January 2015 marked our second trip to California wine country and Napa Valley . Our daughter spearheaded the trip because of a San Francisco business trip she had, which coincided with my wife and sister’s January birthdays. My sister’s daughter also lives in the San Francisco area, so it worked out that the 5 of us could meet up to celebrate birthdays in San Francisco and wine country. We decided on a short visit to wine country, allotting 2 days: one with just my daughter, wife and me, and the second with all 5.
The first day, with just my wife, daughter and me, we elected to free-style it and drop-in on a few wineries that caught our interest. Since I was driving, there was no tasting for me. The second day with the 5 of us, we arranged a tour, so we could all sample wines. I contacted the same tour company as the previous trip and reserved a private car for the 5 of us.
Napa’s weather was extremely mild for January, at least by mid-west standards. With mid-60’s temperatures and a bit of chill in the air, thanks to the sun and light jackets, we were able to eat a lovely lunch outside in the garden of the Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch in St. Helena. What a great respite from the cold Indiana winter! The restaurant is billed as farm to table, featuring fresh produce daily from their gardens. The Ranch is a certified organic farm, specializing in grape growing and wine making, olive oil, fruit, and vegetable production, as well as raising grass fed cattle and sheep. Here’s a picture of us having a wonderful lunch in one of their gardens.
On our way to lunch, we passed the Inglenook Winery, located in Rutherford. We knew the winery was owned by Francis Ford Coppola, the famous director, writer, producer and wine-maker, and decided to drop in. During the visit, we learned that Coppola purchased part of the Inglenook property in the mid 1970’s with the profits from “The Godfather” movies. He originally re-named the estate Niebaum-Coppola in honor of the owner of the property at the beginning of the 20 th century and the person who developed the Inglenook brand. Over the years, Coppola acquired the balance of the original Inglenook property and, in 2011, he purchased the Inglenook label and restored the Inglenook Winery name. We were able to tour the Chateau, which houses personal Coppola memorabilia from “The Godfather” movies, including an Oscar, making it an interesting tour for movie and wine buffs.
The next day, the full entourage embarked on the winery/tasting tour with a car and driver. Out of four wineries visited, two were quite memorable.
First was Castello di Amorosa , Italian for “castle of love”. According to the tour guide, the castle and winery opened in 2007 following 15 years of construction. It is reported to be authentically built and architecturally faithful to 13 th century Tuscan castles. While first wandering the castle, we had no idea it was less than 10 years old. We would have guessed it was at least a 100 year old replica. The property contains, among other things, the castle and over 30 acres of vineyards. While we saw only a handful of areas, the castle is reported to consist of 8 stories, 4 above ground and 4 below, with 107 rooms, of which over 90 are used for winemaking and storage. The castle is absolutely amazing in its attention to detail, with rooms that were constructed by hand using period techniques. The exterior of the castle contains a moat, drawbridge and defense towers. The castle’s interior includes a large courtyard and a two story great hall, complete with hand painted frescoes. Also in the castle’s interior are a knight’s chamber, a chapel and, most memorably, a torture chamber. The torture chamber comes complete with a variety of interesting torture devices, including a rack and something called ‘the iron maiden’. This castle is a must-see!
The other memorable visit was to Chateau Montelena Winery. This winery fascinated us, as much for its place in California winemaking history, as for the aesthetics of the chateau and its grounds. According to the winery’s website, the chateau was built in 1888 as a wine aging facility. Its stone construction is reminiscent of an English Gothic castle’s gatehouse. Somewhere around the 1960’s, the property’s owners excavated a lake and the grounds were landscaped as a Chinese garden. We spent time in the gardens and sat by Jade Lake, enjoying the peace, tranquility and lovely weather. While in the tasting room, our server gave us the history of the current winery, along with our wine samples. Chateau Montelena was one of the California wineries selected to compete in the Paris Tasting of 1976, which put California wines on the map. The Chateau’s 1973 Chardonnay competed against 5 other California Chardonnays and 4 French White Burgundies in a blind tasting, and received the highest ranking from a panel of esteemed French judges. While in the Chateau Montelena tasting room, I purchased the book, Judgment of Paris, by George M. Taber. The book provides a great first-hand account of the actual tasting competition, as well as a history of French and California winemaking and some key participants-- an excellent history!
As I recall the lush golden-yellow color of the full-bodied Chardonnay we sampled at Chateau Montelena, it reminds me of the yellow diamonds in our 100 East brand diamond earrings. These yellow and near colorless diamond drop earrings in 18 KT White Gold , feature a multitude of pave fancy yellow diamonds, tucked elegantly inside rows of near-colorless white diamonds.