A visit to Napa (pics)

Hello all,

I don’t post that much, but wanted to reciprocate given all the wonderful knowledge I have gotten over the years. It seems like a lot of you get to go to Napa frequently, and what a treat that must be. For others Napa may not be the thing, but given proximity, it would be a shame not to go at all.

My wife and I just celebrated our 10 year anniversary (I know, young’uns) and we decided to make it about wine and food. That sort of meant NYC, Vegas or Napa, so we made it Napa. (Apologies for all regions I could have named, but didn’t.)

Our trip started out with a visit to the French Laundry. Much has been said already about TFL, and I doubt that I can add much. It tasted as French as a French three star, without a single hiccup in the entire lineup. We were dining with civilians, so the wine choices were unspectacular, but the somm was super helpful and didn’t seem to mind a bit that we weren’t going for the $10K DRC.

Our initial winery visit was Seavey, where Dorie Seavety took us around. She is special. She showed us the vineyards, explained picking practices and how they feed the stems to the cows, who then supply fertilizer to the vines. She was happy to share labor practices and lamented that they couldn’t pick at night given the steep inclines and not wanting to have accidents. Her brother briefly stopped by on a forklift as well. It was refreshing to hear how they were not looking to increase production…

David Sinegal took us around at the former Inglenook estate, which is now producing another Parker love fest under the Sinegal brand. He’s a former consumer product guy and explained how he had broken down wine making to 1,403 distinct steps. Given that we had dinner reservations at Scopa, we did not ask him to take us through each one of steps, but it was an interesting contrast to some of the romantic approaches to wine making we sometimes see.

It was time for another dinner, and this time we headed for Scopa in Healdsburg. Not as pricey as some of the other options, but just as hard to get a reservation for. After having eaten there, we understood why. Absolutely gorgeous. Who would have thought that 3 days later I am still longing for the spaghetti sugo? We both fell asleep in the cab home…

The next morning I made an easily forgotten stop at Groth to relive some memories. Who would have known that 50% of their production was Sauv Blanc? Anyway. The staff there was perfectly nice but in the end, I was left with an impression of volume production. Let’s be clear, I don’t mind this at all, but it was just such a stark contrast to the other visits that it didn’t measure up.

Next up was Hourglass. Todd Newman was showing us around in-between managing the crush for Hourglass, as well as his own property Dakota Shy. It could just be his winning personality, but we all agreed the 2013 Dakota Shy was better than the base Hourglass cab bottling.

Sue showed us the ins and outs of wine making at Gargiulo. While we met with Jeff Gargiulo, Sue was definitely the secret sauce to visiting there. Part assistant winemaker, part just personality, she made us stay way longer than we should have. Thankfully we had a driver…

The day was finished off at Meadowood, and I really can’t say too much good stuff about it. There was no menu, so they just proceeded to serve us 12 dishes they had decided on would be good for us. And they were. Innovative and refreshing. Using local ingredients as well as a lot of imagination, they managed to leave me full, yet not stuffed. And they did not hesitate at the request to visit the kitchen, where the head chef took us around. Definitely worth a visit.

Anyway. This may not help you on what bottle to pick next, but I thought I should share regardless.

Thanks for the pics. My wife and I love Scopa. Every time we go I spend the whole time appreciating how well-oiled the walnut tables are.

Cheers,

Jeremy

Great to read and see your visits! Funny how a place where it’s hard to spend more than $100 can be just as memorable as one that costs 6 or 8 times as much

Great write up. Thanks.

Nice. Thanks! And congratulations!

Tom- thanks for posting. Great write up and fantastic pics.

Did you try the Dakota Shy Napa cab or one of the other bottlings ?

cheers
Fred

Thank you for sharing and happy anniversary TK.

Thomas, fantastic post. Thanks for taking so much time to post those photos, and all of the accompanying information. I did not know that 50% of Groth’s production was SB. I had heard great things about Scopa, and you’ve just corroborated such; got to put that on my list of restaurants to hit, next time. Meadowood sounds amazing, and obviously you didn’t hold back – celebrating your 10th Anniversary! Good on you! And, congratulations.

Thanks,

Kenney

Beautiful photography, filtered and framed. Excellent short and sweet commentary. Well done! Thanks for taking the time to share.

Great review, sounded like a fun trip. Happy anniversary.

Great post. Loved the photographs. Made me want to pack my bag and head for Napa.

Great post - thanks for sharing. Only because two of my closest friends are too busy to grab a drink do I feel compelled to correct this one small thing - Todd is the Director of Sales / Private Clients, Tony Biagi & his asst winemaker Justin Carr are the directors of all things winemaking/harvest. They may not do much the rest of the year , but they are more than earning it these days.

will
too busy to grab a drink at 2p on a monday? and these are supposed close friends?

One of my closest friends runs Scopa. Place is off the hook! If you have not visited you are missing out. There are two other “under the radar” places in the greater Sonoma County that do not need any press as it is already hard enough for a local to get in.

Good read, great pics!

That was an utterly perfect tour you gave us!

Kudos!

TK,

Thank you for going to Napa for your anniversary… And giving us such great pics - My FL clothes pins do not look nearly as good. Lots of good suggestions for our next trip… Can’t wait to see where you go next year.

C