As a very special benefit of your Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyard’s Wine Club membership, we are happy to announce that we have secured a special partnership with River Terrace Inn for your next stay in Napa. Contact Jeremy to receive your special rate code before contacting River Terrace Inn. By phone at (707) 963–8600 or email to [email protected]
To reserve your stay you may dial directly to 866-NAPA FUN and mention your membership to receive 15% off their best available rates!
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Wine clubs and competitive wine tasting
Not everyone realizes that wine tasting is actually a competitive sport. This year, the world was surprised when a Chinese team achieved a perfect score, identifying twelve French wines by taste alone. The team described wine tasting as “fifty percent knowledge and fifty percent luck.” If you’d like to become an expert in the art of wine tasting, one way is to join a wine club and go to wine tastings. Learn to recognize the different notes in the aromas of Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and how they differ from other wines.
There’s an art to tasting wine. Hold the glass by the stem or the base, so your hand doesn’t heat the wine too much. Look at the wine against a white background to see its color and clarity. Swirl it very carefully to judge the thickness of the liquid and bring out the aroma. When you smell the wine, try to think of everything the smell reminds you of — not just fruit, but flowers, cigar box, smoke, even leather or crushed stone. When you taste it, notice the texture and the feel in the mouth, not just the taste. Once you’ve swallowed it, notice the finish (which in a lesser beverage would be called the aftertaste).
Best wine tasting at a vineyard near St. Helena, CA
Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards in Napa Valley, a 10-minute drive from downtown St. Helena, holds tastings in its barrel caves, where visitors can sample current releases and library wines and learn about the process of making and storing the wine. One tasting fee can be waived by joining their wine club. Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards produces world-class wines at affordable prices. The vineyard is a 40-acre estate just south of Howell Mountain, and has been owned and operated by the Anderson family since 1983.
The 2010 Signature Vintage Cabernet Sauvignon, a deep purple wine with a slight red edge that comes from the best two barrels of the vintage, has an aroma worth a full paragraph of description. It begins with a strong cassis, with streaks of blackberry, plum, blueberry and red berries and highlights of crushed roses, blue flowers and anise. The oak adds elements of smoke and tar to the bouquet. The palate of the ’10 Signature is similar to the aroma, with the taste of black, blue and red fruits, licorice, anise, tobacco, smoke, rosehips, and violets. This is a wine that deserves to be kept and allowed to age, and is a showpiece for the skill of the Anderson’s Conn Valley winemaking team. Anderson’s wines are sold online and in five locations in Napa Valley, and many other locations nationwide. Join their wine club and order some of their wines today.
A quality grape that grows anywhere
Cabernet Sauvignon, a crossbreed of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon blanc grapes, is one of the world’s most successful varieties of wine grape. Cab grapes are small and thick-skinned, which means the tannins and other flavors that come from grapeskin are found abundantly in this wine. They also help give the grape its famous resiliency and adaptability, which is the great secret of Cab success worldwide — they’re as hardy as Mission grapes and produce a much higher quality of wine. No matter what the climate or soil, Cab grapes can be relied on for a complex and balanced vintage.
Wine clubs offer top Cabernet Sauvignon
Top Cabernet Sauvignon usually matures for nine to months to a year and a half in barrels of French, American or Hungarian oak. Napa wineries trying to create the perfect Cab draw from the best grapes of multiple rootstocks and vineyards, combining them in vats of French oak for just the right balance. An example this is the Signature Cabernet Sauvignon of Conn Valley Vineyards, a wine that comes only from the best of the vintage. The 2011 Signature Cab is an intensely dark purple and red wine with an intense aroma of dark berries, smoke, blue flowers, anise and other spices, tar and minerals. It has a fruity palate of blackberries and blueberries with hints of violets, licorice and smoke. This is a rare vintage, produced in a cool year when yields were low.
Many wine clubs offer collections of Cabs from different parts of the U.S. This will allow you to explore the similarities and differences of Cabs grown in many different environments.
Some very good top Cabernet Sauvignon near St. Helena, CA
Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards in Napa Valley, a short drive from downtown St. Helena, produces world-class wines at affordable prices, including a famous Cabernet Sauvignon. The Conn Valley Cabernet has been rated one of the top Cabernets in the world since the inaugural vintage of 1987. The fruit is more like mountain fruit than valley floor fruit, and the style is more Bordeaux in style than the average Napa Cabernet. The Conn Valley Cabernet is a chef-style wine, one that chefs find it easy to pair with almost anything because of the beautiful bright and refreshing acidity on the finish. Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate praises the 2012 vintage for its “terrific purity, plenty of depth and ripeness, and a full-bodied mouthfeel” and describes the 2010 Cab as “an elegant, finesse-styled effort to enjoy over the next decade.” They also offer Estate and Signature Cabs, which are of particularly high quality.
Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards has been owned and operated by the Anderson family since 1983. Wine club members save $25 buying the 2013 Signature Cabernet Sauvignon online. If you’re looking for a good wine to serve at a special occasion, order a bottle today.
Touring best Napa wineries
The first step in planning a trip to Napa Valley is to find a place in the area where you can stay. There are lots of little bed-and-breakfasts in Napa Valley, most of which started out as vintage homes. At most of the nearest airports, you can rent a car for transportation. The San Francisco and Oakland airports also have shuttle bus service.
Then it’s time to plan the wine tastings and the visits to best Napa wineries. There are many vacation packages that will let you tour the Napa wineries alone, as a couple or in a small group. If there are specific Napa wineries that you’d particularly like to visit, or if you want to take in some of the other places to visit in the valley, you can make your own itinerary. The usual tasting fee is $10 to $20 per person per winery. Plan your budget with that in mind.
Napa wineries and wine clubs
Many Napa wineries have their own wine clubs. Joining one of these clubs will not only allow you to get discounts on their wines, it may also get you invited to complimentary tastings and parties for yourself and your friends.
One of the best Napa wineries near St. Helena
Some of the best California wines come from Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards in Napa Valley. Just a 10-minute drive from downtown St. Helena, these vineyards produce world-class wines at affordable prices. The vineyard is a 40-acre estate just south of Howell Mountain. Wine Merchants Gourmet includes them in one of its Middle Valley tours.
One of the more famous wines produced by Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards is the intense dark purple and red 2011 Signature Cabernet Sauvignon. Drawn exclusively from the best five barrels of the 2011 vintage, this rare wine is the child of a wet, cool year that produced low yield but high quality. The wine has an aroma of dark berries, leather, smoke, tar, blue flowers, spice, anise and minerals. The palate is dominated by the fruitiness of blackberry and blueberry, with hints of violets, licorice and smoke and the finest tannins from barrels of French oak. This is a wine that will improve for decades.
Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards has been owned and operated by the Anderson family since 1983. Anderson’s wines are sold online and in five locations in Napa Valley, and many other locations nationwide. By ordering six bottles per year, you can join their wine club, giving you discounts on many of their finest wines, tickets for two to their parties and a complimentary cave tasting. Buying 12 or 24 bottles will gain you more tickets and the chance to bring more guests. Join today.