While we certainly love a great wine and cheese pairing (who doesn’t?), exploring unexpected flavor pairings can highlight otherwise overlooked nuances in your favorite wines. And, let’s be real: sometimes you just want to mix it up and have a little fun with your food and wine. Below are some of the most unique food and wine pairing experiences to be had at Napa Valley wineries. Try one on your next visit, or spoil yourself and try them all!
Bacon & Wine at Priest Ranch Wines
Priest Ranch Wines is ‘bacon’ visitors crazy with their delightfully savory Bacon & Wine experience. Enjoy four Priest Ranch wines paired with four exciting seasonal flavors of bacon - it’s a pairing sure to send your tastebuds soaring.
Pintxos Pairing at Artesa Winery
Five of Artesa’s best-loved wines inspired by the winery’s Spanish heritage and Napa Valley property are paired with five small bites known as Pintxos. Pintxos are a Basque traditional bite spiked with a skewer, each designed to accompany a specific wine. Taste the wines before and after each bite to learn how the flavors are changed and enhanced.
Bubbles & Caviar Brunch at Davies Vineyards
Davies Vineyards in St. Helena is one of the few wineries that offers a brunch tasting and it’s positively epic. The Bubbles & Caviar Brunch is exactly as it sounds, pairing a full ounce of Black River Oscietra Royale caviar – along with potato chips, creme fraiche, eggs and a handful of other breakfast bites, like quiche and smoked salmon – with full glasses of Schramsberg’s renowned sparkling wine.
Savory Cookie Pairing at Tamber Bey Vineyards
Cookies and cabernet, anyone? Wine not?! Head to Tamber Bey Vineyards in Calistoga for a fun pairing of savory homemade cookies like the cherry pepper popper, black bacon cookie, and cardamom crunch cookie, all paired with current release Tamber Bey wines.
Bread and Butter Tasting at Handwritten Wines
Handwritten’s Bread & Butter Tasting features six wines pre-poured in a side-by-side comparative format with a focus on Napa Valley hillside and mountain district Cabernet Sauvignons. Wines are accompanied with various artisan breads and butters, delicately sliced Jamón and artisan cheese.
Ultimate Chips and Dip at Domaine Carneros
Caviar and sparkling wine are the food and wine pairing equivalent of Cracker Jacks and baseball – they simply go together. Add rich crème fraîche and the crunch of a potato chip and you have elevated the pairing to a new level. In this experience, you will sample three of the estate’s most highly treasured wines alongside three half-ounce servings of Tsar Nicoulai Caviar’s finest artisanal caviars: Estate, Reserve and the rarest, Crown Jewel.
For the Love of Chocolate at WALT Wines
Guests indulge in the decadent world of wine and chocolate through a tasting experience that explores the senses through taste and aromatics. The experience includes six Pinot Noir wines paired with handmade Kollar Chocolates, a leading luxury chocolatier (and recent Chopped champion) based in Yountville.
Street Food Nights at Clif Family Winery
Create your very own totally unique custom wine pairing experience by joining Clif Family Winery for their Street Food night every Wednesday! Each week brings a different global flavor theme to the Clif Family Bruschetteria Food Truck, and the winery creates a recommended wine flight to perfectly compliment the dishes of the night.
