BottleRock 2016
Wine and music pair well together, they always have. BottleRock is a music and wine festival that is held annually in Napa. I’ve always wanted to go but never get around to buying tickets before they are sold out. This year I owe a huge thanks to Cakebread Cellars. They hosted an Instagram contest to win a VIP ticket to one of the days and I won! I choose Sunday, which is the last day of the festival.
I opted to take the bus up, at $60 for a round trip ticket from San Francisco it was practically a steal. Since the bus drops you off early I opted for coffee and cupcakes at the Oxbow market. As I walked up to the gate there was a large display with sponsors I expected to see breweries and wineries but was surprised to see KIND Bars and PG&E among others. Once inside I decided to supplement my sugar filled breakfast with a straight up bacon bouquet from Bacon Bacon for $8. Most of the food and beverages were expensive, however if you looked around it was easy to find deals.
The first act I caught was called “The Helmets”. The Helmets are an amazing band fronted by Tween’s. The bass player is the son of Metallica’s Robert Trujillo. They played one of the most passionate renditions of Teen Spirit by Nirvana I’ve ever heard. The VIP viewing area was great and allowed you to get much closer to the band.
After watching them I wandered over to Cakebread Cellars. Normally I’d drink a red, but as the temperature climbed I opted for a Sauvignon Blanc. It was crisp and perfect for the day. It was $16 but they do charge an extra $1 fee for your reusable GoVino glass. Each winery had their own cabana’s. Many of the cabana’s had themes, for example Francis Ford Coppola’s cabana was beach themed complete with free inflatable balls.
There was so much to do and see it’s hard to list it all here, but I think my favorite activity was getting my hair braided by Hall Wines. They had students from the local beauty school doing hair. There were also tons of cooking demonstrations going on throughout the day.
Finally, the best part was there was a FREE phone charging station from T-Mobile with fast chargers for both android and iPhones. They also had tons of swag too. All and all the music was great, the wine was great and I’ll make it a priority to buy tickets before they sell out next year.
