#Wine Tours

Napa Wineries With Magnificent Views

by Javy on 2023-01-30 in Filed Under: Activities in Napa

Napa Valley has almost 500 wineries, but not every winery affords the visitor an experience that brings delight to all the senses. Our beautiful valley is sandwiched between the Mayacamas and the Vaca mountain ranges and it is these topographical features what allows for a huge range of micro-climates and terroirs that consistently render superior wines.

A few weeks ago I hosted a guest whose is passionate about landscape photography. Personally, I often find myself taking shots of nature, attempting to capture the beauty of flowers and the details that make each visit magic. Our guest challenged us with a question that I now feel must be documented so we can all benefit from our insider’s knowledge.

Which Wineries in Napa Afford The Most Imposing Views?

Take note my friends; my husband and I have spent the last decade scouting old and new Napa wineries to identify the best wines, most warm hospitality & most delightful landscapes. We are sharing our findings with you; and we can’t wait to include one or several in a future itinerary. One thing to keep in mind is that many of these wineries are literally top of the mountain and as such it is best to have an adequate vehicle and good knowledge of the treacherous and small roads that lead to the top.

Lobo Wines

We picked Lobo for having a glorious view from Atlas peak where they grow their most selective varietals which must be handled and harvested by hand due to the complexities of the terrain. Their artisanal wines are consistently great. Victoria Coleman, their winemaker is the first black woman to graduate from the UC Davis viticulture and enology program. Victoria’s wines are absolutely delightful.

Let’s head to Lobo, visit with their proprietors and enjoy a down-to-earth tasting that will remind you of all that is beautiful.

OVID Napa Valley

Do you enjoy organic wines? If you do, you won’t want to miss out on this gem. OVID is iconic, very approachable and majestic beyond words. Atop Pritchard Hill OVID is literally a slice of heaven. When we visit OVID together we want you to taste their Cab Franc. Hexameter is like no other. Grab your glass, walk the vineyards and take a photo. The views from Pritchard are without question a poem for the eyes and the soul.

Aonair Wines

Remember I mentioned the importance of a good vehicle and a very experienced driver? Aonair is one of those Napa destinations that will test your driving skills. Quoting directly from their website: ” Down a long country road lined with tattered fences and mossy boulders, amidst old oaks surrounded by vineyards, through tall grasses that give way to dusty dirt roads and ranches, and over a stream that blossoms into a lake, Aonair’s story begins…”.

In my opinion Aoinair is one of the most romantic and picturesque wineries in Napa. It is both elegant and approachable and their wines are complex, memorable and beautiful. My personal wine library features many of their wines.

Diamond Mountain Vineyard

At the peak of Diamond Mountain there is a hidden gem. This treasure above the clouds is among my favorite places in the world. Getting to Diamond Mountain is no easy feat but you will enjoy every second of your visit. This is the kind of place that takes your Instagram to the next level. Yes, their wines are first class and their hospitality is delightful but I assure you you will remember each breath you take and your eyes will see beauty unimaginable.

I still have a few more majestic wineries I want to share with you, but for now this sampling should help guide your next visit to Napa. Call us to reserve your dates. Talk to our head concierge about potential add-ons such as picnics catered by private chefs or opportunities to stay at selected wineries.

We can’t wait to host your next luxury tour in Napa.

Much Love

The NPT Team

How Much Should I Budget For a Wine Tasting Trip to Napa?

by Javy on 2022-03-16 in Filed Under: Uncategorized

This is a pretty common question and one that has multiple answers. Because our area of expertise is luxury Napa experiences we want to help you get a better picture of how much to budget to fully maximize your experience.

If you are here, visiting our page it is very likely that you are not new to wine tasting. In fact, the majority of our customers have visited the California Wine Country three or more times and are now looking for an upgraded experience that will help them deepen their wine knowledge and will allow them to garner some of the most exclusive boutique and cult wines available in the valley. With this in mind I will try to answer the most common questions we receive via our concierge informational email:

Should I hire a private driver when visiting Napa?

There are many options when visiting the valley. Some people Uber, others resort to using the wine train and there are some daring parties that visit wineries while riding their bicycles and motorcycles. Hiring a professional wine touring company in Napa affords you and yours several advantages, among them the freedom to drink as you please knowing that you will not get a DUI or jeopardize the safety and health of others. A professional driver ensures timely arrival to wine tastings. It is not uncommon for those using Uber to have tasting reservations canceled due to late arrival. For us, our work is not simply to drive our guests from point A to point B. We strive to make every single minute experiential and delightful. Our luxury vehicles are comfortable, well cared for and always stocked with delightful surprises. Our commitment to superior hospitality has kept us among the top ten luxury touring companies in Napa.

How much will I end up paying for a private vehicle and driver in Napa?

