Where to taste top Burgundy wines while traveling in Burgundy

I just got back from an amazing trip to champagne and Burgundy and have to say it wasn’t easy planning a wine tasting trip to a region I’m not too familiar with! Producers in Burgundy typically don’t/can’t host tastings mainly because because 

  1. They run a small operation and don’t have capacity 

  2. They sell out of their wines so they don’t have bottles available to open for tastings 🤣 

It’s a bit different from the US where wineries develop an entire tourism and travel experience around it. I came across Vosne Tasting Club while researching and thought it was a perfect place for wine enthusiasts like me with no connections in Burgundy whatsoever. 

Located in Vosne-Romanee, this club has long standing relationships with surrounding wineries in the area to be able to source bottles from hard to get producers and host tastings. All tastings are private and you can choose various packages to do a comparative tasting of different villages, taste Grand Crus, or create a custom package to open any bottles they offer. Packages range from €100-225 and custom packages vary depending on bottles you choose.

They have impressive line up of wines from producers like Domaine de La Romanee-Conti, Armand Rousseau, Meo Camuzet, Arnoux-Lachaux, Roumier, Barthod, Gerard Mugneret, Bruno Clavelier, Henri Gouges, and many more. If you are looking for ways to taste multiple bottles from top Burgundy producers, recommend taking a look at their website.

More posts coming up on additional ways and places to taste in Burgundy. Follow @fine.vining for updates and DM if you have any questions!



Best wine tastings in Santorini

I’ve had a few Greek wines here and there but didn’t know too much about various wine regions in Greece. While planning for a Greek island trip, I learned that Santorini actually has a long history of wine making and that winery tours and tastings are pretty popular among tourists. Whether you are looking to taste unique grape varietals or want to sip wine with a view, you can find a lot of options!

Best wines and for intimate experience: Gavalas wines

While researching wineries in Santorini, Gavalas came up on multiple places as making the best wines and I totally agree. Tasted through their line up of Asyritko, Aidani, Mavrotragano, and Vinsanto and they were all great! The host was also super friendly and walked us through the long history of wine making in Santorini, which is now 300+ years old.

Best winery for the view: Venetsanos winery

There are two wineries known for the views in Santorini, Santo wines and Venetsanos. I feel like you can’t really go wrong with either, especially if you are looking for a place to enjoy wines with a view. From the photos both places look amazing! I’ve read that Venetsanos is a bit less touristy and has better wines so decided to stop by for a glass. Overall, it was a great experience, loved the view and tried 3 different whites by the glass.

Best place to taste a wide variety of Santorini wines: Canava, Vedema luxury collection hotel

We stayed at the. Vedema hotel (part of the Marriott hotels) and found out that it is actually built on a old winery and they offer wine tasting experience in the historical wine cave. This is a great one because 1) Historical wine cave setting is amazing and 2) you get to taste wines from wineries all over Santorini. We tasted 5 wines from traditional method sparkling, 2 different whites, red, and dessert (vinsanto), all from different wineries.

Best place to taste wines from other parts of Greece: Boutari

Boutari came up as another wine tasting room near our hotel, Vedema, so decided to walk over and try their wines. When I got there, I was pleasantly surprised to find their wines from other parts of Greece, in addition to Santorini wines.

I wasn’t able to personally visit more wineries but have heard great things about:

  • Sigalas for winery close to Oia

  • Gaia Wines for great wines with ocean view

  • Hatzidakis Winery for high quality wines (actually tasted wines from here at Vedema and loved it!)

