Vermeil Wines' Napa tasting room adds a bit of nightlife
The original Vermeil Wines tasting room is in downtown Calistoga, but owner Dick Vermeil has bigger dreams, so he opened a satellite salon at First and Main streets in downtown Napa last summer.
Since 2008, the Calistoga native has been in the professional wine business, making a Vermeil brand in tribute to his father, Jean Louis Vermeil II.
An alcove boasts leather chairs and a big-screen TV showing football, and a stylized logo on the wall looks like a football.
Vermeil isn't high-energy or distinctive, really, but it does please with its cosmopolitan design and intimate, relaxed mood.
Probably the best value is the most expensive flight, the "Red Zone," bringing a 2009 JLV Cabernet Sauvignon ($22 glass/$85 bottle), 2010 Integrity Calistoga Red ($26/$100), and 2010 Pickett Road Cabernet Sauvignon ($35/$125).
Perfect for a sweet tooth, a $25 flight includes a 2009 XXXIV Proprietary Red ($12/$42), 2010 Frediani Zinfandel ($14/$42), 2010 Late Harvest Sweet Semillon ($8/$18) and three morsels of chocolate.