Description: We’d been told before we left home that Sterling Vineyards was a stunning visit and we’d now cracked the voucher system and had a two for one offer. This would enable us to have full access to the facilities and pick up a complimentary wine glass on departure.
Sterling Vineyards are not too far away on the south east of Calistoga and our only problem was sorting out the protocol when we reached a busy "four-way stop" crossroads. We kinda figured that it went round the junctions with one crossing at each time. No matter what the rule we managed to get across and down the correct route, without anything untoward happening to us. A minor miracle – or so it felt at the time.
We entered the vineyard by way of a long avenue of young trees to the large car park. There were plenty of people here so I guess they’d all heard of its reputation. By comparison to Beaulieu this is a baby. The vineyards were founded as recently as 1964 but it wasn’t until 1971 that the design and rerestructuring of the vineyards began. The designer based his ideas on the structures on the Greek Island of Mykonos, where the British international paper tycoon once lived. Work was soon completed and a year later the place is open to the general public. The aerial tramway was finished in 1973 and over the next few years surrounding land is purchased to ensure that the winegrowers can keep up with the public demand for the wine, but also importantly to ensure that the vista around the vineyard is fully protected.
We took a gentle stroll around the lower gardens and then headed to the aerial tram or gondola as they prefer to refer to it. Our friend hung on for dear life, she hates heights, whilst the rest of enjoyed the superb views across the valley over the top of the forest of trees that at the lower level were enclosing us in.
At the top we were about to embark on a self-guided tour of the wine making facilities of this prestigious vineyard and were impressed at the stack of barrels all neatly stacked and looking after the ir precious product. The interesting feature about this tasting is that there is no pressure to rush. We sat on the roof top garden enjoying the view, the flowers and the sunshine as well as a fruity tasting of a 2007 Pinot Gris. Refreshing and extremely palatable. There are a range of well manicured flower beds up at the "top of the world", with pinks, blues and yellows all fighting for our attention. In the distance a pond of water lilies glinted at us and the view across the valley was amazing.
The Greek style house with their traditional bell towers gave us a great vantage point and despite the number of vehicles in the car park the place seemed relatively quiet. The towers house eight bells from London’s St Dunstans-in-the-east. This church was founded in the 10th Century but completely destroyed in 1666 in the Great Fire of London. The church was rebuilt and then destroyed once again during the blitz of World War I. These bells have been recast from the originals and they chime out across the vineyard and the Napa Valley every 15 minutes. What an amazing concept Greek style buildings, chimes from the UK and views across the beautiful slopes of the Napa Valley.
In total we tasted 6 different wines including an aromatic sauvignon Blanc, a spicy fruity Zinfandel, a rich deep red oaked cherry Bordeaux, a spicy merlot and the floral aromatic Malvasia Bianca. We all enjoyed each of them but the Malvasia, a previously unknown wine to myself, hit a few buttons on this glorious day in June.
We didn’t rush and when we reached the inevitable gift shop we paused to purchase some souvenirs and a mixed case of wines to see us through the rest of our holiday
What a super.place – stupendous views, good informative tour of the winemaking facilities and great wines to taste. Oh and don't forget the free wine glass to take home!
Close