  • Estate Argyros for modern picturesque winery

See more real time wine and travel tips via IG @fine.vining 💕

View fullsize Love being surrounded by all the greenery in Napa this time of the year 💚 Small but adorable and friendly tasting room in St Helena! Part of the Schramsberg fam so you get to taste reds and sparklings Bonus point for being so close to Azteca, the
View fullsize Wineries that allow picnics (of offer food) are so clutch when you are trying to fill the day with more wineries🤣 This was a 3rd winery during my latest trip to Sebastopol and was possible because we got to bring food 🤗🙌 (from @pascaline.patisse
View fullsize Have you gone tasting in Sebastopol? Great area to visit and find small family owned wineries that are laid back and so friendly! This tasting room had an adorable garden and a unique lineup of great wines. Think Italian varietals, red & white
View fullsize This place makes you feel like you are transported to a small rural wine region 💫 Away from the main road, you will find this boutique family owned winery with a line up of unique varietals. (Have you heard of Picpoul Blanc?!!) Tasting started wit
View fullsize Found a little gem in Healdsburg 🥰 Was delighted by this adorable setting, and then found out tastings come with wood fired pizza on weekends! I mean…😍 and every single wine we tasted were so good! Added another winery to our membership lis
View fullsize I’ve been lazy about making weekend plans and Sonoma square is becoming my go-to for last minute weekend activity 😆 Was able to get a same day reservation at Sosie and so glad I did. Small new winery! Felt unique when we saw sparkling red, C
View fullsize Brought this amazing bottle to enjoy with this view 🥰 From a new boutique winery in Paso founded by a wine loving couple! Small line up as wines tend to sell out but got to taste three of their amazing wines. 📍: @topwinery 🍷: tasted Grenache, G
View fullsize I’ve been trying to better understand my preferences for sparkling wines so added Roederer to the list for my trip to Mendocino Tasting flight includes a side by side of the same blend in a regular bottle vs. Magnum and it was SO FUN to taste
View fullsize 🌟Save this place for your next trip to Northern CA🌟 Did you know there’s another Twomey tasting room in Anderson Valley? Twomey’s been on my list and when I saw they have another location on the way to the Mendocino coast, it was a mus
View fullsize Super chill and inviting tasting room! Bonus points for this view and a great #cabfranc 😍😆 Heard Cab Francs are getting sold out everywhere in Napa, go get them before they are gone! Or don’t… so I can get them 🤣 📍: @reverie_wine

St. Regis vs. Ritz Carlton Maldives

For those looking for a Marriott property in Maldives, you probably have come across a lot of reviews raving about both the St Regis and the Ritz Carlton. I have summarized my thoughts on both based on my stay at the St Regis in Jan 2020 and Ritz Carlton in Nov 2022


TLDR version

St regis if

  • you have platinum and above, want free breakfast buffet

  • You care more about snorkeling and seeing underwater life more easily

  • You want slightly bigger rooms and like having huge hammocks over the water

  • You want to experience the infinity hydro jetted spa pool 


Ritz if 

  • You want higher chance of getting a room with emerald blue lagoon 

  • Easier travel between Male and resort 

  • Newer resort with a more modern look and feel 

  • You want to visit a sandbank 

Food & Wine

Both resorts have 3-4 options for dinners every night and at least 2 of them are outstanding. Ritz also hosts special dinners at their impressive wine room, which adds to the experience. Both offer wine tasting experience! St regis wine room is enormous and wine tasting along with an aroma kit was super fun. Ritz was in an intimate oceanview cellar and started with a sabrage! Both had an extensive premium wine list. Both breakfast buffets had free flowing prosecco/champange, although I did love having fresh salmon and tuna sashimi at the St Regis. 

Ritz: 5 stars 

St Regis: 5 stars 

Scenery, beach, pool 

Overall look at feel of the resort beach and pool is probably a personal preference but I personally liked beaces, pool, view from the rooms at Ritz slightly better. But honestly can’t go wrong with either options here. One special perks of Ritz is you can visit the sand lagoon, tiny sand island in the middle of the emerald blue ocean. 

