Terra Valentine

Spending time with my daughter, Serena, while enjoying a wine tasting trip through northern Napa Valley is one of the highlights of my life.  Our children grow up.  After all, that's the idea, anyway.  And, as they get older, they move on.  Time spent with them is more and more precious.

Some say the time with them as really little people who are new to this world is the most precious.  Yes, it's precious... but there are many more times during this stage of life than when they get older.  The moments together become more and more fleeting and time with them often seems impossibly out of reach except for a few stolen conversations on the phone a midst their own lives and schedules.

So, to hang out with Serena and make some new discoveries along the way as a father daughter team-for-a-day is quite an experience.  One to treasure.  A beautiful treasure.

Until a few months ago, I'd not heard of Terra Valentine.  A friend opened a bottle of their Spring Mountain Cabernet over dinner one night and, I must say, the wine was delicious.

Delicious.

Delicious.

Oh, it was very good, too.  So, I wanted to make this our second stop - and last.  I'm not a big fan of getting buzzed to the point where I cannot taste the wines.

Terra Valentine can only be visited by appointment.  They don't make a whole bunch of wine and I can truly understand how they could be inundated with tourist tasters who are more interested in sucking down a bunch of vino like they were at a party instead of showcasing their wines to folks who are more serious about what they are tasting than how they are wasting away.

First off, thanks so much to Heidi for the great presentation and wonderful hospitality.  As soon as we arrived, we were treated like friends invited into a home.

The winery is simple.  And beautiful.

We were greeted with a generous pour of Sauvignon Blanc, a very delicious and luscious wine.  This wasn't just some cheap get-to-know-you vino.  This is a statement: you are going to have a very special time here and we want you to enjoy every moment.

There was a short tour - a walk around the building and into the cellar where the barrels and mechanics of wine making take place, past the employee patio area, complete with a barbecue and a view, then back upstairs to the tasting room - more of a banquet room.

Fireplace.  Stained glass windows.  Long table.  Wine glasses.  Wine bottles.

Each person gets their own little cheese platter adorned with fresh rosemary and some locally made chocolate.

Then we got down to business.  The business of fun!

There were 6 of us in that room, besides our gracious host and wine facilitator.  (That's my term at this point.)

The Russian River Pinot Noir is... wonderful?  Hmmm... no, that's not it.... amazing?  Yes, but that's not it, either.... I think I remember saying that I wanted a room in my house to smell like the Pinot Noir.  It's that good.  This isn't a Pinot that Terra Valentine makes because, "well, we should do a Pinot".  This is a serious wine for people who love great wine.

The Amore Sangiovese is succulent and made me hungry.  Hungry for anything with some spices and seasonings and pasta and sauces... and.... and....

Then we tried two Cabernet Sauvignon's.  Wurtele and Yverdon.  Same grapes.  Same aging.  Same harvest.  Same everything except where they are grown.  Different elevations.

Different wines.  Both great.  Really great.

Serena and I kept looking at each other with these goofy "I'm having a great time, are you" smiles on our faces.  How cool is this.  How cool is this!!!!!

The tasting ended with a bit of the Estate Riesling - consistently as good as everything else.

My jaw had dropped.  What an incredible find!

What a wonderful day.

Thank you, Terra Valentine for being a part of my day out with Serena.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Cheers :)

Chateau Montelena

The first time I tried a wine from Chateau Montelena was at the Madison Steak House in Long Beach back in 2000, or 2001.  I don't really remember.  What I do remember is that we ordered steak and a bottle of 1997 Calistoga Cuvee, which is basically a really amazing Cabernet.  I remember tasting the wine and flipping out.

You see, I was new to wine.  This was only the second really good bottle of wine that I'd ever tasted, the first being a 1994 Heitz Bella Oaks Cabernet.  It was these two bottles that got me started on a journey of wine exploration that still continues today.

I remember looking for Chateau Montelena on the web.  The internet was somewhat rudimentary back then, at least when compared to the dynamic content on most websites today.  I found them and saw a picture of this stone chateau with much greenery around it and on it.

I wanted to go there.

A couple of weeks ago, I got my chance.

My lovely daughter, Serena, invited me up to Berkeley to hang out with her - daddy daughter time - and, one of the endeavors she included in our bonding time was a wine tasting trip to Napa.  Excited as I was, I decided to schedule our tasting, starting with Chateau Montelena.

Serena and I love the movie, Bottle Shock.

The movie doesn't do the winery justice, although it is a very fun film.

The winery is simply beautiful.  It's nestled of a small back road north of St. Helena, cut into a hill ripe with greenery and what appear to be natural springs.  Even if they are fountains, I'll call them springs.

However, there is a fountain.  It's located at the entry way to the tasting room.  The foyer is the kind of place where one could imaging pulling up a cot and sleeping under the stars while the rustling water trickles over moss-covered stones nearby.

Of course, this would be enhanced with the lovely wines of Montelena.

There's a reason that this is a well-known winery.  The wines are really good.  The people are really friendly and, after some quite in depth conversations about wine and the fantastic environment that is Chateau Montelena, it's clear that they enjoy their work immensely as well.

I want to talk about the wine.  It's subtle.  The style of wine making at Chateau Montelena is unlike so many of the over-the-top approaches taken by many successful wineries in California.

The folks at Chateau Montelena are making wines for consumption today perhaps, but more than that, wines that one can see as an investment in a future experience.

The Riesling and Chardonnay are wonderfully delicate with equally as wonderful texture and taste.

The Zinfandel is a work of art.  I expected a fruit bomb.  What I got, instead, was a very refined interpretation of this Californian that is approachable today and will be for some time.

The Napa Valley Cabernet (what used to be the Calistoga Cuvee) is brighter than most Cabernet's but not so that the structure and dark fruit is compromised.

The Estate Cabernet speaks for itself.  We were fortunate enough to taste both the current release of this exquisite wine and some of the 2004 that just 'happened' to be open.

Okay, enough of the wine.

Good wine is easy to find.  Amazing people who pay attention to your questions and answer them honestly and respectfully is not as easy to find.  And people who do this with a genuine affection for the craft are rarer indeed.

Serena and I both experienced a warm welcome at Chateau Montelena - we truly felt like guests - and walked away with big smiles on our faces - not from the alcohol - not our style.

It was from the experience of being in the presence of people who are passionate and enthusiastic about what they do and love nothing more than sharing that passion with you.

Thank you Chateau Montelena.  You helped make this day with my lovely daughter very special.

Thank you.