California Dreamin'

On occasion, Joe Canal’s staff members are able to go on trips to meet the producers of the items that we sell. Whether we travel to the great wine regions, or any other location, the trips are educational, great for team-building, and, of course, they’re fun.

Mike Dayton

Mike Dayton, Floor Manager at our Lawrenceville store, recently visited California on just such a trip with other Joe Canal's team members. Here's his report:

I've always wanted to visit the west coast, particularly California. While I never thought I would tour the Napa and Sonoma Valleys, but that is exactly where I was headed. To think that this trip would be business related was even more intriguing.

It's early morning on Columbus Day, we fly out of Philadelphia into San Francisco. The plane ride was smooth, despite some of the members in the group being deathly afraid to fly! As we hop into the rental car after arriving in San Francisco, we hit ridiculous rush hour traffic. Thankfully, the car pool lane saves us from missing our first wine tour entirely. Our first destination was the Beringer Winery in Napa Valley, and we miraculously show up only a few minutes late, only to find out a few minutes later our guide was, in fact, later than us. Oh, the irony!

Tasting at Beringer

It quickly became apparent to me during this tour that Napa Valley was going to show me a side of history I never thought I would experience. Jacob Beringer started this winery way back in 1886. Unbeknownst to the others and I, we were informed that during that entire span of time they have only had seven winemakers! That is truly an astounding fact.

We enjoyed a nice tour of the grounds and even got to eat some fruit right out of the Beringer garden. The Beringer group truly wined and dined us. Some of the very vegetables we were picking were used in the astounding meal they served us during our tasting. Of all the wines we tried that night, the 2011 Beringer Quantum Red Blend agreed with my palate the most. After our meal, we enjoyed some small talk for a short while, before we headed to the Franciscan house for our overnight stay. The Franciscan house was beautiful. That night, we enjoyed some cold drinks and a game of bocce. I don’t like to brag, but my team won.

Vineyards at Franciscan

The next morning we prepared for a lengthy, jam-packed day. It was surprisingly chilly that day in the valley, and ironically we soon discovered the weather was much warmer back home in New Jersey. Nonetheless, we set out for the Franciscan tasting.  The Franciscan winery was fantastic and full of history. They really gave us a great tour and guide. Our group got to taste the 2008 Franciscan Magnificat. Magnificat is Franciscan’s signature wine, and it offers only the best of each year’s harvest into a wonderful red blend. The blend is different every single year they produce it.

Stags' Leap manor House

Later that afternoon, we went on my second favorite tour of the trip. We headed out to a more rural part of Napa Valley to visit Stags' Leap Winery. Stags' Leap Winery was one of the first fifteen vineyards in Napa! The winery is often confused with Stags Leap Cellars, which is less then a mile away. The two wineries engaged in long legal battles over the name of their respective companies many years ago. Nonetheless, the history behind the building and property was tremendous. We even heard rumors that the Stags' House has long been haunted. It was a tremendous tour with an incredible tasting. The tasting was on the Stags' House front porch. Our view had us overlooking some of the noted Stags' Leap Blocks. My favorite wine of the tasting was the 2011 Ne Cede Malis Estate Petite Sirah. It was definitely a wine I shall not forget.

My second favorite tour was quickly followed by my favorite tour of the entire trip. This tour was unique compared to the others, and coincidentally I thought we had our best guide at this winery as well. It's safe to say I was a little taken back by none other then the Hess Winery. It was right around dinner hour when we met with Larry, who gave us our tour. I thought to myself that Larry had really mastered his craft by the end of the evening. He supplied us with great information, and made the group laugh and enjoy ourselves. Donald Hess owns the winery, and he has a passion for two things: wine and art. Alongside the winery is a massive collection of this art. Essentially, the Hess Winery is both a winery and an art museum wrapped up into one.

We learned that, during the earthquake that recently struck Napa, Hess lost fifteen percent of the Cabernet Saugvion that was ready to be bottled. That equated to over four million dollars worth of product! However, during that same earthquake, none of the art in Donald’s collection was damaged! In Napa Valley, Hess is farming over 200 acres of land, and all of their ten thousand vines are picked by hand! I can assuredly say I will never forget the Hess Winery.

The next morning, we woke up to a cloudy sky. On this day, we had a couple of tours scheduled in Sonoma Valley. The first on the to-do list was Chateau St. Jean. By the time we arrived at the winery, the sun had finally broken through. Chateau St. Jean was another lovely piece of land for us to see. The gardens surrounding the winery were breathtaking. All the Chateau St. Jean wines are French style wines. Honestly, who better to style your wines after? They make over forty different wines at Chateau St. Jean! The 2011 Cinq Cepages was the first Sonoma Wine to ever be ranked the number one wine in the world. However, the wine I enjoyed the most was the CSJ 2009 reserve Merlot. I wish I were drinking some right now!

Chateau St. Jean

After our morning tasting we made a quick and unofficial stop at the Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa. We enjoyed a few glasses of Pliny The Elder, which is a top ten-ranked beer in the United States. It was a delicious Double IPA and the beer geeks among us were satisfied.

After our quick stop at Russian River Brewery, we checked into the Simi house. It overlooked some of the vineyards on the Simi property. It was a unique experience to say the least.

Clos du Bois

After checking in, we made our way to our last tour of the night, the Clos du Bois Winery. These guys are major players in Sonoma, producing over two million cases of wine every year. During our tour, we learned that fourteen hundred solar panels on the property take care of eighty-five percent of the winery's electrical needs! Talk about going green! Frank Woods started the winery back in 1974. Yes, we were there during their 40th anniversary year! We enjoyed a lovely tour and were served a fantastic dinner by the staff. It was a meal that my stomach still hasn’t forgiven me for.

The next morning, we grabbed breakfast in town and checked out of the lovely Simi property. The group was headed to our last tasting and tour of the trip. The last stop was at Ferrari-Carano. This was a very cool place to visit. The surrounding area to the winery was beautiful and had me thinking I was in Italy! The owners were Italian and had set up their property to look just like their homeland! You could tell a lot of craftsmanship was put into this place. And the wines we tried were outstanding.

Ferrari-Carano

The White House frequently orders wine from Ferrari-Carano. Some of those presidents include George Bush, Sr. and Ronald Reagan! The winery was built in 1982, followed by their first vintage in 1985. Prior to being a winery, the lands were a prune farm. However, these guys know what they are doing there and I don't see the Ferrari-Carano Winery going anywhere, anytime soon!

After all was said and done and tasted, we made our way back to San Francisco. We spent some time touring the city, but most of us were pretty beat from all the tastings. All in all, this was a trip I will never forget. I made some ever-lasting memories and I truly hope I am able to experience some of these adventures again in the future. If you are a fan of California wines, you should consider enjoying some of these tastings and tours yourself. I promise you that you will not be disappointed!