I had been planning to take a trip to Napa for months since launching WineMcGee, and finally got around to it last week. This was my first trip to Napa. It was everything I dreamed of (I think… I don’t usually remember my dreams.) This post became a lot longer than I anticipated – so, I’ve partitioned it like a book.
Prologue
The night before the trip we hosted our first big wine tasting party and I believe I got a good three to three-and-a-half hours of sleep. But I can report to you that an entire bag of doritos in the morning seems to do wonders for a wine hangover. A few minutes after the stop at 7-11 in San Fran to pick up the doritos, and I was golden and ready to hit up wine country.
I'm on a mountain b!^c#. And the sign does not lie. The wine was like bottled poetry.
We were staying in Calestoga, which is a small town on the northern tip of Napa Valley. To get to Calestoga, we had to drive through the entire valley, and we planned to stop by a couple wineries along the way. You may be surprised, as I was, to learn that there are actually very few wineries within the city of Napa itself, which is by-far the biggest city within Napa Valley. If you’re planning a trip to Napa, don’t stay in Napa city itself. You’ll find it much busier and more expensive than other areas, and further away from the wineries you intend to visit. Stay in Yountville, St. Helena, or Calistoga instead.
Day One
That's a huuuuge glass.
(from the airport to the hotel)
Our first stop was on the outskirts of Napa at Del Dotto Caves. We didn’t have anything set up with Del Dotto, so we went with a standard tasting. I didn’t know it at the time, but the large Bordeaux-style Riedel glasses they use to serve wine were not the norm – most wineries provide smaller glasses. I much prefer the big glasses as I find the aromas more intense and aggressive swirling is possible. On a side note – I saw a Wine Library video pretty recently with Anthony Terlato as guest, and was amazed at how humongous the glasses were that they used. They were definitely a step up from the standard Riedel Bordeaux or Sirah glasses. Look at those monstrosities!
Del Dotto Caves - It's amazing in there!
The Del Dotto wines were good, but not great. I don’t remember exactly what we had (and I lost my little wine notes book), but I believe we had a Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and then three blends that were all predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon. I found all the reds to be very oaky. However, that seems to make sense as Del Dotto prides itself on the variety of oak used to produce their wines. During the tasting they explain exactly which forest was used to produce the oak for each specific wine. The experience at Del Dotto turned out to be one of my favorites throughout the trip. Before we left, our server, Branden, took us back into the cave and offered us a barrel tasting from his favorite aging wine – a 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon (from a vineyard area called Lot B) aging in expensive French oak that cost $1,800 a barrel. Oak can range from about $300 – $1,500 a barrel typically, so this was some very pricey stuff. That wine turned out to be one of the best we tried throughout the trip – it was uniquely spicy with clove and nutmeg. Throughout the trip we heard numerous people mention that the Del Dotto Cave Tour Experience was one of the best things to do in Napa Valley. Judging by the small taste we received, I’m guessing they are right. Be sure to book the tour on your trip to Napa.
The next stop was Luna – the tasting room and the wines were pretty unimpressive after Del Dotto, so I’m not going to write about it. After that we made our way to Van Der Heyden Vineyards. Van Der Heyden is a small family-owned winery south of the Stags Leap district. I hadn’t heard about the winery before the trip, but I quickly learned that Andre Van Der Heyden was well-respected in the area and known to be charismatic and a lot of fun to be around. He was essentially exactly like me. In the know, my friend recognized Andre right away, lounging near the entrance to the tasting room. We quickly struck up a conversation with the winemaker. I’m sure he receives questions like ours multiple times each day, but he answered each one as it was the first time he’d heard it, wandering into stories from the past. It was a great experience.
Day Two
Look at those grapes! Yes, they were delicious.
(ahhh the smell of crush)
We had a tour lined up at Grgich Hills to start our first full day of tastings. Nothing quite like drinking wine at 10AM! In 1976 a panel of decorated French wine judges were stunned when they chose an American Chardonnay as the best white wine in the world. This event rocked the globe and cast American wine in a new light. The wine industry would never be the same. The winning wine was from Chateau Montelena and this is the story behind the recent movie “Bottle Shock”. The winemaker at Chataue Montelena was Mike Grgich, and in 1977 he parterned with the Hills Brothers (think coffee) to form Grgich Hills.
Special Vintage - 98% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Siegler Foot. And yes, I am attempting to grow my hair out to look exactly like Blagojevich
I’d heard that you can smell the grapes in the air during crush (grape harvest) season. That is no lie. Even driving by wineries you can smell the distinct aroma of freshly crushed and fermenting grapes. I’ve never smelt anything quite like it. The Grgich tasting room sits immediately next to its fermentation area, and the smell is amazing. Grgich turned out to be one of several organic farms we visited, and many of their vineyards have achieved biodynamic certification – a step beyond Organic – super Organic – in fact. I laud their efforts and their dedication to sustainable farming. I learned a lot during the tour at Grgich, and had a great tasting experience as well. I was a huge fan of their Fume Blanc, and bought one to take home. After the tour they asked me to help make a special vintage for them – 98% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Siegler foot. It was all good clean fun.
After Grgich Hills we met my buddy from Berkeley, and headed to Spring Mountain. The property there is gorgeous and includes a large botanical garden growing all sorts of delicious fruits and herbs I can only dream of in Chicago. After that we headed to Saint Supery. It was a bit busy in the tasting room, but they have a nice self-guided tour (a bit like a museum), and a fun aroma station with oil essences. Check it out to test your senses! At the end of the day we also stopped by Louis Martini before they closed for a quick tasting. They gave me a nice leather tasting manual, which I used throughout the rest of the trip.
