A recent article in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported that wine tourism in Napa Valley is down but that makes it a great time to visit, because it's less crowded. One place to get the complete Napa experience a bit off the beaten path is at the Milliken Creek Inn & Spa. The five-star luxury inn offers a tranquil retreat amidst redwood trees and Japanese maples, quiet courtyards, ponds, lush gardens, and a waterfall terrace. The property is located on the outskirts of Napa Valley and has romantic rooms with canopy beds and offers indlugent treats such as a riverside massage.

The inn serves a complimentary gourmet breakfast with guests' choice of several items prepared on property plus fresh pastries from Bouchon Bakery with coffees from Dean & DeLuca. Picnic lunches are available to eat on the property or take with you on your day's adventures. And best of all there is Magic Hour, a daily wine tasting for guests of the Inn. Wineries from across the valley come each night at sunset to share their latest offerings. Epicurean cheeses, artisan breads, and crudités are also served in the lobby of the Inn. Milliken has a strict "no-kids" policy and staffers can arrange for romantic adventures for couples including a hot air balloon ride.

Guestrooms include a 42" Plasma TV/DVD player, Bose Wave CD player, complimentary sodas and Voss water, king-size bed with down comforters and pillows, double spa therapy tub and gas fireplaces. The Milliken Vintners Vacation Package is named for a private tasting at Vintners Collective, where guests also sample anti pastas and cheeses carefully selected to enhance the flavors of each reserve. Vintners Collective brings together 18 winemakers into one beautiful tasting room in Napa's oldest stone building. The package starts at $320 per night.

Summer may be within reach but no matter the season a great bottle of Cabernet always hits the spot. Fantesca's 2004 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon soothes your stress away and satiates your wine desires with notes of deep earth and rich fruit. The combination of chocolate cherries, cassis and warms the soul while a hint of earth-scented spice perks up the palate. Fantesca Estate on Spring Mountain is known for its superb sun exposure and long growing season offered by the elevation and hilly terrain which makes for high quality wines with a lasting impression. With only 800 cases produced the $65 bottle is certainly worth purchasing. If you prefer to cellar it you can count on fifteen or more wonderful years of drinking pleasure.

*Disclosure: This bottle was provided as a sample*

Custom wine facility Crushpad has a unique answer to the financial crisis, Bailout Wine. The wine is a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon which will sell for $39 per bottle. But what makes this wine with the bear and bull label so unique is that for every 100-point drop in the Dow Jones from the date of purchase to the projected bottling date of August 14 2009, Crushpad will knock another $2 off the bottle. If the Dow rebounds the $39 price stands. Only 500 cases of Bailout will be produced but the company could still take a hit if the Dow tumbles. For example if you bought when the Dow was at 8,800 and then on August 14, 2009 it closes at 7,300 (let's hope not) you would pay just $9 a bottle and get your $30 back. The wine will be shipped after it is bottled in Summer 2009.

[via Decanter]

I've been a fan of artist Shepard Fairey for years but he has sprung into the mainstream lately. Not only has his Obama poster been a key part of the campaign but Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art hosting the first museum survey of Shepard Fairey's street art. Now Shepard Fairey has his own wine. Kenwood Vineyards has commission a piece from Shepard Fairey for the 30th Anniversary Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon. The choice is a bit of a departure from a series that has featured artists like Van Gogh and Picasso but the 2004 vintage will showcase Fairey's "Peace Woman."

The 2004 Artist Series has a nose of black currant, Ceylon tea leaf and dark chocolate with flavors of black currant, Italian plum, cocoa and spice. it can be enjoyed now or cellared. The wine was aged in small French oak barrels for 30 months and the final Artist Series blend was assembled from the best of these barrels, with a small percentage of Malbec included for additional complexity and polish. Following bottling, it was cellared at the winery for 18 months prior to release. There were 2,146 cases were produced and it sells for $70 a bottle.

