Recently, I took a friend (visiting from the Midwest) to Schramsberg for a tour and tasting. She simply loved the entire experience. It was a great way to spend a rainy morning. When we arrived, a young lady guided us to a parking space and walked us with an umbrella to the reception area. An appointment is required, but it is well worth the effort.
We have wine tasted for years, this was a whole new experience! We went with another couple, and we all are still talking about the experience a month later! You have to reserve a tour prior to visit, well worth it! This tour and tasting is in the wine caves with candelabras! It is awesome, and the bubbly is excellent! Will go again, soon I hope!
Hand-carved caves, generous pours of sparkling wine, interesting history, a thoroughly enjoyable experience. We reserved an afternoon tour and made sure we arrived on time (do not be late or they will start without you). In fact, we arrived a few minutes early and were able to walk around the grounds, watch the bottling process, and shop a little. Once the rest of the group arrived, we toured the caves and drank generous pours of sparkling wine. Our guide was extremely friendly and full of knowledge. We heard about the traditional method of champagne making, the original owners of the winery and about the family now running the winery. It was informative, a lot of fun, and the caves are beautiful. Plus the sparkling wine is delicious! I would definitely book this tour again.
This is a great tour...a true cave processing vineyard. Bonus is the tasting at the end that really helped me understand and know what to look and taste for in champagnes. Our guide (female) was excellent and gave great insight. We were motivated to join the wine club afterward and thus far glad we did. A little pricey but cost gets spread out over the year and if you love champagne it's a nice treat.
What an amazing story and history to this winery....from touring the hand dug caves to tasting the marvelous champagne this is an experience you must have.....our host was charming and funny and informative....do not miss this place!
If you only have time for one wine tasting and you like sparkling wines then this is the place to be. You must have reservations. Its a bit on the expensive side, but well worth the 60 dollars a person. We had to do mid-week since the weekend was sold out.The wine tasting is done in a small intimate group. It is also done in the caves where the wine is aged. Its quite an experience to enter the caves and you walk away with a real understanding of how champagne is made. The champagne itself is excellent. Its not wonder its a favorite of The White House. This was my favorite tasting after spending a week in Napa.
We had a great time on the tour and tasting here. Most of the tour was concentrated on the caves and the history of the winery was very interesting. Our tasting was done in a lovely room and champagne pours were generous. Our guide was fun and entertaining (Todd?) and he really made the experience stand out from other places we had been.
Do you like sparkling wine? if you find yourself in Napa ,and who want to visit Napa, and you like sparkling wine, Schramsberg is a wonderful tour. The vineyard is one of the first ones planted in the 1800s and has about 3 miles of caves in volcanic rock. it does cost $60 but you get to taste 5 sparkling wines, which are all wonderful. walking through the caves which are lit by candlelight is romantic.They will also tell you about their wine club which is a good deal. And, if you join the wine club (which doesn't cost to join) BEFORE you go on the tour you will SAVE the $60 tour fee.You will also get a good description of methode champagnoise, which if the vineyard were in Champagne France it "Champagne".In addition to the above, we had Schramsberg for our wedding in 1988. BTW, the method they use to create the wine has changed since the 80s. When making sparkling wine an ounce or two of the liquid is lost when the yeast is disgorged. in the 80s they used to replace the lost liquid with cognac, now they use some wine with a bit of sugar.
Schramsberg has amazing history and property. The wine and champagne is fantastic. The staff is very professional and have exquisite knowledge on their history and wine country history. Although this is a larger vineyard, the tours are very intimate. You can ask questions and do not feel like you are at a commercialized vineyard. You get to tour the caves that hold thousands of bottles that are fermenting. If you want to see grape vines, I suggest the most beautiful view in the valley>> Viader. You will not see many grape vines on this property. However, this property is so gorgeous that you will not even notice. A MUST VISIT if in the area!!!
We enjoyed the tour here very much. It was fun to see the process of making sparkling wine, and the history behind it. The tour ended with a tasting of 5 of their wines. If you have the time, this is a fun tour to experience!