Napa Valley provides tourists with year-round reasons to visit. Every year, over 3 million people visit the area, ranking it #2 in popular tourist destinations in California after Disneyland. It doesn’t take long to discover why.
For starters, all the festivals and tours are packed with variety and excitement. Wine tasting is no different and made all the more novel by being combined with other activities. Like other festivals, those involving both physical and mental sports, as well as other cultural events, wine tasting tours have become a source of great summer vacation enjoyment and are now fixtures in the Napa Valley.
Wine tasting is not simply about taking a sip of wine during a meal. Some people have become experts at pinpointing the origin of a wine and can even recognize the variety of grapes that have been used to make it. The ideal wine tasting characteristics include the ability to concentrate and have an unimpaired sense of smell and taste, as well as a quiet room and good lighting, are the first ingredients of an ideal wine tasting experience. There are plenty of opportunities for enthusiastic amateurs to taste wines, but before a novice embarks on a wine tasting tour, he needs to be aware of several things.
The correct shape of the glass will allow him/her to indulge fully in both the aroma and taste of the wines. Certain glass shapes work better for certain wines. For example, white wines are best served in smaller bowled glasses. This maintains a cooler temperature and preserves the floral aromas due to proximity to the nose. There is actually science behind the shape and size of the different components of a wine glass. The temperature of the wine is also important, hence the length of the stem, which allows the effects of the body temperature to be diminished if necessary.
Wine tasting tours have now expanded to become a comprehensive event, sometimes even becoming a history lesson. The tourist can learn about the blending, play winemaker, and even stomp grapes with their bare feet. For reasonably priced tickets, there are a huge number events on the Napa Valley Winery event calendar in which visitors can participate. One such event, Flavor! Napa Valley is an annual food extravaganza held in Napa and St. Helena. There, Michelin star chefs pair savory masterpieces with world-class California wines from numerous wineries. There are also cooking demonstrations alongside the chefs to improve a visitor’s culinary skills. Combining wine tasting with other events like music makes a trip to Wine Country all the more fulfilling.
The outstanding beauty of the fertile Napa Valley is the perfect backdrop for the quality wines that come from the 400-plus wineries. Which are the best Napa Valley wineries to visit, you might ask? “The best” is a subjective term. Some wineries make the top of a list for any number of reasons including the taste or the overall package being offered. While some people prefer small boutique wineries, others might prefer a lively venue with many amenities, such as restaurants and shops. Darioush Winery, Castello di Amorosa, and Inglenook Winery top lists for the quality taste of their wines, while larger wineries, such as Mondavi and Beringer, have more tasting and educational facilities if that is the desired experience. But if you prefer a smaller, more intimate tour to be closer to the owner of the winery, go for a more personal experience at Clos Pegase and Hess, where impressive art collections can be found. There is even a winery with evening horseback riding to go along with the wine tasting. Regardless of which winery an individual sees as “the best”, wines from the Napa Valley rank high worldwide.