A Napa Valley Classic

Robert Mondavi established his namesake winery in 1966 with a vision to create Napa Valley wines that would stand in the company of the world’s finest.  He chose To Kalon Vineyard in the heart of the Napa Valley as the home for Robert Mondavi Winery. This first-growth vineyard, located in Oakville, California, is renowned for producing some of the finest Cabernet Sauvignon wines in the world, as well as for its Sauvignon Blanc grapes, from which Mr. Mondavi crafted his signature wine, Fumé Blanc.

To Kalon Vineyard

Winemaker Notes: We hand-harvested the Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon in the cool, early morning and then gently pressed the whole clusters, minimizing skin contact, to retain freshness and vibrancy in the wine. For richness and complexity, we barrel-fermented 100% of the wine in 60-gallon French oak barrels. The wine was then barrel aged on its lees (sûr lie) for ten months with hand stirring (bâtonnage) to integrate flavors and develop its creamy texture. A portion of new barrels (3%) contribute subtle oak spices to the fruit character. The wine was bottled in August of 2013.

Fermenters

Vineyard Notes: Grapes for our Oakville Fume Blanc were harvested from our To Kalon Vineyard, which surrounds the Robert Mondavi Winery. To Kalon (Greek for highest beauty) is one of Napa Valley’s oldest and most respected vineyards. Here in the geographic center of the valley, To Kalon Vineyard lies against the hills on the Oakville bench, where lean, well-drained soils and an ideal climate foster complex flavors in Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon.

Rated 93 Points - Wine & Spirits, US New Releases, October 2014
"Grown at To-Kalon, where Mondavi planted what are now its oldest dry-farmed, head-pruned sauvignon vines in 1960, this is mostly from a younger planting on that site from the early 1990s. The wine barrel-fermented in older oak and aged ten months on the lees. So you'd expect a major oak presence and something creamy-rich. You get that, plus a persistence of nectarine and white peach flavor, creating a fascinating dynamic with the oak tannins, together enhancing the earthy character of the fruit."

The 2012 Robert Mondavi Oakville Fumé is a Limited Release, available for only $29.99.

Robert Mondavi Winery Main Entrance

Helping Summer Arrive

In mythology, a Banshee is a spirit, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the underworld. Forget mythology; In California, a Banshee is a great new wine.

Banshee Wines was founded by three friends from the Midwest and East Coast who shared a passion for wine and a lifelong dream of owning their own winery. Their  fascination with wine started early in life. While their peers were drinking Milwaukee's Best, they had an affinity towards collecting European wines and hosting dorm room wine tastings. Post-college, each pursued a career in the wine industry, ranging from importing wines, to winemaking, to distribution and sales. When their paths ultimately converged in San Francisco, they shared many meals, bottles of wine, concerts, and laughs with one another. In 2009 they pooled their money together to make the first vintage of Banshee Wines Pinot Noir, which sold out in three short months. By the end of the year, Banshee Wines was their full-time pursuit.

The Banshee guys are passionate about creating benchmark wines from California’s iconic vineyards as well as crafting soulful blends that don't break the bank. When they’re not making wine you can find them preparing grand multi-course meals, sabering Champagne bottles, seeking out the nearest swimming hole, or dancing on tabletops. Classic guy activities.

Pinot Noir in the vineyard

2013 was a great year for making rosé and we suspect 2014 will be an even better year for drinking it.  The vintage offered Pinot Noir possessing nuanced layers of fruit and great tension, enabling Banshee to make the kind of lively, pale, fragrant and vivacious rosé that we all love.  It is an absolute knockout successor to the previous vintage (which is still tasting wonderful one year later).

The 2013 certainly benefited from Banshee's expanded vineyard sourcing.  It contains elements of 10 different Sonoma Coast vineyards including all of their single vineyard sources.  The wine was created using about 50% saignée and 50% direct to press methods. 90% of the wine was fermented and aged in stainless steel while the remainder was aged in neutral white wine barrels giving us a nice textural component.

