Napa Winery Maps
From LoveToKnow Wine
Napa Valley—Where Cartographer and Winemaker Meet the Road
Napa Valley is less than an hour to the north east from San Francisco. It runs like a lazy arcing stroke with Highway 29, splitting the Valley in two. It's not very big either, runs about 40 miles from San Pablo Bay and Carneros north to the base of Mount St. Helena. It's not very wide either, only 1-5 miles. It's hard to imagine, perched on a hillside overlooking the smaller-than-expected Valley, that it's one of the best spots on earth for growing grapes and making wine. But that's what it is. There are more than 40,000 acres of vineyards in the Napa Valley AVA, and that doesn't include the surrounding mountain AVAs with wineries stealthily tucked away on the Mayacamas to the west and the Vaca range bounding to the east. Seemingly, someone doesn't need a map to find their way around to the more than 250 wineries. There should be one on every corner, right? But surprisingly, it doesn't take much to get disoriented in the Valley, especially if you are the designated driver and you have a Greek Chorus of wine enthusiasts in the back seat offering their jolly-spirited guidance. "Is Groth on Zinfandel Lane or Oakville Cross?" "I can see Sterling Vineyards on top of that hill, but how do you get there from here?" And if somebody ever tells you that they "know the Valley like the back of my hand," I suggest you ask them which knuckle you turn right at to find Viader. So, if you're planning a wine trip to the Valley, whether it's for the day or for several, a Napa Winery map is more than handy, it's a necessity.
Keeping Up with the Wineries
One problem in navigating and finding wineries in Napa Valley is the constant changes that take place. Wineries are bought and sold, names change, new ones pop up, and old ones fade away. An example? Try to find Francis Ford Coppola's Niebaum-Coppola in Rutherford. It's gone, kaput, and signs obliterated? Did it really disappear? No, the winery and Gustave Niebaum's Chateau is still there with its history, Coppola just converted his Niebaum-Inglenook winery to Rubicon Estate to showcase and market his high-brow premium Rubicon Estate wines. In 2006 he bought Chateau Sou-verain's facility north of Healdsburg in Sonoma County and has transferred his value-priced Diamond Series of wines to the winery and named it Rosso & Bianco. For cartographers, it's tough keeping up with the Joneses...or Coppolas or whoever because Napa Valley's winery landscape is in perpetual flux.
Map Options
Know this a priori, there is no be-all and end-all Napa Valley winery map. Realize that and work from there. However, there are options. There's the age-old tour map that you can get at a bookstore, a Napa Valley visitor center, auto club, or at your B&B in Yountville. You can also get a wine country guidebook that will list most of the wineries and locations, and at least an address. There are also online interactive maps that are useful for listing most wineries with links to a Google or MapQuest map. This is helpful at home in front of your computer with printer, but not reliable when driving up the Silverado Trail and looking for a Wi-Fi hotspot. Finally, a GPS does come in handy when driving around the Valley but again, ask yourself, is the GPS mapping software updated and accurate? Do you really want a computerized yahoo voice telling you where Opus One is? So, my point again is there isn't a perfect map solution out there but there are several map parties that, working together in bi-partisanship, can get the job done.
Printed Maps Choices
Personally, I have a four color, heavy stock folding map cut out from a Wine Spectator from many years ago that I use. It has most of the main roads and lists most of the usual suspect wineries. What I do is keep updating it, fill in any new and hot wineries, make corrections, and locate missing wineries as I bump into them. I also make notes on the map as well since I can never find any scratch paper when I need it. But I don't share my own private Idaho map with its special hieroglyphics with anyone; you'll have to get your own. The following are some map companies with good maps that I've found that are useful, some better than others.
This is a friendly map with a good spectrum of wineries listed. It filters out a lot of superfluous noise to distract you from finding wineries, restaurants, inns, and important spots. Good graphics and layout. It also includes some notes on individual wineries and if tastings are open to public or by appointment only. It doesn't have a lot of the minor streets and roads listed, but you can at least get a general idea where the winery is located. One plus and minus is its plastic-coated paper which protects the map from red wine drips but then you can't write on it. Easy folding, flexible, durable, and a good choice.
I liked this map for its detail and that it also covers Lake County and Mendocino County beyond Napa. Unless you have an eagle eye though, a magnifying glass would be a nice addition.
This is good-sized winery map for Napa and Sonoma with the individual wine AVA's outlined. It's folded and laminated but too large to fit in your pocket.
They have a colorful wall map (24" x 40") that is well-realized but it probably won't fit neatly into the glove compartment. They also have a smaller folding travel map as well, just not suitable for framing and hanging on the wall.
There's nothing fancy about the CSAA's (California Automobile Association) map but if you're a member, it's free. It's actually useful for local Napa Valley roads when used in con-junction with the above maps.
Guidebooks with Maps
When they are good, wine country guidebooks are another excellent source for Napa Valley maps. The reason they are useful is the combination of information and tips about individual wineries and also restaurants, hotels/inns, shopping, and other sights and activities in the Napa area. The better ones will have localized maps for specific wine areas in the Valley. For example, having a street-by-street map insert of St. Helena to help you find Martini House for dinner after spending the afternoon weaving your way down Spring Mountain Road from Pride Mountain Vineyards.
I've been using Access travel guidebooks for years. Richard Saul Wurman is the architect who developed a scheme for guidebooks that takes a neighborhood or region in say, Paris, and maps out all the shops, restaurants, museums, galleries, subway stations, and hotels in that specific area with an accompanying descriptive abstract. It's really useful in Tokyo for non-natives. The California Wine Country book covers Napa as well as most of the state's other wine regions. The current edition is the 7th and published in 2005. As you may expect, while geographically accurate, there may be some establishments that no longer exist and new ones the book doesn't mention.
Hey, it's a Sunset book so it must be good. It covers the state's wine areas with a significant amount dedicated to Napa. The listings are accompanied by simple but excellent maps to steer you the right way. The bonus is the introduction by Karen Macneil and if she's involved in this Sunset project, it must have merit.
This Moon Handbook for wine tasters on the road is by Philip Goldsmith. He puts together his own personal recommendations of planning a trip through Napa and other Northern California wine regions. There are maps to go with the recommendations.
Online Interactive Maps
If you have a computer handy or can pre-plan, one good source for an interactive Napa Valley Map is at the Napa Valley Vintners, a trade association that lists winery members with a good interactive map with winery finder, winery information, winery website links, and also Google maps. Speaking of which, you can always go to Google Maps or MapQuest, plug in the winery's address and get a map with directions. And, if you have a targeted winery to visit, go to their website and get directions.
GPS Mapping
A word on GPS mapping, use them if you have one—just don't trust them to take you via the best and shortest route to your winery. For that matter, if you miss your turnoff, it may take you all the way to Calistoga before it let's you turn around. And please, don't expect your GPS to talk you in all the way to the bar.
A Proviso
Back to the beginning theme of constant change, all maps and guidebooks age quicker than a good bottle of Napa Cabernet. The information and data can be as much as a year old by the time it's published, so you can expect some inaccuracies. Based on that knowledge, it doesn't hurt to check and verify with a winery before hitting the road.
Related Links
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