It’s hot here in California, uncharacteristically hot. The weather reports say that the temperatures reached nearly 102 in the valley; the locals say this is very rare. Most of the time the summer-time temperatures hover in the mid to upper 80’s, tomorrow they say it will be hotter – leave it to us to bring a heat wave. But, all in all, the heat isn’t that bad; it’s very dry so it is bearable.
We started our second day of tasting rushing to make the first tour at Mumm Winery. I wanted to see how sparkling wine was made and, we just made the 10:00 AM tour.
Karri walked us through a small demonstration vineyard and explained the varietals used in Mumm’s champagnes. Surprisingly they use a variety of grapes in each type of wine they make; this insures the consistency of flavor one expects. We walked the production area and learned how the grapes are harvested, juiced and how only the first few drop of juice from each grape is used to make the wine anything after that is usually more sour or bitter. As we walked further we learned how yeast and sugar are introduced to the wine to provide carbonation and how the bottles are riddled or turned to remove the yeast when its work is done. Finally we learned how the sediment is removed – only the necks of the bottles are frozen, trapping the yeast that has settled there, then an enormous vacuum sucks the frozen yeast sorbet from the bottle.
Of course, following the tour was a tasting. We opted to join their wine club which afforded us two free tastings each consisting of 3 half flutes of the winery’s sparklers. We proceeded from driest to sweetest; both of us agreed that the Demi-Sec was the yummiest. With the membership, we also got two bottles of wine and a lovely tote bag.
After Mumm we headed north on the Silverado Trail with no particular place in mind. We stopped a Rutherford Ranch Winery and sampled some interesting wines. We both enjoyed their Zinfandel, but did not really care for any of the other wines we tasted there. The real fun at this winery was meeting a couple who live in the San Francisco area and had ridden to Wine Country on their Harley. We chatted and joked with them as we tasted and just had a grand old time.
Next up, V. Sattui Winery for a gourmet lunch from their on premises deli. I had a margherita sandwich or mozzarella, tomato, and basil, Kim had the tri-tip of beef and cheddar. We also split a mozzarella and tomato salad –YUM! The picnic area was well-shaded and quite nice, the winery was WAY too crowded and busy for our tastes though, so we left without tasting.
Right down the road, we came across Rubicon Estate, home of Copela – Niebaum Winery
owned by Francis Ford Copela, director of the Godfather movies and Apocalypse Now. The tasting fee here was outrageous, so we just wondered around the estate for a few minutes. And what a wonderful place it was. Upon entering you are faced with a Gone With the Wind style staircase with a huge stained glass window on the first landing. Words just cannot do it justice; you’ll just have to look at the photos.
As we headed back towards the hotel we stopped at several other wineries along the way. The largest of which was Robert Mondavi. We were disappointed that the tours had already stopped for the day
and, after tasting the wine, we were glad we had a two-for-one coupon – it really wasn’t very good. Oh well, they can’t all be great.
We also stopped at Consentino, a small winery with very limited production. Jeff was our bartender there and he proved to be very witty as he poured their wines for us. While we enjoyed the tasting, the wines weren’t really for us so we passed on buying more and headed on down the road.
We tried to get into Trefethen Vineyards, alas they were closed for the day; we had just missed them by ten minutes. Guess we’ll have to try again tomorrow.
Tonight we are planning on going to Yountville to watch the fireworks at the Vetran’s Home. We are told that it is one of the best displays in the valley and also a darn good party. We’ll see.
Until tomorrow…
~~TO BE CONINUED…
We started our second day of tasting rushing to make the first tour at Mumm Winery. I wanted to see how sparkling wine was made and, we just made the 10:00 AM tour.
Karri walked us through a small demonstration vineyard and explained the varietals used in Mumm’s champagnes. Surprisingly they use a variety of grapes in each type of wine they make; this insures the consistency of flavor one expects. We walked the production area and learned how the grapes are harvested, juiced and how only the first few drop of juice from each grape is used to make the wine anything after that is usually more sour or bitter. As we walked further we learned how yeast and sugar are introduced to the wine to provide carbonation and how the bottles are riddled or turned to remove the yeast when its work is done. Finally we learned how the sediment is removed – only the necks of the bottles are frozen, trapping the yeast that has settled there, then an enormous vacuum sucks the frozen yeast sorbet from the bottle.Of course, following the tour was a tasting. We opted to join their wine club which afforded us two free tastings each consisting of 3 half flutes of the winery’s sparklers. We proceeded from driest to sweetest; both of us agreed that the Demi-Sec was the yummiest. With the membership, we also got two bottles of wine and a lovely tote bag.
After Mumm we headed north on the Silverado Trail with no particular place in mind. We stopped a Rutherford Ranch Winery and sampled some interesting wines. We both enjoyed their Zinfandel, but did not really care for any of the other wines we tasted there. The real fun at this winery was meeting a couple who live in the San Francisco area and had ridden to Wine Country on their Harley. We chatted and joked with them as we tasted and just had a grand old time.
Next up, V. Sattui Winery for a gourmet lunch from their on premises deli. I had a margherita sandwich or mozzarella, tomato, and basil, Kim had the tri-tip of beef and cheddar. We also split a mozzarella and tomato salad –YUM! The picnic area was well-shaded and quite nice, the winery was WAY too crowded and busy for our tastes though, so we left without tasting.Right down the road, we came across Rubicon Estate, home of Copela – Niebaum Winery
owned by Francis Ford Copela, director of the Godfather movies and Apocalypse Now. The tasting fee here was outrageous, so we just wondered around the estate for a few minutes. And what a wonderful place it was. Upon entering you are faced with a Gone With the Wind style staircase with a huge stained glass window on the first landing. Words just cannot do it justice; you’ll just have to look at the photos.As we headed back towards the hotel we stopped at several other wineries along the way. The largest of which was Robert Mondavi. We were disappointed that the tours had already stopped for the day
and, after tasting the wine, we were glad we had a two-for-one coupon – it really wasn’t very good. Oh well, they can’t all be great.We also stopped at Consentino, a small winery with very limited production. Jeff was our bartender there and he proved to be very witty as he poured their wines for us. While we enjoyed the tasting, the wines weren’t really for us so we passed on buying more and headed on down the road.
We tried to get into Trefethen Vineyards, alas they were closed for the day; we had just missed them by ten minutes. Guess we’ll have to try again tomorrow.
Tonight we are planning on going to Yountville to watch the fireworks at the Vetran’s Home. We are told that it is one of the best displays in the valley and also a darn good party. We’ll see.
Until tomorrow…
~~TO BE CONINUED…
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