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The Ultimate Long Weekend in St. Helena

WineCountry Staff — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 08:00:10 +0000

St. Helena is the beating heart of the Napa Valley wine scene, so spend a long weekend here to experience the best in wine, dining, art, shopping, and small town life. We’ve created this 72-hour itinerary with three themes to show you the different sides of St. Helena. Read on to discover your perfect trip in St. Helena.

Day 1: Wine & Dine

One-Stop Shopping: Spend the rest of the morning exploring The Culinary Institute of America which is just down the road. Hop over there for wine and food. The student-run cafe and restaurant are open daily, and the corkscrew museum and gift shop are worth checking out.

Image Source: Trinchero, Yelp

Local Wine Tasting: Squeeze in more wine tasting at some of the local wineries, all of which are fantastic. We recommend Sinegal Estate for intimate, understated elegance, Anderson’s Conn Valley for powerful Cabernets, Trinchero Napa Valley for a lively and newly renovated tasting room, and Freemark Abbey for some great Napa Valley history and classic wines.

Insider tip: Most wineries close by 5 p.m., so head back into downtown St. Helena after hours for tasting rooms that stay open a bit later, like Orin Swift (open until 6 p.m.).

Dinner: Dine at Press, which not only serves some of the best steak in Napa Valley, but boasts the deepest Napa Valley wine cellar in the world. 1968 Cabernets? No problem. 1974 Chardonnays? Coming right up.

Insider tip: Order the Snake River Farms American Wagyu, cooked on an almond and cherry wood grill. Pairing with an aged Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, creates a combination that’s tough to top.

Image Source: Arena Art Gallery, Yelp

Sleep: St. Helena’s charm doesn’t stop at nightfall. The town boasts some of the best overnight accommodations in Wine Country. Wydown Hotel keeps you in the middle of the action with a location right on Main Street, half a block from St. Helena’s best restaurants and art galleries.

The modern decor and attentive staff create a restful place to return to after a long day of adventure. If you’re really looking to relax, treat yourself to a weekend at Meadowood, one of Napa Valley’s most luxurious and comprehensive resorts. Tucked against the base of the Vaca Mountain Range and just a three-minute drive from downtown St. Helena, Meadwoood offers everything you’d expect of a Napa Valley resort: pools, spa, tennis courts, golf course, croquet course, and a three-Michelin-star restaurant.

Insider tip: Can’t afford Meadowood’s luxury pricing? Get a taste of the experience by lunching at The Grill, a relaxing restaurant on the golf course serving fresh, classic grill fare at less eye-popping prices than the Restaurant at Meadowood nearby.

Day 2: Art, Art, Art

Breakfast: Begin your art-focused day at Model Bakery on Main Street. Literally surrounded by art galleries, there isn’t a better place in town to fuel up for a day of artistic inspiration. Famous for their airy English muffins, the breakfast sandwiches and coffee are great choices too.

Insider tip: Try the savory tart, baked fresh daily with local vegetables on top like onion, mushroom, tomato, asparagus and artichoke.

Image Source: Arena Gallery, Yelp

Main Street Gallery Stroll: St Helena’s Main Street is packed with high end art galleries, showcasing everything from modern sculpture to oil paintings. Caldwell Snyder Gallery represents some of the best contemporary artists around, while the AErena Gallery is home to modern furniture, sculpture, and fashion collections.

Insider tip: Nimbus Arts is a locally owned art center and school with classes, seminars, camps, and more. Check out their website for events happening during your visit, like Paint & Sip on Saturday nights.

Shopping: Anyone who knows and loves fashion will argue that it’s possible to put art on feet, and Foot Candy certainly proves them right. The shoes displayed alluringly in this Main Street boutique are footwear at the peak of its artistic form, from strappy sandals to sleek knee-high boots.

Insider tip: Check out the back of the shop, where boutique designers sell their threads. Pick a trendy outfit to match that new pair of Jimmy Choos.

Lunch: Dining can be an art, and lunch at Harvest Table is like a classic oil painting with some bright colors thrown in to freshen it up. Chef Charlie Palmer opened his Wine Country kitchen in 2015 to rave reviews, and hasn’t stopped serving up satisfied diners since. The atmosphere is warm and welcoming, and the food is fresh and California-inspired, sourced from some of California’s most respected purveyors like Tolenas Farms Quail, Masami Cattle Ranch, and Sebastopol Berry Farms.

