A Californian Wine Trail

My Napa Valley Experience

Introduction

I worked as a Wine Sommelier for 17 years. I never set out to become a Wine Sommelier, I always wanted to work in the Film & TV industry, wine kind of found me, or we found each other. From the age of 18 onwards I was more of a heavy metal beer and Jack Daniel’s drinker. I had no clue about wine, I only knew red and white wine, that was it. I used to think grape varieties like Shiraz, Merlot and Pinot Noir etc. where the names of the wine companies. It used to confuse me when my mum would buy a Chilean Merlot and a French Merlot. I used to think to myself, I guess the Merlot wine company has factories in Chile and France where they make these red wines. Then when I saw wine bottles like Cabernet Merlot, I thought it was some kind of Vertical Integration merger between the 2 companies. It wasn’t until I studied the WSET Wine Course while working at The Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland that it made sense to me, they are not wine company names, they are the grape varieties.

Even though I had no clue about wine at the age of 18, I did however have my first wine buying experience when I was 13. I had been on a Scout trip to Denmark and was on the ferry on my way back home, so I thought I would buy my mum some chocolate from the Duty-Free shop on board the Ferry. It was while browsing the shop I saw a Vin d’ Pays French Pinot Noir, and I thought, oh maybe my mum will like this, I bought it and brought it home. Yes, they did sell a bottle of wine to me a 13-year-old kid, I don’t know why they let me buy it, but they did. When I got back home, I was all excited and said, “look mummy what I bought you.” She was well impressed that I had bought a bottle of wine for her, and she let me have a wee glass of it. I must say to this day I distinctly remember the aromas and tastes of that Pinot Noir. On the nose it had aromas of wild strawberry and raspberry, oaked, rustic earthy mushroom notes, with juicy red fruit flavour’s on the palate. When I was 31 working at Gleneagles Hotel, I tasted a Pinot Noir, and those aromas and flavour’s totally reminded me of the Pinot Noir I had tasted when I was 13. Since then, I have become a big fan of Pinot Noir, it has to be my favourite grape variety, to me it’s an adventurous grape variety, and if made well it creates these amazing depths of flavour’s that blow your mind. I kind of think maybe I was destined to buy that Pinot Noir, and later on destined to become a Wine Sommelier. I still work in the hospitality industry, but not as a Wine Sommelier. Truth be told I am actually in a demoted position, which I won’t go into detail about. This journal isn’t about my unfortunate demise as a Wine Sommelier, I shall leave that story for another time.

