Napa Valley Travel Tips: 5 Things I Wish I Knew Before My Trip

The first time I went to Napa Valley was in 2012 and it was one of the best trips I’ve ever had. My husband and I loved Napa Valley so much that we wound up moving to the area a few years later, after several trips, before moving back to Texas (which is where I’m from).

Since that first trip in 2012, I can’t count how many times I’ve visited Napa Valley. Here are a few things I wish I knew before our first trip, as well as helpful things I’ve learned on other trips.

A quick note on how wine tastings typically work, in case you’ve never been before: if you have a scheduled private or semi-private tasting, you’ll arrive at the estate and meet your host. Your host will go over the general outline of what wines you will be enjoying during the tasting. They may ask you what kind of wines you like to drink (side note: my response is usually “I just like to drink good wine”). Some of the wines that you try will be awesome, and others not-so-awesome. If you don’t like something it’s absolutely OK to pour it out into the bucket. If that happens, and your host comes over and asks how you liked it, you can simply say “it’s not my style”.  If you loved something, however, you can tell them you’d like to “revisit” it - they will pour you a refill.

1. Try before you decide you don’t like something

   1. Tourist traps. I always have an attitude about visiting tourist traps when I go anywhere. I think that’s a product of growing up so close to New York City. We were typically picky about which wineries we visited when we took trips to Napa, since we had a limited time there. But once we moved nearby, and could go whenever we wanted, we started intentionally visiting what I would consider tourist traps - those really well known wineries that widely distribute their wines. For example, we had never visited Beringer, mostly because all I knew of them was their white zinfandel. We did a tasting there and I expected it to be awful. I couldn’t have been more wrong! It was incredible. We loved the wines so much that we joined their wine club.

      1. What’s a wine club? A wine club is a membership at a particular winery where they send you wines on a regular basis. It can be just a few wines, or cases, depending on what you sign up for. My tip regarding clubs: I won’t join a club unless I like everything I tried during a tasting because the cost of the bottles will add up quickly. Then I stay in the club for about a year (sometimes two) and stock up on the wines. When I’m ready, I quit and join a different one! 

   2. Reds vs. Whites. prior to our first trip to Napa, we had only done wine tasting in Italy when we were young and didn’t know much about wine. By the time we arrived in Napa for our first trip, we were pretty much exclusively drinking red wines.  At our first winery, our host seated us and started to pour a chardonnay. We immediately stopped him and explained that we only drank reds. He asked us to keep an open mind and just try the chardonnay. I’m so glad we did because it was amazing and opened our eyes to an entirely new world of wine that we weren’t paying attention to before that experience. My recommendation is to try everything; even if you think you don’t or won’t like it! 

2. Know your limits (when deciding whether to drive or hire a driver). This kind of goes without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway: know your limits and be realistic if you’re trying to decide to hire a driver or not. We generally drive ourselves, but we also take a more academic approach to the wines and don’t ingest much when driving (those buckets that you can pour your wine out in? You can also spit your wine in them). If we are actually drinking, we hire a driver. Better safe than sorry.

   1. Number of wineries in a day. Napa Valley is really big and it can take a lot of time to get from one winery to another. I typically suggest 3 wineries in a day - and never more than 4. You want to enjoy your experiences at each winery and not be rushed. Part of the tasting is the experience itself, and taking in the environment. If you’re trying to cram a lot of wineries in, you won’t be able to do that. Also, your palate can only taste so much so if you drink too much too fast, your palate becomes blind to the rest of the wines you’re drinking that day!

   2. Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley. Napa and Sonoma are in close proximity to each other if you’re looking at a map. However, they are separated by a mountain range and small country roads, which can make it challenging to go back-and-forth. If you’re doing a long weekend in Napa or Sonoma, I highly recommend choosing one or the other. There simply isn’t time to do both. 

3. Choose your home base wisely. Like I said, Napa Valley is really big. It can take about an hour to drive from the southernmost point in Napa Valley to the northernmost point (and that’s without traffic!). I usually recommend staying somewhere centrally located, to allow you the opportunity to get to everything. However, there is more nightlife in downtown Napa, so if that’s something that’s important to you, I recommend staying there instead. 

4. Research restaurants and book early! One of my favorite things about Napa Valley is not just the wine, but the food! There are amazing restaurants there but many are small and in high demand so try to book reservations as early as possible. 

5. Know the times to go. They definitely get all four seasons in Napa Valley. I’ve been during all of them. My favorite time to go is actually from January - March/April. It’s not as pretty because nothing has bloomed yet, and it’s pretty rainy (but usually a gentle rain). But you can get into any restaurant relatively easily and hotel rooms are on the cheaper side. We also are able to make fun connections with our winery hosts and sometimes get a more personalized experience. April/May - August and September/October are when Napa Valley is the most beautiful. Everything has bloomed, the grape clusters are hanging off the vines and it is so busy (but in a fun, bustling way). This is your most expensive time to go: reservations will be harder to get (so plan accordingly) and it’s in the middle of harvest season. If you go during harvest season, beware that some of the boutique wineries close for tastings because it’s all-hands-on-deck. 

Feeling overwhelmed yet? With over 400 wineries in Napa Valley, it can be hard to choose and plan itineraries that make sense. Contact me and let me plan a trip you’ll remember forever! I’ve planned so many trips to Napa Valley for all sorts of tastes and price points. I love putting trips together for clients that are visiting Napa Valley for the first time, as well as ones who have already been, but looking for hidden gems and insider scoops.