With So Many Great Wineries in Napa, These Are a Few You Can Skip
More: Napa Valley Wineries for You to Visit
Sometimes Napa Valley wineries start out well. They're fun to visit, welcome everybody, and the word spreads. Unfortunately, things can go very wrong after a place has achieved a name.
The visitor who arrives two years after a location was proclaimed to be "the best" may wonder what happened. They find big crowds served by impersonal, hurried staff and wonder what all the fuss was ever about.
It's happened to me - more than once - and I'm here to try to keep it from happening to you. It's not that any of these places are terrible, but they are all too busy to pay attention to their visitors and often overrun by big tour groups.
If your heart is set on a visit to any of these wineries, don't let me stop you - but don't say we didn't warn you.
I really want to chalk this one up to someone having a bad day, but I'd feel bad if you had a similar experience and I didn't warn you. At the generally highly-rated Frank Family Vineyards, the person hosting the Reserve Tasting when I visited was also chewing tobacco and spitting into a bottle. Enough said.
Sometimes Napa Valley wineries start out well. They're fun to visit, welcome everybody, and the word spreads. Unfortunately, things can go very wrong after a place has achieved a name.
The visitor who arrives two years after a location was proclaimed to be "the best" may wonder what happened. They find big crowds served by impersonal, hurried staff and wonder what all the fuss was ever about.
It's happened to me - more than once - and I'm here to try to keep it from happening to you. It's not that any of these places are terrible, but they are all too busy to pay attention to their visitors and often overrun by big tour groups.
If your heart is set on a visit to any of these wineries, don't let me stop you - but don't say we didn't warn you.
- Beringer: Because of their white zinfandel's popularity, Beringer sometimes feels more like a crowded bus station than a relaxing wine country stop. Avoid the main tasting room and opt for a specialty tour instead.
- Robert Mondavi: To avoid a herd experience, choose something specialized from their wide variety of tours.
- Viansa: Once a lovely hilltop winery with a nice outdoor cafe now seems always overrun and I wonder why anyone stops there (except for the busloads who have no choice).
- V. Sattui: Once a great place for picnics on the lawn, these days it feels more like you're in the middle of a freeway, and they won't allow food brought in from outside.
- Francis Ford Coppola's Winery: When the famous film director opened his winery in Napa, it was an instant hit. Not only did they make some nice wines, but Coppola's personal museum was very popular. In fact, all the film fans who stopped in to visit it threatened to overwhelm the place. Don't expect to find the Godfather desk and Coppola's Palm D'Or award here now, though. Coppola's winery and museum is now in Healdsburg in Sonoma County.
I really want to chalk this one up to someone having a bad day, but I'd feel bad if you had a similar experience and I didn't warn you. At the generally highly-rated Frank Family Vineyards, the person hosting the Reserve Tasting when I visited was also chewing tobacco and spitting into a bottle. Enough said.
