Tour Vin – Napa Valley Wine Train

Published on: June 19th, 2017

One of the most popular venues in Napa Valley is the Napa Valley Wine Train. Departing from downtown Napa, the full-day rail trip experience includes a multi-course dining experience combined with a tour and wine tasting at one of the Wine Train’s outstanding partner wineries. Riding in the vintage, 100-year old cars is truly a one-of-a-kind experience!

The Legacy Tour

On June 15, the Napa Valley Wine Train began offering a new experience to guests – The Legacy Tour. Guests who sign up for The Legacy Tour will visit three of the most popular Napa tour and tasting wineries, including Robert Mondavi, Charles Krug and V. Sattui.

The Legacy Tour begins at 10 a.m. when guests are greeted with champagne and treated to a light gourmet breakfast. The first stop on the train tour and first private wine tasting is at Robert Mondavi Winery. Once en route to the second winery, Charles Krug, guests are served their choice of entrée while they appreciate the beautiful scenery of the surrounding valley.

Upon arrival at Charles Krug, guests experience a second private tasting. Guests then reboard the train and make their way to V. Sattui Winery, the Napa Valley venue known for their picturesque picnic setting and Italian marketplace. To top off the day and complete the tour, a decadent dessert and cheese course is served to guests while riding back to Napa.

We suggest you sign up well in advance for Napa Valley Wine Train’s new Legacy Tour as it’s already gaining popularity. Contact us to help plan your next trip to Napa Valley!

Ed Pollard
Tour Vin
Napa Valley Concierge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tour Vin – 2017 Festival Napa Valley

Published on: May 16th, 2017

 

Many premier events and goings-on occur in the Napa Valley throughout the year, but the one you don’t want to miss is Festival Napa Valley. Held July 14-July 23, 2017, this annual event is a 10-day extravaganza featuring 100 wineries and 60 events focused on music, dance and theater. Furthermore, the fine wines and cuisine offered throughout the Napa Valley are always exceptional.

Some of the 2017 Festival Napa Valley featured venues are:

• Alpha Omega
• Auberge Du Soleil
• B Cellars
• Blue Note Café
• Bouchaine Vineyards
• Silver Oak
• Calistoga Ranch
• The CIA at Copia
• Darioush Winery
• Far Niente Hall
• Helena Lail Vineyards
• Las Alcobas Napa Valley
• Meadowood Napa Valley
• and many more

The dining options during the festival are also amazing. You simply can’t go wrong when these fine dining establishments are involved:

• Solbar
• Tarla Grill
• FARM at the Carneros
• Basalt
• Napa Noodles
• Meritage Resort

Festival Napa Valley also features various performances, which kick off on Friday, July 14. Some of these include:

• Friday, July 14 – Opening Night Gala at Meadowood: Danielle de Niese and Paulo Szot
• Saturday, July 15 – Gloria Estefan with the Napafest Academy Orchestra
• Sunday, July 16 – Arts for All Gala at HALL St. Helena: Gloria Estefan
• Monday, July 17 – Concert for Kids, Havana Chamber Orchestra
• Tuesday, July 18 – Hot Havana Nights: Aldo López-Gavilán & Friends
• Wednesday, July 19 – American Masters: Watts, Berstein & Getty
• Thursday, July 20 – Bill Murray, Jan Vogler & Friends – New Worlds
• Friday, July 21 – Dance Gala: San Francisco Ballet
• Saturday, July 22 – Porgy and Bess, starring Angel Blue and Lester Lynch

Consequently, Festival Napa Valley’s Food and Wine events are also amazing, and include:

• Taste of Napa at the Napa Valley Expo
• Patron Dinner at Far Niente
• Vintner’s Luncheon at Solage
• Vintner’s Luncheon at Darioush
• Patron Dinner at Auberge du Soleil
• Season Finale at Alpha Omega (featuring a private concert and barbeque)

Passes for the popular festival go fast, as do hotel and B&B accommodations! Contact us to help plan your trip – we will select events based on your specific preferences to ensure your Napa Valley getaway is all you imagined and more.

Cheers!

Ed Pollard
Tour Vin
Napa Valley Concierge

Tour Vin – A Pairing of Wine with the Sea

Published on: April 11th, 2017

Great news! Tour Vin is fortunate to partner with Napa Valley’s Greg Miller, a well-known sailor, chef and sommelier to offer our clients a combined wine tasting, sailing and culinary experience. Greg’s impressive resume includes his membership in The Society of Wine Educators (SWE), attendance at The Culinary Institute of America, and participation in the annual Newport Beach to Ensenada race.

After a few days of tastings at wonderful wineries and dining at the best restaurants in Napa Valley, spending half of a day sailing around the San Francisco Bay on a 47-foot sail boat is a unique addition to your vacation! Your afternoon of sailing will begin with an offshore view of the San Francisco skyline, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. If you’d like a more interactive experience, Greg is willing to hand over the till and guide you through a relaxing nautical adventure.

