Brian Torzilli, Floor Manager at our Woodbridge store, recently visited California wine country on just such a trip with other Joe Canal's team members. Here's his report:
In October, I got to travel with some of my colleagues to California, to spend a week visiting wineries in Napa and Sonoma Valleys. The entire experience was incredible. We got to see some incredible scenery, eat some amazing food, try a bunch of delicious wines and learn a lot about the wine making process.
We started our tour off in Napa Valley. When we got there I was blown away by how beautiful it was. We lucked out by having nearly perfect weather, and everywhere we looked there were rolling vines back-dropped by mountains and blue sky. The first vineyard we experienced was Opus One. This was not a vineyard we planned to tour, but one that happened to be next to the sandwich shop where we stopped for lunch. Having the grapes for such a prestigious wine less than 10 feet away from where we parked out car blew my mind.
Our only tour the first day was at Trinchero Vineyards. We were there on the last day they harvested grapes for the season, so our tour began with us witnessing the stem removal process. We also got to grab some freshly-picked grapes right off the line to sample. The grapes were smaller than I expected, and we were told that the smaller grapes yield a higher concentration of flavor than larger grapes do. After seeing the fermentation tanks and one of the barrel cellars, we got to go down into the cave cellar. Trinchero has a natural cellar cut out of a cave beneath the property that stores wine at the perfect temperature. Unfortunately, they hadn’t finished the cave’s tasting room, so we weren’t able to sample down there. One wine in particular I was pleased to try when we did get to the tasting room was Shatter Grenache. This is a wine that I wanted to try but had not gotten around to yet. It was pleasantly easy to drink for how bold a flavor it carried.
Barrels at Trinchero
The next day we started out at Hess Collection Winery. Hess was a big change from Trinchero. Whereas Trinchero had been right on the main strip of Napa, Hess is up in the mountains. We learned a lot about the history of the winery, but the most interesting aspect was the history of its founder. Donald Hess originally ran a mineral water company, and came here looking to expand his empire to another country. While touring California looking for a source for his water, he took a business meeting with Robert Mondavi, who attempted to persuade him that the future of the region was in wine, not water. What finally sold Hess was when Mondavi poured him a glass of Chateau Montelena that had been made by Mike Grgich.
Hess Barrel Room, behind the Gift Shop
We had lunch on the vineyard property, and one of the wines we enjoyed was a personal favorite of mine, the Hess Select Treo. This is a red blend of Merlot, Syrah, and Petite Sirah that has a ton of fruit yet is still dry enough to pair with meat, which is what I usually do. Our tour guide however, suggested that I pair it with the cocoa nib ice cream we had for dessert, and the combination blew me away. The flavors of both just exploded once they were paired together. He also gave me a tip for drinking a Petite Sirah, which is my favorite varietal. He poured me a sample of a fresh bottle, and then a sample from a bottle he had opened the day before, and the previously-opened bottle was much more complex. I have yet to try this again since I have been home, but if it remains true with other Petite Sirahs it will forever change how I enjoy that varietal.
Our second tour of the day was at Stag's Leap Winery. This was arguably the prettiest vineyard we visited. The main house is set back, hidden from the road at the base of the mountain, with all the vines laid out in front of it. The neighboring vineyard is Schafer, and from Stag’s Leap you get a great view of the mountain vines that are used to make Schafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon. The house also was used for parties during prohibition, and we got to go down and tour the speakeasy that was hidden in the basement. Stag's Leap happens to make one of my favorite Petite Sirahs, which is one of the first I had that got me hooked on the varietal. For me, it was the crown jewel of the tasting that accompanied the tour.
"Round Room" at Stag's Leap
Our final tour of the day was at Franciscan Estates. This tour had one of the most interesting moments of the entire trip. We were given Franciscan Cabernet Sauvignon out of two different barrels to try, one after the other. The grapes had been from the same lot, the same harvest, and aged for the same period of time. The difference was that one was in an American oak barrel and the other was in a French oak barrel. This really helped explain the different characteristics that a wine can pick up from the barrel it is aged in. While the American oak barrel gave a much more powerful taste up front, the French oak was lighter but with a much longer finish. We were then told to mix the glasses together so we could see how the wine picked up characteristics from both. The blend had more of a kick up front, but kept some of the longer finish on the end. This experience was really insightful, and happened to also be with my favorite wine from the vineyard.
Vineyard at Franciscan
We started out next day touring Domaine Chandon, which is also where we went for dinner our first night. The tanks that we saw on this tour were the biggest of the trip, and we were informed that in order to finish an entire one you would have to drink one bottle a day for 194 years. Until this trip I had not been a fan of sparkling wines, but one that jumped out at me was the Chandon Blanc de Noirs. This sparkling offered stronger fruit notes that I was used to, making it more flavorful and smoother on the palate. Another big takeaway was learning that, unlike still wine, sparkling wines are fermented a second time in the bottle, which causes the bubbles when the CO2 is unable to escape.
Domaine Chandon Entrance
From there we traveled to Sonoma County, where we went to the Simi Winery. Simi had some very unique history. It managed to continue making wine throughout prohibition by securing multiple sacramental and medical permits. It also was the home of the first tasting room in Sonoma County, which was made by taking a redwood barrel and turning it on its side. Simi also had the largest barrel cellar (at least that we got to see) of any of the wineries. Our tour guide also gave us a special treat during our tasting. She went down into the winery’s private cellar and brought us up a 2001 Petite Sirah to enjoy after hearing what big fans we were of the varietal. While we enjoyed some other great wines, that one stood out as the wine of the trip for me. Unfortunately, it is only available at the winery and they do not sell it to the public.
Outdoor tasting area at Simi
The next day saw out last winery tour, when we went to Gloria Ferrer. There we learned some of the more unique facts about both sparkling and still wines. While only sparkling wines from the Champagne region of France are allowed to use that name, Gloria Ferrer is grandfathered into keeping it on their bottles. When the treaty was first signed to prevent any other area of the world from using the name, Gloria Ferrer was closed for prohibition and therefore did not sign. They were not making wine, after all. When prohibition ended, they continued using the name champagne as they had prior to closing, and since they had not signed the treaty, still claimed that right. Another interesting fact was that a sparkling cork starts out in the same shape as a still wine cork. However, the CO2 pushes the cork out of the bottle, which is why sparkling wines have cages on top. The pressure from the cork pushing up against the cage is what causes the cork to mushroom. Gloria Ferrer also had my favorite sparkling wine, the Royal Cuvee Brut. This sparkling blew me away with how crisp and refreshing it was. While not technically classified as the top wine made by the winery, in my opinion, nothing else held a candle to it.
Sparkling wine aging in the bottle at Gloria Ferrer
To cap off our trip, we traveled into San Francisco to have dinner with negociant Cameron Hughes. I had briefly met Cameron once before, when he visited our store, but at the timeI was still new to wine, so I didn’t take the opportunity to talk much with him. Cameron is a very down to earth guy who is passionate about what he does, and was happy to just sit down and talk about wine with us over a nice meal. He told us about how he first got started and about one wine he is going to be making in the future that he is particularly excited about, but also he echoed an opinion that we had heard a few times before on the trip. In his opinion, he thinks the 2013 vintages that had just finished being harvested when we first arrived are going to be one of the best in years, and will rival past great vintages. This was a huge takeaway that has me really excited for these wines down the road.
This trip was an incredible experience. The amount of knowledge and the further appreciation I gained for wine is unbelievable, considering how few days I spent there. It was heartbreaking to have to leave, and definitely a region I plan on visiting again in the future to see what else it holds.
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