Tasting Notes

Once again this is a wine of flirtatious hints.  The flavors are all early spring freshness as opposed to mid-summer lushness.  White flowers and apricot blossom aromas lead into kumquat, wild mountain strawberry, stone fruit and mint flavors all riding atop a pringly spine of acidity.  Open bottles disappear quickly. Only $17.96 in the Bottle Club®.

Tuesday "News"day

We always prefer to spotlight one new product every Tuesday. This post will include a slight derivation, but we're still highlighting one new wine.

It's no secret that the best California Cabernet's come from the Rutherford area of Napa Valley. The great winemaker André Tchelistcheff is quoted as saying, "It takes Rutherford Dust to grow Great Cabernet." And with Rutherford Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon now in stock in Lawrenceville and Woodbridge, you can find that great Cabernet at an everyday price.

Family-owned and managed and for three generations, Rutherford Ranch Winery is on the site of the original Round Hill Winery started in the 1970's, and their operations are Certified California Sustainable Winegrowing. The winemaking team crafts elegant, true-to-the-varietal wines with fruit sourced from the two estate vineyards and select vineyards sites throughout the valley. The cooler sites yield grapes with bright, rich flavors and tropical fruit characteristics. Warmer sites within the valley produce grapes with deep, intense flavors. Together they provide the winemakers with an unequaled palette of flavor and character and quality.

A portion of this Cabernet comes from the estate vineyards: Franklin, which makes up the northeast cornerstone of the Rutherford appellation; and Abela, which surrounds the winery property. Both give that distinctive ‘Rutherford Dust’ quality that is unique to the region.

The winemaking team blends in Merlot for juicy, fruitiness and a touch of Zinfandel, then ages the wine for 12 months in French and American oak barrels. This Cabernet Sauvignon has a lovely ruby color with aromas of boysenberry, currant, spearmint and dried herbs. It is a medium-full-bodied, well-balanced wine with rich tannins and has big, delicious flavors of currant, boysenberry and caramel. Perfect to drink now or can age nicely for 4 to 5 years.  Enjoy this wine with grilled meats, roast beef au jus, or Penne alla vodka and with strong cheeses such as bleu or camembert. Also delicious with your favorite chocolate desserts. And the Rutherford Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon is only $15.99 in the Bottle Club®.

If you enjoy the Cabernet Sauvignon, please consider the Rutherford Ranch Merlot and Zinfandel, both of which are currently in stock.

Star Winemaker FTW

That's For The Wine, not the meme of For The Win. Alison Crowe is one of California's legendary winemakers, working in an area that stretches from the Russian River to Santa Barbara County. In between, her award-winning skills have enhanced the wines at Chalone Vineyard, Curtis Winery, Byington Vineyards & Winery, Bonny Doon Vineyards and even Bodegas Salentein in Mendoza, Argentina. She's also the talent behind Orbit wines, which we also carry at Joe Canal's.

This week, we're introducing another one of Alison's wines. 30 Degrees Sauvignon Blanc was carefully selected from vines that have historically produced some of California’s finest examples of this varietal. Hints of citrus, gooseberry, and freshly cut grass highlight this wine. 30 Degrees Sauvignon Blanc wine can be enjoyed on its own, or with many of your favorite lighter meals.


For example, you can pair 30 Degrees Sauvignon Blanc with seafood dishes, raw oysters and white meats prepared with citrus and herb sauces. For the cheese lovers, pair 30 Degrees Sauvignon Blanc with Crottin, from France, which has a light tangy goat's milk flavor.

As a product line, 30 Degrees wines are great examples of quality wine at a great value. These California appellation wines are sophisticated blends from quality California growing regions, like Monterey, Paso Robles, Clarksburg, and Lodi.

Although the regular price is $14.99, 30 Degrees Sauvignon Blanc is available in the Bottle Club® for only $11.96. You'll want this on hand as the weather warms.

The Next Great Napa White

We briefly noted the Emmolo Wine Company in an earlier post, but we wanted to dig a bit more deeply today. The winery is located in Rutherford, the heart of the Napa Valley, within a very short distance of Honig, Frog's Leap, Beckstoffer and, of course, Caymus. You might say that Caymus is part of the extended family, as Cheryl Emmolo, the owner and founder, is the mother of Chuck Wagner, from Caymus. So you take a great location, add in an outstanding winemaking family, and the results are amazing.

