Inexpensive Napa Winery That Will Take a Large Group

July 5, 2011 1:40 PM

Inexpensive Napa or Sonoma Wineries that can accomodate large groups? I'm taking a bus of 50 people to Napa (preferably Napa but we can do Sonoma) on a Saturday. The group in question will include people who don't make a whole lot of $$$. I'm looking for quality wineries (No Gallo or Mondavi!) that could take a group that large for a tasting fee of $5-$15. Bonus points if you know of a good place for lunch for a group that large.
posted by bananafish to Travel & Transportation (8 answers total)

In Sonoma, I am a big fan of Coppola. We were there last summer just after they opened their new place (they were in Napa) and it's designed for a large group of people - and it has a restaurant, as well, which when we were there was pretty reasonably priced (we didn't eat there because we had dinner plans at Russian River in Santa Rosa). They have two tastings, one is $5 and their "library" wine tasting is $10, and they also have a free flight, so you can get a pretty wide range of Coppola wines.

They also have a pool and cabana area if there are any families/kids in your group that aren't huge wine fans and just want to play in the sun a bit.
posted by pdb at 2:06 PM on July 5, 2011

Sattui: http://www.vsattui.com/

$5-10 for tasting. They also have a large deli/market and picnic area for lunch. You can do both tasting and lunching there.
posted by mintymike at 2:08 PM on July 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Sonoma and Napa tourist bureaus. It's their job to help people like you.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 2:15 PM on July 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Your Mondavi edict shows you need to do a lot more research or at least personal reflection.

You're with a group of 50 people who don't have a lot of money, so I get the sense that anything will be a treat for them, and while there's certainly some cache to going to select wineries like Cardinale, those types of places don't necessarily cater easily to a big group of tourists.

Mondavi, Gallo, and Beringer would actually be among the first places I'd think to check out. They're scale will allow you to do a much better experience for the money.

All that said, beyond the big boys, Hall Winery in Napa is probably worth looking into. It has that "WOW" factor when visiting and they definitely play it up to the tourist crowd.
posted by EJXD2 at 2:30 PM on July 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm with EJXD2. In all seriousness, even BV has some decent reserve wines that they pour during the on-site tastings. Good luck finding them at Safeway, though. And BV might be able to accommodate your group!

If you insist on staying away from major producers, The Kluge estate seems HUGE and there's a chance they could fit you all in.
posted by rkent at 3:56 PM on July 5, 2011

Given that your group doesn't have a lot of money, what sort of wines do they normally drink? It might make them happy to be able to visit the maker of a wine that's within their price range. Also, you can use the big maker as a "basic education" source and then maybe take a subset that have a bit more cash to a different winery? There are things to do in Napa that are not boozy for the light of wallet.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 5:41 PM on July 5, 2011

If you insist on staying away from major producers, The Kluge estate seems HUGE and there's a chance they could fit you all in.

I think rkent is confused (or possibly making a joke that I've misread). The Kluge Estate is a) not in Napa or Sonoma and b) not the Kluge Estate any more.
posted by Orinda at 6:24 PM on July 5, 2011

Omigod, sorry, no, that wasn't a joke, I just badly mixed up the name of the winery. The one I was thinking of is Kunde. It is a mystery to me how I mistook it for "Kluge," maybe it was on my brain from that FPP, but in any event I wasn't trying to mess with you. Sorry again. And Kunde really does seem huge.
posted by rkent at 8:48 PM on July 5, 2011