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Napa Wine Country, CA
Home of the World's finest wineries, views and fabulous eating establishments.

Tasting Information. 

Here are two files that are my traveling wine tasting log.   At this time, there are 1,000 entries covering each wine we have tasted.   Listed are the variety, winery, where the wine was sampled, the cost, date, and any comments.  Some of these wines we purchased either in small quantity, or over a period of time, we found specific wines that we really enjoyed and then purchased one or more cases of each every year.  As time has gone by, we compare the older vintages to the new and see how the wines have aged.  We have found that some age poorly and have to be consumed quickly before others.  Amazingly, the acidic whites keep quite well.   The Bordeaux's of course keep better than any others.  But the California Cabs do well as do the Zins.  We are particularly fond of the Zins.  Unfortunately, some of the best California Zin makers are becoming lengends in their own minds and are raising prices to the point that we no longer buy any of their products.  There are too many other vintners that are holding their prices and quality. These are my personal views of the situation....you may of course disagree.


The losers are:

  • Rafanelli (chaotic ordering process with broken promisses of shipment...even after payment)
  • Fritz (recently engaged Helen Turley as a "consultant"--price went up by $5 per bottle, quality went down)
  • ZD (too expensive for the product)
  • Mazzocco (not conducive with the price)
  • Ridge/Lytton Springs (declining quality after the sale of Lytton Springs)

The winners (they get our displaced business) are:

  • Rabbit Ridge
  • Saintsbury
  • Wolf Blass
  • Australian vintners
  • Chilean vintners

If you would like to download and view the tasting information, there are three files here.  You should press your SHIFT key and simultaneously click on the file name link.

The file is tasting.pdf (131KB) in Adobe Acrobat format. This is as of 15 Sep 2002.

If you are interested in this information, please visit again to see if I have updated the files.

Auberge Du Soleil is a nice place to view the countryside but a bad place to get much value for your dollar as far as food is concerned in my view. If you like small portions at high prices, this is the place for you. How about a salad for $10? You can get one here.We were there about 5 years ago for an attempted lunch but have never returned.
This is an interior view of Domain Chandon's bottling line. If you get to this area, do stop by Chandon and enjoy their wonderful outdoor sipping area with complementary bread and blue cheese spread (we have the recipe if you are interested). The whole experience is marvelous. If you stay for dinner, you will need a jacket since they have a dress code.

All Photographs Copyright © by Gary Gaugler - All Rights Reserved - Use By Permission Only