A perfect pair

The Sauvignon Blanc vines were planted in the 1950's, and had been included in Caymus white wines, as well as other prestigious Napa labels. Emmolo Wine Company focused their attention exclusively to Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot.

In an appellation most often associated with big red wines, Emmolo leads with a white. If you could bottle freshness, it would be the Emmolo Sauvignon Blanc. The personality of the River Ranch Vineyard in Rutherford is prominent in this wine. It's true to the varietal with well-integrated citrus, lemongrass, hints of passion fruit, melon, apricot and nicely woven minerality throughout. Crisp and clean, yet nicely textured.  

Sauvignon Blanc inside

After a whole cluster pressing, the Sauvignon Blanc is fermented and aged in 100% cement tanks. These tanks are unlined, allowing the wine to go through a micro-oxygenation process (meaning the wine is able to breathe as it does through a barrel.) The use of cement tanks allowed Emmolo to maintain the vibrant crisp components of Sauvignon Blanc, producing wines that taste clean. Concrete allows the wines to ferment slowly, giving the wine greater depth. The tanks also impart mineral notes in the wine due to the materials used when building the tank (sand, crushed rock and limestone). Ther tanks are chemical-free and one of the most natural vessels available in winemaking.

Emmolo Sauvignon Blanc is available for only $19.99 in the Bottle Club®.

Friday Grab-Bag

I need to clear out my in-box, so let me briefly introduce some new products with special pricing.

We have the end-of-vintage close out of Rusden Driftsand Red 2010. One of Australia's most respected wineries, Rusden grows their grapes in Vine Vale, with a terroir that is deep white sand over red clay.

2010 was one of the lowest yielding Grenache vintages in their history. This makes for a very fruit driven style, balanced with some real lifted spice that their Grenache is famous for. The Shiraz adds white pepper on the nose and sweetness on the palate, while the Mataro component adds some rich, gamey complexity. Rated 91 points by IWC, this is in the Bottle Club® for only $16.98.

David Ramey is held in the highest esteem as a true innovator, a talented wine artisan and an industry revolutionary. More than 30 years ago David helped lead the charge away from technically proficient, squeaky clean wines toward natural winemaking methods that embrace the importance of terroir, creating distinctive wines of unique character. He's the consulting winemaker for the Brassfield Estate Winery Volcano Ridge Vineyard Eruption Red 2012 that's new to our shelves.

The 2012 Eruption Red is rich and intense. The wine has aromas of fresh blueberries, toasted brioche, black cherries, and mocha, giving way to flavors that are jammy, ripe and unctuous. The palate explodes with blackberries, dark currants, and clove while it layers supple and round coating tannins, making the wine hedonistic while being simultaneously elegant. Made from Syrah, Malbec, Mourvèdre, and Petite Sirah, Eruption is only $15.99 in the Bottle Club®.

Another VIW (Very Important Winemaker) in the Napa Valley is Chuck Wagner. Among his other projects, Chuck brought us Caymus. We're now carrying his Emmolo Napa Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot.

If you could bottle freshness, the Emmolo Sauvignon Blanc would be it. The personality of the River Ranch Vineyard in Rutherford is prominent in this Sauv Blanc. It's true to the varietal with well-integrated citrus, lemongrass, hints of passion fruit, melon, apricot and nicely woven minerality throughout. Crisp and clean; yet nicely textured. $19.99 in the Bottle Club®.

The Merlot is a rich example of the varietal, with Pomerol-like characteristics. It's highlighted by layers of ripe berries, earthy notes and hints of smoke and truffle on the finish. It’s bold, yet balanced. $54.99 in the Bottle Club®.

Our grab-bag wouldn't be complete without whisky. We've just brought in the Glenmorangie Companta, in 750ML bottles. On the nose, Companta (Scots Gaelic for ‘friendship’) exudes rich, autumnal scents of red berries and damp forest floors, with a hint of fragrant woodsmoke complementing notes of aromatic, nutty oak. Upon tasting, a spicy palate redolent of cherries and stewed fruits is slowly revealed, as notes of sugared plums, blood orange and rose-hip syrup emerge alongside milk chocolate and brown sugar. Companta lingers on with a rich, mouth-coating finish. $92.99 in the Bottle Club®.

