Platypus specialized in visiting smaller wineries and work with them to keep their tasting fees pretty low. (Which is especially great if you don’t really like wine and are just crossing something off your list.)
Our guide was knowledgeable, and kept us
informed and entertained without being corny or annoying. A guide can make or break any tour, so I
really lucked out with this one.
Napa is beautiful, the wine was fine (I still don’t like
it), and the other ladies on the tour were great. We visited 4 wineries with the last being my favorite.
Our first stop was Silenus, a custom crush winery.
Custom crush means they also rent out their
crush pad to other smaller winemakers or individuals. This is also where we were introduced to the
term “patio pounder” which denotes a wine that your basically sit on your patio
and drink and drink and drink.
Next up, David Fulton, a winery that has been run by the
same family for 5 or 6 generations. Our
host was the 5th great-grandson of the founder and joked that he
looks like the painting that hangs in the tasting room. He also joked that the great-grandfather
looked simultaneously like him and Will Ferrell. True.
We had lunch on their deck overlooking the vines and it was
absolutely delightful.
After lunch, most everyone was feeling the “fun”. Each tasting was about 4 samples each, and several people bought a glass or 3 for lunch. I did not as I am a notorious lightweight and don’t really love wine. If you’re going to patio pound, a nice cider is much better, in my opinion.
After lunch, most everyone was feeling the “fun”. Each tasting was about 4 samples each, and several people bought a glass or 3 for lunch. I did not as I am a notorious lightweight and don’t really love wine. If you’re going to patio pound, a nice cider is much better, in my opinion.
We stopped at the famous “Napa” sign for a
photo op. One of the girls is prone to
motion sickness and puked her guts out at this stop, then barely hung on until
she called an Uber at the next winery.
So, we lost 3 people there.
At Rutherford Ranch the tasting was a wine and chocolate
pairing. The chocolate was delicious.
Our final stop, Razi, this was probably my favorite, not
because of the wine. It was still wine,
but we were his last tour of the day so it was a more leisurely stop. We sat and chatted for quite a while, and for
those who did enjoy the wine he was pouring very freely trying, I assume, to
finish the bottles by end of day so they didn’t go to waste.
After we were dropped back at the Napa Valley Welcome
Center, I grabbed dinner at Basalt and had bread and tomato soup for
dinner. The tomato soup was so
good. Like, seriously, so good.
The next day, it was good-bye to California and off to
Oregon for the next month.
