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Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Best Bet: Three Great Wineries to Visit in California

Here are three California wineries recommended by Gary Vaynerchuk. We visited them and made reservations beforehand... They are very different than the normal winery experience...

Larkmead Vineyards
1100 Larkmead Lane
Calistoga, CA 94515

Larkmead Vineyards, Calistoga, CA
At this vineyard you can sit outside on a porch, and they bring you wines to sample. It's a very relaxed atmosphere. Unlike some of the crowded, walk up to the bar type sampling rooms.

Call for a reservation at (707) 942-0167 tell them you are a Garfield Groupie. That makes you part of a special club. :-)

They get social media. Say hi to Wine Manager Colin MacPhail for me.

Praduxx Winery
7257 Silverado Trail
Napa Valley, CA 94558

Parduxx

You can sit outside here too. Another very relaxed setting. You get a little cheese and crackers with the wine.

Paraduxx

Make a reservation. 707-945-0890

Barnett Vineyards
4070 Spring Mountain Rd.
St. Helena, CA 94574

Barnett Vineyards
Barnett Vineyards is very unique. It's up on the hillside. You get to sample wines right where the barrels are stored. Afterwards you can take one of hte wines for a walk through thevineyard up to an overlook where, where there are no fires, you get an amazing view.

The road to this vineyard is very windy, up a lot of hills. Just when you think it can't get any narrower, there's a sign that says, Road Narrows. There are two trees on each side of the road. When we were there the next sign said, 'Road becomes one lane.' We were laughing about that one... They had some construction going on... Keep driving up the mountain and you'll get there. They are also doing a lot of work to drill into the mountain side to create a cave for storing wine. That'll be cool when finished.

Barnett Vineyards - Jacquelyn and Carol
Call 707-963-7075 and ask for Jackie St. Martin for an appointment. If you visit, tell her I said hi!