There were supposed to be 6 of us, but somehow we ended up with 9. Here's how you get through a day in Napa with 9 people (wineries really frown upon showing up with such a large group without a private tasting scheduled!)
1. Make sure it is POURING out...all day long without stopping (makes Napa less crowded).
2. Start at St Supery with only 6 people. Let them give you a quasi-lecture about the need for scheduled tastings for more than 6 people. Thank your lucky stars that the other 3 tasters haven't arrived yet. Taste all St Supery's best wines, and then join their wine club with the industry discount (LOVE that Scott is able to get free tastings everywhere due to industry discount!!) Meet up with our impromptu 7th group member...and the tasting room attendants can't complain since we just joined their club.
3. Head off to a 6 person reserved tasting at Cakebread with 7 people (make sure the other 2 tasters are running really late!). Try to sweet talk changing our tasting from 6 to 9 people. Be told that they are overbooked and absolutely cannot do 9. Settle with a tasting for 7. Begin our wine tasting, receive a text that our last 2 tasters are there and try to think of a way to sneak them in. See the manager walking through the winery with our 2 friends! Whew...they did not turn them away and they were allowed to join our tasting.
4. Go to Taylor's Automatic Refresher for a burger lunch. Burger stand, no reservations, and picnic tables. Perfect for a crowd. And they even tent the yard and pipe in heating for comfortable rainy day dining. Oh yeah, the official name is no longer Taylor's...it's now Gott's Roadside Tray Gourmet (but no one actually uses that name!)
5. Make sure one of your group members has a girlfriend that works in a tasting room at Raymond. Call her boss, tell him that 9 of her friends are coming by. Show up and surprise her! The funny thing is we didn't even know that our friend Dave and his girlfriend KC lived in Napa (used to be in Arizona...Phish friends). Make sure to take some pictures of the $60,000 Baccarat crystal chandelier and the Moulin Rouge mannequins.
6. Head to BV for the final stop of the day. Make sure 2 of your group members belong to their wine club (thanks Brian and Nichole!). Show up to a wine club event, and weasel your way in by talking with the manager (I still can't believe he let us all in!). Taste Clone wines from 2000-2008.
We're still in shock that we had such a successful and fun day with so many of us!!!
Here's the original 6:
Holly, Scott, Nichole, Kelly, Mike & Raquel.
At the last minute, Brian (Nichole's husband) and his brother Daniel decided to join us. On the drive up, Brian realized our friend Dave lives up there, so we called him and he also met up with us. Good thing Mike and Raquel are chronically late =)
Me, Kelly & Nichole at St Supery
3. Head off to a 6 person reserved tasting at Cakebread with 7 people (make sure the other 2 tasters are running really late!). Try to sweet talk changing our tasting from 6 to 9 people. Be told that they are overbooked and absolutely cannot do 9. Settle with a tasting for 7. Begin our wine tasting, receive a text that our last 2 tasters are there and try to think of a way to sneak them in. See the manager walking through the winery with our 2 friends! Whew...they did not turn them away and they were allowed to join our tasting.
The girls at Cakebread...Raquel finally made it!
4. Go to Taylor's Automatic Refresher for a burger lunch. Burger stand, no reservations, and picnic tables. Perfect for a crowd. And they even tent the yard and pipe in heating for comfortable rainy day dining. Oh yeah, the official name is no longer Taylor's...it's now Gott's Roadside Tray Gourmet (but no one actually uses that name!)
Lunch break!
5. Make sure one of your group members has a girlfriend that works in a tasting room at Raymond. Call her boss, tell him that 9 of her friends are coming by. Show up and surprise her! The funny thing is we didn't even know that our friend Dave and his girlfriend KC lived in Napa (used to be in Arizona...Phish friends). Make sure to take some pictures of the $60,000 Baccarat crystal chandelier and the Moulin Rouge mannequins.
KC pours our tasting
Apparently the winery owner is friends with Baccarat (as in crystal)
Mannequins at a winery?
Did I mention the owner is French?
How could we NOT take pictures?
We're still in shock that we had such a successful and fun day with so many of us!!!
Here's the original 6:
Holly, Scott, Nichole, Kelly, Mike & Raquel.
At the last minute, Brian (Nichole's husband) and his brother Daniel decided to join us. On the drive up, Brian realized our friend Dave lives up there, so we called him and he also met up with us. Good thing Mike and Raquel are chronically late =)
4 comments:
wow, sounds fun but nerve wracking! Where was Jaynie? I figured she'd be one of the 9.
Jaynie and Micah (Brian & Nichole's 2 year old) were at home with Max and Victoria! Thanks for babysitting guys!
well I guess we know who to go wine tasting with next!
looks like so much fun!! and i love cakebread!
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