Ritz: 5 stars

St Regis: 4.5 stars 

Activities 

We tried participating in more activities in St regis (daily morning workouts, painting class, snorkeling) vs. at the Ritz where we spent most of the times just chilling. So I can’t really speak for them but Ritz does offer daily morning yoga sessions, whereas St. Regis offered different workout classes each morning. This might be part of “food & wine” as well but I loved the daily sunset Sabrage at the St. Regis! Amazing view and free glass of Champagne :)

Ritz: 4.5 

St Regis: 5 stars

Service

This might be more dependent on who you get for your personal butler, while the entire staff went above and beyond at both resort, we felt like our personal butler at St regis was more proactive in making our stay amazing. 

Ritz: 5 stars 

St Regis: 5+ stars

Room 

This scoring is mostly due to the fact that Ritz was the second time we’ve been to Maldives and we  knew what to ask for. We did more research on the type of room we might like more and noted our preference to the hotel, which got us to a beautiful lagoon view over the water villa for 3 nights and sunset beach villa for 2. At the St. Regis, the base room is the garden villa and all we asked for was an over the water upgrade and while beautiful and better for snorkeling, it didn’t have the emerald blue lagoon view.  St Regis’s villa size is slightly bigger but the size difference is negligible. St Regis overwater hammock is amazing (vs small hammock on the deck at Ritz) but the Ritz infinity pool was more picturesque. 

Ritz: 5

St Regis: 4.5


If anything, refer to the photos and I’ll let them speak for themselves. Pick the one you like better! 

St Regis

Ritz Carlton Maldives

If you are curious about Beach Villa vs. Overwater Villa at Ritz, I’ve summarized the two in this IG post!

Best inflight wine: Qatar Airways First Class

For our recent travel to Maldives from SFO, we were able to redeem American Airline points for First Class seats on a roundtrip fare between Doha-Male. I have heard amazing reviews about Qatar Airlines business and first class (especially food and wine). Here’s my take of the experience

Al Safwa First Class Lounge

This was the best airport lounge I’ve ever been to (Cathay’s in Hong Kong is a close second) based on the size, service, amenities, food and drinks. They had nap rooms (that were actually more like a hotel room) with private shower and bathroom, multi-course dining, sushi bar, and a great selection of drinks. Their wine list included

Inflight food and beverage

Qatar is famous for serving Krug for their first class and we were in for a treat. They were serving Krug 2004 and Bollinger rosé 2008 paired with a caviar plate. Appetizer and main dish (choices include scallops, tuna, lobster, steak, fish) were delicious as well. We were so sad this leg was only 4hrs 50min 😂

Other details worth noting

  • Our flight coming back to Doha from Male required a shuttle transfer from the plane to the gate and this was the first time we saw a separate bus for first class passengers. We were the only passengers in the first class cabin and were the only ones on the bus as well.

  • Qatar Airways is very strict with the entrance requirement to the Al Safwa lounge. You can only enter if your outbound flight is in first class (or the very front seat of the plane) or if your inbound flight in first class is longer than 5hrs. They have separate lounges for business class, card holders, and elite members. There were conflicting reviews and anecdotes on different forums but we actually were not able to get in on our way back because our flight was 10 minutes short of 5 hours.

  • First class seats are usually double the price of business seats and don’t think most people pay for first class, hence we were the only people in the first class cabin both ways.

We loved the experience overall and would love to do it again. I’m not a points expert but the points guy has an article on redeeming points for Qatar Airways. Highly recommend trying this if you can!

Maldives resort for best food and wine - Ritz Maldives

Food and wine is always a big part of our travels, regardless of destination. Maldives isn’t exactly the first place that comes to mind for foodies or wine lovers, mostly because you can’t really leave the resort island once you check-in. However, if you pick the right resort, you would be pleasantly surprised at the quality of food and wine. Here’s a quick review and a few tips on food and wine at the Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands.

Wine tasting experience (my favorite)!