After the excursion, you’ll return to the dock, pop open a bottle of bubbly (the good stuff, of course), and cap off the day with one of the following choices while docked:

– Enjoy pairings of exceptional wines and cheeses, including varietals from Viader Winery, Gargiulo Vineyards or Pride Mountain Vineyards poured in world-renowned Riedel glassware

– Indulge in a scenic, family-style dinner featuring a gourmet menu selected to suit your culinary taste and prepared by Chef Greg

In collaboration with Greg to ensure your entire day is memorable, Tour Vin will create an incomparable sailing and culinary experience for you to enjoy. If you’re not planning a trip to Napa Valley, but are interested in a sailing and wine tasting experience, contact Greg Miller at 707.333.9069.

The weather is getting warmer and bud break has commenced – contact us to plan your next trip to Napa Valley!

Cheers!

Ed Pollard
Tour Vin
Napa Valley Concierge

 

 

 

Tour Vin – Beer in Napa Valley!

Published on: March 22nd, 2017

Napa Valley is, quite obviously, known for great wine and great food, but that doesn’t mean visitors wouldn’t occasionally like to sip some great suds! For all the beer fans out there, you will be glad to know that Stone Brewing is coming to downtown Napa in 2017.

Ranked in 2015 by the Brewers Association as the 10^th Largest American Craft Brewery, this well-known artisanal beer producer has U.S. operations in Escondido, CA and Richmond, VA. Stone is the first American craft brewer to independently build, own and operate a brewery in Europe; their international location is in Berlin, Germany.

The tap room and restaurant will be located in the 140-year old Borreo Building downtown. This site was once home to a grocery and feed store, a shirt factory and an Oldsmobile car dealership. Its now been vacant for 15 years and was severely damaged in the 2014 earthquake.

Stone’s 10,000-square foot space will feature a bar on the first floor and a casual dining restaurant on the second floor. In order to quench the thirst of many, 20 styles of beer will be on tap, so you can sip a few cold ones before dinner, and then enjoy a great bottle of wine while dining!

This venue will be a great addition to Napa, but its not the only brewery to be found in the Valley. A few others to check out while in the area include Joe’s Brewery and Restaurant, Napa Palisades Saloon, Mad Fritz Brewery (St. Helena) and Fieldwork Brewing (Oxbow Public Market). Spring has sprung, and Napa Valley is in full bloom. Now is the time to plan your 2017 wine vacation – contact us to help plan your perfect adventure!

Cheers!
Ed Pollard
Tour Vin
Napa Valley Concierge

 

 

Tour Vin – New and Featured Napa Wine Bars

Published on: February 15th, 2017

Tour Vin just returned from a week-long trip to Napa Valley. You’ll be surprised and excited to learn that new wine bars are springing up everywhere in the downtown area! We will cover a few of the new venues here, but stay tuned to our future blogs and newsletters where we’ll continue to keep you updated on new hot spots.

Cru @ The Annex
Opened about five months ago, the Cru @ The Annex is conveniently located on McKinstry Street just a couple of blocks from the Westin Verasa Napa. Cru @ The Annex focuses on featuring excellent estate wines from Vineyard 29 as well as CRU, their second label. We enjoyed the wines in a very comfortable setting, and recommend pairing them with popcorn and/or cheese.

The Wine Thief
Close to The Annex is The Wine Thief, which showcases Modus Operandi (Tour Vin is in their club), Kale Wines, AJ Pearce Wine, G Wine Cellars, Delgadillo Cellars and Solamente. These folks offer customized wine flights for $20 or $30, as well as a sit-down experience that offers cheese and charcuterie for $60 per person.

Vintner’s Collective 
Housed in a building that was once a brothel, this wine tasting experience can be described as unique. There are about 30 wines offered at any one time, and private tasting experiences are offered on the second floor. Tour Vin tasted Hertelendy Vineyards, Azur and Buoncristiani Family wines, and they were excellent. Reservations are not required unless you prefer a private tasting.

Wines on First
A wine tasting collective across the street from Andaz Napa, Wines on First offers wines from Jean Edwards Cellars, Pure Cru Napa Valley and J. McClelland. This venue is a great place to enjoy an array of outstanding varietals without leaving your seat.

A special mention goes to Jean Edwards Cellars and Pure Cru Napa Valley for participating in the well-known Premier Napa Valley Auction!

Studio M Fine Wines
Also across the street from Andaz Napa, Studio M Fine Wines specializes in new, and/or highly allocated Napa Valley wines that are hard to find – unless of course you visit these folks! We highly recommend an appointment. Here are just a few of the wines you can enjoy while enjoying this wine bar: Anomaly, Arcudi, Bryant Family Vineyard, Ghost Block, Hundred Acre, Kistler, Screaming Eagle (bottle purchase only), Sine Qua Non, Vineyard 29, just to name a few.