Why have I now decided to publish my travel journal in Napa Valley? Why didn’t I write and publish it back then when the experience was fresh in my mind? It has always been my ambition to become a Journalist or Filmmaker. I studied Film & TV Studies at University in 1996, but since then I never really got a chance to pursue my ambitions. I guess I got busy securing various jobs and positions. My first job after leaving University was a Cinema Projectionist, so I guess that was the closest I got to working in a film industry related capacity. Now that I no longer work as a Wine Sommelier, I decided to write the journal, in hope that it will help me pursue a new career as a Journalist/Documentary Filmmaker, plus I did not have anything better to do while in lock down, due to this unfortunate Coronavirus pandemic. Seeing as we could not travel due to the pandemic, I decided to sit in my isolated lock down and write about my past travel adventures. A kind of nostalgia writing, to relive the good old days when we could travel the world and visit exciting locations. So, until those days are upon us again and life is back to some form of normality, I shall continue writing about my past travel adventures. As well as writing I also watched a lot of documentary TV on Sky TV, including the great and influential Louis Theroux. I hope to one day be like Louis Theroux but a kind of Louis Theroux Travel Wine Documentary filmmaker. You know look at the gritty real-life underworld of the wine industry, there must be interesting real life wine stories to tell, about the people who produce the wines? I also discovered another travel documentary filmmaker while browsing the TV channels, Simon Reeves has become another influential idol, I would love to be like. I would love to follow in the footsteps, of these great documentary Filmmakers like Louis Theroux and Simon Reeves, but in my own shoes. Meaning, I have become inspired by their passion for documentary filmmaking, and I too aspire to make documentaries like them but in my own unique style. One documentary tv series that really inspired me with an idea for my own travel documentary idea, was, ‘The Americas with Simon Reeves.’ In his show he travels the entire length of the American continent from the top of Alaska to the south, in South America. In this series he chats to the locals, of all walks of life, and encounters various scenarios and situations, visiting dangerous and deprived areas of the American continent and met local indigenous tribes. I gained a sense that the show also tackled important environmental issues within the American continent and looked at how climate change has and will affect America and the world in the future. Really enjoying this series as it opened my creative mind and inspired me with my own idea of a travel documentary series, I would love to do one day, if or when I become a successful Documentary Filmmaker. I would love to just like Simon Reeves, travel the entire length of the American continent, exploring and visiting most or if I can all the wine regions in the Americas. I believe there are some unique wine regions in the American continent that produce good quality wines, that are not as popular. Regions like Texas, Washington State, and in South America, there are countries like Mexico, Uruguay and even Brazil who produce wine. We all know about the international popularity of Chilean and Argentinian wines, but what about the other not well-known wine regions? It would be an awesome challenge to visit and explore these other wine regions and make a travel documentary about them. A chance to explore their styles of wines, terroir, climate, landscape and any environmental impacts and aspects surrounding these wine regions. As well as meet the wine makers and hear their story. I am sure they have interesting stories to tell about their wines and the region they live and produce the wines in.

So, I guess in writing this article about my travel experience in Napa Valley it is kind of like the first step, the beginning in my quest to make a future epic travel documentary about the wine regions of the American continent. I even have a name for my future Travel Documentary series, ‘Americas Vines.’ This article journal is a calling card to showcase my potential journalism, skills. I hope this so-called calling cards speaks to people, and they believe in my potential, my ambition, my desire. If any TV & Film Production company executives read this journal, I hope they enjoy it enough to give me shot at making my own future Wine Documentary series. Or maybe Simon Reeves and or Louis Theroux will read this and can give me some advice and tips on how to become a successful Documentary Filmmaker like they are. As Simon Reeves said, “Everyone needs to be pushed out of their comfort zone. Otherwise, you don’t feel alive.” Well, I am ready to be pushed out of my comfort zone and embark on my own epic journey into Wine Travel Journalism and Documentary Filmmaking.

California: Making Wines from the Heart & Soul

“Wine is not just a drink, it’s the blood and passion of the winemakers who produce it. The Earth Beneath the Nails. The Soil within the Blood.”

It was, on May 7th, 2007, when I embarked on my Napa Valley Experience, there I was standing in Edinburgh airport, ticket in my hand for San Francisco, I could not believe I was on my way to Napa Valley in California. This has been a dream of mine for years, to visit the vineyards of Napa. I was finally in San Francisco, for a one-week wine tour in Napa Valley. To me Napa Valley is the ultimate North American Wine Country, it encapsulates everything that is great about American wine. The history, the production and the people who planted the vines. My first sight of Napa was in a big car, with the corporate beverage manager for Princess Cruises. As we drove into Napa, Led Zeppelin was playing on the radio; we could see Eagles Vine vineyards, as we then headed our way to Opus One, for a wine tour, man was I excited, my first visit to the opulent luxury Opus One. Opus One a Mondavi/Rothschild collaboration. I was getting to visit a winery for the first time and not just any winery, a winery developed by, two of the masters of wine making, one from old world Italy and another from New World California. To me Mondavi was the godfather of Californian wine. So, what exactly did he do for the Californian wine industry? For starters, he not only built up the Californian wine industry, but he also developed new styles of wine. Robert Mondavi was an American Winemaker who was born in 1913. His parents emigrated from Italy to Minnesota and then eventually moved to Lodi California.