Luxury experiences range between $80 to $200 or more per hour depending on the size of your party. Experienced wine collectors generally spend three to four days in Napa and utilize their hired vehicle and driver for 6-10 hours per day. Gasoline surcharges are one-time fees added on top of the hourly rate and tips are never included. Tolls, parking fees and other charges are inclusive to the hourly rates featured by Napa wine touring services.

What about the cost of hotels and lodging in Napa?

In reviewing the historical data and preferences of our client portfolio we identified the following preferences when it comes to picking a place to stay in Napa: Couples often select luxury hotels such as Bardesonno, Solage, Chandler Hotel, McClelland House, Poetry Inn, Auberge du Soleil, Meadowood, Four Seasons and Vintage House. Guests can expect to pay between $500 to $1500 per night depending on the season. Larger parties with four or more often select exclusive catered residential lodging often integral to luxury vineyards and available only to their best buyers. These properties feature comforts such as private chefs, butlers, in-house sommeliers and dedicated staff. These properties offer significant privacy and confidentiality rates ranging from $2500 to $10,000 per night. Certain wineries will offer complimentary stays to wine collectors and wine investors when their visit is fully focused on purchasing new vintages to add to their library.

So, How Much Should We Budget for Dining In Napa?

At the core, Napa is all about eating and drinking. Experiencing superior food is essential to the experience. If you are here you will not want to miss the opportunity to visit several Michelin-rated restaurants. Your visit is also a great opportunity to explore upcoming culinary stars freshly graduated from the Culinary Institute of America. Many of our top restaurants require reservations six to eight months in advance. In Napa, lunch tends to be a more casual affair, usually satisfied by grabbing a gourmet sandwich. The wine cellars featured at top restaurants in Napa are nothing short of delightful. If the plan is to dine out and explore top-rated Napa restaurants we estimate that you need to budget about $300 to $500 per day per person. This estimate is inclusive of wines and cocktails. If instead, your arrangement includes the use of a private residence, the cost per cover for a four course chef-prepared meal is usually in the neighborhood of $200 per person. Having a private chef host your in-residence dinner is a fantastic opportunity to enjoy the wines you have purchased during your tastings.

How Much Will I Spend Purchasing Wine?

As a luxury transportation provider we have selected our fleet with the idea that we will carry multiple cases of wine for your party. Highly rated Napa wines start at about $75, wines with ratings between 97 to 100 are in the neighborhood of $360 per bottle. Cult wines, when available, will go for over $1000 per bottle. Our wine coach can help you select wine that is likely to add value to your wine library while staying within a target budget. We spend significant time doing research and tasting wines from small and newly discovered wineries; hidden treasures that will impress and surprise all your guests and associates. One thing to note is that many high-end wineries will waive your tasting fees when you make a significant purchase. We suggest a minimum of six bottles. About four times per year my husband and I spend full weekends visiting wineries to restock our personal wine library; on average we purchase three to six cases. This ensures we have enough wine to share with a little extra to collect allowing it to age to perfection.

How Much Will I Pay For a Tasting?

The pandemic resulted in increased demand for California wines; with increased demand the price for wine and tastings is not what it used to be. Tastings for small boutique wineries are in the neighborhood of $70 per person. High-end wineries can cost as much as $250. While we are happy to share the price of tastings it is important to note that most of our clients have their tasting fees waived given the size and nature of their purchases.

Should I join a wine club or several?

The main reason to join a wine club is having access to wine allocations. Our recommendation is that you only join clubs from wineries that fully align with your tasting preferences. That is, you find all of their wines to be magnificent. Joining a club comes with a variety of perks aside from allocation access. Our favorite and most important perk is having access to their harvest parties and special events. Before you join, ask me, my husband or Cynthia. We will do our best to point you in the right direction.

What is The Cost of a Pick Up When Arriving via Charter Flight?

Napa Private Tours provides confidential transportation for VIP customers arriving via private plane at our hourly rate. If your party requires an additional vehicle for luggage and gear we are happy to coordinate additional transport. Similarly, we will ensure your wine purchases are ready to be transported or we will make arrangements to securely ship your purchases.

I am typing these notes to paint a clearer picture of the costs associated with visiting Napa Valley. Please keep in mind that our data assumes your goal is to have experiences that are exclusive, and you are accustomed to receiving five-star service. There are many ways to visit California Wine Country. The approach that you take will impact costs as well as the quality of your experience. Napa Private Tours has been in the business of excellence and luxury for over ten years. The data shared within this FAQ is based on data compiled from our client portfolio.

As always, my husband and I are eager to host you. Let us put together a Napa experience you will always remember.

Always Yours

Javy

A Story About Barrels, Friendship & The Mysteries and Flavors Imparted by Both

by nptadmin on 2021-12-14 in Filed Under: Barrel Making

This post has been months if not years in the making. Partly, because of the complexity of the topic and partly because it seems; as hard as a try there is always something more to learn.

