Wine clubs work like book-of-the-month clubs — you buy a certain number of bottles a year, and the club delivers them to your door. You get discounts on the wines they offer (especially if this club is associated with a particular winery) and other benefits, which may include discounts on merchandise, free tastings and priority invitations and (again, if this club is associated with a particular winery) priority invitations and reservations at winery events. A wine club should offer information on the wine you get and suggestions on what foods to pair it with. There shouldn’t be any cost to join, and you should be able to cancel at any time.
Benefits of wine clubs
Some famous wine clubs are the Gold Medal Wine Club, the International Wine of the Month Club, the Original Wine of the Month Club, Lot 18’s Tasting Room and Uncorked Ventures. Some clubs offer your choice of what series you would like. You might be able to choose to be sent wines from a specific region, or a specific kind of wine. Tours and tastings will give you the opportunity to meet the winemakers and talk with other wine lovers. If you join a wine club that belongs to a winery, you know they’ll have the wine when you order it.
A great wine club at a St. Helena winery
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. Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards in Napa Valley, a 10-minute drive from downtown St. Helena, has its own wine club. By agreeing to buy six bottles a year in groups of three, you can get Level I membership with discounts on their wines, tickets to parties and invitations to a complimentary tasting. Agreeing to buy 12 bottles a year, or 24, gets you higher levels of membership with even more benefits. Once you’ve chosen a membership level, buying additional bottles won’t count toward your annual allocation.
An example of a library wine that might be available at an Anderson’s Conn Valley wine tasting is the 2010 Éloge. This polished yet powerful wine, born from a cool wet spring and a blazing hot summer and fall, has a powerful aroma of black cherry, cedar, cigar box and crème de cassis, with hints of red currant, violets, spice and the oak lending it some toasty notes. Its flavor is similar, with a long and satisfying finish. This wine is worthy to save for thirty years or more. Club members save $25 on the ’12 Éloge. Join the Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards Wine Club today.
Wine grapes have been grown in California since the late 17th century. The first grapes in Napa Valley were Mission grapes, descended from Spanish grapes and better known for their hardiness and adaptability than for the quality of their wine. In the 19th century, seeing that the climate and soil of Napa Valley were perfect for winemaking, immigrants to California brought seeds and cuttings of other vines to improve the quality and variety. Today, Napa Valley wines are famous throughout the world.
Wine clubs of Napa Valley
If you’re planning to visit a small winery in Napa Valley, find out if it has a wine club. Joining will offer you savings on tasting fees and any wines you buy. You can cancel any time, but it would be decent to stay in and buy a few bottles, and they surely have something else you’ll want. Tasting fees can be anywhere from $5 to $50 per person — more if you plan on including lunch or an educational experience such as a tour, class or seminar. Tipping isn’t necessary, but if you have a large group you may wish to do it anyway. If you want to visit during the tourist season, schedule your appointments weeks in advance to be sure of seeing the Napa wineries you want to visit.
Napa Valley wines from a winery 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. Instead of a busy tasting room, the vineyard offers you the chance to meet the owners and wine-makers and taste excellent wine stored in a cave. Wine Merchants Gourmet includes them in one of its Middle Valley tours.
An example of what this winery has to offer is the Éloge, an exclusive blend. The 2008 Éloge comes from a year notable for its extremes — storms followed by a prolonged frost in spring, a cool spring and early summer followed by sweltering heat later. All this led to a vintage of low yield but high quality — a dark ruby red wine with extraordinary aroms of black cherries, chocolate, cedar, cassis, leather, mocha and crushed rocks with a distant hint of smoked meats. It tastes of chocolate-dipped black cherries, currants and plums with toffee, mocha and spices.
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 or more per year, you can join their wine club, giving you discounts on many of their finest wines.
One thing you might hear about at a wine tasting held by a wine club is the aroma wheel developed by winefolly.com. Unlike the traditional Wine Aroma Wheel created by Ann C. Noble, this one classifies aromas (and flavors) according to the point in the winemaking process that gives rise to them.
