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by the end of the nineteenth century, more
than 140 wineries had been established
in the area. Some of those wineries still
exist today including Beringer, Beaulieu,
Mayacamas, Far Niente, and Chateau
Montelena.
By 1976, while Napa Valley was becom-
ing famous locally for its high quality
wines, France was still considered the
undisputed wine champion. At the Paris
Wine Tasting of 1976, a Napa Valley
Chardonnay from Chateau Montelena and
a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars won first place
over some of the most famous French
labels in a blind tasting. The wine world
took notice. Today, Napa Valley is ac-
cepted as one of the world’s premier wine
producing regions.
According to the Napa Valley
Visitor Profile Study, 4.7 million
people visit Napa
Valley each
year. The
relatively
temperate
California climate, beautiful scenery and
large variety of activities all contribute to
the popularity of this destination.
Napa By Season
Each season is a secret waiting to be dis-
covered in the Napa Valley. The spring-
time weather is variable and can range
from a low of 40 degrees F. to a high of
80 degrees F. It is the season when pink
and white blossoms sprinkle the valley
and fields of yellow mustard flowers grow
between the dormant grape vines. This is
a low season for tourism and hotels rooms
are usually less expensive and restaurants
are not as crowded.
Summer daytime temperatures are usually
in the 70’s and 80’s but can spike to 100
on occasion. The leaves have returned to
the grape vines and the whole valley is
green. If you look closely, you will see
small grape clusters on the vines that will
become fully mature in late summer or
fall depending on the varietal.
Fall is
the time of harvest when
the workers
are in
the fields in the wee hours of the morn-
ing. Grapes are harvested while they are
still cool so there is less damage to the
grape clusters. The grape leaves take on
fall colors and the whole valley seems
to range from yellow to orange.
The daytime temperatures remain
high, even in the 90’s in September
though gradually cooling in October
and November. This is the high
season for tourism, so make your
reservations early.
During winter, the grape vines lose
their leaves and the young grasses
spring up, encouraged by the inevi-
table January rains turning the val-
ley green once again. Temperatures
are low for California, in the 40’s
and 50’s most of the time. This
is the low season when you can
get the best hotel room, the best
seats in restaurants and you can
most eas-
ily pass for a
local.