So my in-box is a little lighter, and you know about some great new products. My job here is done for today.

Worth the Effort

We've received a nice mix of new products recently, and we wanted to share that information. We think that these items are worth the effort of going out in this miserable weather. Some of these are available in very limited quantities, so grab your boots and stop in to Joe Canal's.

Based on requests, we have a small amount of Coho Headwaters Red, rated at 91 points by Wine Advocate. Normally, it's available by allocation only, so we suggest getting your bottle asap.

Coho Headwaters Napa Valley Red Wine is a "Bordeaux blend" of four varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon (56%); Merlot (38%); 5% Petite Verdot and 1 % Cabernet Franc. The majority (77%) of the vineyards for this wine are in the new "Coombsville" appellation of the Napa Valley. This rock strewn "terroir" provides deep and opaque red color, with supple red cherry/wild berry and cassis fruit aromas.

The same fruit tones and integrated oak nuances offer complex flavors and power on the palate. The supple tannins offer a silky fine-grained texture to the wine and a lingering, fruit-forward finish.

Headwaters is regularly priced at $44.99, but it's only $39.99 in the Bottle Club®. This definitely won't last long.

Another of Wine Spectator's 2013 Top 100 list is now available at Joe Canal's. The 2010 Chateau Doisy Daëne Barsac (94 points, #45 of the Top 100) is on our shelves, in limited quantities. From the WS review: A juicy, compact style, with tangerine, apricot, toasted almond and heather notes all rolled together at the core, waiting to unfurl fully through the unctuous, passion fruit-filled finish. Plenty remains in reserve, but this is hard to resist now. Drink now through 2030.   

The winemaker adds, "Doisy Daëne wine has a style of its own that privileges a bursting fruit concentrated by the "noble rot", strength, balance and subtlety of the flavors. The Doisy-Daëne style is all at once the expression of a great calcareous soil and a truly aesthetic family tradition, the one of distinguished white wines, of crystal-like purity, combining power and freshness, in an infinite youth."

Barsac, like most fine dessert wines, are challenging. The harvest is performed by experienced grape pickers in 3 to 6 successive selective pickings in order to collect at the ideal ripening stage, the grapes concentrated by the "noble rot". During three quarters of a century, oenological progress and sensible traditions have combined to create the characteristics of Doisy-Daëne's grapes. With this know-how an astonishingly simplified process has been elaborated. Extracted through slow pressings, the rich and pure juice ferments in oak barrels renewed by third. Aging then starts with 10 month in oak barrels, in the coolness of the cellars and is regulated by the weekly toping of the barrels and regular rackings. This is followed by 9 month in stainless steal tank before bottling.

The regular price of the Doisy Daëne Barsac is $69.99, but it's currently in the Bottle Club® for only $54.99/750ML bottle.

Also from France, also rated over 90 points, and also new to our stores is the 2010 Domaine Servin Chablis Vieilles Vignes Massale. This vineyard, situated in the area of Les Pargues, was replanted over 40 years ago using a technique of propagation whereby cuttings for the vines were selected from the best vines already in the vineyard and not from a clone. This rarely used technique is known as “Selection Massale”. These old uncloned vines produce extremely tiny yields and express a diversity of aromas from the Chablisien terroir.

100% Chardonnay, the nose is complex with mineral and white flower notes. The palate is rich, round and long with yellow fruits dominating. An incredible long finish with excellent balance. Scoring 92-93 points from Wine Advocate, this carries a regular price of $24.99, and is only $21.99 in the Bottle Club®.

A trio of wines well worth venturing out into the winter for.

New Stuff for the New Year

Every year in mid-January, a number of our wholesale distributors close for a week. For that time, we don't get any products from them, let alone new items. But it's a good opportunity for all of us to get our storage areas in order, following the business of the holiday season.

