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Champagne Trip to Schramsberg Vineyards and Mumm Napa
December
2005
Tuesday - Lunch at Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen, Tour at
Schramsberg
Our trip begins on a very cold Tuesday morning in the Napa Valley.
We have scheduled a tour at Schramsberg Vineyards for that afternoon
and on Wednesday we will visit Mumm Napa Valley and take one of
the hourly tours there.
Many natives call December the “ugly” month in the
Valley because the grape leaves are brown and are barely hanging
on to the vines. By the end of the month the vines will be completely
bare. We think that December brings its own unique beauty to the
wine country. For sure, things are very quiet and the pace is slow
and relaxed. The entire Valley feels like it is taking a long deep
breath before spring comes and brings new growth to the valley
vineyards.
Our first stop is for lunch in St. Helena at Cindy’s
Backstreet Kitchen. Cindy Pawlcyn, the owner of the famous
Mustards in Yountville, opened this charmer about three years
ago. On this day, the restaurant is filled with locals and we
sense that everyone has a connection with the wine industry.
The talk all around our table is about wine. Janelle orders a
Cobb Salad, while Joe orders lentil soup, a special of the day,
and the stuffed Piquillo peppers. The food is fantastic with
the Piquillo peppers a standout. We rate Cindy’s
Backstreet a perfect 5.0 on our rating scale. It’s definitely
the place to be in St. Helena.
We do a little window-shopping in St. Helena and then stop off
at the Culinary
Institute of America at Greystone. This historic
landmark is north of downtown St. Helena on Highway 29 just beyond
Beringer Brothers Winery. The CIA, as it is called in the wine
and food industry, has all types of courses for those interested
in pursuing a career in the food and wine industry. They also offer
classes for the non-professional, such as wine appreciation and
pairing food and wine. We enjoy visiting the campus store to browse
the books, kitchen supplies, and interesting array of spices and
condiments.
We leave the CIA and continue north about
five miles and turn left and up a mile-long hill to Schramsberg.
We have scheduled a 2:30 tour and tasting at this famous
California sparkling wine maker. Our tour leader, Kari, begins
the tour at the tasting room with a brief history of Schramsberg.
They are two distinct eras of Schramsberg. The first era
began with Jacob Schram who built the winery, the caves,
and the Victorian home. The second era began in 1965
when Jack and Jamie Davis purchased the Schramsberg estate.
At the time of purchase, the estate was essentially abandoned
and was in a complete state of disrepair including the vineyards.
This was a bold move by Jack and Jamie Davis. Not only did
repairing the estate pose a challenge, but also the Davis’s
were not winemakers nor experienced in any aspect of the
wine industry. But, with a pioneering spirit, they pursued
their dream and today Schramsberg is world-famous for its
California sparkling wine. |
Schramsberg has five miles of caves where
some 5 million bottles of aging sparkling wine are stored |
From the tasting room, the tour takes us into
the caves where Kari explains in detail the art of making sparkling
wine. The most surprising information is that Schramsberg has not
mechanized the process of riddling. Riddling is the ancient method
of bringing the yeast residue inside the bottle of wine to the
neck of the bottle by turning each bottle a quarter of a turn a
day and banging the bottle back into place in the riddling rack.
Each day an employee by the name of Ramon turns 35,000 bottles
of wine on riddling racks. He has been doing this for over 30 years
without missing a day of work. Most sparkling wine makers have
mechanized riddling with machines that can accomplish this task
in about six weeks time.
We were a bit disappointed that the tour did not take us through
the bottling area, nor were we able to see the aging barrels
and the tanks where the initial fermentation takes place.
The tour ends in the tasting room. We taste three very delicious
sparkling wines. They range in price from $32 to $80. There
is also a bonus taste of wine that is the
2002 J Davis Cabernet
Sauvignon. This is an absolutely fantastic tasting wine. It sells
for a $65 bottle. The wine is made in honor of the late Jack Davis.
The grapes are grown on the hillside property of Schramsberg. The
grapes thrive in the high summer temperatures of this Napa Valley
hillside known as the Diamond Mountain AVA. None of the grapes
for the sparkling wine are grown here. The grapes for the bubbly
come from various cool climate areas such as Carneros or the Russian
River Valley.
We are just a couple of miles from the town of Calistoga. Calistoga
is at the very north end of the Napa Valley. Calistoga is famous
for its mud baths, hot springs, and spa treatments. There are several
gourmet restaurants and many choices for lodging.
We are in a budget mode this month so we take advantage of an
$89 special at the Comfort
Inn in Calistoga. For dinner that
evening we found that our two favorite restaurants were not open. Wappo
restaurant and the All Seasons Café are on their winter
schedule are open on a limited basis. That’s one of the few
disadvantages of coming off-season and during the week.
We decide to try the Calistoga
Inn for dinner. We happen to hit
the “Pauper’s Feast” night, a once-a-year event
at the Calistoga Inn. For this night there is a special menu with
two choices for the entrée. The dinner includes salad
and dessert, all for a mere $13.00. What a deal! The dinner is
excellent and the atmosphere is even better. The place is jammed
with locals and everyone seems to having a grand old time. It’s
a festive occasion complete with a couple serenading the dinner
crowd with Yuletide carols.
Wednesday - The Tour at Mumm Napa
Our room includes a continental breakfast but we will skip that
and have our breakfast at the Calistoga Rostery. The Rostery is
a great spot for a full breakfast or a pastry and delicious coffee.
The Calistoga Rostery is on 1426 Lincoln Ave in Calistoga.
Later in the morning, we head over to the Silverado Trail on the
east side of the Valley. We stop at Clos
Pegase winery and stroll
the grounds to view the artwork and beautiful architecture of the
winery. On this morning, the winter sun is casting long and beautiful
shadows across the winery gardens.
Next stop is Mumm
Napa. We are the only ones
on the 12-noon tour on this Wednesday. Our tour is
very informative and we get to view all the operations that
go into making a bottle of sparkling wine. The tour ends
at Mumm Napa’s fabulous art gallery. There are two
exhibits on display. One is a permanent collection of photos
of the great Ansel Adams. The second exhibit is a traveling
exhibit called the “Legends of Rock”. It is a
fantastic black and white collection of various Rock ‘n
Roll artists including John Lennon, Mick Jagger, and Janis
Joplin. |
The Art Gallery at Mumm Napa
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After spending an hour here, we enter
the tasting bar where we are able to taste a flight of Mumm Napa
sparkling wines. The tasting bar is very casual and comfortable
with a fantastic view of the vineyards. You can find a coupon on
the Mumm Napa’s web site for one free tasting and 15% off
a purchase.
Then is it lunch at Bistro
Don Giovanni’s, one of our very
favorite eating spots in the Napa Valley. We share a pizza and
a small green salad. We rate Don Giovanni’s a 4.5 on our
5.0 rating scale.
For more information on visiting sparkling wine makers, where
to stay, and eat. please click on “Sparkling
Wine Trail.”
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