Winter means deals in California wine country
It's a rainy winter day in California's wine country, and you and your gaggle of oenophiles have sidled up to the bar at the tasting room at Dry Creek Vineyard in the tiny town of Healdsburg.
You taste, you ask questions. And because you and your pals are the only customers in the place, the server gives you his undivided attention.Then he gets a devilish smirk, and he invites you behind the bar and into the cellar for an unscheduled appointment to try the good stuff.
For the next 30 minutes, you and your friends sample limited-production wines, including one zinfandel made exclusively from estate grapes, another made with grapes from a vineyard that dates to 1896 and a third with rich fruit harvested from a vineyard at more than 1,000 feet in elevation.
"We like winter because we have time to spend with our customers," says Bill Smart, the winery's director of marketing and communications and a fixture in the tasting room. "The experiences blow people away."
This kind of intimate interaction and access is commonplace in wine country during the winter months. The region doesn't have a traditional offseason, but the vibe between now and February is quieter and more subdued than it is during the rest of the year.
At tasting rooms, restaurants and hotels, visitors slow to a trickle, allowing local business owners the flexibility to more readily interact with customers, try out new menus and test new amenities and packages.For travelers, the winter environment means personal attention, once-in-a-lifetime experiences and — if you time your visit right — incredible deals.
Take, for instance, the couples' Merry-Mint package at Solage Calistoga, a spa resort in Calistoga in northern Napa Valley. This deal includes a two-night stay, two breakfasts, sparkling wine at check-in, two-for-one treatments, hot cocoa and peppermint schnapps at turndown and It's a Wonderful Life to watch on the in-room DVD player. This package typically is $600 per night, but through Jan. 3, it's $395 per night.
There's also the Winter Bliss package at the Hotel Healdsburg in downtown Healdsburg. Designed to coincide with Spa Wellness Month in January, the promotion includes a one-night stay, a $100 credit for meals or spa services and more, for a total savings of about $75 per night.
At Little River Inn, executive chef Marc Dym hosts a number of culinary collaborations, including a reservations-required Jan. 24 event. It's part of Mendocino's Crab, Wine and Beer Festival (Jan. 16 to 25), which includes a crabcake cook-off and a wine tasting competition.
Some of the biggest seasonal differences are at the wineries. Most, like Dry Creek Vineyard, pour out special treatment for guests, including extra tastings, more personalized touches and special trinkets.
Others, such as Honig Vineyard & Winery in Rutherford, give patrons the unexpected chance to interact with owner Michael Honig, who often works the tasting room when traffic is slow.
Still other wineries celebrate the slow season with special events. Many are for wine club members, but if tickets don't sell out (which, in winter, they rarely do), the events often open to the public.
That's true at Lancaster Estate in Healdsburg, which has 53 acres of vineyards and produces red and white wines."(Special) meals put our guests face-to-face with me or the owners in an incredibly intimate setting with food and lots of our wine," says Lancaster Estate winemaker Jesse Katz. "The experience is a wonderful setting in which to get to know what we're about and what makes us different."
Another unexpected perk of visiting wine country in the offseason is the opportunity to learn about winemaking. Employees at many tasting rooms take guests on impromptu walk-thrus of the facilities, and some wineries add formal tours.
The Healdsburg Shed hosts lectures on the subject. Co-owner Cindy Daniel says the shop has a series of weekly classes on biodynamics, as well as a monthly film series featuring documentaries about winemaking and farming.
"People who come up here in winter can get food and wine just about anywhere," she notes. "We want to give them something that's just as special, but something that also is fundamentally different."
