California

Bev Wines Review – Canned Wine Best For Sipping Outside

Canned wines are starting to take the world by storm, and one female-led, California producer, Bev, is leaning into this one hard with numerous varieties available for direct shipping nationwide (included in every order).

We were contacted by Bev to see if we wanted to try out their wines for a review, and of course, had to say yes.

As it turns out, these were the first canned wines we've ever had, and they most certainly will not be the last.

Note: We received these wines complimentary for this review. All opinions are our own. Bev Wines also has provided 20% off one-time orders for our readers with the discount code THEGRAPEPURSUIT as well. Click here to check out their inventory!

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Cakebread Pinot Noir Annahala Ranch 2015 Review – Classic Pinot

When we visited Napa, one of the first vineyards we made it to was Cakebread Cellars. Not only did we have a wonderful time at our tasting, we walked away with several bottles to enjoy at home. (You can read more about how we checked wine on a plane here.)

One such bottle was Cakebread's Pinot Noir Annahala Ranch 2015 and when we opened it in 2020 at five years old we knew we had found a gem- both for its flavor profile and its price point!

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The Fableist Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 Review – Modest Tannin

The Fableist Cabernet Sauvignon is not a pure bottle of Cab, but is in fact comprised of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and balanced with Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Tempranillo.

We opened this one for a steak pairing thinking we'd have a pronounced acid and tannin fruit bomb, but instead found something a bit more nuanced. Good for what we were tasting, but perhaps not the best for the particular pairing.

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Napa or Sonoma – Which California Wine Region is For You?

When planning a trip to enjoy Napa Valley wineries or Sonoma wineries, it is very easy to get a bit of planning paralysis. 

By some estimates there are well over 400 vineyards in the bay area, with the bulk centered around these two popular regions thanks to their unique terroir that results in delicious wines.

But odds are good you won't be able to make a dent in the 400+ vineyards when you visit. In fact, depending on your trip length you may find it hard to hit more than 10 or so in a couple of days.

So how do you pick where to go on a short visit? In this one we want to break down our thoughts in the big picture of comparing Napa Valley or Sonoma (and give a few of our favorite vineyards in each).

Note: We drove around Napa from North to South, but in Sonoma stuck mostly around the Russian River Valley portion. The below summaries are anecdotal based on our own experiences at about 10 vineyards between the two locations only and may not be true for every vineyard. Please keep this in mind when reading as some points are simply limited generalizations.

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5 of the Best Wineries in Napa and Sonoma to Visit

In a previous article, we broke down the differences between Napa and Sonoma to give broad views on these two rather unique winemaking regions.

In it, we loosely mentioned some of the vineyards we checked out during our first trip to the area, but spent most of the article speaking in generalities about the regions as a whole.

Today, we wanted to dive into the Napa Valley wineries and Sonoma wineries themselves, and highlight a few that stood out to us as being must visits!

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Bedrock Wine Co Zinfandel 2018 Review – Needs Some Years

Sometimes we open a bottle and find it is simply a bit too young and could use a few more years in the cellar. Bedrock Wine Co's 2018 Zinfandel was much like this, as when we enjoyed it at two years old, we found ourselves wishing we would've saved it for a few years down the road.

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MacRostie Dutton Ranch Chardonnay 2016 Review – A Mellow Californian

MacRostie Winery is one of those places that is near and dear to our hearts as we had a chance to personally visit the estate when traveling around Sonoma in early 2019. We were one of the first appointments for the day and got a prime outdoor seat on their patio (complete with complimentary blankets as it was quite cold) and enjoyed our wine with some of the finest views we had on that trip.

We picked up some bottles to take home, one of which was the MacRostie Dutton Ranch Chardonnay 2016. We held off on drinking this one for about a year and cracked into it in mid-2020- just under four years from the point of harvest.

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