Beer Man in Wine Country

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.

Chris Spicacci, Beer Supervisor at Woodbridge, recently visited California on just such a trip with other Joe Canal's team members. Here's his report:

It was a clear Monday morning that we were on our way to the airport. I was a little nervous about flying, not having done so in over 15 years, but still very excited for my first trip to the West Coast.

After we landed and checked in at the hotel, we visited the Beringer Winery. What a nice place, with a lot of interesting history. We had a 2012 "Luminus" Chardonnay and a 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon, along with a "Nightingale" Sauvignon Blanc with dessert. We spent the night in the Simi house. Beautiful place, very roomy, excellent view. First time ever playing Bocce, which is a lot of fun.

The next morning, we stopped at Gott's Roadside for breakfast. Iconic place, delicious food.

Beringer tasting

Later in the day we visited Beringer Winery; tons of history there. We were taken out to the vineyards while discussing the history and origin of the winery. From there, we went to Franciscan for lunch. Best meal of the trip for me, a 3 course lunch. We sampled a 2012 Cuvee Sauvage Chardonnay and a 2008 Magnificat along with a couple of others. We were given a tour of the winery. They showed us where they make the wine, how they crush and process the grapes and it was thorough. Really nice place with great people.

Stag's Leap Manor House

Next, we visited Stag's Leap Winery. It was a very entertaining and informative tour, learning all of the history of the winery. We heard that the winery had supposedly been haunted. We tried their wine sitting in the front porch of the establishment. Very fun, but no ghosts.

That night, we finished up at the Hess Winery. What an unreal place. Donald Hess, the owner has a massive art collection on displays throughout 3 floors of the winery. He's been collecting paintings and pieces for over 40 years from all over the world.

"Throughout my 40 years of acquiring and building up the art collection my early, simple guidelines have remained unchanged. Even today, I rely chiefly on my intuition and on my own eyes, however I still find that several times waking up at night and thinking about a painting, a result of having been deeply moved by a particular piece of art, continues to be the best indicator for purchasing a new piece."

"I am certainly not influenced by fashionable trends, nor does it matter to me, how well-known and artist is. My main criteria is: an artwork cannot just be visually pleasing - it has to deeply touch me in such a way that during the week before finally purchasing the artwork I constantly think about it." - Donald M. Hess

Some of the pieces were just mesmerizing. Amazing collection. Makes me, someone not really not into art before this tour, really appreciate the craft.

The wines? 2012 Chardonnay 2012 Select Pinot Noir and a 2010 Mount Veeder 19 Block Cuvee were sampled with the meal.

Chateau St. Jean

The next morning we started with a tour of Chateau St Jean, including lunch. More of the same, great scenery, and great wine.

We had some time in the middle of the day, so we stopped at the Russian River Brewery. Best part of the trip for me, being super into craft beer. It was good to be able to try some some highly rated beer that isn't available in New Jersey. Better was being able to purchase some to bring back home.

We finished Wednesday night with a tour of the Clos du Bois Winery. Another nice place and, again, a lot of nice scenery. We sampled a 2012 Calcaire, Russian River Valley, and a 2011 Reserve Cabernet, Alexander Valley, among others.

Ferrari-Carano

Finally, on the last full day, we visited Sonoma Valley to tour the Ferrari-Carano Winery. Far and away, the most beautiful place we had seen. After a tour inside and out, we went down to the tasting room to try a number of different wines. Our tasting menu included a 2013 Pinot Grigio, 2013 Fume Blanc, 2013 Chardonnay, 2012 Reserve Chardonnay, 2012 Merlot, and a 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon. This was yet another great place.

Seeing that it was our last full day there, and we had an early flight to catch the next morning, we just drove back to San Francisco to spend the rest of the day there. We stopped at an In & Out Burger for dinner, and that was delicious. we did a quick little tour of the city on foot, visiting Fishermans Wharf, also seeing Alcatraz from afar. What added to the trip was the buzz of the people of San Francisco, due to the Giants being in the playoffs. We spent the last night just relaxing in the hotel, trying to rest up for the early flight.

All in all, I feel like this was a great experience. I was honored and grateful to take part in the trip. I gained a lot of new knowledge in wine, saw and toured many wonderful, beautiful places, and gained a new appreciation for wine that I've never had.