It was in 1966 that Robert Mondavi set about developing his very own winery, a winery that would stand at the forefront of The Californian wine industry. It was after leaving the Charles Krug winery, that Robert Mondavi set about creating a new Californian wine industry, an industry that would stand tall, and show the world that California can make good quality wines, of international status. California was a relatively young wine region, and before 1966 California’s wine industry, was somewhat non-existent. It had come under great strain from economical and natural disasters, occurrences such as the 1920 depression, put a great strain on the flourishment of the wine industry. Then came the Second World War, followed by the outbreak of phylloxera, that killed the industry. It was during that point that California produced basic table/jug wine, of a mass-produced quality. Robert Mondavi could see this, and desperately wanted to change the industry for the better. He had visited vineyards in both France and Italy, seeing the reputation and performance of these vineyards, and the way the European wine makers traditionally made wine that was high quality. Robert Mondavi was to return to California with the intent purpose of setting up a new and improved wine industry. He decided to leave the Charles Krug winery, set up by his forefather, and set up his own winery. After Robert Mondavi’s father died, The Charles Krug Winery was run by Robert Mondavi and his brother Peter Mondavi. Peter did not share Robert future vision and saw no need to branch out and make European old world style wines. He wanted to stick to the same style of Californian table wine. It was not until Robert had a massive argument with Peter, that he decided to go off and build his own winery, without the input from his brother. It was a bold new adventure for both Robert and the Californian wine industry, a new era for the Industry.

The early history of Californian wine industry started during the 1800’s when European settlers came over, especially the Italians, who set up their own wineries. Today you can see how California, especially Napa Valley and Sonoma County, has a distinct Italian influence, especially with the olive vines grown in and around the Napa Valley countryside, producing amazing Californian Extra Virgin Olive Oil. California is not the only wine region in the USA that produce wine, there are other regions, such as Oregon, which produce good steely minerally whites, such as Pinot Gris, and red’s such as Pinot Noir. Texas and even surrounding areas of New York also produce wine, which I am yet to explore. However, it is the Californian wine region that has put the USA wines on the world map. This is all thanks to the innovation, creativity, and determination of Robert Mondavi, who re-invented California’s wine industry for the better.

Napa Valley is a wonderful wine haven, producing some of the best quality wines that has gained international status as being super quality wines, that also match the quality of the old-world wines. Robert Mondavi also went that one step further to produce quality old world style wines in California, through his collaboration and partnership with top wine makers from France and Italy. Winemakers such as Baron Philippe de Rothschild, and Italy’s Frescobaldi family. It was with Rothschild that Mondavi created the one and only, Opus One, a Meritage of Bordeaux grape varietals, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet France, and Petit Verdot. When you meet the winemakers in the Napa Valley, they all seem to have a great deal of respect and love for Robert Mondavi as a winemaker; they revered him, his philosophy, his vision, his innovation, and creative determination, that he had. The fact that most of the winemakers within Napa Valley all worked at the Mondavi winery, at some point, and have come from the Mondavi School of training. These winemakers also share the same vision that Robert Mondavi had, to transform and keep up Napa’s quality wine making status. When you drive into the Napa Valley you get a sense of a region that is proud of its wines and vineyards. The fresh green vineyards, the towering oak trees, and the fresh smell of the countryside and nature, away from the hustle and bustle of city life in San Francisco. It is not just the wines that Napa Valley is renowned for, the food also plays a large part in the valley’s quality and culture. The natural fresh vegetables, and California’s very own Extra Virgin Olive Oil, with its rich omscious dark green golden glow, a perfect accompaniment to the fresh crisp, crusty bread. The agriculture and viticulture work hand in hand, to create food and wine of immense quality and status. Food to tantalize the taste buds. Napa Valley is a holiday haven for people looking for amazing scenery, great food, and quality wine, all grown from nature’s own green garden. Amongst the vineyards lie some of the idyllic restaurants you can find in the countryside. Don Giovanni’s is an ideal restaurant of Italian influence and style, set amongst the vineyards, with its romantic outdoor terrace, overlooking the vineyards. “ITALIAN IN COUNTRY, FRENCH IN FLAVOUR TO MATCH THE CALIFORNIAN FRENCH WINE STYLES.” You get a sense of the Tuscan ambience from sitting outside with the majestic views of the mountains, and flourishing gardens and vineyards, setting a perfect scene for any restaurant visit.

