Our Favorite Napa Valley Wineries

Known throughout the whole world, Napa Valley is home to some of the most beautiful wineries and the tastiest wines! This glorious part of wine country features over 400 wineries who produce full-bodied Cabernets and fruity Merlots, along with dozens of other wine varieties. There are many regions of Napa Valley that contain these amazing vineyards and we want to share some of our favorites with you.

Calistoga

• Chateau Montelena

"A must for wine lovers seeking excellence, our setting is one of the most peaceful in the Napa Valley - a stone castle carved into a hillside overlooking a Chinese garden, lake and vineyards reaching out to the base of Mount Saint Helena."

• Clos Pegase

"WELCOME TO CLOS PEGASE, the classic Napa Valley destination for award-winning, estate wines and luxury hospitality. Located just down the road from the town of Calistoga and nestled among estate vineyards, Clos Pegase Winery is both an awe-inspiring and welcoming destination."

Oakville

• Cain Vineyard & Winery

"Cain Vineyard & Winery is cradled in a spectacular bowl overlooking the Napa Valley from the crest of the Spring Mountain District. We are dedicated to the creation of three Cabernet blends, each drawn from its own unique vineyard sources, each with its own distinctive signature: Cain Cuvée, Cain Concept, and Cain Five."

• Silver Oak Cellars

"Our Oakville winery is located between the Silverado Trail and the town of Oakville on the original site where Silver Oak was founded out of a dairy barn in 1972. Since 2008, our new, state-of-the-art winery has served as the production facility for our Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon."

Rutherford

• Peju Province Winery

"Visit us and discover what makes Peju a magical destination! Taste our award-winning wines, learn about food and wine pairing with our wine and culinary exploration or get hands-on in the Peju kitchen. We welcome you to join us daily 10am – 6pm."

• Mumm Napa

"Our roots can be traced back to GH Mumm, the leading international champagne brand in France. Established in California in the late 1970s, Mumm Napa follows traditional wine making techniques of its French heritage to create the finest, hand-crafted sparkling wines. Our dedication to quality has been rewarded with accolades and awards over the decades."

St. Helena

• Beringer Vineyards

"Passion has the wonderful power to turn mere objects into an obsession, to transform everyday tasks into art. At Beringer, we have been living our passion for over 141 years."

• Sherwin Family Vineyards

"After almost 30 years as a Builder and Developer in the Bay Area, Steve Sherwin was ready to make a lifestyle change. He and his wife, Linda, were looking for a quieter, more relaxed setting to raise their three children. Steve’s buddy, a fifth generation grape grower in Napa Valley, suggested that they look for property in Napa Valley and grow grapes. His buddy assured him that, although farming is a lot of hard work, it was not nearly as stressful as building and developing."

Yountville

• Jessup Cellars

"The Jessup Cellars story is one of passion, family, hard work, resilience and, of course, fantastic wine. Over the past two decades, Jessup Cellars has earned a loyal following for its ultra-premium wines of distinction and a word-of-mouth reputation for hosting one of the friendliest tasting rooms in all of wine county."

• Kelleher Family Vineyard

"The Kelleher Family Vineyard is situated along Highway 29 in the famous Oakville Appellation in the heart of the Napa Valley. We have 10 acres planted exclusively with Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and we have named this beautiful piece of land "Brix Vineyard", after our namesake restaurant "Brix"."

For more of our favorite wineries, visit us at AWineryReview.com

Wine's Long-Term Effects on Your Brain

A study, published in February of 2018 by The Center for Translational Neuromedicine at The University of Rochester, which centers around how prolonged alcohol exposure effects your central nervous system, had some very interesting results. Their goal was to discover the amount of alcohol it takes to damage the function of the central nervous system through the glymphatic system, which is the system your body uses to remove waste in your brain. What their study revealed was very interesting!