Thank goodness that's all behind us, so we can continue rolling out new products.

For the Scotch lovers out there, we're now stocking the Springbank 9 Year Old Gaja Barolo cask. Springbank is one of the few distilleries left in Campbelltown, and this whisky marries their complex and rich spirit with a fine wine cask, adding flavor and nuance. Limited production means limited availability, and it's priced at $97.99 in the Bottle Club®.

Speaking of Barolo, we also just received very limited quantities of the 2004 Azelia Riserva Barolo Voghera Brea. This received 97 points from Wine Spectator. Their review: "A seductive red, this boasts a pure bouquet of cherry and cherry jam flavors. Rich and expressive, unfolding on a bed of firm, supportive tannins, with lively acidity and a long, lingering aftertaste of fresh cherry, tobacco and mineral notes. Best from 2015 through 2033. 350 cases made." It's produced from vines that are more than 75 years old, and released after 6 years in the cellar. This fine wine is currently in the Bottle Club® at $104.99.

Due to arrive any day now is the 2012 Butter Chardonnay, from Jam Cellars. This wine has an ethereal creaminess on the palate, woven with smooth vanillin scented oak. Tropical flavors of pineapple and honeydew intertwine delicately on the mid pallet and linger on to the finish. Priced at only $14.89 in the Bottle Club®, we will also have limited quantities of the Butter.

Also due to arrive within the next day or so is the 2008 Santa Rita Triple C, from Chile. It rated 93 points from Wine Spectator, placing #47 in the 2013 Top 100. Their review: "A powerful red, with a surplus of dark plum, blackberry and dark currant flavors that are pure and focused, wrapped in layers of vanilla and cream. The long finish is filled with dark chocolate and wild herb notes. Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenère." Our regular price is $34.99, and it will be on sale  in the Bottle Club® for only $29.99.

Joe Canal's in Lawrenceville and Woodbridge are your best bets during the Big Game week, and all through the year.

Rachel Stewart Rocks California!

On occasion, Joe Canal’s staff members are able to go on trips to meet the producers of the items 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.

Rachel Stewart, Front End Manager at our Woodbridge store, recently visited California wine country on just such a trip with other Joe Canal's team members. Here's her report:

October 7, 2013: Day 1

I'm up and moving a little before 4am, double checking my stuff and grabbing any last-minute necessities before heading to the Philadelphia airport with my co-worker David.  So we make the drive, check-in and go through security in no time at all. We meet up with the rest of our group, which consisted of Brandon Bartfalvi and Mike Reardon of our Lawrenceville store.

From L: David Rudd, Rachel Stewart, Brandon Bartfalvi, Mike Reardon

We have ourselves some breakfast and make small talk before taking flight to San Francisco! We land safe and sound and a little early. Baggage claim is a breeze then it's off the get the rental van, for which there was a bit of a wait. I didn't mind the wait because I thought if I had a chance to stand and stretch I'd get my "land legs" back (instead of sea legs or in this case air plane legs) which in the end was pointless because it took me almost 10 days to stop feeling like I was gently swaying from side to side.

Toasting the grapes, tasting the wine

"On the road again..." We leave the San Francisco area by way of the Golden Gate Bridge, which was very impressive, and make our way to our first winery of the trip: Francis Ford Coppola, in Sonoma County. We drive through the high arched gate up to the estate, which looks more like a manor than a winery...beautiful building! To the side sits a pool, lined with lounge chairs just begging to be occupied, a bocce ball court, out-door theater area and a tee-pee style tent (this time of year the cover had already been removed) fully stocked with books for children to read. Later on the tour we came to find that it was Mr. Coppola's love for children and his inability to say "no" to them that the pool was built. You see, parents would bring their children to the winery (still do, of course) and on hot days the children would ask to go swimming in the fountain out by the front of the building. What a guy!! We meet up with our guide, who first took us through the shop/museum of sorts where we got to look at large glass cases filled with notes, awards, props and costume pieces from various movies including The Godfather, Bram Stoker's Dracula (a personal favorite), Into the Darkness, Apocalypse Now and other well-known and not-so-known titles.

