Napa, the place I care least about

Give me Sonoma, or Mendocino, or Santa Cruz, any day. And when I think about what Larry Schaffer is doing, compared to Napa, uh, no contest. Call it a love of the underdog, or call it a spot on. Or, call it f’d up. I really don’t care. Haven’t been moved by a Napa wine in about 20 years.

Throw your darts.

So what is the reason for your post, then?

Pin the tail on the donkey?

That people need to know what they don’t know, Chris, that’s it. I find, me, that more people outside the Napa bubble are making wine that I can respect, that I know is about the wine first, and ego/owner demands second. While this may seem nothing more than a flame, it’s meant to convey respect to people that are making the right calls on pick dates, etc. I no longer find that to be the case, or at least I find it to be in the minority, in Napa, anymore. The Napa juice I’m offered these days, nah, been the same thing for too long. Or worse. In the other areas I’ve mentioned, I find that they’re making the wines they want to make, more often than not. They being owners or winemakers that don’t give a shit if they get fired or go out of business. And yes, some people don’t care if they go out of business, because they put honesty/integrity before profit and job retention. Sure, I’m generalizing, but where better to do that than Napa?

I have no problem talking about the hard stuff, if this can be considered hard. But I am bored to f’n death with ‘what Zinfandel are you drinking’, and think it’s missing the real opportunity with places like this/WB.

I 'll toss your ill-mannered and uninformed dart back at you.

Well, I said I generalized, Merrill. If that doesnt work for you, I feel you miss the point entirely. Sorry.

Irony: a person that knows nothing about me, calling me uninformed. Yeah.

If the purpose is to convey respect to people doing things a certain way you approve of in other regions, why is the thread called “Napa, the place I care least about?” And it’s not as though very much of the talk on this board is about Napa, or that what talk there is of Napa is usually a positive one. Napa, in general, is as out of fashion with most of the frequent posters on this board as it is with you.

I do think very highly of what Larry Schaffer is doing, with originality and extremely consumer-friendly pricing, closures and customer service. I don’t know what Napa, Australia, South Africa, the Languedoc, Ribera del Duero or anywhere else have to do with that point of view, but I certainly agree with you about Tercero.

And I agree that the devolution of the board into a small number of long threads about “What X are you drinking” and “What percentage of your cellar is Y” hasn’t been a trend I’m personally a fan of, though of course I’m not the arbiter of what people can post around here.

I guess I am saying that I feel Napa, in general, has devolved, Chris. And I say it not to berate, but in hope that others don’t follow the same path if the same commercial success comes to them. Plus, the ‘Napa impessions’, ’ need recommendations for Napa’ type threads, the never-ending ones, well, they just get to me. When people ask where to go in Napa, I say Sonoma. Uninformed, cynic, asshole, whatever. Make better wines, Napa. Grow them.

Someone needs to fill in for Bill Klapp, maybe he’s the guy.

Smooth, Tim. Very smooth.

Geez Chris, don’tcha know this is Wine Berserkers and a good percentage of member’s posts are fueled by negativity? I thought you would get that by now.

No way. He’s not even close to being that wordy and pompous. Anders from the “Myth of letting wines breathe” thread could school him.

Tim “Ex-Lax” Heaton!

Tim, are you aware that opinions like this are what most people care least about? If you’re not careful you’ll be labelled another Hate Smurf.

Is this another in the string of columns “_____ is dead to me”?

Still, there are worse places to hang out for several hours…

So, you’re conceding on ill-mannered?

In this day and age where more and more people seem to believe that everyone’s opinion is equally valid and there are no wrong answers, I often wonder why folks seem to get all bent out of shape when someone actually ventures one?

But… but… the orthodoxy!

Mods, can you move this to the “What are we going to argue about now” thread?

Poor generalization Tim. There are plenty of winemakers in Napa Valley who are not about the commercialization but about the wine. People whose blood, sweat, tears, good days, bad days, anxieties etc are in each bottle of wine they produce. I’m a big supporter of Sonoma County as I live there but your claim is off base.

Because it is a new week and this troll:

is now so last week?

That one’s OP is way longer than this one’s. He must be getting tired.

Besides, the CT board doesn’t allow trolling.

Another smooth thread