Phelps Winery, Napa

[Rogelio]

Hi, I've been invited to visit Joseph Phelps' Winery in Santa Helena and was wondering if any of you have visted it.

Is it worth to make the whole trip up From San Francisco? How far is it?

Thanks in advance

[mike volker]

The trip is about two hours off rushhour. There aren't many wineries more worth visiting than Phelps, some of the best juice in the world. Make a day of it and visit a few more while you're there.

Best,

Mike

[melkor]

I've been to Phelps several times. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable, their tasting is more interesting than most in the area as they produce a wide variety of interesting wines - several Rhone blends, the usual California Cab/Chard/Merlot, a couple of dessert wines that even are reasonably age worthy, and their Insignia is one of the best large production Bordeaux style blends made in CA.

If the two-hour drive is worth it? That depends what else you planned to do that day. There are plenty of good restaurants in the area, and a visit to a couple of other wineries would make it well worth the trip.

[bilrus]

Phelps was the highlight of my two days in Napa in November 2003.

My wife and I signed up for a tasting class (it was our first time going to wineries). We ended up being the entire "class" and ended up with an extended tasting with several guides and several extra tastes on their hillside patio.

And the wine was very nice too.

[Bux]

Everything is relative. In this case it's relative to how much time you have in SF, your interest in the winery and it's wine, how you want to spend your time and perhaps even who invited you. I don't mean to be facetious about the latter, but there are at least three ways to visit many of the wineries. One is as a drop in while touring the area. Some wineries welcome that. Some are closed to walk ins. Those who make an appointment at most wineries will generally get a better grade of welcome, perhaps a more detailed tour and maybe even better wines to taste. Those who have access to an introduction at a high level may be treated royally at the winery. They'll get to taste some of the premium wines made by Phelps and it's a rewarding experience that would go far towards making it better than a day in SF, as nice a city as that is to visit.

I'd echo Melkor's suggestion about getting to see at least one other winery in the area and I'd look to get a reservation at the French Laundry if at all possible and stay the night in the area. The draw backs to my proposal are the expense of dinner at the French Laundry, not to mention the difficulty of getting a reservation, and the absolute need to rent a car for a day or two.

[ludja]

It's one of my favorite wineries to visit in Napa re: the quality of wines and the beauty and whole atmosphere of the winery. If you do go and have the time, drive at least one way on the Silverado Trail (smaller road on the East side of the valley rather than the main route; it is very picturesque). If I had time, two other wineries I'd check out up in the area are Provenance (cabernets) and Honig (carbernets, sauvignon blanc, late harvest s. blanc, by appt).

[Rogelio]

Thanks very much for your promptly answers, I'll definitely pay a visit to them.

I know the wines and the invitation was made by their european sales manager, but was wondering if it was a far trip and if the winery was worth the visiting as I'm going with the other half and she's not as food/wine obssesive as me and can get bored of so much wine talk.

But if the landscape and region are interesting we will be very pleased to spent a whole day in the wine area.

[Bux]

You should be able to work in a small detour and a few hours in a redwood forest park on the ay up or the way down. I'll have to check my maps. And if she doesn't like nature, there's art. Hess, a Swiss collector of modern and contemporary art has a winery, aptly named the Hess Collection. In addition to the winery, he's built a museum that displays rotating exhibits of the work he owns. Much of it is quite noteworthy.

In the meantime, we'll have to work on your other half.