Meet Penelope.

Or Peanut to her family and friends, (her name could actually be P-Nut, I'm not sure).  Anyway, I took a day off today and went wine tasting with the Wisconsin Winos (WWs).  And Vinomaker, of course.  The WWs have not visited the valley for a good few years, so I was really looking forward to touring some wineries with them.
First stop was Black Cat Vineyards (where Penelope tasted alongside us), a favourite producer of mine, but one that I'd never actually done a formal tasting at.  I say formal, but proprietor and winemaker Tracey Reichow couldn't have made our happy little group feel any more comfortable and at home whilst we enjoyed her wonderful, small production wines. A particular stand out for me was a 2012 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, just beautiful.
Next we visited Laird Family estate which is located just north of the city of Napa, (off a frontage road along Highway 29).  Built specifically as a custom crush facility, winemaker Brian Mox hosted our tasting and tour which was fun and very informative.  With the (white grape harvest) in full swing, the entire facility was abuzz (like a bee hive on steroids) with lots of folks making wine.  And that was it, we visited just two wineries.
Two wineries doesn't sound like a lot.  However, the time spent tasting and touring just those two wineries was just under 5 hours (they were serious, in depth tastings).  I had lots of fun hanging out with the WWs.