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EXPERIENCE WINE COUNTRY NEWS
Sonoma Wine Tours: A Look into Napa’s Historic Neighbor
The Napa Valley region is world renowned for it’s gorgeous scenery, fine wines, and wonderful climate. The Sonoma Valley offers this but in a more intimate and charming way. The town is filled with history and the wineries are some of the oldest in the West. It’s no...
Platypus Wine Tours No. 3 on TripAdvisor’s Top 10 Tours in the U.S.
Platypus Wine Tours is thrilled to be ranked No. 3 among the "Top 10 Tours in the U.S." recently by TripAdvisor and its users. The list is based on the quality and quantity of reviews among travelers around the country by the World's Largest Travel Community, with...
Private Tours Brochure
Looking for a private tour? We offer customized tours for 1 guest up to 80 guests. We’ll work with you on wineries, food and all other creative wine country offerings.
Sirah vs Syrah vs Shiraz vs Sera
Syrah, Petite Sirah, Shiraz . . . they're all the same, right? Not quite. While all of these grapes produce big, bold, spicy red wines, one of these things (varietals) is not like the others. In short, Syrah and Shiraz refer to the same type of dark-skinned grape...
Tedeschi Family Winery
We love Tedeschi Family Winery because they make hand-crafted, premium old world style delicious wines the old-fashioned way, in small batches (about 1200 cases annually) with no shortcuts and offered with family style hospitality. Tedeschi believes that wine is...
St Helena’s New Shuttle!!!
Local residents and guests of St. Helena are excited! No longer is there a worry of who will drive after a day of wine tasting or night out on the town...St. Helena has added the new shuttle running from Inglewood Ave. south of Press restaurant to the CIA including...
Meet ZUCCHINI
'' Platypus Tours Winery Pet Spotlight Zucchini at Grgich Hills Estate Where I live: At my mom’s house in Napa. We carpool together How I found my Forever Home: I was at a Petco adoption event charming everyone with my brown eyes. My Age: I don’t remember but...
Meet BEAN!
'' Platypus Tours Winery Pet Spotlight Bean at Grgich Hills Estate I live in: St. Helena, California I found my Forever Home: when mom fell in love with my crazy cowlicks and long lashes. My Age is: I’m 5 years old, born on Valentines Day My Breed is: Labradoodle My...
VERAISON IS HERE
Currently in the Wine Valley, Veraison is taking place! This is in fact the most beautiful part of the annual seasons. According to Wikipedia via the internet, the definition for Veraison is as follows- “change of color of the grape berries”...This process is...
Wineries We Love – Benessere Vineyards
Benessere Vineyards is a small family owned high end producer of Italian varietals, located in the north end of Napa Valley in St. Helena where the soil is well suited for growing grapes. Benessere is the Italian word for well-being. The Benish family owners chose the...
Wineries We Love – Silenus Vintners
Nestled in the heart of Napa Valley, Silenus Vintners is one of Napa’s few multi-winery operations, offering winemakers and vineyard owners the unique opportunity to produce their wines in its facility – many of which are represented in the joint tasting room. Silenus...
Platypus Wine Tour Guide Spotlight – Steve Hunter
We're beginning a new "Driver Spotlight" Q&A series on our Platypus Wine Tours blog where we introduce you to some of our top-notch wine tour guides, provide some insights as to why they love working for Platypus and what makes their tours so special. Today we...
Wineries We Love – Razi Winery
Like more than a few wineries located here in Napa Valley, Razi Winery started out as a hobby by winery owner/architect Fred Razi in the late eighties with the production of a non-commercial chardonnay. Today the thriving winery not only produces its amazing signature...
Mark your calendars for the 2012 Napa Valley Film Festival
The Napa Valley Film Festival takes place on November 7-11, 2012, and is a five-day celebration of film, artisan food and boutique wines. This year's Festival features over 100 new independent films and studio sneak previews, panel discussions with filmmakers and...
Everything you wanted to know about veraison… but were afraid to ask.
Size matters apparently. So does color! Veraison is that time of year when we look for the largest, most ripe grapes and start gearing up for harvest. Winemaker Matt from Kendall-Jackson explains in his blog that veraison is a physiological stage in the vine life...
Up, Up And Away
When visiting our wonderful Napa Valley you might consider exploring the area in grand style in a hot air balloon from Napa Valley Balloons. Napa Valley Balloons has been flying hot air balloons over the Napa Valley for over 31 years. The combined experience of their...
Winery Spotlight: Silenus Vintners- Napa Valley
A must stop while in Napa Valley is at Silenus Vintners . This is home to a lovely collection of unique, artisan winemakers who have a place to harvest, produce and showcase their specialty wines. Perfect stop for someone looking for both valley classic Cabernet but...
Inside Platypus Tours – Meet Don Rickard, Platypus-in-Chief
Check out the latest installment of the "Inside Platypus Tours" video series posted on our YouTube Channel. In this video "Inside Platypus Wine Tours - Meet Don Rickard; Platypus-in-Chief " you can learn all about how Platypus Wine Tours came to be, get to know our...