Most of the wineries in Napa Valley and neighbouring Sonoma County are as idyllic in style and scenery, and visiting the wineries was an amazing experience. The Silverado winery is a good example of a winery with amazing scenery. A picturesque, terraced winery, overlooking the vineyards and valley below, with the mountains side by side. On my visit to the winery in 2007 we were greeted by the General Manager Russ Weiss, who gave us a guided tour, of the winery and vineyards. It was during the tour we were given special privilege to go down to the vineyards and see the Sangiovese vines up close. We had enjoyed several bottles of the Silverado Sangiovese, at Don Giovanni’s the night before and now we were standing amongst the Sangiovese vines with a glass of Sangiovese in hand. A fresh clean wine with wild red berry flavours with a long lingering fruity finish, and fresh depth of acidity to hold the fruit flavours together. My favourite was the Silverado Winery as it changed my views on Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot. At that that time I was not really a big fan of Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot for that matter, to me personally for my taste buds it was too sharp acidic, I was more accustomed to fuller bodied or aromatic whites like Chardonnay or Gewurztraminer. When we had dinner in the winery, we were served the first course, which if I can remember was a raw marinated tuna steak with a kind of lime style salsa dressing, and pineapple garnish. I must say the Silverado Sauvignon Blanc went perfectly with the dish, it was so good, I must have had more than a few glasses. Now I cannot remember what the main course was, I think maybe Beef or Lamb. Anyway, we were served, the Silverado Merlot which was also amazing with its minerally herbaceous aromatic notes. I must admit it, it was the most delicious Merlot I have ever had. If only I could find some Silverado wines here in UK, I would buy a case they were that good. Yeah, for me Silverado wines was a big eye opener as to how amazing Californian wines were.

The winemakers of the Napa Valley have immense passion, intellect, scientific and technical skills when it comes to producing fine quality wines, with complex flavours and aromas. Their knowledge of the climate, geography, and dedication to the terroir of the region is simply extraordinary. They have an inborn passion and skill that will hopefully pass onto the next generations of Napa Valley winemakers. They have shown the world that they are masters in new world winemaking practices. With the influence and vision that Robert Mondavi had, California will hopefully keep growing from strength to strength with an overture of quality wines.

Another amazing place to see in the Napa Valley is the cooperage/barrel makers, Seguin Moreau www.seguinmoreaunapa.com. Watching these coopers at work, building these barrels was a joy and inspiration to watch. It also gives you a greater sense of why and how the wines taste like they do. How the barrels are burnt, and the types of wood used to make the barrels, all contribute to the overall taste and character of the wine. If the barrels are lightly toasted, it will create a wine of earthy, milder wood aromas with baked aromas beginning to develop. On the palate you will get reduced vanilla components with toasty fresh flavours, with increased tannins. If the barrel is heavy toasted it will produce a wine with smoky characters, with aromas of black pepper oak, lactone, with a diminished slight acidity and a note of espresso. On the palate, you may get smoky roasted coffee, with some bitterness and reduced sweet roasted flavours, with lesser contribution of tannins.

If you are seriously looking for new world wines with depth of style and complexity, that has old world Italian characteristics, then Californian wines are a must try. Most people I have talked to about the styles of Californian wines, tend to think California is all overly oaky and sweetened fruit flavoured wines. There are those big time oaky fruity numbers, but amongst those are the wines that have that right consistency of oak and fruit, that match the wine well for the palate.

