I have admittedly and purposely avoided visiting Napa Valley. Perhaps it was the hype, perhaps it was Napa's "connoisseur" reputation, or maybe it was a bit of both. But after standing my ground for nearly a year, and with our recent move that puts me 15 miles closer, I finally paid a visit to California's most renowned wine region. Having gained worldwide popularity in the 1970s by beating out several French stalwarts in a blind tasting, Napa wines have since been known as the best in the U.S. And for the most part, Napa lived up to its long-held reputation. But a couple words of warning for the newbies who may be navigating through the Napa Valley.
1. Do your research before you go. With limited capacity for true and unbiased tasting (5 wineries in one day is pushing it), you don't want to waste your tastes. Even with recommendations from reliable and well-honed tasters, we still hit a couple of duds. Ask fellow wine tasters for their Napa "no misses," and make sure to let them know your varietal tendencies.
2. Get off the beaten track. While the Silverado Trail is a good bet, boasting more than 40 of the valley's wineries, don't forget the wineries you can't see from the road. Winding roads that climb and traverse the surrounding hills branch out in all directions and offer a quite seclusion that the "over-infrastructured" main thoroughfares cannot.
3. Bigger is not necessarily better. Often, the bigger wineries will sell their distributed wines at inflated costs (check Safeway for the real deals), while the undistributed wines are hardly worth the $75+ price mark. Hit a couple smaller wineries. They most likely don't have distribution contracts, have owners that are motivated by quality over production numbers, and often are run as a hobby funded by fortunes made in other industries.
4. Don't let the name "Napa" fool you. Ask how much acreage each winery actually has in Napa. As we discovered, many of the wineries buy their grapes from elsewhere or have less acreage in Napa than the winery I work at in Livermore. Putting your winery in Napa does not a Napa wine make.
And finally, our list of enjoyers and avoiders. Don't miss Pina, Fontanella, or O'Brien. And unless you enjoy $35 tasting fees, Opus is worth a pass.
As you know, Missouri also has some very good prize winning wines and wine growing areas. As in Napa, being located on one of the wine trails does not necessarily a good Missouri wine make. Some of the newbies get their grape juice from 'miles around', wherever that is. My favorite is still the Norton from Mt. Pleasant Winery where they do grow their own. Several wineries grow the Norton grape, but they don't necessarily produce a good Norton wine.
ReplyDeleteAs long as we are being honest, you can skip Bias Winery. We hicks in the midwest balk at a $5.00 or $10.00 tasting fee. If I am going to leave a couple hundred dollars at the winery, I don't think I should have to pay a tasting fee. On the other hand maybe that's the way some wineries sell a bottle or two because the tasting fee is applied to your purchase.
G'ma