Wine Tour Destination: St Helena Wines

I love Napa Valley. Almost everything that I truly adore about it is here. St Helena wines are at the top of my list of must visits for this area. What wineries? Take your pick.

Here is a list of wineries:

Benessere
Tudal
Bombauer
Chateau Boswell
Stratford
Duckhorn
Folie A Deux
Forman
Napa Creek
Joseph Phelps
Louis Martini
V Sattui
Milat
Sutter Home
Heitz
Villa Helena
Markham
Spottswood
Louis Martini
Corison
St. Helena
Charles Krug
Wermuth
Beringer

And some others. Ok, now that list can look a little intimidating. Keep in mind though that these wineries are within a six mile area. Not bad. So, make sure you spit or have a driver.

I would start at Folie A Deux, the wine is good and the staff is great. I mean who doesn't want to try a wine called Menage a Trois? The staff also seems to make generous pours.

By the way, it is great to tip your pourer. They don't get paid much (although if I got wine from my job I might not need to get paid much) and love tips.

Next, enjoy some shade and some great wine at Beringer. This is a great winery to start the day at. It is cool and the wine is nice. It gets busy later in the day too.

Then I would head over to V Sattui. This is a great place. Again generous pours, but this time the pours are FREE! Plan some time there. The wine is good and it is like a bazaar. Lots of things to buy and do. Nice little garden area too. If you want to have a picnic, their lawn is the place to do it.

Since, we are talking about a picnic, across the street from V Sattui is Dean and DeLuca's. If you haven't been, run don't walk and buy, buy, buy. I love their cheese, olives, bread, fresh vegetables including heirloom tomatoes and spices. I have found great truffle oil here that I have used for years in sauces and salads.

Since I can only take a few wineries a day, I would finish up by heading over to St. Helena Winery, for some namesake St Helena wines to finish. Make sure to make an appointment in advance. Guests may visit the estate by appointment only. It is open 7 days per week, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and to make a reservation call Peter Story at 707-967-WINE (9463). St. Helena Winery does everything by hand and many times their wines sell out before they are released.

When you get back to town, check out the St. Helena Wine Center before or after heading to dinner. It is a fun crowd and they have a lot of great wines that you will miss on my little tour. They are located at 1321 Main St, and it will be worth your time.

You can get plenty more St Helena wines in, but these are the four that I would make sure to hit. I like them and their feel.

St. Helena Restaurants:

After a good day of wine tasting, there is dinner to attend to. In St. Helena, I would recommend heading to their quaint little town. Robert Redford calls it home and Joe Montana did too for a while.

People really seem to like Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen. Next to Beringer there is the American Culinary Academy, always a good bet.

Silverado Brewing Co, has no corkage. In wine country that is pretty rare. They also can brew up to eighteen microbrews in a year. If you have any beer lovers in your group, they will love this place.

Want a menu prix fixe? Try Martini House where it will run you $79-$114 with wine pairing for a 3-4 course meal.

St. Helena Lodging:

When it is time to lay your head down, I would recommend the Vineyard Country Inn, or The Inn at SouthbridgeThe Inn at Southbridge for reasonable prices. (Remember this is wine country reasonable is a relative term and St. Helena is the top of the barrel in this area.)

If you want to be a bit more extravagant, try the Wine Country Inn. I haven't been but want to go.

Want to save money and have a car, stay in Clearlake, or maybe Petaluma (my hometown). You can try craigslist to find a deal on a rental. Please note that each of these is an hour to hour and a half from there.

Staying longer than a day. Check out Napa, Sonoma, Yountville, or Calistoga. Or just keep exploring St Helena wines. I think it just may be the world's most beautiful wine country and their wines are great too. Who knows who you will run into?

If you love the fact that V Sattui is free, maybe you would be interested in finding out about more free wine tastings in wine country. I am trying to get a feel for whether people would be interested in this. Let me know below.

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