Doesn't every winery have this?

Then its outside to the grapes! We find ourselves standing amid Zinfandel grape vines that had recently been picked over (this happened pretty much wherever we went because this time of year is harvest time) but we managed to find some stragglers, and we picked, squeezed and tasted them. We were told not to eat the skin because it's bitter, but of course I, being curious, couldn't help but to find out the bitter truth for myself (yes, terrible pun intended). Yuck!! And that was a lesson learned.

Bottling line

We then head to the behind-the-scenes areas, where our first stop is the assembly line of bottles to labels to boxes. Though the wine is poured and labels are attached by machine there's still someone sitting in front of a big bright light checking each empty bottle for cracks or imperfections and both full and empty bottles are loaded and unloaded by hand. Next stop was the fermenting room. This room was literally just that, rows upon rows of fermenting vats filled with various juices making wine magic. Just a few doors down we knock on a window and out walks Corey Beck, Director of Wine Making. He was kind enough to greet us and shake our hands before heading back inside and back to work. For a man in his position, harvest is an extremely busy time of year, filled with many long hours. To the tasting area! (a private tasting area actually) So cool!

It was there that we sampled many wonderful selections, some of which are not available in NJ at this time. But I do hope that a certain few will make their way into our stores sometime next year. We do, however, carry a very large selection of Coppola wines, including most varietals in the Director's Cut and Diamond Collection, as well as a few of his daughter, Sofia's wines. There's something for every palate!! Good stuff! And now, it's time to eat at the on-premise restaurant, Rustic. We're seated outdoors at a nice big table with a gorgeous view. The food was incredible! Very flavorful and filling but not to worry, I was sure to leave room for dessert. Who could say no to dark chocolate mousse with cream on top and a lovely glass of port to go with it? I'm sure some could but not me; so rich and decadent! Yum! A wonderful end to a great first day's adventures! As we wave goodbye to the Coppola Winery we head to Glen Ellen's Jack London Lodge, where we find our nice comfy beds for the night. Some of the gents head over to the Jack London Saloon for a nightcap. That's where Jack London himself used to visit for drinks and chat with local friends and patrons. I gracefully bowed out and stayed in to touch base with my family, get comfy and get some rest for the next day's new adventures: two more wineries!

I couldn't say no to this

October 8, 2013 Day 2

"Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day..." The sun is shining and birds are chirping and there's a continental breakfast on the patio just past the pool. Very charming. I fuel up and head to the van where it's off to today's first winery: St. Francis, in Sonoma.

We enter the main doors of the vistiors center at St. Francis and are greeted with a glass of St. Francis Sonoma 2011 Chardonnay. We took that outside to sip and enjoy the beauty of the mountains and hills, covered with grapevines, while we waited for our guide to arrive. Normally I don't care for the palate of oak, nuts and butter offered by most Chardonnays but I found this one to have delightfully light fruit flavors of apple and pears. Big fan! Our guide arrives and takes us to a private dining room filled with light from the early afternoon sun. We are seated and served lunch. While finishing our chardonnay with a wonderful heirloom tomato salad we learned an important item: White grapes are picked at night because they're colder. The cold temperature allows the aromatics and sugars to be preserved. Fun Fact! Our savory main dish was a very tender red wine braised short rib served with potato purée, glazed carrots, brussels sprout leaves and braising jus.

I could get used to this

We were given 3 reds to taste with this meal: a 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, a 2009 Merlot and a 2010 Old Vines Zinfandel.

Though I enjoyed all three reds, I found myself going back to the Zinfandel the most. It was such a great full flavored wine. And for dessert? Warm chocolate ganache cake with fresh berries and whipped cream.

Delicious!!

With full bellies, we head to the van and up the road we go for a peek behind the curtain to see how it's done. First, to the Barrel room! Such an impressive sight to see, like walking into the warehouse scene at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark with the replacement of French oak barrels stacked in rows instead of crates, sooo cool and there were just so many barrels!!!