There’s a lot going on in the Napa Valley – it can be hard to keep up with all the new additions and must-see venues and wineries. Give us a call! It’s our pleasure to help you plan your next Napa Valley getaway.

Cheers!
Ed Pollard
Tour Vin
Napa Valley Concierge

 

 

Tour Vin – BOTTLEROCK NAPA VALLEY (May 26-28)

Published on: January 25th, 2017

Tour Vin attended this three-day affair last year and it was awesome! The event planners do a magnificent job preparing the event, which includes music, great food, wine and brew.

You may have seen that tickets have already sold out, but don’t despair. Many who hold tickets now will wind up selling them in the after market. Now, it’s time to plan your trip and look for the best possible deal.

Hotels and B&B accommodations will book fast, and remember – room rates will increase as the event nears. Tour Vin knows the lay of the land and we can help plan your trip and get you as close to the venue as possible!

Here are some of the highlights of BottleRock Napa Valley:

MUSIC – Many notable artists are scheduled to perform at the 2017 event, some of which are Maroon 5, Tom Petty, Foo Fighters, Modest Mouse, Frightened Rabbit, Dirty Heads, Band of Horses, The Naked & Famous, and The Helmets.

FOOD – Some of the great restaurants that will be serving you at Bottlerock Napa Valley this year are Oenotri, Redd, La Toque, Morimoto, Mustards Grill, Cole’s Chop House, The Bounty Hunter Wine Bar & Smokin’ BBQ, Bistro Don Giovanni, 1313 Main, and many more.

WINE – Don’t forget to visit the wine tent to taste wonderful wines by Chappellet, Blackbird Vineyards, Del Dotto Vineyards, Miner Family Winery, Etude, Chandon, Piazza Del Dotto, and, of course, Rombauer Vineyards.

BEER – For beer fans, this is a great place to enjoy a smorgasbord of well-known breweries to whet your appetite! These include Heineken, Blue Moon Brewing, Napa Palisades Beer Company, Stone Brewing, Sonoma Springs Brewing Company and Heretic Brewing Company.

You definitely don’t want to miss out on this great event so contact us to help plan your trip to Napa Valley!

Cheers!

Ed Pollard
Tour Vin
Napa Valley Concierge

Tour Vin – Flavor! Napa Valley

Published on: December 18th, 2016

It’s time to plan your 2017 trip to Napa Valley and we don’t want you to miss one of the major upcoming events. Flavor! Napa Valley kicks off on March 22, includes a variety of tastings, standard and specialized tours, and ends on March 26.

Flavor! Napa Valley offers guests experiences with incredible farm-to-table cuisine and world-class wines, as well as chef and winemaker demonstrations, and meet-and-greet opportunities. We don’t like to namedrop, but here are a few of the notables you could meet at the event: Heidi Barrett, Andy Beckstoffer, Russell Bevan, Christopher Carpenter and Remi Cohen.

Flavor! Napa Valley’s 2017 event schedule is fantastic – here’s a taste:

First Taste Napa – On Wednesday, March 22 from 6-8 p.m., the famous CIA Downtown Campus at Copia will feature 15 restaurants and more than 40 wineries in a food and wine extravaganza.

Pink Out – Start Friday, March 24 with a special tasting focused on new, dry pink wines paired with cheese and food. Schramsberg and several other wineries will be featured during this event, which is from 10-11:30 a.m.

The Best English Muffin, Model Bakery – Also on March 24 from 10-11:30 a.m., Flavor! Napa Valley’s Terrior to Table #1 allows participants to go behind the scenes to learn how to make these renowned muffins and will receive an autographed copy of the Model Bakery Cookbook.

Exploring The Ghost Wineries of Napa Valley – Interested in learning about the old wineries from days gone by? On Saturday, March 25 from 10-11:30 a.m., participants will experience a rare tasting and seminar focused upon ghost stories, legendary Napa characters and historic properties that put Napa on the map.

The Grand Tasting – Flavor! Napa Valley’s finale event on March 25 from 7-9 p.m. indulges guests with bites from more than 25 restaurants paired with more than 80 Napa Valley wineries. The event’s featured restaurants include: Brasswood, Angele, PRESS, Tarla, The Farm at Carneros and Auberge du Soleil – what a lineup!

Tickets go on sale soon and go fast for this incredible event. There are many packages available and many event options to consider. Contact us to help plan your Flavor! Napa Valley experience.

Happy Holidays!

