I Suck at Bocce (But Just Look at This
Beautiful Bocce Court!)
As we continue with our tour of the small, family owned wineries of the Napa Valley, I bring you... the Summers Estate bocce court. Bocce is an Italian game that involves rolling bowling-type balls at a target ball, which is much smaller. In France, they play a similar game that I actually like better, pétanque (sometimes called boules). Pétanque figures in Peter Mayles' A Year in Province.
Ultimately, both games are excuses to stand around, engage in at-times quite intense competition, but not exert a whole lot of energy, and of course do a bit of drinkin'. I am in the process of setting up my yard for hard-fought pétanque matches right now. I expect to become zee badass of pétanque. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to play any bocce in Napa, which is perhaps just as well, as I suck.
Anyway, while the French game involves tossing the balls, bocce is more about rolling them. To do this properly, you need a nice court, preferably a long one, made of groomed, crushed stone. Summers Estate has one, and as you'll see from the video above, it's a beaut. They even have a little sign and a covered seating area adjacent to the court; the sign reads "Napa Valley Bocce Club," which is quote a land grab for a small winery (ambition!).
My understanding is that bocce is big in Napa because of the large Italian immigrant population that came here in the 19th and 20th centuries and eventually pioneered the premium wine industry. But whatever, it looks like a great way to relax a bit after a long day of winemaking/vineyard management/tasting.
More on Summers tomorrow: they have a cool dude in the tasting room who does a bit of cooking, they are known far and wide for championing an offbeat grape called Charbono, and their winemaker is a real success story.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
A Shout-Out to Roman
Very pleased to see that James Suckling, at his Winespectator.com blog (which I think may be the best wine blog going these days), is giving a shout-out to Roman Roth of Wölffer Estate, a winery on Long Island's South Fork. That's where the famous Hamptons are, by the way. I was always a big fan of Roman and his winemaking when I was covering the Long Island wine scene; and I included Wölffer in both my books. Plus, I used to play golf occasionally with RR, who was overall a very cool guy. And now he's big in Tuscany. Bravo!
As far the wines go, I haven't had any for a while (I don't live near the region anymore), but I do recall enjoying some older Chardonnays that I bought at of all places a yard sale somewhere in the Hamptons. I think they were slightly less than 10 years old and they had matured nicely. Mind you, yard sale wines are of course a crap shoot, but I thought it was testament to Roman's skill that he could build a wine to last.
Very pleased to see that James Suckling, at his Winespectator.com blog (which I think may be the best wine blog going these days), is giving a shout-out to Roman Roth of Wölffer Estate, a winery on Long Island's South Fork. That's where the famous Hamptons are, by the way. I was always a big fan of Roman and his winemaking when I was covering the Long Island wine scene; and I included Wölffer in both my books. Plus, I used to play golf occasionally with RR, who was overall a very cool guy. And now he's big in Tuscany. Bravo!
As far the wines go, I haven't had any for a while (I don't live near the region anymore), but I do recall enjoying some older Chardonnays that I bought at of all places a yard sale somewhere in the Hamptons. I think they were slightly less than 10 years old and they had matured nicely. Mind you, yard sale wines are of course a crap shoot, but I thought it was testament to Roman's skill that he could build a wine to last.
Friday, August 08, 2008
On Feiring in L.A.
Oh my, here's some news that just popped on my radar. Alice Feiring, the sworn foe of Bob Parker and scold of the California wine industry has, according to her blog, been named wine columnist of the new Los Angeles Times Magazine. If you don't know who Feiring is, she's the wine world's equivalent of the Church Lady who (1) has written a book about what a menace Parker is (2) wrote an Op-Ed for the LA Times whose views I took exception to, prompting Feiring to (3) liken me to a certain FOX broadcasting personality.
Interestingly, I actually worked for a while as a sort of fill-in editor at the old Los Angeles Times Magazine, which has been supplanted by this new publication, one that's being managed from the business rather than the editorial side of the operation. So I suppose I have a bit of a conflict, but I will also ponder with interest the monthly musings of die-hard New York resident/Francophile Feiring, in a magazine distributed to hundreds of thousands of Californians, on why our wine stinks so bad and our $3.5 billion wine industry is selling a crummy product.
Oh my, here's some news that just popped on my radar. Alice Feiring, the sworn foe of Bob Parker and scold of the California wine industry has, according to her blog, been named wine columnist of the new Los Angeles Times Magazine. If you don't know who Feiring is, she's the wine world's equivalent of the Church Lady who (1) has written a book about what a menace Parker is (2) wrote an Op-Ed for the LA Times whose views I took exception to, prompting Feiring to (3) liken me to a certain FOX broadcasting personality.
