Best Big Name winery and Oakland lunch help

[PHXeater]

Planning a trip to Napa/Sonoma and my SO really wants to go to a couple of the "big" producers despite my discouragement of the idea. What would you recommend for the best standard Napa spot with big cabs? Opus One, Silver Oak? We're planning to do this place first and do a full tour, etc. to kind of kick off the trip. I'd like to go somewhere that has bottles under $75 because I'm sure he'll insist on buying one.

Also, we'll be arriving to Oakland airport at 11:30 then driving to Napa wineries and want to grab lunch either in Oakland or on the way. Somewhere relatively fast as we're going to try to hit 3 wineries that afternoon before driving on to stay in Healdsburg.

Thanks for the help!

[vulber]

i had a great experience at duckhorn - their merlot is like none other, one of the best wines i've had. $25pp but they are fine wtih you splitting the fee among multiple people

[kevin]

Is it possible to go to one of the wineries tasting rooms to sample Opus One ???

Thanks.

[Robert Lauriston]

http://www.opusonewinery.com/The-Esta...

[goldangl95]

It's $60 for a tour and to taste one wine. $85 to taste two. It is perhaps best to just find it on auction or at a restaurant unless the tour really appeals to you.

[kevin]

so to try a glass or two of Opus One will run me about anywhere from 60 for one glass to 85 for two glasses ?

That's not bad considering that most of the restaurants are selling it by the bottle at about 250 bucks to 275.

[PHXeater]

Not sure if there's a Total Wine where you're located but I've seen Opus One bottles for sale there.

We're still considering Opus One just because my SO is threatening to buy a bottle retail, so I figure if we go and share one tasting at $40 it will be more economical. Also $60 is for the tour +tasting.

[maria lorraine]

What's the big draw with Opus in light of all the other amazing Cab producers in Napa Valley? Their wine isn't transforming or earth-shattering, and you only get a small pour. The building looks like a spaceship (think Close Encounters), but is sort of boring from the inside. The vibe is very formal and pretentious. There is better Cab to taste easily found in Napa Valley, where the tasting won't be so expensive or pretentious. But if you must, you must. Are you staying at a local hotel where the concierge might have a tasting pass?

[goldangl95]

They may not let you share one tour fee FYI. I think the tour fee is per person (not positive).

[PHXeater]

They'll let you share the tasting, not the tour according to the website.

I'm frustrated too about these places. My boyfriend's convinced because these are the expensive cabs he's heard of they're the best. This is technically a trip for his birthday so I figure I just need to suck it up and go along with what he wants to do for one day out of the 4 day vacation :)

We're staying in Healdsburg so will drive from Oakland to Napa, go to 3ish wineries, then drive to Healdsburg that night and spend the rest of the trip tasting around Healdsburg. So no coupons unfortunately from a concierge...

[Robert Lauriston]

Quick off and back on the freeway:

Berkeley: Vik's for Indian, Smoke for BBQ, Lanesplitter for slice pizza, Casa Latina for tacos / burritos / etc.

Albany: Zand for Persian deli, Little Star for Chicago-style deep-dish pizza (slices available at lunch)

El Cerrito: Ba Le for banh mi:

Richmond: Daimo for Hong Kong-style Chinese

[kevin]

zand for persian deli ? what do you mean by persian deli ? thanks.

[Robert Lauriston]

Zand's is a Persian deli. They have a few tables so you can eat there.

http://www.zandpastry.com/Products.htm

[kevin]

Thanks. I see persian sandwiches. Sounds good.

[jaiko]

I don't know how fast they can be, and parking is a bit of a hassle, but Chop Bar at 4th & Alice, just off the Jack London Square district and the Oak St. exit off Hwy 880, can probably wrap up a take-out order for car munching (be careful with coleslaw-topped sandwiches; somewhat messy for a driver, LOL!). Website lunch menu is at http://www.oaklandchopbar.com/food/oa... and Yelpers seem okay with the lunch sandwiches.

