quote:

Costanti was a close second.

Agreed.

U.S. - Core - Dave and Becky are awesome -

Italy - Costanti and Soldera

Spain - Joan Simo and Trio Infernal

The best by far...

DR Stephens - A tasting at DR's house. Just remarkable.

Chateau Boswell/ Realm - Amazing property and great people

Vineyard 29 - The gnarliest winery anywhere. I've never seen anything like it.

Pride/ Corte Riva - The top of Spring Mountain

Sherwin Family - Next to Pride. A wonderful home with an amazing view.

Rudd- Amazing caves and good people.

I would have to say Bodegas Lopez Heredia in Rioja, hands down. The winery is almost an antique, great caves, amazing wines, and wonderful people.

Pride
Lewelling
Trespass
Myriad

Whoa ... tough task! I agree, Hess is a wonderful experiences for the many senses; Holdredge is a blast because John is; Sinskey is wonderful. Now, for a couple not mentioned - Kuleto - great views and wines and Esterlina - views not as good as Kuleto, but the wines are very good. Both are up in the mountain 'toolies', but Kuleto is much more exciting coming down ... especially if you meet someone coming up! BUT ... it's worth the ride!!
Parnelli

Shafer was a wonderful experience. Great wine and a laid back staff. I got to meet John and Doug Shafer as well.

David Arthur. David Long is a class act and obviously likes to have a good time, particularly in the barrel room.

We also enjoyed the visit at Del Dotto, particularly if you get the last tour of the day and they start blasting the music after the doors are locked.

quote:

Originally posted by Berno:
Shafer was a wonderful experience. Great wine and a laid back staff. I got to meet John and Doug Shafer as well.

My favorite as well. The cave & facilities tour was great too.

Fuligni....no question. Barrel tasting with the matriarch...it doesn't get better than this.

A visit I'll never forget!

quote:

Originally posted by DoktaP:
Fuligni....no question. Barrel tasting with the matriarch...it doesn't get better than this.

A visit I'll never forget!

Excellent.

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Tong BBP:
Lewelling. Reason: Dave Wight.

My vote also. A very personal tour where you have a chance to get to know him and the wines quite well.

All about the people and the experience.

Vineyard 7&8 on Spring Mountain. Great wines, young Wes is a great host and he gave me a sleeve of ProV1's with their logo

Ladera - a beautiful old refurbished ghost winery, Anne Stotesbery gave us a great (private) tour, nice wine cave, and excellent wines.

Keenan - another ghost winery, beautiful setting, really nice people, nice wines.

Also, Rattlesnake Hill at Barnett has some nice views.
__________________________________

quote:

Originally posted by KSC02:

quote:

Originally posted by wine+art:
Italy:
Ornellaia.
Masseto

These vineyards would be a special visit indeed.
If the opportunity is there, while in Italy next year, I'd also love to visit any of:
Fuligni
Valdicava
Siro Pacenti

I'm looking forward to my visit to Alvaro Palacios with KSC02 next year!

I'm GREATLY looking forward to this one as well!

I hope to have Roberto Guerrini (Fuligni) join us for dinner next May. Franco Pacenti (Siro's son) is a very interesting guy. His approach to BdM is different to say the least (and not in a bad way).

I agree with the earlier call on Sineann. Went there in January and Peter had 16 different wines for us to try.

But my all time favorite is J.K. Carriere. It's in a little hazelnut barn in Newberg, Oregon. Jim Prosser, the winemaker is the reason. He's in the process of building a new winery. Hope the magic doesn't get lost.

wow..

quote:

Originally posted by latour67:
That's a difficult question!

Several Bordeaux Chateaux come to mind: Lafite, Latour Mouton, Margaux, Pichon Baron, Ducru Beaucaillou, and others.

Why?

For the History, the lavish Chateaux, the chai, the vineyards, the tours, the museum in Mouton's case, and the young Swedish tour guide at Latour

California----The friendly and informative tours, Montelena's beautiful Japanese Gardens, and the fact that it's not too far from Taylor's Refresher hamburger joint!

You have to love Taylors !!!!!!

Just got back from my first Napa/Sonoma Trip

Favorites:
Vincent Arroyo (Calistoga)-nothing great to see, but awesome wines and great people

Burgess Cellars (St Helena)- awesome view, great cab, very hidden

Stag's Leap- the house is amazing and so is the wine.

quote:

Stag's Leap- the house is amazing and so is the wine

You must of tasted early 90's Vintages.

Favorite winery visits for me have a lot more to do with the people there than with buildings or the products.

I've spent some really terrific times with winemakers or owners, mostly just enjoying listening to them as they get excited talking about what they do. Real standouts in recent years have been Dan Shaefer at Audelssa (though I feared the drive back down the mountain so I stayed there as long as I could ), Tom Mortimer at Le Cadeau, Caleb and Nina Foster at Buty. All of them had an infectious enthusiasm and genuine modesty that was hard not to admire.

While in the Barossa Valley last year around this time I had a chance to visit a few great wineries. Yalumba, Two Hands, Barossa Valley Estate, and Kaesler are the ones that stood out, not just for the fabulous wines, but also for the beauty of the building/tasting room, the grounds surrounding the winery (especially Yalumba... spectacular), and the way the staff treated us.

There were a couple places where the staff weren't terribly friendly or seemingly interested in our being there, which was a real turn off. Not so at the aforementioned wineries... we were thoroughly delighted at how we were treated and greatly enjoyed the conversations we had with the staff and wine makers.

The tasting room at Torbreck was tiny by comparison but it still goes down as one of my favorites. They were very friendly and, like the other wineries I visited, didn't charge us a tasting fee. Plus, they were pouring some VERY generous pours the day I visited. Honest to God, I must have had a $50 "taste" of Run Rig!