O! Wine country.
You’re as inscrutable as you are bewitching, with your panoply of family vintners and tasting rooms.
If only there were a central repository of Napa’s bounty, a wine library of sorts, where a man could sample away without committing his afternoon to a single estate.
Wait. There is: City Winery Napa, now open.
With 35 wines on tap and some 500 bottles in its reserves, City’s list is at once monolithic and approachable, a celebration of the winemaking arts representing the region’s finest offerings.
Occupying the freshly renovated 19th-century Napa Valley Opera House, City Winery will play host to concerts and comedy acts, but its wine-inspired gourmet restaurant and full bar will be open daily to accommodate your studies.
This is City Winery’s third location, following NYC and Chicago, but this is where it all started for founder Michael Dorf, who made a barrel of wine in these parts and became a vintage devotee.
If you’re interested in becoming a devotee yourself, consider a membership.
Hell of a lot more useful than your library card.
Nota bene: If you’re making a weekend of it, grab lodgings in another renovated landmark: the Napa River Inn.
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