Interestingly, I actually worked for a while as a sort of fill-in editor at the old Los Angeles Times Magazine, which has been supplanted by this new publication, one that's being managed from the business rather than the editorial side of the operation. So I suppose I have a bit of a conflict, but I will also ponder with interest the monthly musings of die-hard New York resident/Francophile Feiring, in a magazine distributed to hundreds of thousands of Californians, on why our wine stinks so bad and our $3.5 billion wine industry is selling a crummy product.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
I Blend My Own Wine in the Napa Valley
Unlike seemingly every other wine journalist on planet Earth, I have never had any desire to become a winemaker. I like the people and the stories and the product and I'm happy to leave the men and women who have chosen this demanding trade to the very very very very hard work of tending vines and producing bottled poetry. Still, while on my recent jaunt to Napa, I did get the chance to blend my own wine, from primo Napa juice, and so I went for it.
Who knows if the results are any good. But I thought it tasted OK. We were at Bennett Lane Winery, which produces a great wine called Maximus: it's an interesting blend of mainly Cabernet, Merlot, and Syrah. And so for our little experiment, guided by staffer Stefanie Longton and winemaker Rob Hunter (who told a cool story comparing picking grapes at proper ripeness to doing likewise with blackberries, a story that reminded me of Galway Kinnell's famous poem), we were given some Cab, Merlot, Syrah, plus a graduated cylinder and a pipette (Flashback! High school chemistry!). Then we were told to go to town!
I adopted a cowardly strategy: figuring that if I had great Cab and great Merlot, I decided not to mess with the Syrah, thereby controlling for two variables rather than three. Besides, I don't much like Cali Syrahs from outside Paso Robles (that said, Bennett Lane's is pretty much rockin' on its own, and you can see in the final blend of Maximus why it makes sense).
I went from mostly Cab with a splash of Merlot (too crispy and tannic) to a 70-30 blend (structured, but not much fun to drink now) to 60-40, which I decided was the winner because it was the most fun.
Unfortunately, the Bennett Lane stock car was not on premise, so I didn't get my chance to at least sit in it (I was kinda hoping they might let me start it up).
For the record, Bennett Lane's Hunter has developed an interesting attitude toward new oak--he doesn't like to use it 100 percent, preferring instead to mix some used oak barrels from previous vintages. I think he's on to something, definitely fulfilling BL's goal of producing a solid sub-$100 primo red that consumers can enjoy right away and on a more consistent basis. It's plush, generous, and elegant, with plenty of layers of ripe, yummy fruit and the structure to prevent it from seeming flat or flabby.
BL also produced one of the best CaliPorts Dessert Wines (they can't call it Port, so they use the DW designation and tack on "After Feasting Wine") I've ever had. So there, naysayers of Cali! The Valley really can do it all.
And guess what? Longton went to USC--as in Gamecocks! So we got to trade barbs over lunch, as I went to ultra-rival Clemson. Go Tigers!
Unlike seemingly every other wine journalist on planet Earth, I have never had any desire to become a winemaker. I like the people and the stories and the product and I'm happy to leave the men and women who have chosen this demanding trade to the very very very very hard work of tending vines and producing bottled poetry. Still, while on my recent jaunt to Napa, I did get the chance to blend my own wine, from primo Napa juice, and so I went for it.
Who knows if the results are any good. But I thought it tasted OK. We were at Bennett Lane Winery, which produces a great wine called Maximus: it's an interesting blend of mainly Cabernet, Merlot, and Syrah. And so for our little experiment, guided by staffer Stefanie Longton and winemaker Rob Hunter (who told a cool story comparing picking grapes at proper ripeness to doing likewise with blackberries, a story that reminded me of Galway Kinnell's famous poem), we were given some Cab, Merlot, Syrah, plus a graduated cylinder and a pipette (Flashback! High school chemistry!). Then we were told to go to town!
I adopted a cowardly strategy: figuring that if I had great Cab and great Merlot, I decided not to mess with the Syrah, thereby controlling for two variables rather than three. Besides, I don't much like Cali Syrahs from outside Paso Robles (that said, Bennett Lane's is pretty much rockin' on its own, and you can see in the final blend of Maximus why it makes sense).
I went from mostly Cab with a splash of Merlot (too crispy and tannic) to a 70-30 blend (structured, but not much fun to drink now) to 60-40, which I decided was the winner because it was the most fun.
Unfortunately, the Bennett Lane stock car was not on premise, so I didn't get my chance to at least sit in it (I was kinda hoping they might let me start it up).
For the record, Bennett Lane's Hunter has developed an interesting attitude toward new oak--he doesn't like to use it 100 percent, preferring instead to mix some used oak barrels from previous vintages. I think he's on to something, definitely fulfilling BL's goal of producing a solid sub-$100 primo red that consumers can enjoy right away and on a more consistent basis. It's plush, generous, and elegant, with plenty of layers of ripe, yummy fruit and the structure to prevent it from seeming flat or flabby.
BL also produced one of the best Cali
And guess what? Longton went to USC--as in Gamecocks! So we got to trade barbs over lunch, as I went to ultra-rival Clemson. Go Tigers!
Sunday, August 03, 2008
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.
(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.
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