Day Three
(power outage brings the entire american wine industry to a halt. sort of. )
The next morning there was a big black-out throughout much of Napa and we were forced to reschedule our tour at Robert Mondavi. A couple of the wineries likened it to an extremely hot day in the city – when everyone runs the air conditioner at the same time there are sure to be some power issues. It was crush, and every winery throughout Napa Valley was powering all of their equipment for the harvest. However, another man suspected this might be Swartzenager’s way to cut back spending in California – Systematic power outages. OK, that man was me.
We ended up stopping by the BV tasting room, which was also in the dark, but remained open since they had natural canopy lighting and it was a sunny day. We had a great conversation with the staff there. So many of the workers at these wineries have been ingrained in Napa their entire life and have interesting stories to tell. At the end of our nice tasting the lights were still out, and we stalled them long enough that their battery backup for the computer system was out as well. Our tasting was free, they said. Perrrrfect!
After BV we headed to a tour at Pine Ridge. It turned out to be my favorite tour of the trip. Our guide was excellent and the tour took us throughout the vineyard, to their production facilities, and into their large cave system.
Did you say "don't touch the cave walls, or do touch the cave walls?"
In the Pine Ridge Caves. I always keep an empty chair next to me at the table, for the Lord.
On Tuesday we also had a tour at Beringer, which is the oldest continually operating winery in Napa Valley (since 1876). Beringer is one of the largest US wine producers and have previously won “Winery of the Year” accolades. They produce some very highly-rated wines, and also the best selling wine in America (their White Zinfandel). They are one of the busiest wineries, but you wouldn’t know it from their tours. Our tour had just 4 people, which was really nice. For comparison, the next day we visited Mondavi, and had about 15 people in our tour. All this wine tasting is hard work. We headed home for the night.
Here they are churning the fermenting wine - exposing the wine to air and mixing the grapes, skins, and juice inside.
Day Four
(last full day in Napa )
On our last day we visited Mondavi, Silverado, Sequoia Grove, Robert Sinskey, and Ehlers Estate. While the Mondavi tour group was large, it was still a very unique experience. Mondavi was one of the first to offer educational tours of their winery, and the entire operation seems to be built to accommodate them. We learned that every wine they produce is fermented in huge oak barrels. Typically a winery will ferment in steel and then age the wine in oak. Going through the production facilities, it was apparent that even though Mondavi is one of the largest US producers, they are extremely dedicated to the details. For example, we saw them bringing in grapes in smaller containers than some of the boutique wineries we visited earlier. Grapes in Napa Valley are picked by hand and transferred to the winery by crate. The larger the crate, the more squashing that occurs to he grapes on the bottom, which can lead to uncontrolled early fermentation.
The Silverado tasting room sits on a peak in the Stags Leap district, and is known to offer some amazing views of Napa Valley below. I agree that they were some great views, but after being built-up by so many people, I was a bit let down. The entire Napa Valley is so beautiful that I didn’t find Silverado to be any more beautiful than any other area. And I wasn’t all that excited by the wines either.
Sequoia Grove was one of the few wineries that actually cared to decant the wine before serving. I liked their wines, and especially liked one called “Rebellious Red”, which was a Tempranillo/Cabernet Sauvignon blend that they call their “not-so-serious” wine. Robert Sinskey had a real nice food and wine pairing – I’d recommend stopping by.
Our last stop was Ehlers, which turned out to be a fine end to the trip. Ehler’s is an old, organic and biodynamic winery with a great story. One hundred percent of their profits go to Leducq Foundation, funding research for cardiovascular disease. Their tasting room is the old historic stone winery built by Bernard Ehlers in 1886. The wines at Ehlers were top-notch and our server, Mo, was very knowledgeable and a lot of fun. They also have a sensory station with glasses filled with herbs and oil essences to test your sense of smell. We almost got them all correct, but I was convinced that what turned out to be white pepper was actually the essence of barnyard. I’ve never used white pepper in cooking, but I’ll need to check it out next time I’m cooking hay or crap. Actually, it’s a fairly common wine flavor descriptor, so I will be picking some up soon. I would definitely recommend stopping by Ehlers while in Napa. Make sure that you call ahead to schedule an appointment for a tour or tasting. We didn’t, but they were nice enough to let us in anyway!
Epilogue
(an inspirational story about a mountain)
 The key is to stop every 20-30 yards, get a breather, and catch your bearings. If you find yourself dehydrated, you can suck water out of the moss growing on the trees. I did not try this, but I'm pretty sure you can do it. |
 If you get tired, do not be afraid to take a nap in the trail. |
We were ready to start to head back down the mountain when I said something like “Now you just wait a minute! Since when did ‘give-up’ become a phrase we use in America? What if William Wallace gave up before standing against the tyranny of the English? What if Brendan Fraser gave up in the Mummy before finding the tomb of the Pharaoh?” All I could think of were movies that had nothing to do with America. “Where would we be today?”
So we kept going, and guess what? Three minutes later we reached the top. It was actually a pretty long hike – about an hour up, and we were only expecting a few minutes stroll. But in the end, we were successful, and it was a great day. It wasn’t as dramatic as I’ve made it out to be, and the climb wasn’t all that tough, but it was definitely a testament to the importance of persistence. It’s difficult to realize how far you’ve come when you can’t see the end. But the end may be just around the corner. (Siegler, 1:05pm, Oct 14, 2009 – feel free to republish that quote). And the icing on the cake? We saw the ocean.
