Downtown Napa: The WinoTripping Review

Vintners Collective, Wineries Of Napa Valley, Oxbow, & more

Posted by Rich

Downtown Napa

One recent weekday afternoon I found myself in downtown Napa to check out what was happening on an average winter afternoon. I had been wondering how the plans to revitalize the riverfront were going a year after the closing of Copia, (the Center For Wine, Food and the Arts), which was one of the center pins in the initial revitalization plans. Much like Copia, the Town of Napa seems to have a hard time getting the hordes of tourists to stop on their way up to the main valley and wineries a bit further North.

The town was pretty quite, much like winter in a summer resort town, with many of the stores and restaurants closed. There were quite a few empty store fronts, and I wondered how any business could survive in this climate. But Napa is a cool place to stroll around, grab some eats, or to duck into one of the seventeen tasting rooms. I don't want to paint too bleak of a picture. Instead, I want to encourage folks to check it out, knowing that they need the business.

A big draw is the Oxbow Public Market (OPM) in the "upcoming" Oxbow District, (just next to the now empty Copia building and gardens). The best way to describe the Oxbow Market is to think of the San Francisco Ferry Building, or the market place in Grand Central Station in NY. Sort of a old school open market, done up with an upscale, gourmet vibe.

I walked from the Town Center, east on First Street, across the creek, and into the Oxbow District. There are a couple of huge, tasting rooms along the street leading to the market place, including Mason Cellars, and TASTE at Oxbow.