Uncorked Ventures Blog

June 2, 2015 | Mark Aselstine

Beringer Vineyard: Corner of 121 & 29

Highway 29 and Highway 121 in Napa Valley This is the corner of highway 121 and highway 29 in Napa Valley. If you've never been to Napa the 29 is the only real complete north/south transit road through the entire valley (further up valley, you can take the Silverado Trail). The 121 is one of the main turnoffs for those heading to Sonoma and offers what I consider the most beautiful 10 miles of vineyards I've run into anywhere. Pictured is part of a Beringer Vineyard on the corner in the Carneros AVA, which is unique in this section of California because it exists in both Napa Valley as well as Sonoma's AVA's.

If you're wondering why the trip, I was picking up some wine for a upcoming wine of the month club shipment from a small scale storage facility that sits about a mile from the turn off.

Jun 2, 2015 at 11:19 AM

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May 30, 2015 | Mark Aselstine

Benessere Vineyards from Big Tree Road

Benessere Vineyards from Big Tree Road Another interesting view (imo at least) of Benessere Vineyards. This image was taken on Big Tree Road, looking back across the vineyard I thought it was interesting to be able to see the winery building in the distance, as well as the general setup of a spring vineyard. During winter months you'll see a larger number of cover crops, many high end vineyards like Benessere uses clover and other cover crops to be able to sustain top soil levels, while adding nutrients like nitrogen back into the soil. You can see a few of the other plants growing in the vineyard at the forefront of this image, including on the end cap of the vine line on the left. Lastly, I liked this image because I felt that it showed how Benessere sits almost tucked into the hills at form the eastern reaches of St. Helena.

I was stopping at Benessere to pick up wines for shipments in our Explorations Wine Club this month, from winemaker Matt Reid (although the wines are his own, not those from Benessere).

May 30, 2015 at 6:59 AM

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May 28, 2015 | Mark Aselstine

Benessere Vineyards, Vineyard

Benessere Vineyards, vineyard I took this photo on a recent trip to Benessere Vineyards, to enter the property you turn off Highway 29 on Big Tree Road and continue until the dead end, about a half mile down. Benessere sits on the northern side of the street (the left as you're entering) and after a hundred yards or so of compacted dirt road, you turn onto pavers and then quickly find a visitors parking lot. This image is taken from that parking area looking back toward Big Tree Road.