Chop Bar is between 880's Oak St. exit and the Harrison St. on-ramp (6th St. goes one-way, off the freeway and then right back on it after 3 short blocks). IF YOU TAKE THIS ENTRANCE back onto 880, be very careful about the lanes you are in: you enter onto the freeway on the extreme RH lane which quickly becomes an exit-only lane, so you need to merge left. But after one mile the freeway splits again: half the lanes go to San Francisco/Bay Bridge, and the other half heads north to connect to Hwy 80/Berkeley, which leads you to Napa.

[KatoK]

Does Opus One still offer their Second Label, Overture?

[nokitchen]

Last time we were out there, we found Duckhorn to be the best experience among the larger producers. Their gardens are beautiful and you don't feel rushed at all. Phelps was also beautiful but things are more structured there. Both charge a premium price for the tastings and both recommend reservations (Phelps demands it, I think, or at least they insist you arrive at certain times).

I don't think they fall into the category of "big names" but I'd also recommend Hall Winery. They just redid their space to go all green and though their top labels are up over $100 it's still possible to get a very good Cab out of them for ~$50.

[goldangl95]

Hall is not well known outside of people who know Napa cabs, but among those - it is a favorite, so I'd count it. I would highly recommend doing an appointment at their facility at Rutherford over stopping by the tasting room off of Hwy 29.

I will note that for me at least, I'm not impressed with their offerings that are on the lower side (and that's not a snob thing I just didn't really get excited about their wines until we were up into the $100 a bottle range).

[PHXeater]

I welcome all suggestions since we'll be doing smaller places the rest of the day, I just specifically asked for larger producers since that doesn't seem to be a common question...it's usually how to avoid large producers!

We're willing to go over $100 as well but for a large producer that I can buy anywhere I'm not interested in spending a ton of money.

[moto]

you might consider Chateau Montelena. pleasant tasting room and small park around it, in French-inspired landscaping. the basic Napa Valley cabernet (multiple sourced grapes) is $50, the signature estate wine is $140, and their zin is one of better ones from that end of the valley in a polished (more claret-like) style, probably <$40, if it hasn't changed in the past ten years.

[goldangl95]

Good suggestion. It is on the very north side of Calistoga, so it is rather far from other wineries, but it is beautiful and the make good wines (if slightly overpriced - but so are all the big standard napa cab producers).

[goldangl95]

Bottles under $75 may not happen by the way - the standard premium cab price is now around $120-140, regular cabs around $75.

So there's a bunch of standard ones:
Caymus
Robert Mondavi (Reserve appt/not the standard)
Duckhorn
Beringer (Reserve not the standard)
BV (reserve not the standard)
Joseph Phelps
Stag's Leap (isn't what it once was)
Shafer (among wine people)
Chappellet (among wine people)

I'd say there is a strong strong prejudice against Silver Oak at this point. I'm not sure why it has been singled out as the one to loathe, but people love to hate on it. Opus One as well - but to less of a degree. Opus One you barely get to taste anything so I'd knock that one out.

[PHXeater]

I'm kind of surprised to hear that. With my family we went to Silver Oak in Alexander Valley a couple years ago (again someone who "had to" go there) and we found bottles right around $75. But I have heard Napa is a whole different ballgame...

I'll check out the other suggestions, I pretty much marked off Opus One already due to high cost considering what you get but thanks for confirming that decision. I'm glad we'll be spending the rest of the time in Sonoma where prices are more reasonable. Even the rest of the day in Napa I think we're going to do places on Spring Mountain as I heard that's a lot less touristy and crowded.

[goldangl95]

Spring Mountain, Howell Mountain, and plenty of wineries that are not on Hwy 29 are not crowded at all. Most are by appointment. I will say the prices are distinctly higher than in Sonoma (by about 50% a lot of 'em), but it really isn't that touristy off of Hwy 29.

[aloha925]

Just curious, what's the prejudice against Silver Oak?

[maria lorraine]

Silver Oak wines were well-marketed and well-respected for many years. Alas, no more. Still, Silver Oak coasts on their reputation from the past. They no longer deserve the shining accolades of yesterday. Not that their wine is bad, it's just that many other wines of the same category are far better. And many of those wines that are better are also cheaper.

[aloha925]

Got it, thanks!