Insider tip: Order the crispy pig ear salad with cilantro and Yuzu vinaigrette for a light lunch.

Art and Wine: Combine two of St. Helena’s specialities with a visit to HALL St. Helena. Founded by former U.S. Ambassador to Austria, Kathryn Hall, the winery specializes in Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and modern art displays. Grab a glass and stroll through the indoor gallery, or step outside to wander between towering modern sculptures by some of today’s most renowned artists, including John Baldessari, Jim Campbell, Nick Cave, and Jaume Plensa.

Insider tip: To truly geek out, sign up for the HALL Art & Architecture Tour, which guides visitors through a 45-minute tour of the property, wine in hand, available every Sunday at 11 a.m.

Image Source: Terra Restauran, Yelp

Dinner: Who says art has to be on the wall? Terra creates it in the kitchen and serves it beautifully on your table. Named to the San Francisco Chronicle’s list of Top 100 Restaurants eight times, Terra doesn’t miss a beat when it comes to flavor, presentation, and service. Owners Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani blend French and Japanese cuisines seamlessly with dishes like grilled scallops with Tosaka seaweed, and lobster tortellini with Shimeji mushrooms.

Insider tip: Save room for dessert – the apricot almond bisteeya with yogurt and wildflower honey is exquisite.

Day 3: The Local’s St. Helena

Image Source: Napa Valley Coffee Roasters, Yelp

Breakfast: Start the day at a local hangout, Napa Valley Coffee Roasters, located off the beaten path, one block west of Main Street. Order your morning beverage of choice and a muffin, and settle in to watch the wine industry elite do the same.

Insider tip: Grab a seat on the outdoor patio if you can: it’s perfectly positioned to watch the bustle of St. Helena waking up, from parents dropping children off at school to retired celebrities walking their dogs.

Image Source: Crocker & Starr, Yelp

Wine Tasting: Discover what the locals already know, that Charlie Crocker and Pam Starr make some mighty fine Cabernet Sauvignon at Crocker & Starr. The quaint winery is located just outside of town and offers private tastings by appointment.

Insider tip: If you have the time, reserve the Al Fresco Experience, a 90-minute tasting which includes cheese and charcuterie paired with Crocker & Starr estate wines.

Image Source: The Big Dipper, Yelp

Lunch: Combine wine tasting and lunch at Charles Krug, one of the valley’s original wineries. They fire up the pizza ovens from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends, so you can order a couple pizzas and fill your glasses, then relax on the shady lawn.

Insider tip: After lunch, treat yourself to an ice cream cone at The Big Dipper. Located one block west of Main Street, this classic small town ice cream shop offers the good stuff—like Chocolate Orange Confetti—without the frills.

Image Source: The Cameo Cinema, Yelp

Dinner and a Show: Do as the locals do on weekend nights and enjoy a popcorn dinner at the Cameo Cinema on Main Street. This historic little theater was built in 1913 and received a facelift in 2015, including plush new seating and one of the best sound systems in U.S. It plays a mix of mainstream, independent, and documentary films, and hosts various events throughout the year, including the rapidly growing Napa Valley Film Festival each November.

Insider tip: If popcorn doesn’t quite do it for you, grab dinner at Cook Tavern before the show. Located just down the street, Cook Tavern has a solid American menu and beers on tap.

Drinks: End the day by walking over to Goose & Gander, a Wine Country public house (aka restaurant) and head straight for the basement bar. This bar was one of the epicenters of the craft cocktail movement that began in the U.S. a few years ago, and although legendary bartender Scott Beattie has departed, the cocktail program here is still strong. The low ceiling, aged wooden booths, and cozy stone fireplace transport you to a pub in England, but the cocktails brimming with freshly picked herbs, vegetables, and fruit bring you right back to California. Insider tip: Order the Cucumber Collins for a treat for both your eyes and your taste buds.

Whether you have one day, three days, or a lifetime, St. Helena is a gem of a town to explore. Grab your sunglasses, polish up your wine glass, and dive into wine country’s most picturesque treasure.

