{"id":4642,"date":"2012-11-27T00:33:28","date_gmt":"2012-11-27T00:33:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.california-tour.com\/blog\/?p=4642"},"modified":"2026-02-22T00:53:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T00:53:26","slug":"napa-valley-reservations-required","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.california-tour.com\/blog\/napa-valley-reservations-required\/","title":{"rendered":"Napa Valley- Reservations Required"},"content":{"rendered":"

Appointment only wineries are worth it!<\/strong> They say wine is like a story and Napa Valley certainly has a lot. Don\u2019t miss your opportunity to get all the juicy details from insiders. Wineries requiring reservations offer one-on-one time and often the chance to meet the winemakers themselves. Don’t deprive yourself of the true VIP experience by only sticking strictly with public tasting.\u00a0 Make a reservation and finally find the time to relax, have a glass of wine, and take advantage of the intimate setting at these \u201cexclusive\u201d wineries.<\/p>\n

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Straight from the vine, freshly picked Napa Valley Grapes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pros<\/strong>-Not the most experienced wine connoisseurs-fear not. Surprisingly the appointment only wineries are not as exclusive and highbrow as many may think. The wineries we experienced were down to earth and most importantly not phased by our sometimes-remedial questions.\u00a0 The value of tasting are largely better, by limiting the number of patron wineries can focus on quality control rather than surviving the bum rush at the tasting bar. Savor the moment, no one is rushing you and you have the wine host all to your self. With private tasting you have a captive audience, the pourer has no reason to move on to bigger wallets- don\u2019t be shy to ask for seconds.<\/p>\n

Cons<\/strong>– yes you do have to pay a tasting fee that is on average more expensive than the public wineries. Keep in mind you are also paying for the opportunity to taste some superior quality wines available nowhere else. Why not bring home a Souvenir; often tasting fees are waived when you decide take a bottle home.<\/p>\n

Wanting to try the experience for ourselves we called ahead and made appointments with two of Napa\u2019s hidden gems: Fleury Estate and Schweiger Vineyard & Winery.<\/p>\n

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Front patio view from Fluery Estate Winery, Napa Valley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Appointment only Fleury Estate Winery<\/em><\/strong> lives up to its motto: 100% Good Juice. Their wine BDX is featured exclusively on French Laundry\u2019s Tasting Menu- an honor that is not overlooked in the valley. Owners\u2019 son, Eric, admits that they have no plans of making their wine available in stores anytime soon. Despite their upscale following Fleury\u2019s atmosphere is surprising casual and fun. Eric was charming and candidly shared some of the family stories behind the wines. We spent most of our appointment with him and his passion for the family business was obvious.\u00a0 Tasting highlights include: Reserve Howell Mountain BDX and the Port.<\/p>\n

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Schweiger Vineyard & Winery, Napa Valley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Historically Napa Wineries have been family owned. Boutique appointment only wineries, like Schweiger, are keeping this tradition alive, keeping both grape growing and wine making in the family. Upon arrival at this mountaintop vineyard we observed owner Fred Schweiger running a tractor through the rows. Erin our hostess sat on the balcony and chatted with us like an old friend. She told us about the wine, family history and even doted on her favorite vineyard dog.\u00a0 We learned that every year wine-maker and son Andrew releases his Dedication Wine, of which he honors someone important in his life. We easily could have spent our entire day there our day was that enjoyable; at Schweiger Vineyards & Winery<\/strong><\/em>, \u201c\u2026what\u2019s important is family and friends\u201d. \u00a0Highlights: cheese plate with tasting & cellar and \u201cwine blending tour\u201d.<\/p>\n

Interested in visiting similar appointment only wineries in Napa Valley? For a complete listing of appointment only wineries in Napa Valley please see\u00a0www.napavintners.com<\/a>. Check out California Tours\u2019 Napa Valley Packages<\/a> and book your private wine country get-away today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Appointment only wineries are worth it! They say wine is like a story and Napa Valley certainly has a lot. Don\u2019t miss your opportunity to get all the juicy details from insiders. Wineries requiring reservations offer one-on-one time and often the chance to meet the winemakers themselves. Don’t deprive yourself of the true VIP experience […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_s2mail":"yes","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,9,45],"tags":[54,51,116,52,53],"class_list":["post-4642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-california","category-travel-tips","category-wine-country","tag-day-trip-wine-country","tag-napa-valley","tag-travel-tips","tag-wine-country-2","tag-wine-tasting"],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"California Tours","author_link":"https:\/\/www.california-tour.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Appointment only wineries are worth it! They say wine is like a story and Napa Valley certainly has a lot. Don\u2019t miss your opportunity to get all the juicy details from insiders. Wineries requiring reservations offer one-on-one time and often the chance to meet the winemakers themselves. Don’t deprive yourself of the true VIP experience…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.california-tour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.california-tour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.california-tour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.california-tour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.california-tour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4642"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/www.california-tour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6052,"href":"https:\/\/www.california-tour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4642\/revisions\/6052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.california-tour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.california-tour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.california-tour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}