Venge Vineyards

In an effort to dine at all 3000 San Francisco restaurants (800 and counting) and visit all 600 Napa wineries (350 and counting), travels recently took us to Venge Vineyards in Calistoga.

Our host was Bradley who shared many great stories about the Venge family and their great wines.  Venge is three generations of producing fine wine in Napa Valley since 1968.

Knud Venge migrated from Denmark to the United States in the early 1900’s. Knud's son, Per Venge, found his passion in the wine and spirits industry and started Vencom Imports, focusing on the importation and selling of Western European fine wines and spirits. It was Per's son, Nils Venge, who left the family business, moving to Davis, California, in 1968 with a vision to study viticulture at UC Davis and establish the family namesake as an icon within the winegrowing community. Venge's  viticulture roots flourished in the heart of Napa Valley - the Oakville District - where 17 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot were planted in 1976. This estate vineyard has served as the backbone in the production of the Family Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and Family Reserve Merlot bottlings.  Nils Venge worked for Groth for many years making the first 100 point wine in 1985.

In 2008, Nils' son, Kirk Venge, acquired ownership and winemaking responsibilities for Venge Vineyards from his father, signaling a new era of family growing traditions.  His Scouts Honor with a blend of 70 percent Zinfandel, 14 percent Charbonneau, 9 percent Petite Syrah and 7 percent Syrah was dedicated to his yellow lab named Scout who welcomed guests to the winery for many years.  The 2014 is rated 94 and described by Robert Parker as a "glorious blueberry and black raspberry fruit, some truffle, licorice and spice.. a hedonistic fruit bomb and intellectually pleasing." We especially enjoyed this wine and took a few bottles with us for lunch and back home to Danville. It retails for $38.00.

The next tasting was the 2014  Bacigalupi Pinot Noir from Russian River that was refreshing and retailed for $65.00.  This Pinot was unique and also went back home to our Danville wine cellar.  We also tasted  the 2014 Silencieux with a blend of 96 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 2 percent petite Verdot and 2 percent merlot rated 94 with loads of blackberry and blueberry notes. It is a great value at $60.00.  The 2014 Bone Ash 100percent Cabernet Sauvignon was our final tasting and our favorite with a rating of 96. Robert Parker says " it has a floral component of blackberry and cassis fruit, subtle new oak  and a full bodied expansive mouthfeel."  It retails for $115.00.

For lunch we dined at Archetype in downtown St. Helena. It is located in a charming house on Main Street.  A warm fireplace welcomed us to a friendly atmosphere with an open kitchen creating a variety of locally farmed American meals. It represented the warmth of Napa with a distinctive wine country style on a cold rainy day.  The dining room was designed by Howard Bracken, the founder and renowned architect, and named as one of the "10 Most Beautifully Designed " by Architectural Digest. 

We started with their famous donut holes and pecan sauce that were warm and fun to eat with our Scouts Honor wine from Venge. I ordered the cream of mushroom soup and wood fired thin crusted pizza that was tasty and filling. Everyone else ordered the Petrale Sole fish and chips that was lightly battered and a generous proportion.

We then made a final stop at Praeger for some great port. John Praeger has been making port since 1979. In addition to his 10 year old Tawny port, he has a White Chardonnay port that is unique and deserved a ride back to Danville with us.

This was a great way to spend a rainy day. The green hills and warm rain made for a magical and mystical experience.

Rain or shine Napa always Rocks!

 For more information and to schedule a tasting go to:
 http://www.vengevineyards.com/