As I stated previously it is true that Many of the New World wines have been influenced by the old-world wines. Wines such as Mouton Rothschild, to even Petrus, and Chateau Latour, have all influenced their way into premium Californian wines. Wines such as Dominus and Napanook, a prime Californian wine that has those defining qualities found in wines such as Chateau Latour and Chateau Petrus. Dominus and Napanook, were produced by Christian Mouex, and his grandfather produced Chateau Petrus. Christian Moux, a French winemaker, came to California during the 1980’s to study Wine at a Californian University, and then decided to create a Petrus style wine in the Napa Valley. Bringing the influence and tradition of French old world style wines to the new world style of California.

While living in New Zealand It was in January 2011 that I was offered a skype interview with Princess Cruises. My skype interview with Princess Cruises Head Office Management was a funny story, it involves Coffee the Cat. Coffee was a Cat in New Zealand who was in the house I was living in. He was my favourite little buddy, and the events of the skype interview may have suggested he did not want me to get the job on the ship. So, there I was dressed in a shirt and tie, and surfing shorts on, because no one sees the bottom half when you are having an interview online. The interview started and I introduced myself, with all the normal interview communicative formalities. At the beginning of the interview the recruitment managers told me that if they go silent and put their heads down, they are just taking notes from what I am saying, and they are not ignoring me. This turned out to be a good thing, and to my advantage. While I was having the interview, Coffee was sound asleep on my bed, so I left him there, thinking its ok he is asleep, he will not interrupt me while I am having interview, oh, how wrong I was. During the interview Coffee decided to wake up, and he did that cat stretching thing that they do. After a big, long stretch and yawn, he looked at me and suddenly jumped onto my laptop keyboard. He then proceeded to lift his tail, turn around with his ass facing the laptop screen, and stuck his ass right Infront of the camera. Luckily just as he did that the employers had their heads down taking notes, so they did not see Coffee’s ass. I quickly pushed him off my laptop onto the floor, do not worry it was not a hard push, he was perfectly fine, in fact he was feeling rather smug and happy with his actions. Anyway, he walked off and went to his food bowl and munched loudly on his dry cat food. I think maybe Coffee did not want me to go to sea for 6 months and leave him, so he tried to sabotage my skype interview. Its ok because his devious plan did not work.

It was in June 2011 when I embarked on my second trip to Napa Valley, this time when I was working for Princess Cruises. The ships Food & Beverage Director told me that they were sending me to Napa Valley for a one-week wine tour experience. I mentioned to the Food & Beverage Director, that I had already done the wine tour 4 years ago, and his reply was, “well you’re doing it again, so shut up and don’t mention that to anyone.” So ok I thought why not another trip to Napa Valley. This time it would be different, different wineries, different wines/vintages that I had tried since my 2007 visit. I disembarked the ship in Whittier Alaska, and got on a coach heading for Anchorage, Alaska’s capital city, where I would get a plane, to San Francisco. I also had 2 hours stop-over in Portland Oregon, which is another amazing wine region, and their Pinot Noirs are amazing. The region is probably somewhat similar in style to Burgundy France Pinot Noirs, especially that the Willamette Valley region in Oregon is at the same latitude to Burgundy France. That is all I will say about Oregon wine region at this point, because I do not yet know enough about the region to write more in-depth. With only a 2 hour stop-over in the airport I did not get the chance to check out the wine region there, but I am hoping one-day to return to the USA and check out more of their amazing wine regions.