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St. Helena Wine Tasting Itinerary

admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 09:00:26 +0000

Image by jimg944 via Flickr

By Courtney Cochran

ST.HELENA, CA – Wine may be what brings us to wine country, but it’s not the only show going on when it comes to things to do amongst the vines. Read on for an itinerary focused on activities in and around St. Helena that promise more than your average swirling and sipping experience – one we’re sure you’ll remember long after the day’s done.

History Lesson: Beringer
Start you day north of St. Helena at Napa Valley’s oldest continuously operating winery, Beringer. Designated a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places, the 19th Century Rhine House (fashioned after the family’s impressive old German home at Mainz-on-the-Rhine, natch) encompasses the tasting room and is a marvel of ornate Victorian architecture. Choose from one of three tours (30 minutes to 90 minutes in length, including a family tour) to learn about the spot’s vibrant winemaking history, or explore the estate’s beautifully landscaped grounds on your own with a glass of wine in hand.
(707) 963-4812 * 2000 Main Street St. Helena, CA 94574

Picnic Chic: V. Sattui
After your history lesson at Beringer, head just a few minutes south to enjoy an alfresco dining experience at Napa favorite V. Sattui. Encompassing an impressive Italian marketplace and deli alongside its tasting room, V. Sattui pairs superb wines with 2 ½ acres of tree-shaded grounds for picnicking. Visitors in the spring, summer and fall can look forward to the likes of wood-fired pizzas, BBQ fare and a mozzarella bar on-site, as well as specialty oil, vinegar and mustard sampling on weekends and holidays.
Bonus après-lunch activity: Work off your meal with a gratis self-guided tour of the winery’s stone buildings, underground cellars and museum.
(707) 963-7774 * 1111 White Lane St. Helena, CA 94574

Image by pvsbond via Flickr

Seminar Studies: Merryvale
Hop in your car after lunch for the brief drive to Merryvale, another historic spot that was the first winery built in Napa after Prohibition. Hopefully you’ve saved room for snacking, because you won’t want to miss the spot’s renowned weekend Wine & Cheese Experience. Let sommelier Shawn Dougherty show you his stuff as he walks you through a pairing of Merryvale wines and five local artisan cheeses, highlighting the affinity of the cheeses with specific varietals. And don’t forget to consult the winery’s Calendar of Events for not-to-be-missed quarterly Barrel Tastings, which feature food pairings and live entertainment throughout the afternoon matched with Merryvale’s award-winning wines ‘thieved’ from French oak barrels.
(707) 963-7777 * 1000 Main Street St. Helena, CA 94574

Ghost Tour: Hall Winery
Another short drive brings you to Hall Winery, a St. Helena powerhouse gaining renown for its rich, complex Cabernets as well as its soon-to-be-completed, $100 million Frank Gehry-designed winery (how ’bout them apples?). The new facility – slated to open this year – incorporates the site’s historic 1885 winery, founded by a New England sea captain, as the focal point of its design. Known as a “ghost winery” because of its colorful pre-Prohibition past, Hall offers a popular “ghost tour” consisting of barrel tasting in its circa-1885 winery and a guided tasting of current releases in the Architectural Gallery, home to an exhibit of Gehry’s models and blueprints for the new winery. Cool.
(707) 967-2620 * 401 St. Helena Highway South St. Helena, CA 94574

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Sixteen Ways On Sunday: The HALL Cabernet Cookoff

admin — Wed, 19 May 2010 14:34:34 +0000

By Deirdre Bourdet

Last Sunday HALL Winery hosted their first annual Cabernet Cookoff, inviting eight professional and eight amateur chef teams to compete for cash donations to their non-profits of choice. The challenge: create a dish to pair with the 2005 HALL Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, using primarily organic and sustainable ingredients. After sampling each of the sixteen submissions, accompanied by plenty of the wine in question, guest attendees would cast their votes for the best amateur and best professional teams. The wine of the hour offered the chefs a lot in the way of inspiration… the 2005 vintage has a fresh herbaceous nose, but ripe red fruits and darker plum aspects on the palate, with harmonious integrated tannins and a nice bit of earthy cocoa to warm the soul. Both the amateur teams and the professionals turned out some very interesting creative dishes to complement the wine.

