Napa Valley
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008An update to my post includes photos at flickr. Also I wanted to respond to professor Yoo’s comment about the craftmanship of winemaking. Winemaking or vinification is truely an art with so many different tastes and qualities. The design of the wine itself relies on quality grapes, the weather, the soil, they way they are harvested and prunned. Before the wine is actually crushed, vinters know what they quality of the wine will be. Reds, whites, and sparkling wines all have a different process, however to make it just right, the process must be followed like a science. Because getting the wine just right is not an easy task, vinters must be trained not only on harvesting the grapes but the taste and quality of the wine.
I was lucky enough to stay for a few extra days and experience some of the other wonders that the Bay area has to offer. Sunday, my mom and I went to Napa Valley to several wineries. What really struck me was how much the element of design comes into play with each of these wineries. Behind every wine are a vineyard and a winemaker. We take for granted that the goodness that we sip has so much involved and each has its unique story and design.When planning our trip we decided that we wanted a different experience from each stop.
The first stop was Artesa Winery, which according to our Fodor’s book is known more for the architecture than its wine. Although, that might not be exactly what they had in mind, it was pretty true to form. The tasting room/visitors center was designed to look like a bunker on top of a hill. As you arrive beautiful sculptures and fountains greet you. The building is very modern inside, which wasn’t what I expected but later realized that Artesa means craftsman and it was built only in 1991. In my mind, wine is associated with age, so thinking that I am actually older than this wine, is quite a new concept. The wine was good, but the experience of drinking it, is really what was important in this stop.
Next we went to the Hess Collection, which according to the guide upon entrance, “is a winery of two passions, art and wine”. Donald Hess has a world renowned art collection. The building is very different from Artesa, but has an interesting way of combining a modern look with an ancient touch. The art is very modern, but the original structure of the building has the feel of an old cottage. Again, the wine was not the only thing this winery was known for. The staff, the gardens outside and the art paired with the wine really make it about the experience. I did purchase a Pinot Noir from this winery to remind myself of the story of the Hess Family and their love of art. (It tasted pretty good too).
We made a few other stops along the way at Copia(The center for food, wine and art), where we could learn about the winemakers, how to taste and enjoy it, and experience world class food pairings at Julia’s kitchen, Julia Childs kitchen that features her original recipes and is made with fresh produce and herbs from their onsite garden. I have slowly but surely become a wine snob as I rarely drink anything else, and after learning about its history and the passion of wine making, i have a new found understanding of the craftsmanship and design of winemaking.We made another stop at a boutique wine cellar called Vintners Collective that from the outside looked like an old pub. Inside were two bars that featured around 75 wines from smaller vineyards in the Napa and Sonoma Valley that because of their size cannot accommodate tours and tasting and rather showcase their wines through this venue. The sommeliers were very knowledgeable not only about what we might like according to our tastes but also the stories of each of the wineries and where they come from. Because i hadn’t heard of many of the wineries, I found myself focusing on the label of the bottle. I realized how important that is to those that are not familiar with wines. In fact, the name or design of the bottle could really be what sells the wine and not the taste at all.
Our last stop was at Domaine Caneros, a sparkling wine vineyard, whose tasting room looked like a grand chateau. This was the most crowded stop by far, as it was recently named a favorite by Oprah. The taste was much different than anything we had throughout the day, and found it more enjoyable with the paired cheese, fruit and chocolate plate. Again, the staff was very knowledgeable about the wine and the storytelling really helped to shape our experience.To sum up the day, we felt very cultured…and somehow still sober.
We experienced great wine, food, architecture, art, storytelling, history, horticulture, and scenery. Design could be seen throughout everything that I did, and although the experience was near perfect, I still found myself thinking of other ways to experience the fine fruit.
