Celebrate Napa Valley Cabernet Season from November to April

A favorite time of year for wine country insiders, Cabernet Season begins as harvest abates. Once the wines are put in barrels to age in cellars, local winemakers and the community settle in to enjoy the natural beauty that surrounds them.

Napa Valley's top wineries, restaurants and hotels welcome guests to cozy up in the Valley with educational tastings, heartier fare that pairs best with the Napa Valley's legendary Cabernet Sauvignon and other great red wines, and restorative spa treatments. And in-between sipping and nibbling, cultural palates can be satiated with extended exploration of the area's vibrant arts scene.

Following are highlights of upcoming reasons to visit and stay a little longer. For additional information on events and offers throughout Napa Valley Cabernet Season visit https://www.legendarynapavalley.com.

FILL YOUR GLASS
Napa Valley Cabernet Season tours and tastings welcome expert and amateur tipplers alike. Many of the world-renowned Napa Valley Vintners are offering Cabernet Season specials including upgrades to enjoy special reserve wines, two-for-one tastings and more. The offers can be accessed by downloading the free Visit Napa Valley app and presenting it at participating wineries.

Other enological activities include educational workshops such as a terroir-driven chocolate tasting at Grgich Hills featuring organic San Francisco chocolatier Tcho and Grgich wine pairings. After hours 'Sip and Soup' and 'Trivia Night' at Girard Winery are playful additions to the winery's exclusive Cabernet flight tastings, which are available only during the Cabernet Season and at half the price.

PARTY WITH THE LOCALS
Kicking the festivities off on Nov. 9-13, the inaugural Napa Valley Film Festival features winemaker dinners, film industry expert panels, and exclusive independent film screenings.

Once the film festival wraps, Flavor! Napa Valley welcomes a pantheon of the area's top chefs and celebrated graduates of The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) for a four-day extravaganza of farm-to-table cuisine, wine, and the fun that is had when these two elements come together in the Napa Valley. Net proceeds from Flavor! Napa Valley benefit the scholarship programs at the CIA's Greystone Campus in St. Helena.

After November's stardust has settled, December brings a parade of warm and welcoming holiday festivities that span the gamut from elegant to quirky and magical to romantic. And as the year turns new, brilliant yellow wild mustard flowers begin to line the rows of dormant vineyards, the rolling hills turn emerald green, and purple lupine and crimson clover abound. January through April in the Napa Valley is a time of spectacular color - proof that spring begins here.

FILL YOUR PLATE
Opening their cellars, homes and kitchens to Napa Valley's Cabernet Season guests, top local restaurateurs offer cozy dinners and unique twists on fall cuisine.

Hurley's Bar and Restaurant in Yountville hosts Wild Game Week from Nov. 14-19, offering carnivorous harvest dishes including Seared Peppered Venison, Roasted Caribou and Sautéed Ostrich Medallions.

January's Napa Valley Restaurant Month includes a cornucopia of special menus and offers at over thirty-five of the area's restaurants, providing ample reasons to explore and enjoy more of the Napa Valley's culinary scene. Awarded 14 Michelin Stars for 2012, the dining scene in Napa Valley is another reason to extend your stay.

STAY A LITTLE LONGER
Napa Valley's legendary hotel partners offer a broad variety of Cabernet Season packages that make it easy to stay a little longer:

The Harvest Inn welcomes the Cab-obsessed with the Cabernet Season Spectacular, which includes two nights overlooking the vines in a King Vineyard View, an in-room bottle of Whitehall Napa Valley Cabernet paired with Woodhouse chocolate truffles upon arrival, traditional wine country breakfast each morning, tasting itinerary counsel from the hotel's concierge, two complimentary winery visits/tastings for two, onsite wine and cheese tastings on Friday and Saturday evenings, and two 60-minute Garden Sanctuary massage therapy treatments to ensure total relaxation. Rates begin at $399 per night, based on weekday double occupancy and include Internet access and onsite parking.

Villagio Inn & Spa offers a Toast to Napa Valley for guests looking for something a bit more hands-on than a traditional tasting. In addition to one night at either Villagio Inn & Spa or Vintage Inn, a complimentary bottle of wine upon arrival, daily Sparkling Wine breakfast, afternoon tea service, spa access, and a wine tasting at V Wine Cellar, the hotel will arrange for a sparkling wine sabering session with V Wine Cellar's Sensei, including instructions on how to saber at home. The package is available from Monday through Thursday, at $455 per couple.

Auberge du Soleil welcomes the most serious of Cab aficionados with their Cabernet Season package, which includes one night in a Main House Hilltop View room; four-course dinner for two with a flight of three premium Napa Valley including 2006 Grgich Hills, 2008 Monticello Jefferson Cuvee, 2008 Facets of Gemstone, private VIP wine tour and tasting at Quintessa, breakfast for two in Auberge du Soleil's onsite Michelin-starred restaurant, and a signature black leather wine carrier to take home. The package is available Dec. 1, 2001 - Mar. 31,2012. Rates start at $1,025 per couple.

HOW TO BOOK
To access these and other special offers as well as plan and book a visit, Napa Valley getaway.