If my husband or I host you with frequency there is a good chance you have visited Caldwell Vineyard. Afterall; John Caldwell is indeed a legend and meeting him truly adds dimension to your wine experience. When John is not available to host you may just get lucky enough to visit Ramiro Herrera the in-house Master Cooper.

It is about Ramiro and his craftsmanship and trade that I have been meaning to write for a long time. Ramiro has the peculiar task of fabricating the barrels used to age Caldwell wine. Barrel-making or cooperage is a centuries old art that is quickly disappearing. There was a time in which barrels made of various woods were the main means of storage for shipment as well as land storage. Historians tell us that barrels were designed to be dry for the storage of goods that were not easily damaged by humidity, Drytight for water-sensitive goods like flour or sugar and wet, which is the only barrel tradition that remains. Wet barrels, the kind utilized for the fermentation and aging of wine and spirits generally require deep artistry and technical knowledge. Cooperage is a trade learned not through schooling but rather through a rigorous process of apprenticeship. Becoming a master cooper demands a deep love for woodworking, a strong understanding of nature and a tremendous olfactory talent able to predict the potential of wood through the curing process and throughout the toasting process.

Out of professional curiosity and shared passions I have made it a point to spend time with Ramiro listening and observing. The time spent together gives me a profound appreciation for the way a barrel influences the flavor and consistency of wines. In fact, about 50% of what we recognize as flavor in a wine is not the result of the fruit, the yeast, the terroir or any other factor involved in wine making. Half of the flavors come from the barrel. Within the oak there are endless nuances that are released to perfection when a Master Cooper carefully toasts the wood. Flavors like vanilla, mocha, coffee, chocolate and coconut as well as tannic characteristics are released from the wood when exposed to carefully managed flame. By the way, the fire toasting the barrel is made exclusively from the same pieces of the oak left from shaping the staves that make up the barrel.

I was feeling geeky so I opened a book I received as a gift that talks about the art of barrel toasting. I decided it would be good to share with you so we can geek out together. In oak barrels you will find the following flavors:

Oak lactones: The two main aroma constituents of raw oak, often described as fresh oak or coconut.
Vanillin: A phenolic aldehyde resulting from lignin degradation. It is the main aroma compound of natural vanilla.
Eugenol: Volatile phenol produced in the oxidative breakdown of lignin during air drying; possessing spicy, clove aromas.
Guaiacol: Volatile phenols, resulting from further thermal degradation of phenolic aldehydes, with smoky aromas, char aromas, spicy characters.
Furfural: Produced by the degradation of carbohydrates by heat during barrel toasting. These compounds possess aromas of butterscotch, light caramel, and faint almond. Barrels should be carefully selected for a specific purpose.
Spirits/Wine: Used oak will also impart flavors of it’s previous life.

If nothing else, this list will prove useful when trying to impress your friends when you are partaking of lovely wines together.

Ramiro discovered his passion as a tonnelier while working at Seguin Moreau, his gifts and inclination for the trade did not go unnoticed and he was promptly sent to France to apprentice under the very best. His four-year apprenticeship had a cohort of forty. At the end of the training only two of the forty apprentices that had started acquired sufficient expertise to receive the title of Master Cooper. This my friends, is a personal achievement comparable with graduating from an Ivy League institution at the very top of your class!

There are endless aspects of Ramiro’s journey that mimic mine. He is a self-made man whose skills have flourished through sacrifice. He is deeply in love with his profession and is always looking for ways to improve in what is already a superior product. As the only Master Cooper of Mexican-American ethnicity he is a role model to many and a man of great generosity always willing to teach and reach out.

Making barrels is no easy feat. For starters, barrel makers engage in bidding to purchase 100+ year old logs from selected forests in France. Once logs are secured they are shipped and prepped for a 2 year curing process aimed at drying of the wood to diminish tanic characteristics as well as the absorption of microbes that will ultimately shape the flavor of the wine. This is just the beginning. Once the wood is cured the Master Cooper must carefully shape the staves in a multitude of widths to facilitate the curvature and bending of the barrel which will be shaped through the tightening of steel ropes and held by hoops which in the past were made of flexible wood known as withies but are now made through the forging of iron. The structure of the barrel must allow for expansion and contraction of the wood while remaining impermeable.

I am a curious person and always eager to learn. That means I could potentially write a book just based on all the amazing conversations and time spent in Ramiro’s workshop. Instead, and in order to give him a personal voice so you can get to know him better I decided to ask him a few questions. My hope is that you too get to know and understand the essentiality of his work in the making of consistent and flavorful wines.