Summers Winery has announced it will release a limited-production Bordeaux-style blend this November, aptly named Checkmate (a portion of the winery's grapes are grown in Knight's Valley, and this blend is bound to be a "grandmaster" of wine). Just 75 cases were produced of this blend of Cab Sauv, Merlot, Cab Franc and Petit Verdot, all grown in northern Napa. This particular wine has been in the wings for quite some time. All grapes were harvested and sorted by hand in 2005, and a mere three barrels from the 600 produced will wear the Checkmate label.

Auction Napa Valley 2008, The American Wine Classic, is here and you can be a part of it even if you're nowhere near Napa Valley. The "granddaddy of charity wine auctions" is offering 88 lots for bidding online, including one-of-a-kind bottles and collections, various luxury items, tickets to private events, and even weekend getaways hosted by Napa Valley vitners.

And bidding online will not only indulge your wine habit but it will also support various charities local to the Napa Valley area. The auction opened May 23rd and will run through June 6th.


Via Avenue Vine

Even in one of the hottest real estate markets in the United States people are starting to feel the pinch of the foreclosure crisis. The AP has a story on the falling housing prices in one of the most beautiful and pricey areas in the country. In January, home sales fell more than 55 percent from the year before. The number of houses at any stage of foreclosure jumped by 152.9 percent. So far the very expensive wine towns of Calistoga, Yountville, St. Helena and Rutherford are still doing well but the city of Napa and the town of American Canyon have been hard hit, finding that the newer housing developments are particularly vulnerable both to lack of sales and forecloures.

Part of the worry for Napa is that its exponential growth has been fueled by wine tourism which may start to wane in the current economic climate. Currently condos, offices and retail stores are under construction, designed to appeal to the tourists and part-time residents. While the general wisdom seems to be that recessions do not cause people to stop drinking wine, it may cause them to cut back on winery tours which would impact other luxury retail businesses which have come to the area in the past couple of years.

Sales are well underway at the Westin Verasa in Napa. This project is the fifth project between Starwood hotel group and Intrawest. The Westin Verasa Napa Residences are 160 whole ownership units ranging from studios to two-bedroom suites and owners are each entitled to stay at the hotel up to 29 days a year. The hotel amenities include a pool and spa that overlook the Napa river, a Reebok gym, bocce ball courts, a bar, and a signature restaurant. The suites range in price from approximately $500,000 to over $1.3 million per room. Vacationers can book nightly accommodations when the resort opens next year, no word on the rates yet. The resort is ideally located for wine country exploration, it is adjacent to Copia, the center for food and wine and the Oxbow Public Market, a large market featuring local vendors and organic farm stands will be right next door.

The Rutherford appellation in Napa Valley is looking for a little respect. In an effort to help educate consumers about the region the Rutherford Appellation Wineries have created their first Passport weekend on December 1-2. A $50 passport gets you access to 13 participating wineries which will offer special pourings, tastings and entertainment. The list of destinations includes the Swanson Salon, Peju, Beaulieu and Grgich Hills. Each winery is organizing unique offerings such as Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s at Beaulieu Vineyard, exclusive access to Alpha Omega's state-of-the-art tank room and artisan cheese and antipasto with your wine at Honig Vineyard & Winery. Profits from the event got to the Rutherford Dust Restoration Team, a group of vintners and growers working to improve the health of the Napa River as it passes through the Rutherford AVA.

Cleavage Creek is a pretty clever name for wines that raise money for breast cancer research. Owner Budge Brown lost his wife of 48 years to breast cancer in 2005 and is donating 10 percent of the gross profits to fund research to find an end to the disease. The line consists of eight wines to start with: 2005 Reserve Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, a 2005 Reserve Napa Petite Sirah, a 2005 Cabernet-Syrah, a 2004 Merlot, a 2004 Merlot-Syrah, a 2006 Reserve Chardonnay, a 2003 Secret Red and a 2006 Secret White. There are 2000 cases for sale the first year. Each bottle features a breast cancer survivor whose story is told on the bottle. Budge Brown plans to also create a tasting room and wine shop in the Cleavage Creek vineyards in Napa. The wines are in the $18 to $50 range. Information on each wine is below in the gallery.

