Peaks and Valleys: Our Trip to Napa in 2026 - Day 2

Premiere Napa Valley is one week a year when the valley’s best estates open their doors to buyers and trade insiders. This year, three members of the SaratogaWine.com team made the trip — a four-time veteran, a first-timer, and someone finally there in an official capacity. Read the full series.

Perhaps our most anticipated tasting of the entire trip, our first appointment was at 9am at PROMONTORY. Now, 9am seems brutally early to be tasting wine. However, when you come from the east coast and there’s a 3 hour time difference, it’s essentially noon. That’s my justification. We were greeted with a glass of Dom Perignon after walking into one of the most idyllic settings I’ve ever witnessed, so we were clearly off to a legendary start! The grounds are immaculate, picturesque, and the view is breathtaking. I did not think OVID could be outdone for ambiance, but this was swinging for the fences. To one side you look at the vineyards of HARLAN, FUTO, and BOND, and somewhere around was BLANKIET and TUSK as well. Like being a movie icon, surrounded by other movie icons in Beverly Hills. Through the vat room and to the cellar we go, and then to the barrel sample from the spicket. Ugh, incredible. We were eventually led to the tasting “salon” and proceeded to taste some of the more profound, albeit still quite young, wines I’ve witnessed in Napa. Our host eventually graced us with a surprise sample of the 2012 Promontory, which is a drop dead gorgeous wine. The wines here are profound. There’s no other way to describe them. And, you will pay dearly for them. But it’s one of those places that if you have to ask the price, you probably aren’t who they are catering to. Needless to say, we left with spirits lifted, palates elated, and just a bit of jealousy that someone actually gets to work there and see that view on a daily basis!

Chris, Matt, and Nick on the grounds of Promentory

On to the second tasting event of the trip… OAKVILLE. My preference leaned toward Oakville for the tasting events, albeit, tasting brand spanking new wines from Napa leaves the palate absolutely shot after an hour. I did manage to find the gems of the Oakville tasting though. MORLET, ULYSSES, BOND, DETERT, GAMBLE FAMILY, GHOST BLOCK, and SCHRADER were all incredible.

From Oakville, we had some time to fit another lunch in at Gott’s Roadside again and today was Tuna Taco day for me. Exceptional and every bit as good as I remember!

Our last appointment of the day would be up on Spring Mountain at the legendary PHILIP TOGNI Vineyard, but we still had some time, so naturally we went to refresh our palates with a cocktail (Don’t judge — you would too). Once we arrived at Philip Togni it was clear that this was a down home, boots to the ground, family-run estate. Lisa Togni, Philip’s daughter, runs things now and she was our gracious host. Her depth of knowledge surrounding the estate, Spring Mountain at large, and the valley was incredible. The vines are clearly mature now, with gnarly trunks. Philip Togni cut his teeth in Bordeaux many years ago, and eventually landed in Napa in the 1960s where he would later craft one of the all time legendary wines, the 1969 Chappellet Pritchard Hill! Togni would find a piece of land high on Spring Mountain in the mid 1970s and begin planting in the 80s, and today the wines are legendary, and known for their incredible ageability! Some of the longest lived in Napa today. Philip, at the spry age of 99, was working in the winery! I hope I have that type of longevity and gravitas. Must be the wine!