August Cheers to Taste - Jarvis

Entrance to Jarvis

Every month, the Wednesday before Cheers! St. Helena is dedicated to an event called Cheers to Taste. The premise being that every month a different winery pony's up their space to hold a "Hospitality Event" within their walls. So when I heard that August was going to be at Jarvis, I thought "Cool, I haven't been there yet!". Basically I use these events to check out places that I wouldn't normally go to, or have time to visit. The networking part really isn't my preferred method of mingling. Anyways, little did I know what I was in store for at this month's event.

Barrels of wine

Turns out, the whole winery is underground. Maybe not a go-to for people who are claustrophobic, but still pretty cool. Basically we walked in, got a name tag and a personal light so we could give ourselves the self guided tour if we so desired.

Heading to the tank room

So here is where a combo of good and bad happened. We were greeted with a glass of wine (good) and then grabbed a bite of celery and cheese (could have been good, was very bad). I'm not sure where the idea to pair celery with fromage blanc (think melted string cheese) came from, but someone should have put a stop to it from the get go. It was mushy and bland, it needed flavor, salt, anything else!

Nikki with her light in front of the giant floral doors

Tank Room

So we continued through the tank room. So far, I haven't seen any other winery with all of their equipment underground, but I can't imagine it being much more of a hassle than having your equipment in an enclosed building. Plus, it looked pretty cool.

PotC'esque waterfall

Alright, check it out. So there was a waterfall in the caves. A freaking WATERFALL! How cool is that?! And yet it totally reminded me of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. Both are dark, dank, and smell like chlorinated water. Napa truly is the Disneyland for adults.

Cuvee casks

These casks were right next to my favorite station only because it had the wine I liked the most, 2003 Merlot. Good wine, but the pulled pork sandwich was not. And yet another swing and a miss on the catered food.

Peace out!

The rest of the winery wasn't very exciting. Just two large rooms where they hold "winery events". Oh, and accordion players and giant crystals. *shrug* All in all, it was kind of a weird experience. BUT I would recommend it to someone that was visiting the valley that wanted to go to a unique place. To see all the equipment and have the "cave" experience would be cool for most people.