I often spend my days off at work, this past Friday was no exception. Except that I went tasting with friends instead of nerding out over the production facilities, so this is low on technical information, high on beauty shots of the Napa Valley.
Sterling is located up valley in Calistoga. Not only is it quite a drive north of Napa, but once you get there you have to take a tram up to the winery. Fine by me.
It's a little gimmicky but it's quite fun. I had to put my wine snob in my back pocket because my friends showed up in a group of 7 with no itinerary and no reservations to anywhere in the valley. Bunch of carefree hippies.
Sterling was a great place to go with a large, unprepared, (semi) rowdy group of young folk. I am glad the valley has places like this too.
This was an opportunity to see the winery from the consumer's point of view, instead of my usual production approach. It's lovely to be a tourist in Napa, I quite liked it. Although I did wish there was someone I could ask about case production, coopers, tank capacities, fermentation styles, bottling regime, acreage, rootstocks, etc. . . . .
But I settled for tasting with lovely ladies on the terrace. Once you get off the tram, you walk around the winery in a self guided tour and stop at 5 locations to taste a different wine.
It's been raining an unseasonable amount in California recently, it's still very green for June. I'm wondering how much this will delay the growing season.
And if 5 stops of wine wasn't enough, at the end of the walking tour we sat at a table for another 4 wines and a breadstick smoke.
Sterling was a good amount of wine for a decent price and a tram ride!
Visiting is recommended.
-L
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