A few different resorts in Maldives have an impressive cellar including Ritz and their sister property St. Regis. Ritz Maldives’ cellar is still growing since it’s a newer resort, but experience was top notch. It started with a sparkling wine sabrage, opening a bottle using a saber by the emerald blue ocean. Once the excitement kicks in, you go into a glass wine cellar room that overlooks the Maldives ocean and taste through ~5 different wines from Champagne, whites, and red from various wine regions of the world. Highly recommend!

Amazing on-site restaurant options

We spend 5 nights at the Ritz and did not have a bad meal there. Our favorite restaurant was Summer Pavillion, Chinese cuisine inspired by Singapore's Michelin-starred Summer Pavilion. They often get booked up so highly recommend asking your Aris Meeha (butler) to book in advance. We ate there twice during our stay. Italian restaurant La-locanda, where you can have breakfast, lunch, and dinner was also excellent. Breakfast buffet has free flowing prosecco and fresh juices if you want to make your own mimosa. We had Maldivian buffet for one of the nights and felt like it was a good value for us as it included various ceviches, lobster, gilled meats, fish, and desserts. While it’s always a good idea to make a reservation, we actually didn’t reserve the buffet in advance but were able to take a look at the buffet menu on the day and decided to participate.

Another detail that we loved as wine lovers is you can order a bottle of wine and if you can’t finish it, you can either ask the restaurant to keep for another night or send it to your room. They do an amazing job at re-sealing the wine and delivering as if it’s new (minus the wines you already drank 😆).

High quality room service

We originally didn’t plan on ordering a room service (as we always feel like food is more fresh at the restaurant) but due to our mistake in opening hours, we decided to lunch in our beach villa room. Plus we had a bottle of welcome Champagne so it worked out perfectly! We ordered a shrimp pad thai and a ribeye steak and to our surprise, the meal was as good as any restaurant. Food came hot but not overcooked, pad thai noodles were still fresh and steak was cooked perfectly to medium rare. If we go back, we will definitely do more of this.

With all these wine and food, 5 nights went by way too quickly and we can’t wait to return! Do note that mark up on food and wine bottles is pretty high given how far these resorts are but it was worth splurging for a dream vacation :)

Guide to wine tasting in Puglia

Puglia is not the first Italian wine region that comes to your mind but it definitely should be on your radar if you like Primitivos or refreshing Whites and Rosés. I didn’t plan this trip around wineries and tastings but we learned that Puglia is the second-largest producer of wine grapes in Italy and was able to stop by a couple wineries and wine bars in various small towns of Puglia.

Near Bari/Polignano a mare

Main pedestrian center in Polignano a mare is filled with cute restaurants, shops, and bars and it’s super fun to walk around. I found these two small bars next to each other and loved it!

  • HOPS Birreria & Wine Bar: various beers on tap and wines by the glass. They also had a “beer spritz”!

  • La Casa Del Mojito: This is technically not wine but who would’ve thought I’d have one of the best mojitos in Italy?! They use fresh ingredients and don’t skimp on them either. I tried ginger and passion fruit flavors and loved both.

Near Ostuni

  • Tenuta Santoro Wine Bar: Winery with a nice outdoor setting in addition to the tasting room inside a traditional Trulli! Tasted through 4 wines (2 reds, 1 white, 1 rosé) for €15 and bought a bottle of refreshing white and red. Puglia region typically doesn’t grow grapes like Cab or Merlot but their vineyard is located in a small valley that

  • Vinicolo: Charming wine bar in the Ostuni city center. Host was super nice and went out of the way to offer various wines by the glass. He also had great recommendations on other wineries to visit in the area. We ended up getting a glass of sparkling, white, and red.

  • Borgo Antico Bistrot: Located in the middle of switchback streets, such a fun unique place to enjoy aperitivo before dinner. We had an amazing fresh cheese charcuterie plate with a few drinks. There’s a cute instagrammable blue door on top of the street.

Near Lecce

  • Cantele: Their wines were fairly common on local restaurants’ wine list and seemed to be one of the bigger wineries in the area. We didn’t make reservations so didn’t get to do the full tour and tasting but the host was super nice to give recommendations in the area and we ended up buying a bottle to try!

