In the middle of May, one would expect the Napa Valley to be sunny and warm and provide a relaxing atmosphere just perfect for visiting the Napa Valley. Not so on Monday May 17th as it rained most of the day, and temperatures were 20 degrees below normal for this time of the year. Despite all that, we spent a most enjoyable day in the Napa Valley. Our primary purpose for being there was to watch world-class cyclists including Lance Armstrong ride through the Napa Valley on Stage 2 of the Amgen Tour of California. We had planned ahead and picked out the ideal spot to watch the riders. The Miner Family Winery that is just north of the Oakville Cross Road on the Silverado Trail was our choice for viewing the most important and best cycling race in the U.S.
On Monday, May 17, the Amgen Tour of California will take the cyclists through perhaps what is the most stunning and spectacular portion of the entire eight-day tour. Too bad these world-class professional cyclists will have little chance to enjoy the view of wine country. Up Howell Mountain and the Oakville Grade, cyclists will use every ounce of energy to make their way to the summit of these steep grades. Down these two mountains, the cyclists’ skills will be put to the test as they maneuver not only hairpin turns but also attempt to avoid numerous potholes that seem to be around each corner.
For spectators, the news is much better. There are plenty of places to take in the tour in the Valley. This past week we used our car to scout some of the better locations for viewing the cyclists. Ideally, you want a spot where you can sit higher than the cyclists. The view should be unobstructed as there will be parked cars on both sides of the road. A view of a long stretch of road in both directions is also a plus. If you can’t get to higher ground, try and avoid crowded areas. Each person leans in to catch a glimpse of the riders as they approach and that has the same affect as it does in a stadium when the fan in front stands up at a key play. Read the rest of this entry »
Michael Mondavi’s venture at the Oxbow Public Market has ended. The Folio Enoteca and Winery quietly pulled out of the Oxbow Market at the end of March. This has to be a major blow to the Oxbow Market and their merchants. No doubt the recession has made it tough on the Oxbow Market but perhaps a greater concern might be its location. The Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco owned by the same company is teeming with tourists and visitors on a daily basis. Read the rest of this entry »
If new restaurants are any gauge of how the economy is doing, then it must be doing just fine in the town of Napa. Since January, there have been three new restaurants that have opened, one at the Oxbow Public Market, two in the downtown area. In the summer, three more restaurants are slated to open in the Riverfront Residences development. That feels like a lot of competition for restaurant owners, but one would think that investors have reason to believe these restaurants will make it as the economy recovers. Read the rest of this entry »
Trefethen 2008 Fallow
First, I receive a bizarre miniature bottle called Fallow from Trefethen Vineyards. No information about why the bottle was sent, just a very hilarious winemaking note describing the aroma and flavors of this empty 50ml wine bottle. What’s up with this I thought. I don’t get it. Then, last Friday, my UPS guy rings the door and has me sign for a small box that he says is wine. I know better, no box that light or small can contain wine. Wrong, here from Trefethen again, is a small fancy box containing four 50 ml. wine bottles. But this time, the bottles are filled with wine. Yeah! Two each of their Double T 2008 Chardonnay and their Double T 2007 Red Wine. Now, I get it. This is a new concept for sampling wine that makes sense. Wineries using these small bottles can send out many samples instead of just a few regular-size bottles to wine bloggers, restaurants, and others without busting their PR budget. Although I would rather get a full bottle, this is a wise option for a winery that wants to introduce its wines to a host of people. Ggrich Hills, Patz & Hall, and Chateau Montelena in the Napa Valley are also early adopters of this novel approach to wine samples. The company behind all this is TastingRoom.com and if you look at their website you can find out how they go about processing these miniature bottles of wine. Incidentally, I polished off the four bottles of wine that I was sent and have judged both the Chardonnay and the Red Wine to be of delicious quality, as are all the Trefethen wines I have tasted. Read the rest of this entry »
This may not be as fancy as a video produced by the Napa Valley Vintner’s Association or the Napa Valley Destination Council, but our new video on travel tips to the Napa Valley is just what our readers have been asking for. We must get several emails each month with the same essential comment: “We are going to the Napa Valley for the first time and we don’t know where to begin.” We are always a little bit bewildered by this because our Napa Valley Web pages on WineCountryGetaways.com are all about simplifying a trip to the Napa Valley and helping visitors to decide which wineries to visit. We realize now that many folks don’t want to spend a lot of time searching around, so we decided to create this short but informative video. The video explains how to select wineries and also many of the “Do’s and Don’ts” of wine tasting Read the rest of this entry »
Spring is here in the Napa Valley, the sun is warm, and many of the vines are alive with recent bud break. It is a very enjoyable time to travel to the Napa Valley. Not only does spring bring tourists to the Valley but other creatures as well. We had just finished tasting some delicious Buehler wines and were on our way to the terrace to enjoy a picnic lunch. There it was basking in the beautiful sunshine, a rather long and ominous looking rattlesnake. John Page Buehler was the first to alert us and then quickly raced into the tasting room and returned with a shovel. Page with his handy long shovel was able to corral the snake and move it away from the picnic area. What a man! Read the rest of this entry »
Last week bad news came on two fronts for Napa. The first came from a Silicon Valley Bank report about a potential swath of Napa wineries on the verge of bankruptcy and land values dropping 15% from their peak in 2007. Then came more bad news with the European grapevine moth on the attack and quarantine orders in place for big portions of the Napa Valley. If that is not bad enough, other wine regions are trying to kick poor Napa Valley when it is down. We keep hearing the same old song when we visit other wine regions about Napa Valley’s overpriced wines finally getting their comeuppance. The truth of the matter is any wine that is currently priced over $20 is going to be a tough sell in 2010. In every wine region we travel, even lonely Lodi, there are many wines priced above the $20 and well beyond, from $40 to $60. All wineries, no matter where, are facing a very tough consumer frugality and need to take a new tack if they want to survive. Now for some pleasant news! Read the rest of this entry »
It has been awhile since I made a post to this blog. About two weeks ago I got caught up in making a video slide show about a year in wine country. I have seen many of these depictions in my years of wine travel and have always wanted to try my hand at putting one of these together.
I shifted from film to digital photography in 2004. The program I use to catalog my images, Adobe Lightroom, shows that I have some 28,000 digital images on my computer. I would venture to say that about 75% of those are of wine country. We travel to wine country every month of the year and often twice during a month, so I knew I would have no problems finding the images I needed. In fact having too many photos was the issue. It was hard to decide which photos to include and which ones would give the best representation of the vineyards during that particular season. I whittled it down to 42 images and 3 minutes of time.
About half the slides were taken in the Napa Valley and the others shot at various wine regions throughout Northern California. There is one slide from Spain and it’s one of my favorite photos, a close up of an Albariño cluster moments away from being harvested.
The background music is provided by jazz artist Marc Cary from his CD “Focus.” The title “Walk With Me” is so appropriate. Watch the video and walk with me through my rendition of the four seasons in vineyard.
My last post was about Napa Valley wine prices in 1970 so I thought it might be fun to try and describe what the Napa Valley was like back then. Our first trip to the Napa Valley was in 1968. We were newly married and just a mere 25 years old. I had actually been there once as a teenager but of course could not have cared much about visiting wineries. We owe our interest in wine and wine country traveling to my brother-in-law and to a teaching colleague who were both 12 years our senior. Both of these individuals introduced us to wine and we traveled often with these folks to the wine country. My guide back then to wine country was the first edition of Sunset Magazine’s California Wine Country. It was published in 1968 and was priced at a whopping $1.95. Read the rest of this entry »
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