country; Some storytellers will describe them as Rockstars of the wine industry, while some will contradictorily say that the position is a glorified plumber. From world renowned wine consultants of Cult Wine brands to humble wine producing farmers, Napa Valley has a vast array of winemakers & stories to share. At Napa Private Tours, we’re very excited to have our own winemaker on-board to show you Wine Country from a producer’s standpoint.

Our winemaker David James has been producing his own premium rosé wine for the past four vintages now for DEFINE Wines (website link). He has moved around Napa Valley producing his wines at the Mondavi Family, Trefethen Family, Laird Family & Spelletich Family Wineries. David James moved to Napa Valley from Boston, MA to follow a vision he saw while visiting Italian Wine Country & wanted to get involved with the wine industry as soon as possible. After his years of studying wine chemistry & winery apprenticeships he set-off with a business plan & has been building a wine brand from the ground up.

When we tell you that we know Napa inside out and we are eager to share the most exclusive wine touring experiences we are not exaggerating. Napa Private Tours is a project rooted in a deep love for wine production and David James exemplifies it.

We’re very excited to have winemaker David James on the Napa Private Tours’ team to offer you an insiders view of starting a winery & producing premium wine in the world famous Napa Valley.

Cheers! Reserve your tour with David James today by contacting us at concierge@napaprivatetours.com.

Want to learn more about David James & Define Wines? Visit him at www.definewines.com

Best Wine Tours in Napa?

by nptadmin on 2015-03-14 in Filed Under: Wine Tours

We are surprised by number of wine tour operators and travel organizations that claim to know who is the best wine tour in Napa. To us a single wine tour cannot be qualified as the best mainly because we don’t believe in cookie cutter wine tours. Food & Wine ran an article featuring a collection of wineries they perceived to be the top wineries to visit in Napa and I can’t help it but agree with some of their picks. But before you add every single winery listed on this slideshow to your bucket list let me remind you that wine is a very personal and experiential luxury.

To us, crafting the best wine tours in Napa is about getting to know our guests and tailoring the wine tour to their taste, passions and wine collecting objectives. We are able to achieve the ultimate in personalization by carefully interviewing each potential guest and for lack of a better word pairing people with amazing wine experiences that speak to every sense.

When we plan your wine tour in Napa, we take into account, among other things the following:

Are you a first-timer looking for discovery?
Are you entertaining a corporate client or incentivizing your employees with a wine tour?
Do you have a clearly defined preference for certain types of wine?
Are you a wine collector looking to diversify your cellar?
Are you in town looking to buy wine cases to celebrate a special occasion?
Celebrating a special occasion or milestone?
Is your wine tour the backdrop of a marriage proposal?

Our team meets a couple of times per week to evaluate guest interviews and try to match you with the best and most beautiful wineries and the most coveted wines. As a boutique wine tour operator we want your experience to be so beautiful and memorable that you will want to repeat it year after year. Jona, David and I are dedicated to hosting five star wine tours and want every guest to fall in love with Napa and all that it has to offer.

Looking forward to your visit,

Javy

The Art & Science of Pruning The Vine

by nptadmin on 2015-03-10 in Filed Under: Vineyards

The grapevine is a climbing plant that originally grew in trees. Left to its own devices, it tends to grow horizontally, because the first buds to burst are generally the ones at the very end of the cane tips. The vines should therefore always be pruned, to counter the tendency of rampant growth; otherwise, it weakens the structure of the plant—the vine becomes fragile, difficult to tend, and unable to bear high-quality fruit.
If the vines are not pruned, then the risk of fungal diseases also rises significantly. More and more buds sprout, and the number of shoots and bunches of grapes increases. The shoots get thinner, the grapes get smaller, and quality can suffer considerably as a result.

Pruning influences both the quantity and quality of the yield, by determining how many buds are allowed to remain on the vine. Each bud puts forth a shoot, which in turn bears up to three bunches of grapes. The level of productivity depends on the vine variety and on the location of the buds on the stock.
If the crop is large, then there may be too many bunches for the vine’s ability to photosynthesize. This results in an unfavorable leaf-to-fruit ratio and makes it difficult for the grapes to ripen. In addition, because the grapes are given priority access to nutrients, the vine itself is weakened, as it cannot build up much in the way of reserves. By contrast, if too few buds remain on the vine, then the plant does not have a sufficient outlet for its growth capabilities. Plant growth may be vigorous (with thick shoots), but the fruit crop will be insignificant. This makes no improvement to the quality of the grapes, but simply leads to a reduction in yield and income.

The art of vine pruning lies in finding the ideal compromise for an optimal crop. The general balance of the vine must be taken into account, to avoid an overly dense curtain of foliage. It is also important to limit the number of cuts made to the vine, because these are the entry points for diseases affecting the wood.
The timing of pruning influences the timing of budding. The experienced winegrower will prune as late as possible. Here, in Napa, pruning usually starts in February, but some wineries don’t prune until March. One thing is certain, however: it is vital to wait until all the leaves have fallen and the sap has retreated, because only then will the plant have finished storing up the reserves that will see it through winter and start growth again in spring. In Napa, where we have frost, it is advisable to delay budding for as long as possible. Consequently, sites at risk from late frost are the last to be pruned. Cane pruning is preferred in such areas because the buds on the ends of the canes are the first to burst, while the others do not come to life until somewhat later.
Pruning takes a long time, and if the wood is thick, it can be difficult and strenuous work. We thank the field workers for their hard work and commitment to high-quality product.
Although pruning partially determines future yield size, it is not an exact science. Numerous factors influence the fruitfulness of a particular bud, the success of flowering, and the other stages of the growth phase. If it becomes clear, after flowering, that the crop is too large, then individual flowerheads and bunches can always be removed at that point.

We invite you to join us in Napa where we will make every effort to give you a well-rounded perspective of what it takes to produce some of the best wines in the world.

Cheers!

Jona Mendoza Fabiani

Wine Coach

EDIT: Thanks to our friends at Young Inglewood Vineyards, here’s video from this spring’s pruning, courtesy of Mark Simon. Enjoy!

The Ultimate Snowmaggedon Guide for Pairing Wine with Soup (For Those of You Buried by the Snow)

by nptadmin on 2015-02-28 in Filed Under: Wine Pairings

Here in Napa Spring has sprung and we are starting to see the bud break but for some of you the snow has been relentless. We really wish we could ship a bit of sunshine your way, instead we are hoping to give you a hand by sharing a really neat infographic to help you pair wines with your favorite soups.

Enjoy!

Image credit: vinepair.com