  • Feudi di Guagnano: This tasting room is in the small town of Guagnano and their rosé was

  • L'Orecchietta: This place was recommended by the host at Cantele for lunch and local wines by the glass. Deli style counter has fresh hot and cold pastas, salads, seafood, meats, and veggies. They have an entire wall of local wines and have a lot of them available by glass. Great place to stop by for lunch with wine. I don’t know how pricing works (we just pointed at dishes that looked good 😆) but our 3 plates of food and 2 glasses of wine was around €20.

Otranto

  • L'Ortale Ristoro SAlentissimo: I loved this hidden wine garden. Lots of choices by the glass or bottle (each bottle was only 15-20) and the garden was the most relaxing place to sit and drink.

  • La Cambusa: This wine bar is located right in front of the Aragonese Castle of Otranto so you get a great vibe and view of the Castle. Good selection of local wines by the glass!

I’ve also bookmarked these wineries but did not get a chance to visit:

  • L'Astore Masseria

  • Michele Calò & Figli

  • Azienda Agricola Cosimo Taurino

  • Castello Monaci

  • Masseria Li Veli

Overall, Puglia wines are a great value at €10-30 per bottle and definitely recommend trying it out!

Where to stay, eat, and drink in Puglia, Italy

Italy has become one of my favorite travel destinations and my recent trip to Puglia only made it better! After an amazing trip to the Amalfi coast visiting Capri and Positano, I decided to venture out to Puglia, often referred to the ‘Heel of the boot.’ It’s definitely less touristy compared to the Amalfi coast and best experienced by car! I stayed in 3 different cities to fully experience the region. Here’s where I stayed, ate, and drank in each of the city.

Polignano a mare

This is one of the more well-known cities and definitely do-able without a car. It’s famous for Lama Monachile beach and you can spend days walking and exploring the city.

Stay

We stayed at this charming B&B and it was perfect! Room with a balcony was spacious and you get a view of the ocean and the iconic bridge from the balcony. Located right in the center of the city, all the popular and great spots are within walking distance (less than 1-5 minutes).

Eat & drink

Antiche Mura: There’s no view but the indoor setting here is really romantic. They have a mix of traditional and unique dish centered around seafood. We enjoyed our uni + oyster pasta, pasta with red prawn with zucchini flower, and fish soup!

Morus Sapori & Sentori: Located by the water with a little bit of the view, another great seafood restaurant! We had uni pasta, lobster pasta, and lobster catalan.

La Casa Del Mojito: Had the best ginger mojito here! They make all of them with fresh ingredients and do not skimp on them either.

Aquamarea: Menu/drinks are not too special but it’s located right on the popular viewpoint of the beach/city. Small pedestrian streets are not well recognized by Google maps but it’s easy to just follow the streets and navigate towards this direction.

Ostuni

Ostuni is often referred as the mid-point base for Puglia as it’s 1.5 hr from the main airport Bari and ~2hrs from the southern most part of Puglia. It’s not right on the coast but has lots of charming Masserias, which are Italian bed and breakfast farm stay. We stayed here for 2 nights and loved the quite and relaxed experience. It is also close to Alberobello UNESCO World Heritage Site, town of trulli and you can find places to stay inside a trullo.

Stay

We stayed at the most adorable and picturesque Masseria with a huge pool area. I absolutely loved the stay and highly recommend. Not all rooms are Trulli and there are only a handful of them so book early if you want to stay in one!

Eat & drink

Borgo Antico Bistrot: Located in the middle of switchback streets, such a fun unique place to enjoy aperitivo before dinner. We had an amazing fresh cheese charcuterie plate with a few drinks. There’s a cute instagrammable blue door on top of the street.

Osteria Piazzetta Cattedrale: Great traditional local dish that features affordable tasting menu at 35-45euro. We opted for a la carte because we like trying a little bit of everything. A couple dishes were a bit too salty for me but overall was a nice place to grab dinner and try regional food.

