🎉 Wine Folly+ Now Available 👉
Wine Folly LogoWine Folly Logo in Red

Napa Valley 101

5 out of 5 starsTrusted by 20,000+ students

Discover Napa Valley wines

Howell Mountain Cab tastes nothing like Stags Leap Cab. Learn the sub-AVAs and styles that make Napa one of the most studied wine regions on earth.

  • 6 chapters
  • 6 videos
  • 2h
  • certificate
$99.99
lifetime access · usd

30-day money-back guarantee

Napa Valley 101 course mark

Introduction

The beginner's guide to Napa Valley

Thirty miles of valley, dozens of sub-AVAs, and some of the most studied dirt on earth. Napa rewards the drinker who can tell a Howell Mountain Cab from a Stags Leap one. We'll get you there, no jargon required.

Curriculum

What you'll learn

  1. Chapter 1

    What makes Napa Valley unique

    Geography, climate, and the diurnal swings that define Napa's character.

  2. Chapter 2

    The sub-AVAs

    Howell Mountain, Stags Leap, Rutherford, Oakville, and what each delivers in the glass.

  3. Chapter 3

    Cabernet Sauvignon and beyond

    Napa's signature grape and the supporting cast that completes the regional picture.

  4. Chapter 4

    Tasting like a pro

    How to tell a Howell Mountain Cab from a Stags Leap Cab by structure and texture. The cues that separate cellar-worthy bottles from drink-now ones.

  5. Chapter 5

    Buying Napa

    How to read a Napa label, pick the right sub-AVA for your palate, and find value in a region known for price.

  6. Chapter 6

    Beyond Cabernet

    Chardonnay, Merlot, Zinfandel, and Sauvignon Blanc blends, Napa's lesser-told stories.

Inside the course

More than Cabernet country

The basics

What makes Napa Valley unique

Napa's compact 30-mile valley contains some of the most varied terroir on earth. Diurnal temperature swings, fog-cooled mornings, and volcanic-to-alluvial soils create wildly different wines from sub-AVAs that sit just miles apart. We'll unpack why Howell Mountain Cab tastes nothing like Stags Leap Cab, and what that means for what you put in your glass.

Goals

Taste like a pro, with a pro

Identify quality and age-worthiness in Napa Valley Cabernet across appellations. Learn what to look for on the label, what vintages mean for Napa specifically, and how to associate flavors with variety, winemaking method, and regional terroir.

Companion

Napa Valley Wine Region Guide

Napa Valley 101 pairs with the Napa Valley Wine Region Guide, the online knowledge base for all things Napa wine. Use the course to learn the framework; use the guide for deeper exploration of producers, sub-AVAs, and vintages.

Visit the region guide

Course wines

Wines we'll taste together

Wines aren't included with the course, but tasting along is encouraged. Here's the lineup we'll explore.

Every region, grape, and map at your fingertips. keep studying with Wine Folly+ →

Free preview

Try a lesson on us

Drop your email and we'll send a free chapter from Napa Valley 101.

Your wine guides

Taught by world-class wine educators

Napa rewards close attention. You'll learn from a James Beard award-winning author of the bestselling Wine Folly book and one of the world's most credentialed wine educators. Over 20,000 students taught.
Christine Marsiglio

Christine Marsiglio

Director of Education

Christine leads the tasting modules across Napa's flagship Cab and the supporting cast of Chardonnay, Merlot, and Zinfandel.

Director of Education and one of only 35 Bollinger award-winning Masters of Wine worldwide.

Read full bio
Christine is our Director of Education and one of only 35 Bollinger award-winning Masters of Wine worldwide.

Before Wine Folly, she taught the WSET Diploma in London and contributed to the latest global Diploma materials. She also led tastings at Decanter, running panels and organizing the Decanter World Wine Awards.

She's the rare expert who can teach at the Master of Wine level and still meet a beginner where they are.
Madeline Puckette

Madeline Puckette

Wine Folly Founder

Madeline frames the regional story, how 30 miles of valley became one of the most studied wine regions on earth.

Wine Folly co-founder, James Beard Award winner, and New York Times bestselling author.

Read full bio
Madeline co-founded Wine Folly in 2011 and turned it into the world's go-to wine cheat sheet.

She's a James Beard Award winner, a New York Times bestselling author, and was named both Wine Blogger of the Year and Wine Communicator of the Year by the International Wine & Spirits Competition.

Her articles, infographics, and videos are what made wine knowledge feel approachable to a generation of drinkers.

student reviews

What students are saying

“I've been meaning to write but offer no apologees. My grammar teacher back in the 6th grade said to never offer an excuse for failing to write a letter unless absolutely necessary. It was an excellent decision (I make very few excellent decisions) to repurchase your original book (The Essential Guide to Wine), but the U.K. version in hardbound. Now I can thumb through it without the pages falling out because of insufficient bookbinding, and it looks good standing up beside the magnum edition. I am most pleased. John W.”

John P.

“My wife and I were planning a trip to Napa Valley for 5 days. We are relative novices with wine and were not familiar with the Napa Valley. The course was a GREAT way to get us ready for the trip. It helped us get familiar with the terroir and different areas, overall valley history, select which wines/grapes to hunt for, and which wineries to visit. As much as anything, it also helped us determine which wines and wineries would not be a good match for our palates. Thanks for a great course!!”

Curtis B.

“I've learned about Napa Valley deeply. It's the valuable and interesting experience. My knowledge of wine has progressed.”

Akiyuki K.

→

enroll

Ready to start?

Napa Valley 101

$99.99
one-time · usd · yours forever
5 out of 5 stars
  • 6 chapters of regional deep dive
  • 2+ hours of expert video
  • Tasting walk-throughs with our wine experts
  • Lifetime access, yours forever
  • Napa Valley 101 certificate ($50 value)
view on shop

30-day money-back guarantee

Buying for a team? See bulk pricing for trade & teams.

Next step

Ready to go deeper?

Wine 201 takes you from confident regional drinker to certified wine professional, taught by the same Wine Folly instructors.

explore the next course →

explore more

Other regions to discover

Each course is taught by the same Wine Folly team. Pick a region, dive in.