Ed Pollard
Tour Vin
Napa Valley Concierge

Tour Vin Plans Corporate Events

Published on: November 21st, 2016

What better way to start the year than with an annual corporate kickoff event in Napa Valley? These outings are a great way to bring together management and key employees to share long term corporate strategy, as well as the annual business plans of the various business units and, most of all, to promote team work within the organization.

To ensure this outing is meaningful to all involved, it takes a lot of planning well in advance of the event. Now is the time to start thinking about 2017!

First, we need to consider a hotel that can accommodate the group and that offers all the amenities required to pull it off. The number of rooms to be booked is in direct correlation to the number of employees attending. Conference rooms are a requirement, and maybe a pool, spa services, a workout facility and a bar are important, too. Needless to say, reservations far in advance is critical.

Wineries – There are more than 500 wineries in Napa Valley and we know which ones will make the group’s wine tasting experience a memorable one. If, say, 20 folks would like to enjoy an afternoon of wine tasting, there is a good chance we would need to book a private event. What better way to encourage company bonding than over a glass, or bottle, of wine?

Restaurants – There are many options to consider when planning a group’s dining experiences, not the least of which are general culinary tastes. Perhaps a private room that can accommodate everyone away from the general crowd should be considered? Or, we may decide that a special menu would be a great way to accent the experience!

Activities – Fun activities abound in Napa Valley, including golf, hot air balloon rides, hiking and shopping. Everyone has a different idea of how to relax away from business sessions, and we can help planning these excursions as well!

Transportation – So, how do we transport a large group around the Valley? We have it covered! There are many excellent car services available to accommodate corporate groups. You’ll be surprised at the luxury cars used to make transportation around the Valley fun and relaxing.

We have planned corporate events before and know what is required to make these events successful and unforgettable. Contact us to help plan your company’s next retreat!

Cheers!

Ed Pollard
Tour Vin
Napa Valley Concierge

Tour Vin’s Wine Concierge Business

Published on: October 25th, 2016

Your Napa Valley concierge, Tour Vin specializes in creating personal Napa Valley vacations for clients. We are proud to say you’ll never be offered a pre-packaged wine tour when working with us.

We have some big news! Tour Vin has recently expanded the brand by agreeing to represent four small production, boutique Napa Valley and Sonoma wineries in Orange County, California. Our retail focus is within small, well-known restaurants and wine bars that cater to locals who enjoy a combination of the food and wine experience.

The wineries we represent offer wine tastings by reservation only and the exceptional wines can be challenging to purchase. We are reaching out to our clients and friends to let you know that not only can we can facilitate a private tasting for you, but we can also respond to specific inquiries about these exclusive wines and how to obtain them for your own collection.

The four boutique wineries with which we are now associated include Jean Edwards Cellars, Modus Operandi, Webster Cellars and Zoetic Wines. Specific varietals include Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux blends, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc. These wines are handcrafted primarily by the winemaker/owner and are produced in limited quantities. If you would like to set up a private wine tasting or have questions about any of these wineries or the wines they produce, please contact us through our website at www.tourvin.net.

In other news, Napa Valley’s harvest has come to an end and the crowds have diminished, which makes this the perfect time to visit the area!

Cheers!
Ed Pollard
Tour Vin
Napa Valley Concierge

 

Tour Vin – Exciting New Venues in Napa Valley

Published on: September 12th, 2016

We just returned from our trip to Napa Valley and wanted to update you on the venues we visited! We focused on a few of the new, hip wine bars and a new restaurant that offers many exciting options for our guests.

Wine Bars:

Cadet Wine & Beer Bar – Located in downtown Napa, this venue offers a casual spot to enjoy wine, beer, cheese and salami plates, or an excellent grilled cheese sandwich. We were there after 7 p.m. and this place was rocking!

Mark Herold Reserve Room – Another downtown wine bar that just opened, this venue serves highly rated wines to the public and tastings require advance reservations. Experience their Portfolio Tasting (current releases of their Cabernet Sauvignon), as well as the Chef’s Tasting (artisan bites paired with their wonderful wines).

JCB Tasting Salon & Atelier by JCB – This new venue in Yountville offers a tasting room, as well as a culinary experience. The private tasting area allows guests to enjoy the JCB wine collection and, right next door, you can nibble on fine cheese and charcuterie. We stopped in for a quick snack!

Restaurant:

Two Birds/One Stone – When you visit Freemark Abbey in St. Helena, make sure to stop in here for dinner. The restaurant showcases California cuisine and the menu features chicken meatballs, pork belly, king salmon, duck breast, Wagyu short rib and prawns. You will definitely enjoy the sweets, too – Kikori whisky, chocolate custard or peaches n’ cream. Reservations are a must!

Stay tuned for our newsletter later this month for more up-to-date information on what’s going on in Napa Valley. If you haven’t signed up as yet, click here!

Ed Pollard
Tour Vin
Napa Valley Concierge