I received this information from the American Sommelier Association and thought I would pass this on to our readers. In these economic times there are many out of work or in transition wanting to shift careers. Perhaps this intensive course may pave the way for a future career in the wine business. It appears that there are some scholarship funds that can reduce the cost of the training course by 50%.
It’s that time of year again. Bud Break is all around and the vines are beginning a new growing year in the wine country. That dreary, cold, and rainy period is over and tourists can now flock to the tasting rooms again. Wineries are ready to receive and pamper all tourists.
This is the when the wineries make big bucks selling their wines to tourists eager to bring home the bounty of the Napa Valley. Be a wise consumer when you visit the tasting room; you certainly don’t want “buyer’s remorse” when you return home with a trunk full of wine purchased on impulse. Here are some consumer tips for your tasting room excursions.
There will be a large number of Napa Valley wineries participating in this year’s Zinfandel Festival that runs from January 27 – 29 in San Francisco. I have six tickets to give away, two each to three lucky winners to the culminating event of this festival, the Grand Zinfandel Tasting at Fort Mason on Saturday, January 29. Over 250 wineries will be pouring Zinfandel wines between 2 pm and 5 pm at the Herbst and Festival Pavillions at Fort Mason. These tickets have a value of $70 each and here is how you can win a set of two tickets.
We just returned from a fascinating and wonderful three-week trip to France. Our last week was spent in the Champagne Region. If you like visiting Napa, you will love visiting the Champagne region. In spending just one week in Champagne we barely scratched the surface exploring this historic wine region. There are some 300 villages in the Champagne wine region and more than 3000 Champagne producers.
Only three varieties of grapes are grown here, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. These are the grapes used in blending Champagne. The majority of the soil is limestone The vines are grown in rows about one meter apart and are allowed to grow just over a meter in height. The vines are kept short and are constantly pruned. The idea is to keep the density high so the grape production is lower and the vines must compete for the needed ingredients. The vines grow deep into the chalky limestone soil. No irrigation is needed because there is enough rain and the chalky soil acts like a sponge to absorb the water. The limestone soil gives the Champagne that unique character that is found in no other bubbly around the world. 
If you are serious about learning about wine and discovering delicious wines, you should spit wine when visiting the tasting rooms of the Napa Valley or any other wine country. There is no way you can visit three to five wineries in one day, tasting five or more samples of wine at each winery, and remain sober. You palate will be gone in short order.
Needless to say, if you are the driver, your only choices are to spit or just roam around the tasting room while the others are having a grand old time.
What a terrific day for us on Wednesday of this past week! We were among twenty-five wine writers and wine bloggers present at the annual Rutherford Dust Society’s “A Day in the Dust.” The venue was the historic Rubicon Estates Chateau and the setting dramatic as we entered the room to view the tables with sets of wine glasses numbered and prepared for the tasting. First we heard from present-day wine legends like Andy Beckstoffer, Joel Aiken, Peter Granoff, Larry Stone and others. Then it was down to work, or should I say pleasure, and the tasting of the wines.
The wines we tasted were from 23 different vintners in the Rutherford AVA, all 2007 vintage, Cabernet Sauvignon or blends made predominantly with Cabernet Sauvignon. Andy Beckstoffer explained to us that the 2007 growing season had been one of the best in memory. The season started with early heat, followed by cooler weather than normal. August warmed but there were no heat spikes. Usually the Napa Valley experiences five or six heat spikes that are in the high nineties or above the 100 mark, none of which are good for grapes. September was cooler than usual and the grapes gently matured to their ideal sugar levels. Peter Granoff told us that with the 2007 vintage there had been a shift from long hang time and high alcoholic wines to wines that were more elegant, balanced wines with a soft finish. Peter stated, “We have gone full circle and now we are looking for elegance.”
So, where is the “Heart of the Napa Valley?” This is what a recent visitor to Wine Country Getaways inquired in an email. “I will be in San Francisco and I want to spend one day in the heart of the Napa Valley, please advise.” We try to answer all emails so I got to thinking about how I would go about telling this person where he should go in the Napa Valley. Is the heart of the Napa Valley a winery, a town, Highway 29, or half way between Napa and Calistoga? After pondering a bit I realized that to find the heart of the Napa Valley, one must “experience” the Valley rather than venture to a specific area or location. I suggested a list of places to go and things to do that would guarantee him that he had been to the “Heart” of the Napa Valley.
Visit one of the historic wineries of the Napa Valley and, if time allows, take the tour there. This will give you a feel and understanding of the early pioneer days of the Napa Valley. Some suggestions are Schramsberg, Beringer, Rubicon Estates, and Beaulieu Vineyards. Robert Mondavi undoubtedly had the greatest influence on the development of the Napa Valley and a trip to his winery is always a great experience. His memories are embedded in this winery.
Visit one of the smaller wineries that is family owned, where family members take part in the daily operation of the winery. Smith-Madrone, August Briggs, or Hendry Winery are some good ones to visit where you are likely to get attention from one of the family members.
We are back from spending five days in the Washington wine country with 300 Wine Bloggers. We visited many wineries and heard many voices from various Washington wine associations and groups. Interestingly, the most commonly-mentioned wine area outside of Washington was the Napa Valley. When you are on top, watch out, someone’s out to top you. I don’t think Washington can ever reach Napa in terms of a tourist destination, but in wine quality this is another matter. These folks feel strongly that the AVA’s of Washington are unique and remarkable and are producing wines as good as, and perhaps better than, the Napa Valley.
Here are some direct quotes:
“The amount of sunlight here is on average 58 minutes longer per day than in the Napa Valley.”
“We don’t have phylloxera or the sharpshooter like Napa because our winters are so cold.”
“Our latitude is between that of Bordeaux and Burgundy; Napa is lower than Burgundy.”
“Our Syrah is big and chewy and there’s nothing like it, not even in Napa.”
“We heard that a Napa Valley winery wants to buy our Red Mountain grapes.”
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.
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