Taste Napa Downtown Discount Card

A Different Kind of Wine Stomp

Taste at Oxbow's wine tasting bar

Wine-loving travelers eager to sample the bounty of Napa Valley's vineyards don’t necessarily think of Downtown Napa as a prime tasting destination. But in fact, the area has more wine tasting opportunities "than any other place in the world," the Napa Downtown Association boasts. There are now nine great spots for sipping—from true wine bars and lounges to tasting rooms, wineries and so-called collectives, all are located within a short walking distance of one another.

The bars and tasting rooms have two big advantages over wineries: they can offer many different labels from around the world in one location. "Wine Collectives" are a series of small, bonded wineries legally tied together to present, taste and sell their wines to the public. These collectives give smaller, boutique wineries a presence where otherwise they would have to try to operate their own (expensive) tasting rooms on their own.

Your best bet is to get the Taste Napa Downtown Discount Card at www.napadowntown.com. The card costs $20 per person, and cardholders enjoy the following perks:

• Ten-cent wine samples at all of the participating tasting rooms
• A ten-percent discount on retail wine purchases at many of the shops
• Free corkage at participating local restaurants
• Free gift with reservation at participating local Bed & Breakfasts

Following are several of the participating wine tasting rooms, wineries and wine bars.

Featured Napa Wine Shops and Tasting Rooms

Bounty Hunter Rare Wine & Provisions
Bounty Hunter has been a popular catalog merchant of specialty wines from around the world for more than a decade. Things got even better in 2004, when owner Mark Pope opened his retail shop in the handsome 1888 Semorle Building, in the heart of "happening" Napa. Bounty Hunter is an ambitious wine enterprise, showcasing forty wines by the glass and more than four hundred in the bottle. Premium, craft and hard-to-find wines are available in abundance, but many excellent recognizable labels can be found as well (and if a favorite's not in stock, BH's "wine scouts" will do their best to track it down for you). The setting is charmingly rustic Western; bar patrons can sit on vintage saddles from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays, and 11 a.m. to midnight on weekends. The bistro menu ranges from a charcuterie plate to the Cowboy Steak, a 24-ounce rib-eye. This shop is a must for all wine loving visitors wanting the true, new Napa experience.

The Tasting Bar at JV Wine & Spirts

JV Wine & Spirits
This barn-like warehouse hosts a surprisingly upscale tasting room on the left side of the store, complete with resident sommeliers. The JV Tasting Bar offers samplings from a rotating selection of 40 boutique wines daily. It’s open Thursday to Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. Friday nights from 5 to 7 p.m. are a must, bringing in local winemakers, winery owners and wine experts for intimate tasting "parties." Many locals drop by JV for these casual pre-dinner get-togethers as it’s the best happy hour in town.

The Wine Bar at Napa General Store

Napa General Store
This eclectic store is part of the refurbished Napa Mill mall, which dates to 1884 and is located at the base of Main Street. Besides selling artisan wine country culinary knickknacks, locally produced gourmet items, and offering a satisfying Pan-Asian, eclectic menu, "The General" has an enjoyable, reasonably priced wine tasting bar offering a variety of California wines. The riverside tasting bar specializes in wine from small producers–many of just a few hundred cases a year–and bottles are available for shipping (in mixed cases, if desired). Visitors can actually find real bargains here. The outdoor patio overlooking the Napa River is a plus.

Wineries of Napa Valley
This Napa wine collective features just five small, local producers including Goosecross Cellars (specializing in handcrafted Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon) and Girard Winery. Events abound, with seasonal food and wine pairing tastings, intimate “meet the winemaker” gatherings, and fun activities like “2-for-1” tastings given to guests able to answer wine-related trivia questions. There’s wi-fi service, too, and it’s free with the purchase of a glass of wine.

by Carey Sweet