(Napa)
Number of wineries: 9!
Average rating: 4.23
Wine Route Rating: Advanced (300)
Highlight of the day: Hartwell (4.69) was very good, but Vineyard 29 (4.88) was outstanding and an instant favorite.
Notes: To say this was a full day of tasting was an understatement! Nine is certainly too many in a day, and my palate was murky for the last two stops (at least). That being said, there were some stellar stops along the way before we got to the end. Given the high number of stops and the need for appointments at about half the stops, this one gets a 300-level rating.
| Location | Start Time | Stop Time | Reservation? | Notes | |
 | Soda Canyon Store (4.38) | 9:40 | 9:55 |  | It's a recurring theme: starting the day by picking up lunch for a picnic later |
 | Quixote (4.19) | 10:00 | 10:45 |  | The wine is decent here, but pricey and truth be told most people stop for the bizarre architectural design from Friedensreich Hundertwasser. |
| | Regusci (4.13) | 10:50 | 11:25 | | A quick fill-in when I finished early at Quixote, Regusci was good but failed slightly to meet expectations |
 | Hartwell (4.69) | 11:30 | 12:30 | | Expectations definitely exceeded here, both in terms of quality of the wine, the facility, and the structure of the tasting. |
| | Vineyard 29 (4.88) | 1:00 | 2:15 | | Fantastic experience -- great wines and a completely professionally run tasting. |
 | Twomey (3.75) | 2:25 | 2:45 | | Better wine and better tasting experiences exist |
| | Madrigal (4.38) | 3:00 | 3:45 | | A friendly stop with plenty of wine to try |
| | Rutherford Grove (3.94) | 4:00 | 4:30 | | A responsible taster would have stopped after Madrigal, but this wasn't a responsible day. So-so stop along Hwy 29 |
| | Whitehall Lane (4.06) | 4:35 | 5:00 | | Raucous atmosphere at the end of the day here |
| | Hall St. Helena (4.06) | 5:10 | 5:30 | | Friendlier than they had to be for an end-of-the-day tasting |
 | Press (4.63) | 6:00 | 7:00 | | Cole's Chop House in downtown Napa seems to get more press, but if you're in the mood for steak, my meal here was far superior |
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