2006-10-02
For the impatient: Pictures
Breaking the Curse of Napa Valley
With as much time as I've spent in the Bay Area, you would think it to be safe to assume that I had been to Napa Valley. Little would you realize that you weren't safe at all. In fact, by assuming as such, you would be walking down a perilous, perilous path. But that was then; now you are indeed safe to assume that I have been!
I repeat, I have been, and it was grand! What I thought to be yet another ill-fated attempt to visit this exquisite valley turned out to be the perfect introduction to, what I hope to be, a series of trips :-)
We ended up stopping at the Robert Mondavi Winery; which sits right, smack in the middle of the valley. This time of year, the vinyards are ripe with grapes and our tour allowed us to taste some grapes off the vines and take some lush pictures! (I wish I could take credit for all of these, but the ones from a Canon camera, i.e. most of the cool ones, were Charlene's)
I loved to hear all the trivia but what I really like to take away is two things. First, smell your glass after you've finished drinking the wine; the vapors remaining may harbor a hidden scent as tasty as the wine. Second, the kind of wine I like is made from grapes on the Southeast part of the valley.
Ok, I can't help but list some trivia...
- While California produces 90% of the US's wine, Napa only makes 5% of it.
- The fog that roles in every night during the growing season, cools off the grapes and that's when they start making crazy flavors.
- The only pests in Napa are rodents, so the wineries build lodging for birds of prey.