Napa in July: Sparkling Wine, Sauvignon Blanc, and the Kind of Summer Day You Wish You Could Bottle

If there is a perfect month for Napa, I might make the argument for July.

The vines are full and impossibly green, the mornings are cool enough for a sweater with your coffee, and by noon you're sitting outside with sunglasses on and a glass of something chilled. Napa in July is the perfect time to spend the day outdoors with a wine glass in your hand.

While everyone else seems to come to wine country chasing big Cabernets, I arrive with a different agenda: sparkling wine first, Sauvignon Blanc second, and then we'll see what happens.

Start with Bubbles

There is something about sparkling wine in the middle of summer that just feels right.

A crisp glass of bubbles on a patio overlooking the vines feels celebratory even if you're technically celebrating nothing at all. Green apple, citrus, a little brioche, maybe some stone fruit if you're lucky—suddenly it's 11 a.m. and you're convinced this is exactly where you're supposed to be.

And honestly, not every wine tasting needs to feel like an exam.

I don't need to identify fourteen tasting notes or describe the "sense of wet river rock after rainfall." Sometimes I just want to say, "This tastes refreshing and I would like another glass."

---

Sauvignon Blanc Deserves More Attention

Napa may be known for Cabernet Sauvignon, but Sauvignon Blanc is the wine I keep coming back to in July.

When it's warm outside, give me acidity. Give me grapefruit, lime, passion fruit, fresh herbs, and that bright, crisp finish that makes you immediately reach for another sip.

It's the wine I want with oysters, a cheese board, lunch on a patio, or while sitting outside convincing myself I should probably learn to live more slowly.

There is also something satisfying about ordering exactly what you enjoy instead of what you're expected to enjoy.

Wine gets a lot more fun when you stop trying to impress people and start paying attention to your own palate.

---

Try Blending Your Own Wine

The surprise highlight of my trip wasn't a tasting flight or a vineyard tour.

It was making my own wine blend.

At Raymond Vineyards, visitors can participate in a blending experience that lets you play winemaker for an afternoon. You taste different components, experiment with percentages, make adjustments, and eventually land on something that feels distinctly yours.

Part science experiment, part creativity exercise, part personality test.

A little more fruit? A little more structure? More bold or more balanced?

There are no wrong answers.

By the end, you're not trying to create the "best" wine. You're creating the wine you like best, which feels like a pretty good philosophy for wine and for life.

---

Tips for Wine Tasting in Napa in July

If you're planning a summer trip to Napa Valley, a few things make the experience even better:

• Book morning tastings when possible. The temperatures are cooler and the vineyards are beautiful in the early light.
• Alternate heavier tastings with sparkling or white wine tastings to keep your palate fresh.
• Drink more water than you think you need.
• Leave room in the schedule for a long lunch.
• Don't try to visit six wineries in one day. Three thoughtfully chosen stops will almost always be more enjoyable.
• And of course, use Wine Spencer to find the perfect winery.