Back outside with perfect timing to watch a large flat-bed style truck pull up with large containers filled to the brim with freshly harvested grapes. Each crate is lifted and tilted to pour the grapes into a machine that looks like a large screw turning on its side, this keeps the grapes moving down the line as they are rinsed off then de-stemmed, squeezed and discarded while their juice is sent through the process to become delicious wine. Cool!

Lots of manual labor goes into a bottle of wine

Next stop: Benziger Winery, Sonoma.

This place was awesome! Our lovely, down-to-earth guide was Kathy Benziger, sister to the man, Mike, whose crazy idea eventually brought the whole family cross-country to open a winery. Lucky for us all that he did. This winery was like an organic oasis, a piece of environmental heaven, like visiting a state park with various gardens and tons of grape vines.

But before that incredible beauty, the Benziger family almost lost the entire vineyard due to soil that had been depleted of its nutrients. Instead of throwing in the towel they called in agriculturalists that helped them build the land back up to be healthier and richer.

A thriving vineyard today

This is how Benziger became Bio-dynamic (a happy accident that worked out well for them); instead of using harsh chemicals to solve there bug problems they used the environment to keep those bugs at bay. How do you do that? You plant the bush that attracts the bug that eats the other bugs that are causing the problem. Genius! Not to mention the variety of plant life generates wonderful nutrients that go into the soil for a better harvest.

Can't do this in Woodbridge today

Kathy drives us to a a few secluded tasting areas where we sample, among other things, a delightful crisp and refreshing Sauvignon Blanc bursting with citrus! Along the way we tasted the Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and their Tribute Red Blend. Along with the Sauvignon Blanc, I really enjoyed the Tribute Red. It was a bold red that carried wonderful notes of dark fruits, some spice and a hint of chocolate. We eat figs that Kathy plucks right from the tree and enjoyed a snack of grape tomato wrapped with a leaf of basil, talk about fresh! And of course it was tasty!

After all of this to take in, I will proudly admit that my absolute favorite part of the tour was driving down to see the cows!!! I love cows!!! Beautiful, sweet mother and baby (both with hair the color of caramel) seem to be ok with our approach to the fence. They're so close I want to reach out and touch one of them but a quick glance at dear mother's impressive horns snap me back to the reality of "look with your eyes, not with your hands", especially if you plan to leave in one piece and without holes! Thank you, Kathy, for making that special trip before we said goodbye back at the main building!!! Just thinking back makes me so giddy! Heehee, cows!! And thus ended our tour of beautiful, bio-dynamic Benziger. Our evening was spent out and about in the hoppin' town of Santa Rosa, where we visited a few recommended hot spots before heading back to the Jack London Saloon for a nightcap. This time I joined in and toasted to a wonderful day shared among good company. As I headed back to my room for the night I stopped to enjoy a sky filled with countless numbers of bright glistening stars, and it was an incredible sight to take in. I drift off with happy thoughts and another action-packed day ahead of me, tomorrow we visit three more wineries! First stop: Cakebread Cellars, Napa.

Jack London Lodge

October 9, 2013 Day 3

We make our way to the winery, having driven up, over and down the mountain using Trinity Road. This ride is not for everyone but it's an experience to have and a sight to see even if you only open your eyes a few times during the ride. It's a narrow, windy road with not much comfort in the way of guard rails. We arrive at Cakebread a little early and wander around the front waiting to meet our guide.

Cakebread Tasting Room Entrance 

After tasting a few whites (Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and a Reserve Chardonnay) we head inside to see the fermenting vats. I turn around and peer into the darkened room and see that bottles are sitting, waiting to be labeled. Back out we go for some reds: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and a great Zinfandel. The "tip of the hat", however, goes to the Dancing Bear Blend. Really nice stuff! Next stop is just next door at Sequoia Grove.

Heading down the driveway at Cakebread

We pile into the van to go out one driveway and into the next one; hello Sequoia Grove! After sipping on some delightful Chardonnay we begin our tour of the grounds. Out back, they're de-stemming grapes to be juiced for fermenting. At the top of a large vat, we see a woman sampling the juice and taking notes. She climbs down to meet us and wouldn't you know, it's the wine maker, Molly Hill. She shook our hands and chatted for a few short moments before getting back to work (it's harvest, remember? busy time in wine). We move inside a tall, barn-like building filled with fermenting vats on either side, and head down to the barrel room.

