The Best Food & Wine Experiences in Napa Valley

"We had a fabulous afternoon on Mother's day. The experiences were different from the past visits. As we checked in for our picnic table, we were greeted by one of the staff in the tasting room with welcoming sparkling drink, then we went outside to choose our picnic tables (the cabanas required prepaid reservation with minimum purchase). Our host/wine embassador Gustavo came, he switched us into one of the cabanas that had no reservation for the day, how thoughtful. We ordered pizzas and wines by the bottle from the menu, alongside with cheese and charcuterie plate. Gustavo did not rush us, he let us take our time to decide what to order, while he went to take care of the other guests in another cabana for their wine tasting orders. We had four different pizzas, the last one was secret recipe because they ran out the mushrooms for their seasonal flavor, so I asked them to replace the mushrooms with available veggies and created a "secret recipe" pizza. The wines, we had their Rosé and Chardonnay, my favorite was the Rosé, fruity, sweeter than the Chardonnay while still had its crisp and refreshing characters, it was an excellent picnic wine, went very well with the food. Gustavo was a fantastic host, he loved to mingle with his guests, not only he was very knowledge with the wines, the history of the winery, he was also knowing the wildlife in the area, he was showing us the mating crow on the tree, a jack rabbit that just went by (and I found it later). Gustavo also brought us his favorite Zinfandel port wine to taste, it was silky smooth with clean sweetness that did not stick in the throat, a fruity dessert wine, Gustavo not only introduced a California local wine, also a relaxing ending to a picnic. When we checked out in the tasting room, I asked about their Vintage selection to impress a friend who drinks Opus One, he intoduced the "Generations", which was a polished Bordeaux style Napa tradition, it was silky smooth, no heavy alcohol, it was very easy drinkable than the other Bordeaux style wines. "Generations" was really created by Modavi's newest generation. The wine was created to honor and represent the newer generations of the Mondavi family who continued the family’s Napa Valley winemaking legacy. Also the grapes of this wine was estate grown and harvest on-site, with an affordable price $85, this wine is best to impress a serious wine drinker with a rich Napa Valley wine history to tell. Good choice Gustavo! Overall, what a great experience, warm and welcoming hospitality. We always like to come to this winery, but this recent visit was far better than the past visits we had there. Points taken one was the reservation system if they could include the picnic tables, I had to go through emails to reserve it, due to it had first come first serve basic, but for a group wanted to secure a picnic table in case the place gets busy and tables filled up upon arrival, it still needs a reservation system, also better monitoring....just my thought."