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Wine WorldBy: John VegaWine Country Confidential |
The first hurdle is for the wine lover to convince his or her better half as to the wisdom of such an idea. I have known a number of wine lovers in my life, both male and female, and rarely are they paired with a companion who shares their passion as strongly. Persuading the reluctant partner to spend precious vacation time visiting a winery is a tricky proposition.
In this and future columns, I’ll suggest recommendations for visits to both well-known and exclusive locations that will create a memorable vacation that both parties will enjoy.
This month’s tip: A journey of 1,000 miles begins at home.
The days of being able to wander the wine trail, stopping in unannounced and tasting a winery’s best wines are long gone, despite their idealistic portrayal in the movie
Sideways. Wine tourism is a much larger industry than it was 10 years ago, which prompted the wineries to change the way they manage their tasting rooms. The biggest change in California was dictated by its legislature. For several years, most new winery licenses have been granted with the proviso that the wineries are forbidden to open tasting rooms to the general public.Many smaller businesses are limited to tastings by appointment simply due to the size of their staff. In Europe, the standard has almost always been that wineries are open by invitation only. The wineries with these restrictions are often the ones that are the most enjoyable to visit. However, if you are able to wrangle an invitation, your tour will be more intimate, often conducted by the winery’s owner.
The key to obtaining such an invitation begins right here in Southwest Florida. If you are a regular wine consumer, you probably have several contacts at your local wine stores and at restaurants with impressive wine lists. Speaking with the individuals who are behind your regular purchases of wine is often the best way to obtain access to exclusive tasting tours. Not only do restaurateurs and wine store owners have contacts of their own, they also have influence with Florida’s regional distributors who, in turn, are often able to open doors that would otherwise be closed.Talk to people whose focus is within the geographic area that you plan to tour. If I were planning a wine country visit to Italy, for example, I would contact Michael D’Alessandro of Naples Wine Warehouse for his recommendations. Were I considering a visit to the Rhône Valley, I would probably sit at the bar at Bleu Provence with a map of the Rhône in my hands until the restaurant’s owner, Jacques Cariot, took pity on me.
Recently, portions of a remarkable visit to Napa were arranged by K.C. Boudrie of Haskell’s. One of our highlights was a visit to Pride Mountain Winery. Pride is a unique winery, as it sits atop Spring Mountain, the boundary between Napa and Sonoma counties. In fact, the county line divides its parking lot. Not only is the trip to Pride Mountain memorable (tip: hire a driver), but the views from the summit are spectacular.
While Pride has a tasting room with limited selections available to the public, the appointment made through Haskell’s yielded an unforgettable visit for us. Not only did we taste through the full range of Pride’s offerings, including its ultra-scarce reserve bottlings, but we were given an extensive tour of the premises, including a meeting with the Clydesdale horses that are used to help harvest some of the steeper vineyards. The visit finished with a private barrel tasting in the cellars of Pride, which have been bored directly into the mountainside. After the tasting, we were offered the opportunity to purchase autographed large format bottles not ordinarily offered for sale.
With our purchases complete, we walked the short hill from the parking lot to the summit where Pride has several picnic tables. The warm autumn air, the antipastos we had bought at Dean & Deluca, the spectacular views and a bottle of Pride’s viognier combined for an unforgettable experience.
Another perk occasionally available is extraordinary wine country lodging. While Napa is known for its amazing hotels and spectacular spas, I prefer the peace and beauty of the vineyards themselves. Many wineries have small guest homes located within their vineyards, used for hospitality and entertaining. On this occasion, Boudrie arranged for us to stay at a winery’s guesthouse, thanks to a friendship he had developed with its owner.
Because of the time difference with the East Coast, a nighttime college football game between the Florida Gators and the Tennessee Volunteers became a perfect late-afternoon game in Napa, allowing us the chance to relax and prepare a lovely dinner with the assistance of the winery’s owner. As the game, the dinner and the fine wine progressed, it was decreed that if the Gators were to prevail over the heavily favored Volunteers, any University of Florida graduates in our midst would be forced to run through the Terraces’ vineyards wearing a large cowbell.
As matters would turn out, the Gators won the game and a real cowbell is far heavier than one would think. In fact, I believe I may have bruised my sternum. So, the next time that you are in a wine store, examine the bottles’ labels closely. If you notice a 2005 cabernet sauvignon designated as "Cowbell Block," ask not for whom the cowbell tolls.
