The Worst Tasting Room in the Napa Valley
(But the Coolest Tasting Staff)



I just got back from a trip to the Napa Valley. It was organized by Jarvis Communications, which is based in L.A. (where I live) and is for my money one of the more crackerjack wine PR firms out there. It's run by Katherine Jarvis, who was one of the first PR people to reach out to me when I first arrived in the City of Angeles in 2004 (she treated me to a lovely lunch at Campanille).

I've blogged about one of their clients, Bennett Lane Winery, in another context because they sponsor a car in NASCAR West. Jarvis sails a tight ship and has provided me with lots of good material over the years, and besides, they are exceptionally professional. Our minder for this trip, which focused on small, family owned and operated wineries, was VP Nicole Bestard, who's absolutely aces.

Anyway, since my second book, Wine Country USA, came out in 2005, I've been trying to figure out a good way to revive my wine blogging. I started this blog to promote the book, but in the time since, I've learned quite a bit more about the art and craft of blogging--and I acquired a small, portable (pocket-sized, in fact) digital video camera, the Flip. So I figured, Why not shoot some short videos while in Napa and post them here, to give the new tech a whirl and reinvigorate the blog? To be honest, I've been very influenced by James Suckling's use of video in his blog posts over at Wine Spectator, so I thought I'd emulate that short, punchy, check-it-out style (I won't be copying the hairstyle, however).

The Flip videos get unwieldy if they go past two minutes, so the "medium," if you will, imposes an automatic discipline. And you know, who wants to watch long videos about wine online, anyway?

Our first installment comes to us from Frank Family Vineyards, which is currently doing some construction on their winery and preparing to tear down their (infamous) old tasting room, which their winemaker, Todd Graff, described to me rather lovingly as "the dive bar" of tastings rooms. Others have called it the worst tasting room in the Napa Valley. It really is a complete dump, as you'll see, but it's cherished by many, sought out by most for its unique, um...ambiance--and most importantly, can boast of Dennis Zablosky, who has been manning the bottles and tasting glasses for 26 years and really, really knows his stuff when it comes to the wines of the region. He's the star of the video I've posted above.

As far as the wines go, I like their Rutherford Reserve Cab, available now in the '05 vintage for $85. Rich and wonderful, a solid Napa Cabernet. However, as you'll see from subsequent videos, this trip for me was as much about people and cool Napa Valley stuff--like bocce courts!--as it was about vino.

More, obviously, to come.