We didn’t get to try all the places I’ve bookmarked but also have heard great things about Ristorante Taverna della Gelosia, Vicolo 43, and Dish

Otranto

We chose Otranto as our base to explore the Southern most tip of the region and loved the city. Expansive sandy beach and the castle in the city center added to the charm!

Stay

We booked this one last minute and it served us well. Clean and spacious close to the city. Since we knew we were getting the Masseria experience a room with a view at other cities, we were not picky here other than the location. I’d say you should be good as long as you are within walking distance to the city center and have access to parking!

Eat & drink

L'Ortale Ristoro SAlentissimo: I loved this hidden wine garden. Lots of choices by the glass or bottle (each bottle was only 15-20) and the garden was the most relaxing place to sit and drink.

Latrobaffo: Booked this place when I saw uni pasta on the menu, which is one of my favorites! They gave out mini Aperol spritz as a welcome drink 🙌 and had a great seafood focused menu. It’s on the expensive side but we enjoyed every minute and bite here!

Classe 80: Another seafood spot! Loved the fried mixed seafood platter here along with some unique pasta dishes. I asked for a tomato sauce on the side like a noob and was given a bowl of the best freshly made garlicky tomato sauce I’ve ever had 😂

I spent ~2.5 days in each area and it was truly one of the best weeks I’ve had 🥰 Can’t recommend Puglia enough! If you are planning a trip, see more updates and ask me any questions via DM @fine.vining

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7 day itinerary in Champagne, France

Planning a winery trip abroad can seem daunting as you have to know where to stay, deal with transportation, AND make reservations for wineries. I have done more planning for my recent Champagne trip compared to other trips where I usually only bookmark a few restaurants and book hotels and transportations. If you are planning a trip to Champagne, here’s the summary of recommended itinerary to maximize your experience there!

Note that this isn’t the exact itinerary from my recent trip but optimized and modified after experiencing the region.

Day 1-3

Stay in Reims and visit large houses and have nice dinners

Reims is actually considered a tourist destination not just for champagne houses. Did you know there is another Cathédrale Notre-Dame in Reims? City is fairly big and you can find a lot of great restaurants. You can stay in the city center and explore large Champagne houses or stay ~10minutes from the center in a small boutique hotel (we did both!)

Places to stay

Champagne houses

  • Ruinart, Veuve Clicquot, Pommery

Day 3

Hire a driver to visit grower producers in between Reims and Epernay (or rent a car)

I actually did this myself as well, if you don’t rent a car, best way to maximize your transportation budget while wine tasting is to combine traveling between cities with a private driver. You can hire a driver for a day or half a day, get picked up in one city and dropped off in another. I went with this driver/company after comparing a few options and prices. We visited Bouzy and Verzy while traveling from Epernay back to Reims. Here are the spots you can visit while moving between cities:

Bouzy/Ambonnay wineries

  • Paul Dethune, Champagne Egly-Ouriet, BARNAUT, Champagne Benoît Lahaye

Verzy

Day 3-5

Stay in Avize & visit small grower producers

Avize isn’t the only small town in Champagne where you can stay and visit other producers in the area but I’d have to say I LOVED my stay and will definitely stay there again if I go back. Avize is not only a home for so many up and coming and already popular grower producers but also has the best B&B, Les Avises. From the B&B you can rent their e-bikes to visit and taste at

  • Dhondt Grellet, Corbon, Franck Bonville, Champagne DE SOUSA, Etienne Calsac

and don’t miss the Jacques-Selosse Champagne tasting hosted by the owner & winemaker Anselme.

Day 6

Epernay for Ave. de Champagne

Epernay is definitely smaller compared to Reims (i.e. there are Ubers in Reims but not in Epernay) but this is where you can find the famous Avenue of Champagne. You can find popular Champagne houses like Moët et Chandon and Perrier-Jouet. If you have additional days, you can also visit nearby cities like Ay or Hautevillers.

