Napa Valley, Day 1, Part 1. Wine Tasting at Robert Craig

There are SOOOO many great wineries to visit in Napa. For me, a combination of research, recommendations, and dumb luck have shaped my Napa experience. My visit to Robert Craig’s tasting salon (fancy sounding I know) was possible with a combination of outstanding friends and research.The tasting room manager and Certified Wine Educator (CWE) KC gave me a superlative experience. It has become the bar to measure all other wine experiences to. As the two of us tasted through a sample of their wine portfolio I was given an education in the soil of that vineyard, how that affects the taste; the climate that year, and how that affects the taste; the vision that their wine maker had for that vintage, and, of course, how we get to that point of wine to mouth. It was enlightening, even to someone who others call a “ wine expert.” I generally don’t like being called that, because I don’t think that I am a wine expert, and I know that there are very, very few true experts out there.As renowned as Robert Craig’s wines are, I was amazed to find out that the entire operation only has eight employees, and that includes the owner!! Bob Craig (who passed several years ago) was a partner with the world famous Robert Mondavi before setting out on his own many decades ago. The winery, Robert Craig, specializes in mountain fruit. They have vineyards on top of all of the surrounding mountain tops. Therefore a tasting with them gives you a sample tour of the best that the Vacas and Mayacamas Mountains can offer. In the end I left with two bottles that are not available in stores; a Cabernet Franc and a Cabernet Sauvignon, both from their Mount Veeder estate. You can drink both of them now, but they will only get better with time. These two wines, today, would be the Wine of Note at any tasting! After a few more years in the bottle they will be right where I want them to be, and I will share them with my friends who recommended the visit, and think back to KC and my amazing time!