The school of Wine

This weekend we visited Napa Valley and a remarkable place it is. Driving into the valley you soon get the idea that this surely is wine makers territory, with vines coming right down to the road side you can reach right out and grab a bunch. I had looked at a map showing the vineyards in the valley and could not believe that so many names could be producing wine in a valley 30 miles long and at most 5 miles wide. Each acre filled with the most cared after nurtured vines you could possible imagine producing thousands to millions of dollars worth of grapes.

We made it up to Vinogirl, who was wrestling with a very large Caterpillar problem with her TOMATOES of all things. She stood facing the house in front a very small tomato patch while behind her was rows of vines, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Grigio, Orange Muscat and the vino dogs. We had literally been there a couple of minutes and i was thrown into my first class, Vines one o one. I had no idea the process of growing a vine or the complexities of nurturing a new vine to its surrogate root. The time, effort and patience that goes into producing the grape only makes the wine taste better, this was something i was later to find out in a tasting session. I had some understanding of the weather and the effect it has on the vines but i did not realise how temperamental it could be, Napa had experienced a frost earlier in the year which was very uncommon and this had slowed the growing and in some cases killed off the fruit. This was not the kind of frost that we get back in England, but the kind that comes and goes in the space of an hour or so and damages the fruit for the rest of the year. We talked about the different varietals and the vines, the positions in relation to the sun and the location and the types of dirt, when to drop and how far to trim back even the identification of leaf to grape. Then as it started to getter even hotter we headed to the cellar.

The picture above is of Vinogirl and i tasting one of the wines i shall be helping to bottle in a couple of weeks. The small cellar held alot of wine and was where Vinomaker would experiment and refine his wine. Its was becoming apparent that Vinogirl was more of the growing nurturing type while Vinomaker more the science and refining type. I took part in tasting a few different wines from the barrels, not all from their vineyard and even a very nice port which tenbellies said she liked, i think im on my way to converting her. Beyond the cellar was their own stash and quite a stash it was, so many bottles and so little time, i think i would need to retire now to experience so many wines. Later i chatted with Vinomaker and it came even more clear how little i knew about wine and yet i was quickly learning and absorbing everything they exposed me too, my first test came when Vinomaker gave me my first glass of wine in Napa and asked me to identify it. I'm sure it was to see what i knew or how well my taste buds worked and i can say now that i failed miserably, however it was a very nice glass of wine and standing on the decking with the most amazing view is without doubt the best classroom anyone could have.

The next day we had organised a blind tasting the very first that i had done and to mix things up i had brought some wines from the UK. The Pepperwod Grove Zin, Dona Paula Cab Franc, Pinot Nior from Oregon, and a god awful Tesco homebrand Zin (Thud asked me to bring this one). There was some excitement mostly by me but some from Vinogirl as i sensed she rather enjoyed the partaking of tasting many wines. There were seven wines altogether, Vinomaker had started the BBQ and the steaks were at the ready. Thud had made some very nice Blackberry sorbet for afterwards and Mrs OTW started to bring out the wines. Marking the wines on Varietal, Aroma, Taste, Defects, Finish and Alcohol, year and would we buy it. such alot to think about and i was struggling with the aroma and taste, and remember i had supplied four of these wines the least i could do is identify them. Nope not a chance, this was hard and the first three i struggled but as we continued i got the feel and wrote what i thought and with help they pointed me in the right way. At least i found the bad wine. As we finished we sat and revealed the wines with some very big surprises, Vinomaker brought more wine to the table which helped comparing wines alot easier and we drank and talked more about the wines. The food, the wine, the company and the venue made for the most memorable experience and a fantastic weekend in Napa Valley, and in the words of Vinogirl a good time was had by all.