This four-bedroom home in St. Helena, California is really named the Rock. In fact it will be a hard name to shake considering that it is displayed as part of the fireplace surround in the living room. The Rock is a truly dramatic home that gets a lot of its kick from a black, white and red decor scheme in many rooms. The home has a wine cellar, a theater, a bar area, dining room and great views of the surrounding countryside including a vineyard planted in Cabernet grapes. The decor stretches to the wacky at times, the flower-covered bathroom with the granite bathtub and the Murano glass chandelier defies description. And the red piano against a zebra print rug, against a black and white floor? My my. It is listed at $7.995 million.

We swooned over Frank Gehry's designs for the Marques de Riscal winery/resort in Spain, now the legendary starchitect has something a bit more modest planned for a Napa winery. The above is Gehry's design for Hall Wines which is creating a new complex of six buildings on Highway 29, south of St. Helena. The facility had its groundbreaking on Friday and will be built around a historic winery built in 1885 that was once home to Napa's wine co-op. The new design includes undulating wood trellises similar to Gehry's usual metal flourishes. The wood gives the winery a slightly more traditional look. The new winery should be open in 2009 and will be open to the public for tours and tastings.

[via SF Gate]

It can be hard for small-production wineries in Napa to get off the ground. Wines and Vines reports on a new development that could help a select few. Tony Cartlidge and John Hawkins have announced plans to create a village of limited-production wineries for lease. Les Garagistes Napa will be home to 12 individual wineries, ranging in size from 3,500 to 6,500 square feet in four buildings surrounding a large courtyard. The spaces will small wineries a chance to have a tasting room and sales and the site will also be adjacent to a large winery that will offer barrel and case goods storage as well as a lab and bottling facility. No newbies wanted though, the founders caution that they are looking for established strong brands. It should be a benefit to consumers too, offering a chance to taste the work of 12 different winemakers in one space. The project is set to open in August 2009.

Most winemakers are interested in the latest technology and newest techniques. Dave Del Dotto of Del Dotto Vineyards in California is seeking to take a step backward, fermenting some of his wines in giant clay amphorae, the vessels used by the ancient winemakers to make wine. Del Dotto, who is also completing a new property with wine caves and a marble-columned room south of St. Helena, bought four amphorae in Tuscany. The clay vessels are said to be 300 years old and cost him $15,000 each. He has so far made Sangiovese, Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon and his first official release will be a 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon that will be available in the fall. The wine will be bottled in clay magnums and will sell for around $100. In this article in Wines & Vines, Del Dotto says he is happy with the result and will be buying custom-made clay fermentation vessels because it adds an earthy quality to the wine. The clay fermentation also softens the tannins in red wine. Del Dotto plans to experiments with whine wine and to bury some of the jars the way ancient winemakers did.

Last year, I mentioned the plans for the Solage Calistoga. Now the Napa Valley resort has opened its doors. The resort is an 89-room property which also has a bistro, full-service spa that includes Kate Somerville facials and a 130-foot swimming pool surrounded by cabanas. The guest rooms are called studios and have open floor plans and stone showers with pebble flooring. The restaurant, Solbar, is headed by Brandon Sharp, an alumnus of the hot Gary Danko restaurant in San Francisco. Dishes include Gently Cooked Pacific Halibut with Baby Spinach, White Corn, Sweet 100 Tomatoes and Basil and Beef Shortribs Stroganov with Egg Noodles, Horseradish and Maitake Mushroom. Solbar also boasts Napa Valley's largest champagne list.

The spa includes a mud bar where guests are painted with local volcanic mud. The hotel also offers a couple of bicycles for guests to cruise the local landscape. Like many hotels which have opened recently Solage is touting their green features. The interiors are made from earth-friendly materials such as bamboo and reclaimed cedar and non-toxic, low-VOC paints. Other eco-friendly touches include the use of environmentally-safe cleaning products, solar panels, recycling, water reclamation and even a plan to minimize chlorine use in the pools by using an ozone-based system to keep water clean. Solage Calistoga is also-pet-friendly. Rates start at $325 for a deluxe studio to $875 for a one-bedroom suite.