Day 3 - No rest for the weary. Up and 'at em to continue our treck across the Valley starting at Orin Swift in St. Helena. Lucas swears that Napa is magical, and there are no hangovers. I am starting to agree at this point. Orin Swift was the perfect way to start the day!
Being a slight history buff, I love this picture. It is from a National Geographic shoot, and was found in the catacombs, and Orin Swift bought the rights to use for one of their labels.
2nd Stop - Vineyard 29. Another great place where we had a private tasting with the winemaker, Keith Emerson, and his fiance and National Sales Director, Holly Anderson. She is also 5th generation Anderson family in wine making. The nicest people ever, and so much fun! I totally geeked out with them and thankful they were happy to answer all of my questions. Just an amazing time, that once again would not have happened with out the Rodriguez hookup - Thanks L & K!
The grand entrance opens up to their Barrel process. So Incredible!
Keith, himself, took us on a tour of the facility explaining their Gravity drip process. Meaning, they let gravity do all of the work in their wine making process. This way it takes out all of the friction and anything else from the pumps that could hinder the flavor and integrity of the grapes. Even down do the pouring of the barrels in the cellar. They also have 3 types of barrels to make the wine, your traditional oak, steel, and cement. This varies depending on the flavor and make of the wine they are creating. So amazing to get this view and insider knowledge from the master himself!
They make a few different wines here. Keith has 2 labels himself, Emerson Brown and Sonria, (named after his daughter. Sonria means "to smile" in Spanish), and then also makes wine for the Aida Estate and Vineyard 29. All are glorious and delicious!And, oh by the way, he makes custom wines for the elite, based on their personality. What a genius!
Our wine tasting room and Library of Aida Estate and Vineyard 29 wines.
Picture with Keith and the group. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day to give us a personal tour. An event to remember ...
And then how cool are Keith and Holly, giving us "Rose Roadies". Holly doesn't know it yet, but we are going to be best friends ;)
Next stop - Amici. We drove up to Calistoga and found this little gem. Well, I say found but of course L&K were already familiar with their wine. To be quite honest, this wasn't looking very promising, but turned out to be one of the best places. They have a guest house on the property that makes this place awesome! Jeff, our host, told us they rent it out for the going B&B rate, and instead of paying for a place to stay, just purchase that amount in wine and call it a deal. It's a win/win for everybody, and if you are going to spend the money anyways on a hotel, might as well get some wine out of it.
Jeff also hosts BBQ parties with the local wine makers, and throws a great local gathering. So, I say we all stay there next time and maybe get a lesson in working the vineyard. "Will Definitely Work For Wine"!
And, oh by the way ... Found my one and only Chardonnay that I like. Very light, refreshing, and not the stick of butter at the end. Love it!
There were only about 23/500 wineries affected by the fires, still sad, but all in all a better ratio than what we were hearing in Texas. The few weeks prior to us coming is the prime time harvest season, and right when all of the fires started. So in asking and learning about their fire plan, it was literally all hands on deck from workers, owners, wine makers, anybody associated with the winery was pulling grapes, barreling , 24/7. I can only imagine how hard everybody was working, knowing the fires could be right over their shoulders. So crazy!
We were happy to go on vacation to visit and support anybody that we could. We went during their busy season, and as you can imagine attendance was very low due to the fires. We were even on the fence until a few days before, because the media was very dramatic. But thankfully, Lucas and Karen were in close touch with Keith and some of their friends, and we decided to move forward as planned. So thankful we did, and so glad that most of the wineries were ok from the fires.
Just hanging out at Hotel Yountville before we head to dinner at Bottega. Last group pic of the day ... I think by this time, they were getting tired of my pictures, but I don't care. We do it for the blog so we can look back and remember/compare our next trips to come !!! ;)
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