Primary aromas come from the grape itself, or from its terroir. Most of the variety of possibilities comes from this. The categories are flower, citrus, tree fruit, tropical fruit (for some reason, bubblegum is classified here as a tropical fruit), red fruit, black fruit, dried fruit, spice, vegetable, earth, and a category called “noble rot” which includes beeswax, ginger and honey. (Tomato is listed under “vegetable” rather than “red fruit,” which is certain to set some people’s teeth on edge.)
Secondary aromas come from the fermentation process. The only category in it is “microbial,” which sounds dreadful until you remember that microbes give us wine, beer, bread and cheese. The secondary, microbial aromas/flavors are mushroom, truffle, lager, sourdough, cream and butter.
Tertiary aromas come from the aging process, and are only found in old wine. The categories are general aging and oak aging, and include such classic aromas as cigar box, smoke, leather and vanilla.
Finally, there are the faults. These aromas aren’t always considered to be a bad thing — some wines are considered to be the better for having a touch of farmyard about them. Usually, however, they make the wine less popular. This is especially true of the infamous cork taint.
Wine tasting at a vineyard just outside St. Helena
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. Cave tastings are $65, but one tasting fee can be waived by joining their wine club or making a $100 purchase.
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 lot 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 today and schedule a tasting.
The California Cabernet Sauvignon is a wine meant to be served with a celebratory meal. Cabs are known for having an aroma and palate rich with the flavors of cassis (blackcurrant), black cherry and blackberry, and often hints of black pepper, tobacco, licorice, vanilla and violets. They are most often paired with foods that have strong flavors of their own, such as grilled or roasted red meat — especially venison, lamb or rich beef. Try serving the wine at 14 to 16 degrees centigrade (57 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit) to get the full flavor, and cut back on the seasonings with the meat. A Cab also goes well with wild fowl, red cabbage, aged cheeses, truffles or honey-roasted carrots.
Wine club
Cabernet Sauvignon usually matures nine to eighteen months in French, American or Hungarian oak. Some of the most famous Cabs come from multiple rootstocks and vineyards, combining in vats of French oak to achieve just the right balance. The Cabernet Sauvignon grape has long been prized for its ability to survive in a variety of climates without sacrificing quality. In 1976, a hundred years after the first California Cabs were planted, one of them was preferred over French Bordeaux wines in the famous “Judgment of Paris” blind taste test in France. Join a wine club to learn more about the Cab.
Some very good Cabs 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 similar to mountain fruit than valley floor fruit, and the style is more Bordeaux in style than the average Napa Cabernet, exhibiting more dark fruit and a very refreshing finish that makes it perfect for food pairing. The Conn Valley Cabernet is what is called in the industry as a chef style wine. This means that chefs find it easy to pair this wine with just about 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. Anderson’s wines are sold online and in five locations in Napa Valley, and many other locations nationwide. 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.
When planning a trip to Napa Valley, with plenty of wine tastings and visits to vineyards, start by finding a place to stay in the area. There are lots of little bed-and-breakfasts in Napa Valley, mostly vintage homes. As for transportation, at the airport at San Francisco, Oakland or Sacramento, you can rent a car. The San Francisco and Oakland airports also have shuttle bus service.
The towns of Calistoga, St. Helena, Yountville, Oakville, Rutherford and Angwin all have interesting places to visit. But of course what you’re really here for are the renowned 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 particularly want to visit, or if you want to take in some of the other attractions of Napa Valley, you can put together your own itinerary. The usual tasting fee is $10 to $20 per person per winery. Keep this in mind when planning your budget.
Napa winery wine clubs
Many vineyards have their own wine clubs. Joining one of these clubs will get you discounts on their wines, complimentary tastings, and invitations to cave tours and other social occasions 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 tannin’s 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.
