BrixChick Liza's Gift Guide: Artful Napa: Visit Hall Wines

 

Where's Bunny Foo Foo?

Caught up in a sharknado of year end work?  Did Stormageddon set your schedule back a week? Are you shopping for a regifter?

Try gifting an experience.

Whether you are biking distance or need to go transoceanic, Napa is a great spot to visit with a friend.  The act of setting aside time to make memories is something you will never sell at a garage sale. 

But what to do when there is just so much? Let me suggest three things I did this summer, that loosely fall into Artful Napa, Soulful Napa and Rockstar Napa.

First on my list is Artful Napa:

Hall Wines was started by two overachievers who worked toward a winery dream.  Craig and Kathryn,  serial entrepreneur and lawyer-ambassador and both art lovers, had a vision
for a State of the art winery. Their vision included excellence, sustainability and sharing beautiful art with their guests.  Hall Wines became one of the first wineries to achieve Gold LEEDS status,  literally the gold standard for sustainability and for doing well by doing good.  Part of that included saving the beautiful old stone 1881 winery.  Saving the old stones with their patina of longevity dresses the space with a unique elegance. Though, for full disclosure, the barn may be haunted.   

The Halls' love of art is something they share with all their visitors.  Even if modern art is not your thing, these pieces have been selected and placed in a way that enriches any visit.  Just remember look but don't touch, though the art will beguile and tempt you.  However, that art has nothing on the wine

A wonderful thing about Hall Wines is that they offer delicious wines at many price points.  Not just the  $200 perfect score 100 point Exzellenz, but affordable Napa Sauvignon Blanc. Crisply acidic, balanced and  a bargain at $24. 

My favorite was the 2011 HALL "Eighteen Seventy-Three" Cabernet Sauvignon ($80)  Our wonderful tour guide , Jeff described it as "a French school girl ditching school in her mom's perfume and her dad's old bomber jacket while learning to smoke."  Violets on finish with 3% Merlot blended in.

Click here to see the fun activities you can reserve at the St. Helena facility. Wine 101 is a great place to start as it  opens a little earlier than most winery experiences and also helps get your group on the same page. 

Sunset Cruise colors

The "Sunset Cruise" is  a great way to wind down your day in Napa.  Art gets woven into your experience in a really cool way here.  These colors on the bar wall were pulled from a summary color gamut of colors found in the estate vista.

But if you are looking for the perfect gift., the Rutherford location just released an amazing opportunity that will put Santa to shame.

HALL Rutherford’s Appellation Exploration is an exclusive tasting experience that includes a tour of the modern wine production facility, an overview of the art and best of all,  a tasting of three ultra premium wines from special appellations. 

It takes place in the Chandelier Cave, under a dazzling light fixture made from 1500 Swarovski crystals.  Think luxurious first class window seat to examine how place affects wine.  Only the appellation is different as the same team vinifies from select and sought after vineyards.  100 point winners can't be wrong

HALL Rutherford’s Appellation Exploration experience is $125pp / $100 for Club Members/GEMS.
To reserve this experience, please call (707) 967-2626. This is an extremely limited offering and available by appointment only. 

Photo credit Hall Wines