Kathy and I have a deal that became our welcome mat back to Napa, home of the outrageous tasting room fees. The card comped the fees, but the prob is that many of these participating joints are not open on weekends. Unfortunately for Kath, but fortunately for me, K had to work a Saturday, meaning that she could take the previous day off: Appointments on weekdays, here we come!
We hadn’t been to Mayacamas, up Mount Veeder, since we lived in San Francisco two dog lives ago. Host Beth Mattos was wonderful, hooking us up with the history of the winery’s 1889 founding with Mr. Fisher, the San Fran pickle king who, alas, lost his legacy in the 1906 earthquake. Many sales later, the current iconoclastic winemaking concern frankly, doesn’t give a shi-ite. You won’t find a white wine with less than three years on the label; five for the reds. And at a mere 4K cases of juice, the fact that they’ll still hold back stuff for the library is crazy. One buys a 6-year-old Chardonnay, no big deal; but, apparently to drink the 2010 Sauvignon Blanc before 2017 is anathema.
Down the hill to Hess to pick up our club shipment: a small allotment of Malbec, a Petite and an estate Sauvignon. I had no time to visit my favorite burning typewriter before our next appointment with Desti/Lux.
Reynolds Family was OK, but we never got the sense that we were expected. It seemed a catch-all at a tasting bar. $20 plus tax. I’m just sayin’. Thank you Lot 18 Tasting Card for nixing that charge. Fun Fact: Kathy and I finished our tasting, bought a bottle of their Pinot, then chilled outside on the terrace with our packaged lunch made in Oakley. Our tasting room hostess passed us repeatedly to pour for an eight-top.
Did they buy? I don’t know. But, as K noted, how bad would it have been for our host to see us forking lunch on the couches, and ask if we wanted a “splish” with our meal? It’s painless, and the goodwill is endless. As it is: Seeya.
And then we get to more class acts.
We have a 3 p.m. with Kristen at Oakville Ranch. We used to be club members but it has obviously undergone some changes since a weird split from Miner Family. Gotta love the family dynamic. Pick one: family or your nose.
Guys, we are tasting the most opulent wines, in a greenhouse atop Silverado Trail. Lush, plush, and even deluxe. The Cabernet Franc hit us bigtime. Props to Oakville for hitting it hard on the varietal bottling. Nice.
And then we met up with Jessica Loesch from Couloir and Straight Line wineries. It could not have been more civilized, y’all.
The joint is so small that they do tastings off-site: Winemaker Jon Grant holds no real estate, but knows the sites he wants up and down the state. His Couloir (hey, my Canuck upbringing made the French translation to “hallway” or “corridor”) label is a nod to his extreme skiing vibe (the “chute”), giving the love to single vineyard Pinot Noir sites from Marin to Mendocino.
With Jessica hosting us at Calistoga’s Solage resort, al fresco no less, Kath and I tasted through a quartet of label selections, each wine a wonderful expression of pleasure and place.
No surprise that we bought all four selections offered from the portfolio, but, because we tasted off-site, Jessica picked up our bottles and hand-delivered our wine to us at Mumm Napa, where we were winding down our day with a flute o’ bubbles. Again, thanks Lot 18.
It can’t last forever; I know that. But as long as the deals are valid, we’ll keep stocking the cellar.
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