"While a couple of glasses of wine can help clear the mind after a busy day, new research shows that it may actually help clean the mind as well. The new study shows that low levels of alcohol consumption tamp down inflammation and helps the brain clear away toxins, including those associated with Alzheimer's disease." - Science Daily

To conduct their study they exposed mice to different amounts of ethanol (alcohol). Some mice were exposed to moderate doses, some high, and some extreme doses. The mice that were given moderate doses showed improved glymphatic function compared to mice that were not exposed to any ethanol. This level increases the brain's efficiency of waste removal while reducing inflammation. The mice that were exposed to high and extreme doses had severe decreases in their brain waste removal. Their activity was subdued and their cells induced an injury reaction. The authors also suggest that a higher risk of dementia may be a long-term result of high or extreme exposure.

So how much is moderate, high, and extreme doses of wine?

Moderate Exposure - 2.5 glasses

High Exposure - 8 glasses

Extreme Exposure - 21 glasses

*These numbers are approximations

The bottom line is that drinking wine, or any alcohol, in moderation may be better for your central nervous system than drinking it in high doses or not at all. It's perfectly fine to enjoy a glass or two of your favorite bottle!

For more information, or to read the full study, click here.

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A Crumbling Cork

If you've ever had a bottle of wine that had a crumbling cork you may wonder what to do. The best way to separate the cork from the wine is to filter the wine through mesh to collect the cork pieces. If the wine is old, this process may oxidize the wine more than desired, so you may want to filter it into a glass instead of decanting it. Since most wine bottles will still be sealed, the wine should have maintained it's quality. The best way to determine if the quality has been compromised is to taste the wine before serving. 

To prevent the cork from crumbling in the first place a two-prong wine opener is a good investment. This method pulls the cork from the sides instead of from the middle with a screw which can keep the cork in tact. If you don't have a two-prong wine opener yet, try removing a fragile cork very slowly.

If the cork breaks while removing it and some is left in the opening of the bottle, you can try to remove it by using both a two-prong wine opener and a cork screw. Or you can try to pry it out with the sharp end of the cork screw, again, very slowly and carefully. If all else fails, pushing the cork into the bottle of wine may be your only option.

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Our Website

We are constantly updating our website and the services we offer you! We have "Featured Wineries" on our website along with our NEW magazine! Here are some of our services:

• Recipes

• Magazine

• Accessory Store

• Wine Glossary

• Featured Wineries 

• Wine Country Maps

• Red Wine Suggestions

• White Wine Suggestions

• & More!

H. Montanile's winery review is a comprehensive overview of California's wine country detailing the overall experience of visiting the California Wineries.  Our reviews include the wines generally available for tasting, as well as a wide variety of other wines.  With over 5000 wineries to choose from, let H. Montanile's winery review be your companion on your visit to the wineries in the Napa Valley and Sonoma County.

We update our website weekly with new information and products so keep checking back so you don't miss anything!

Spring in Sonoma County

The season of spring is refreshing, fragrant, and vibrant. It's full of new blossoms, scents, and life! Along with the mustard blossoms, there are tons of flowers coming into bloom all across the county of Sonoma, filling the fields and gardens of the area.

Some beautiful locations to visit this spring include the Kendall-Jackson Wine Center which has a beautiful four acre paradise. With seven garden spaces, some are intended just for beauty, some for education, and some provide the vegetables, herbs, and fruits used by the culinary team for the food and wine pairings.

Ferrari-Carano Winery is also an awe-inspiring place to visit in the spring. Sprawled on five acres, you can explore paths and foot bridges, a stream, waterfalls, and fish ponds. This extraordinary winery is known for it's colorful display of over 10,000 tulips and daffodils. The gardens also include over 2,000 different species of shrubs and trees that are all informatively marked.

Featuring over 150 kinds of roses, Korbel Rose Garden at Korbel Champagne Cellars was planted in the 1880s at the Korbel Family summer home. In addition to the roses, the garden now contains redwood, plum trees, shrubs, and other beautiful plants native to the area.

These are only some of the amazing gardens located in Sonoma County. Spring is the best time to visit these gardens and... stop to smell the roses!

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