In article >,
"Arne Ahronovich" > wrote:

> On our last trip to California my wife and I had dinner at the Napa Valley
> Grille. After the meal, we were offered a glass of California Port. We had a
> choice of two from the Prager Winery - a flavored one (chocolate) and a
> straight one, which was very good indeed. We decided to pay the winery a
> visit the next day to taste their other wines and probably pick up of some
> of their stuff. As it turned out to be, the wines as well as the port were
> horrendously expensive ($75 a bottle for the non-chocolate type IIRC). I
> remember I also liked their Cabernet Sauvignon, but did not keep any tasting
> notes.
>
> When we came home I thought about ordering a few bottles and searched for
> their Internet address, but at the time (October 2000) they rather had a
> "homepage" than a "web site" and only a couple of wines - basically the two
> Ports and the Cabernet we had tasted, and perhaps one or two white wines.
> There was no way to order online, and so I quickly forgot about this.
>
> I don't know how I came across their web site yesterday, but things seem to
> have changed. They now offer a full range of several white and red Ports as
> well as white and red wines, and the prices seem to have dropped
> considerably. I'm really tempted to order a few bottles, but have no idea if
> they make their wines the way they used to. Perhaps the winery isn't even
> run by the same people anymore? Would I still like the stuff? Any
> suggestions and/or opinions welcome.
>
>

I really like Prager Ports. I have never had there chocolate Port but
this seems to be a new phenomena in California. I have never paid more
tha $40 for any of their wines and have been very pleased. The white
ports are for early enjoyment but I just had a tawny that was 15 years
old that was a marvel. So would you like them? If you like traditional
ports a few would be right, but if you enjoy novel wines they are worth
the try. I go there every time I'm in Napa. By the way you can order
from their web site.

in article , Arne Ahronovich at
wrote on 5/14/04 6:59 AM:

> On our last trip to California my wife and I had dinner at the Napa Valley
> Grille. After the meal, we were offered a glass of California Port. We had a
> choice of two from the Prager Winery - a flavored one (chocolate) and a
> straight one, which was very good indeed. We decided to pay the winery a
> visit the next day to taste their other wines and probably pick up of some
> of their stuff. As it turned out to be, the wines as well as the port were
> horrendously expensive ($75 a bottle for the non-chocolate type IIRC). I
> remember I also liked their Cabernet Sauvignon, but did not keep any tasting
> notes.
>
> When we came home I thought about ordering a few bottles and searched for
> their Internet address, but at the time (October 2000) they rather had a
> "homepage" than a "web site" and only a couple of wines - basically the two
> Ports and the Cabernet we had tasted, and perhaps one or two white wines.
> There was no way to order online, and so I quickly forgot about this.
>
> I don't know how I came across their web site yesterday, but things seem to
> have changed. They now offer a full range of several white and red Ports as
> well as white and red wines, and the prices seem to have dropped
> considerably. I'm really tempted to order a few bottles, but have no idea if
> they make their wines the way they used to. Perhaps the winery isn't even
> run by the same people anymore? Would I still like the stuff? Any
> suggestions and/or opinions welcome.


Hopefully someone else will have a more detailed response on tasting, but I
can tell you this much:

I stayed at the Prager Portworks B&B with my wife and 2 kids (just 2 rooms
on the property) 2 or 3 years ago, and returned about a year ago for a
tasting. The family still owned and operated the place at least at that
time, though Jim Prager (the father) is not very active at this point. He
still lives on the property and comes into the tasting room from time to
time. His children run the operation now.

When we stayed there Prager had just one non-port (a Cabernet), but the last
time they had expanded the selection of varietals. I know they don't grow
all their own grapes, but I do believe they produce all the wine themselves.
The Ports were terrific, but I don't recall the other wines, while good,
being anything remarkable.

The B&B was a great experience, by the way. Our room was above the winery
itself and tasting was included, once each day of our stay. Breakfast was
brought to us, on our balcony, from the family residence kitchen.