Travel back to Reims or Paris

You can get back to Paris via train from Reims or Epernay depending on how much longer you are spending in the area.

Couldn’t pack all the places to eat and see in this itinerary so feel free ask me any questions via DM @fine.vining

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Travel planning tips to visit Champagne, France

Trip to France wine region has been on my list for a long time and given our relatively new found love for sparkling wine and proximity to Paris, we decided to spend a week in Champagne. Planning a wine trip to another country was definitely not easy without much local knowledge! Here’s a few things to note if you are planning a trip to Champagne

  1. Pick a sub-region/town: Just like other wine regions, there are multiple villages in Champagne and it can take 30minutes to an hour to travel between each of them. We stayed in the region for 5 days and ended up splitting our stay between Reims and Epernay/Avize. If you have enough time, I’d recommend the same!

    • If you like large houses (Ruinart, Veuve Cliquot, Tattinger, etc) and want to stay in a larger city stay in Reims

    • If you like small grower producers and quieter town, stay in Epernay or surrounding towns.

  2. Book tasting visits in advance! and get your hotel’s help: Large houses get booked up a few weeks in advance and small grower producers usually only open for advanced appointments. Other than large houses, most places take appointments by phone or email so best to book via hotel’s concierge!

  3. Rent a car or hire a driver if you want to visit a more variety of producers: You can visit large houses within Reim and take a train to visit Epernay but this means you will be limited to visiting only large houses located in the city.

  4. Make dinner reservations, especially if you are staying in Epernay: Reims is a popular day trip destination from Paris so lots of restaurants get booked up. You can always find a place to eat but if you want a specific cuisine or restaurant, best to book in advance. Epernay is a smaller town with less restaurant options and when we went, we were turned down by 4 different restaurants because they were fully booked.

Champagne was such a fun destination especially for wine lovers and you will have an amazing time! You can also see the full itinerary with specific recommendations in this post.

Best wineries to visit in Napa Calistoga

Calistoga is home to some of the iconic Napa wineries like Chateau Montelena and Castello di Amorosa. In addition, there are many small family owned places to visit and it’s somewhat easier to find more cost efficient wineries in Calistoga compared to St. Helena and Rutherford. Since Napa is pretty big (it will take ~30min-hour from the southern most region to Calistoga), I’d recommend splitting up your trip to visit 2-3 wineries in the same region. Here’s the list of Calistoga wineries I liked

  1. Spire Collection: This tasting room is unique as Spire collection owns various different wine labels across the globe. This allows them to customize tasting flights based on your preference! They have everything from Pinots, Cab Francs, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Various whites from Australia, Italy, Oregon, and California. $60 to taste, waived with 3 bottle purchase

  2. Envy: Fun small family owned winery at a great price point! No fancy buildings but you get a nice view of the vineyard and friendly host. You can find nice Bordeaux varietals here. $30.00 per person tasting fee, waived with a purchase over $50

  3. Lola: Another small family owned tasting room in downtown Calistoga. Tastings are held in their cute backyard and you get to taste some unique varietals like Malvasia Bianca along with Pinot and Cab. $30 to taste, waived with 3 bottles

  4. Rivers-Marie: Relatively new modern glass enclosed tasting room by Thomas Rivers Brown who makes and consults for some of the biggest names in Napa. From Pinots to Cabs, all around great wine and private experience. $75 to taste, waived with 3 bottles

  5. Schramsberg: Family owned but slightly bigger than other boutiques, the oldest sparkling wine house in Napa and you can add the cave tour to your tasting as well. You might have seen their blanc de blanc or blanc de noir in wine shops, but they have 10+ different sparkling wines that are usually only available at the winery. Experience range from $50-100

If it’s your first time in Napa, definitely recommend Castello di Amorosa and Chateau Montelena as well! They are such iconic wineries with lovely ground and wines that are easy to drink.