Napa Valley Wine Tasting
Enjoy Tasting Napa and California Wines without Visiting a Winery
Jun 9, 2007
Touring Napa Valley wineries and vineyards sounds so appealing, and over five million visitors a year head for this little part of northern California. But you can taste a far greater range of wines without going near a winery, just by staying in Napa City. You won't need a designated driver, either.
In the center of Napa are numerous places, other than the obvious wine bars and restaurants, where you can sample glasses of the best wines from Napa Valley, the rest of California, and in some cases the rest of the world too. Most of the tasting rooms can be easily reached on foot in the center of Napa, and you can learn more about the wines and buy any you sample. Or perhaps it might even help you decide beforehand which wineries you want to visit.
Many of the smaller family-run and boutique Napa Valley wineries have joined together in co-operatives, making it easier to promote their wines together. Here are some of the wine-tasting options in Napa City:
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Back Room Wines
974 Franklin Street
This wine store opened in 2002 and has tasting sessions every Friday night from 5 to 9pm, although it's always best to double-check the times. There's no need to book and you can turn up any time. Watch out for occasional Thursday and Saturday sessions too. Cost varies according to the wines being tasted.
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Bounty Hunter
975 First Street
The Bounty Hunter specializes more in fine wines and has over 400 to choose from, forty of which you can try by the glass. Their wine bar serves bistro-style food too, and naturally has a good wine list.
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COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts
500 First Street
America's first museum of wine, with food and the arts thrown in. There are wine-tasting sessions every day, but you'll have to book those, though your admission fee also entitles you to join the daily afternoon wine class.
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JV Wine & Spirits
426 First Street
JV's Tasting Bar opens every day at 2pm, and there's a rotating selection of different boutique Napa wines to choose from. Watch out for their Friday evening tastings too. It has the biggest selection of wines in Napa Valley, with about 3500-3600 at the last count.
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Napa General Store
500 Main Street
This is no regular general store, as here in Napa there are, naturally, wine tastings too. The store is also a market and has a popular café, with indoor or outdoor seating and breakfast followed by an all-day lunch menu.
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Napa Wine Merchants
1146 First Street
Over a dozen Napa wineries have joined forces here, to allow you to try their wines.
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Rocca Family Vineyards
1130 Main Street
Napa, CA 94559
The Rocca Vineyards have their own tasting room in Napa City, so you can try and buy their wines even if you don't get out to visit them in Yountville.
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Stave Wine Lounge
1149 First Street
The neat idea here is that they have automatic wine dispensers, which you can use after buying a special card. They deliver one-ounce tastings from a wide range of wineries, at varying prices. They have free wifi too!
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Vintner's Collective
1245 Main Street
Twenty Napa boutique wineries are represented here at this collective, as some don't have tasting rooms of their own at the vineyards, so this is the only place you can buy certain wines.
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Wineries of Napa Valley
1285 Napa Town Center
Several Napa family wineries offer tastings and sales of their wines here, and there's free wifi access as well.
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