Piles of barrels everywhere and an odd gated room off to the side where we get to taste the juice from a barrel that's nowhere near ready to drink; now that's a grapey sweet juice!! Whoa!

I'm not too sure about this barrel tasting thing 

Back up and out we go, to head back to the visitors center for more wine tasting. We had several different Cabernets including the Napa Cabernet Sauvignon (available in our stores at the time of my writing) which was somewhat dry and full of dark fruit flavors, but a very nice glass of wine. To our surprise a nice, simple lunch of sandwiches, chips and some sort of creamy pesto pasta salad was set up for us outside, surrounded by beautiful flowers and towering sequoias. As we're nearing the end of our meal an adorable, energetic black lab runs over to greet us. It turns out her owner is the president of the winery as well as head wine maker, Mike Trujilo.

Center: Mike Trujilo

He was delighted to see we hadn't left yet and chatted with us for a little while as we nibbled on truffles and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. What a tasty way to end a tour! Next stop is our last winery on the trip: Mumm Napa!

Fun bubbles!!! Our tour at Mumm Napa begins with a glass of Carlos Santana Supernatural Brut. I'm so bummed out that this sparkling wine isn't available in NJ. Delightfully dry yet lightly fruity, and I'm loving it! We stop at a small patch of grapevines before heading inside, where we were taken on a tour with check points that had various videos to give more detail about the process that each batch of grapes goes through to eventually becoming a sparkling wine.

The bottles must be turned as they age

One stop on our tour had us mixing various parts of different white grape juices to give us an idea on how the different combinations taste.

A fun and interactive lesson!

 Tasting is hard work

The tour ends and we head out to a table drenched with sunlight on a large porch. It's filled with tables and chairs with other guests enjoying the bubbles and the glorious view of endless rows of grapevines, some of which have started changing color for the season.

We are treated to a wine pairing. Glasses of various bubblies are arranged at our seats and trays of fruits, nuts and cheeses are put out for us to experiment with. So cool! I've never done a sparkling wine pairing before, so it's fun to see what tastes better after eating this cheese or that one or what didn't pair well. I found myself going back to the Cuvée M, which is available at Joe Canal's. Simple and elegant. As a special treat, we were allowed to pick something from their list to taste; I chose the Cuvée M Red! Yup that's right, a sparkling red! It was so delicious, I hope this one makes its way out to NJ sometime sooner rather than later. I bought a bottle of the Supernatural, that we started our tour with, for my parents who like both wine and Carlos Santana. Had a wonderful time at this winery! After we freshen up we head to Allegria for dinner, where we sat in a bank vault turned private dining room and enjoyed fantastic Italian food.

October 10, 2013 Day 4

We head off to San Francisco and, on the way, we stop by Skyy Vodka headquarters. Skyy is owned by the Italian company, Campari. I never realized how many labels they carried until we saw the wall that they have covered with white 3-D foam plaques of the various labels. There are two bars in different spots on the floor. One is for in-house promotions and entertaining, while the other is used for research on creating new mixed drinks and also to train bartenders hired to pour for various events hosted by the company.

Big place; they own the whole floor! On our little tour we saw an office with a life-sized image of the outline scene on the espolon tequila label, wrapped around its full length corner windows, so awesome!

We got to sit down with a sales manager and I learned a little bit about research and development when it comes to flavors. Cool! After Campari we had some time to ourselves in San Francisco. Then it was off to Epic Roasthouse where we dined on amazingly delicious food. Enjoyed at dinner: a strawberry fields martini (made with Skyy Vodka!) to toast the day and the ending of a wonderful trip, Lobster bisque that was so savory and an incredible steak cooked to perfection! No room for dessert. Our table was in a perfect place near the window to offer a full view of the dancing lights on the Bay Bridge.

October 11, 2013 Day 5

We're up and at'em, when it's dark and early again for our flight back home, which gets delayed due to inclement weather in Philly. We eventually make it home safe and sound. What a wonderful trip!