First stop was Lodi, not quite Napa yet, but it was the home of Robert Mondavi’s Woodbridge winery. A large commercial mass production winery, producing cheaper supermarket style wines. Woodbridge Wineries philosophy was that they make cheap mass-produced wines that are easy to drink, but still have good quality fruit flavour, and medium complexity. A wine that is quaffable, that still tastes good, and is at an affordable price. From a marketing consumer point of view, Woodbridge is the kind of wine, you would buy if you were on your way home for a quiet Friday night in with a takeaway, and your wife or girlfriend, messages you and says. “Honey can you get me a nice easy drinking bottle of wine.” Or if you are off to the beach and want something easy and fruity to drink while sunbathing on the beach. Something like the Woodbridge White Zinfandel, is a perfect beach drinking wine, as well as a great picnic wine, to go with your Smoked Salmon sandwiches. There is a place for cheaper mass-produced wines in Consumer society, as there are some people who cannot afford to buy expensive wines, who still enjoy drinking wine. If the wine makes you enjoy the moment and creates long lasting memories, then it is a good wine, regardless of price.

The Ravens Watch

It was during the 1970’s that Joel Peterson wanted to create quality wines as good as the European wines, he was another visionary winemaker like Robert Mondavi who believed California could rival and take on the great old-world wines of Europe. He acquired a vineyard and proceeded to grow grapes to make good quality wines. However, he did not have the full proper facilities in which to produce the wine and did not have a full working winery next to the vineyard. It was a case of growing the vines in a plot of land he had acquired. Cannot remember if he bought the plot of land or rented it. Anyway, this plot of land was a drive away from the shed he was going to use to produce the wine. Now this is where the story gets good. Joel wanted to keep the grapes on the vine until it was the perfect time in which to harvest them, but there were reports of a hailstorm coming, but no one knew when the hailstorms would come. This would have been a disaster if the hailstorms hit before harvest time, as it would have destroyed all the grapes and Joel would have lost everything. What I can remember, I believe he had put all his life savings into buying the vines to produce his first ever batch. It came to the point where Joel decided it was the right time to harvest the grapes. How did he know it was the right time to harvest the grapes? He saw 3 Ravens perched above the vineyard on a tree. He took this as a sign that it was the right time. So, in 1976 Joel was working frantically to pick and bring in 4 tons of grapes, before a huge hailstorm moved in. He could see the hailstorm in the distance, and saw that it was heading straight for the vineyard he was growing his grapes in. He did not have time to get help to secure the vines, and the grapes, so he had to frantically collect all the grapes from the vineyard himself. As the 3 Ravens watched him from perched high above, he managed to get all the grapes in his truck, but he still was not safe as, he had to drive the grapes to the open press and crush them into grape juice before the hailstorm, came. He managed to get the grapes to the open press at the winery and press all the grapes into grape juice. It was only by the nick of time, and at the very last minute he got the grape juice into the closed shed just as the heavens opened and hailstorms came raining down. He had made it just in time and he was able to produce his very first vintage of Zinfandel. He decided it was only fitting to call his new successful winery Ravenswood, and that is how his winery began.

In 1979 he managed to secure some wine investors who would help him open his own winery. Is that a good Hollywood story or what, a frantic dash to secure a lifelong dream and goal of opening a winery and producing good wine. If Joel had not been able to secure all his grapes and get them pressed in time, he would have lost his dream of creating a winery. The fact that he had put all his savings into buying grapes and borrowed/rented a vineyard to grow his grapes. It was a gamble a risk, if these grapes did not produce well or were damaged, then he would have wasted all his life savings. But like most successes in life, some are made from gambles or risk taking. He saw a potential goal and decided to take the risk and go for it. Since then, the winery has progressed from strength to strength and today exports wine all over the world. I hope I told the story correctly, and forgive me if it was not 100% accurate, but as I said it was 2007 when I visited Ravenswood winery and heard the tour guide tell us the story. I hope it gives you an idea and an imagination of what it must have been like in the 1970’s for a young visionary financially struggling winemaker. The Scenario he had to go through to create his dream of making quality wines, which he achieved with great success. Does this sound like a great Hollywood story? Another Napa Valley Success story.

Napa Valley seems to be full of these unique stories of determination to succeed no matter the obstacles. It is a story of wine and how the people who produced these wines, literally went through blood, sweat and tears to succeed. They truly do have the earth in their fingernails and Napa wine in their blood.