The weekend before last, I went on a trip to Napa wine country with one of my Biodesign teammates, John, and his visiting friend, Ken. Napa Valley is an area north of San Fran, considered as one of the top wine-producing regions in the US.
After grabbing a delicious and hearty American brunch at Stacks in Menlo Park, we proceeded North. We drove through West San Fran, reached a vista point overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, and continued heading up towards the main event.
We realized that Napa Valley was quite decentralized, with many different famous vineyards that utilized unique microclimates contained in the area. The first winery we found was a disappointment. Upon reaching our GPS-guided destination, we found ourselves in a parking lot next to a small office building. Even if we could, there was no way we were going to taste wine here.
We then reached the Hess Collection vineyard (http://www.hesscollection.com/), which was a lot more like what we had come to see. We saw the neatly arranged grape vines on the sloping meadows next to the factory.
Inside the winery, we were greeted by wine experts who educated us (the naive me, for the most part) about the conditions -- soil acidity, nutrient balance, climate, etc -- that made their grapes different and what specific characteristics we should identify when tasting wine.
We tried eight varieties of wine. John and Ken swirled the wine, took in the aromas, and sipped the wine like they knew what they were doing. I, on the other hand, sloshed the wine the first few times, and took many tries to even remotely get used to appreciating the different flavors, aromas and textures.
Thinking back, I think we tasted two Chardonnays (white wine), one that was creamier and heavier than the other. The Rose wine we tried was translucent pink -- a cross between red and white wine. We compared two Cabernet Sauvignons (red wine), one which was fruitier and a lot smoother than the other, which was dry and a lot rougher on the tongue. You can probably tell that I am still a noob when it comes to describing wines.
The winery also had a collection of wine-derived chocolates and vinaigrettes. Its private modern art collection and outdoor garden were both pretty outstanding.
We took some more shots around wine country, grabbed dinner at Buckhorn Grill in the city of Napa, and then headed back home.
(photos courtesy of Ken)
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