How about you join me on this post so you can get to know Ramiro better as we chat with him about barrel-making

Click here for a really fun Q & A with Ramiro

Desparada Wines, A Love Letter to Paso Robles & All That Remains to Be Discovered

by nptadmin on 2021-10-09 in Filed Under: Wineries

It has been unusually hot in Napa. The weather, combined with a busy touring season has tamed us into homebodies and we find ourselves frequently enjoying quiet summer evenings at home, resting and recharging. For us, that means late nights under the stars where we partake of lovely libations and vegetables from our garden, crudité style.

Our cellars are abundant and varied, a testament to the many friends that have loved us throughout the years. The best of their harvests awaits for just the right occasion. Recently our lucky stars and a bit of serendipity led us to Vailia, winemaker of Desparada Wines in Paso Robles. It would take days to describe her aura, strength and beauty so I will skip that part; afterall it is my hope that you get to visit her and you can then personally experience the exuberance of her energy. Instead, I will focus on the magic and beauty of exploring the nuances resulting from fermentation of whites in a variety of vessels. Vailia gifted us with some of her masterpieces allowing us to have a side-by-side tasting that made our taste buds dance.

You see, Vailia’s winemaking style is playful and exploratory. Her wines push the limits and deliver radical beauty inside and out, the bottles and labels are insanely gorgeous and full of femininity. The wine is absolutely memorable.

Now, let me tell you something: The place where we rest and grow, defines our character. This is true to men as it is to wine. As my husband and I enjoyed each of the six wines featured in Desparada’s Summer Wine Collection we could not help it but be surprised by each sip. All but one of her Summer offerings are Sauvignon Blancs with the exception being a 2019 Chenin Blanc named Shell Creek; and here is where the magic begins. Cigare oak, Acacia, French Oak and even concrete serve as the resting place for her wine collection where they age sur lie under her watchful eye. The result: Delight, utter delight! I don’t even have the right words.

While we have no plan to expand our touring operation to Paso Robles we feel we would be selfish not to tell you about this gem. When it comes to women winemakers, Vailia is a super star. We are 100% confident that you will find her wine worthy of your personal wine library.

As I sat here scribbling these musings I reached out to Vailia and asked if we could do something extra for our customers. She came through with a surprising gift. If you are coveting her Summer collection please take advantage of a special 20% discount using coupon code NPT Please note that your wine won’t be shipped until environmental conditions are such that the integrity of the wine is fully preserved. For some of our friends in the south you may have to wait until November. I hear the temperatures in Texas, Florida and Louisiana are crazy

Care to stock up with their red wines? Try Soothsayer or Pegasi from their Fall collection. Fully endorsed by me. I know you will love it.

Head here to learn more about Desparada Wines https://www.desparada.com

XOXO

Javy

When Two Are Better Than One

by nptadmin on 2021-07-15 in Filed Under: Activities in Napa

Touring Napa with Javier Calderon X 2

A couple of weeks ago we had the fantastic opportunity to scout several wineries with a commonality that made our hearts smile and our mouths water. In an effort to design upgraded tours for wine buyers with significant libraries we visited wineries where Phillipe Melka is their wine maker. There are no words to describe the quality and beauty of the time we spent with some of the finest in Napa. At a later time I will share details of our experience and will give you some ideas on how we can help you design a wine tour and buying experience focused on specific wine makers.

For now, I wanted to pause for a moment to talk about my husband. If you have visited us in the last three years there is a good chance he was your host and that means that you most likely experienced touring perfection. Flako, as we all know him is obsessive about delivering the very best. He simply does not miss a beat.

The title of this post may have you wondering. You see, during our time visiting partners it was not uncommon for our winery hosts to raise their eyebrows when receiving our business cards. Here is the thing, Flako and I have many things in common but one of the most peculiar is the fact that we share first and last name. Yes, when you ask you be hosted by Javier Calderon you will be given two choices. Flako or I. We are both in love with Napa, passionate about wine and deeply in love with the idea of delivering the best possible Napa wine touring experience. But this post is not about me. This post is about Flako.

For years, all of us begged Flako to leave his 9 to 5 job in finance and join us. We knew that adding him to our team would be incredibly beneficial but we had no idea to what level. Three years ago he made the switch and we cannot begin to describe how his contributions positively impact our ability to deliver memory-making tours. His ample network has given us access to some of the most exclusive wineries in Napa. You see, Flako has a long history in the area and has throughout the years loved and served his community. His Rolodex is something to behold and a testament to his tender affection to all manner of people which has given us a golden key to many beautiful wine experiences in Napa that would be otherwise beyond our reach. He is for lack of a better word magical.

So wether you tour Javier Calderon or Javier Calderon 2.0 you can rest assured we will do everything in our power to feed your sense of discovery and adventure, delight your palate and make you, at least for a moment forget about the burdens and worries of this life by taking care of absolutely every detail.

Thank you for stopping by our page and taking time to hear me blab. I am deeply proud of my husband Flako and thank God every single day for the way he makes our little company twice as good.

XOXO

Javy