Undaunted by the professional teams across the way, the Napa Valley Vintners’ crew was churning out adorable ground pork sirloin sliders with cabernet caramelized onions, dried jack cheese, and a tomato-based cabernet barbecue sauce, served on tiny, sweet dinner roll buns. The pork was amply seasoned and spiced, with onion and garlic powder, allspice, ginger, tomato paste, pepper, and probably a few other secret things thrown in as well. Sweet, earthy, tangy, and chewy all came home to roost with a mouthful of the wine.

Nonetheless, my vote in the amateur category went to the team competing on behalf of the Cope Family Center, “It’s a Family Affair.” Succulent chipotle and chocolate braised short rib tamales were bathed in a rich red wine sauce, and accompanied by a perky black bean and corn salad in jalapeno vinaigrette. Surprisingly, the layers of spiciness worked really well with the cab–there were no clashing or sour notes, and the wine more than held its own without losing its fruit character. The shortribs’ smoky, cocoa notes amplified those flavors in the wine, and the masa shell brought sweetness and toothsome texture. The earthy black beans, sweet corn kernels, and jalapenos brought variations on the theme and helped bring out the herbaceous aspects of the cabernet as well. Remarkably, the tamale dish was also a great match with the HALL sauvignon blanc, which had just enough sweetness to balance the spice, and just enough body to stand up to the meaty filling.

On the pro side, it was a tough decision… so many tasty delights, and only one could have my vote. The Winery Chefs’ grilled lamb flatbreads with fava puree, shaved fennel, and mountains of fresh herbs brought together a world of texture and richness and brightness. Paula Le Duc Catering’s grilled pizza with homemade cabernet duck sausage, braised nettles, sauteed ramps, and fresh herbed ricotta was also wonderful–rich, bitter, tangy, and smoky from being grilled over wine barrel staves and vine clippings.

Calistoga Ranch’s spring pea guanciale risotto with braised shortribs and shallots was compulsively delicious both on its own and as a pairing for the cabernet sauvignon… Taken alone, this dish was irresistable… and gone in about three seconds, barely enough time to slurp down some cabernet and totally bliss out. The wine brought new layers and complexity to the dish’s already luscious depth of flavor, exactly like it was supposed to. Pali’s Dinner By Design also delivered a winner with their seared duck breast, truffle mashed potatoes, and chunky port reduction…which alchemized with the cabernet into the sweet profundity of black fruits and ducky essence.

But my favorite pairing of the day came from Sunshine Foods Market in St. Helena. Their dish hit every flavor receptor in my mouth, and knocked pairing synergy out of the park. Beautiful slices of beef Chateaubriand were crowned with crisp fried capers, garlic-infused oil, and grated Ewephoria sheep cheese, then drizzled with a deep, dark balsamic vinegar reduction that they tell me contained a whole bottle of HALL’s 1985 vintage cabernet. Whatever they put in there, this dish rocked. Tangy, earthy, beefy, fruity, chewy, umami-y…it had the cabernet fruit firing on all cylinders, and scored my vote in the fiercely contested professional category.

My takeaway lessons for pairing food with HALL cabernet are informed by what I felt were the most successful dishes. Start with a tried and true red wine winner–meat you can sink your teeth into–but layer on the earthy veggies and spices and umami factors, balance with sweet herbaceousness and tang, and you can flatter every aspect of the lovely wine…and make your mouth very, very happy indeed.

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PRESS Restaurant – Spring Specials

admin — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 10:47:53 +0000

ST. HELENA, CA – Dine at PRESS Restaurant this Spring and enjoy their featured specials and limited time offers.

*MONDAY NIGHT DINNERS
Four course dinner served family style
See website on Sundays for menu
$55 per person

*Visit online to view weekly Monday Night Dinner Menu*

WINE LIST WEDNESDAYS
Free corkage and 50% off entire Napa Valley featured wine list until May 1, 2009

SUNDAY-THURSDAY BLUE PLATE BAR SPECIAL
Only at the PRESS bar
$10 Blue Plate Special that changes daily Call daily for chef’s special selections

PRESS Restaurant
587 St. Helena Highway South
Call 707-967-0550 for reservations
www.presssthelena.com

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