I watched Bottle Shock. And I was taken by the movie ... even moreso than Sideways because it offered you some insight into the story of Napa and its emergence as a genuine, legitimate wine producing mecca of the world. I loved seeing the perspective of the individual winemakers who more often lived crush to crush for the privilege of making the best wine mother nature would allow that particular year. I appreciate the opportunity to swallow wine education like what bottle shock actually means ... how travel/movmeent can destroy the integrity of the wine. And while I picked up some insight into the wine-making industry while kicked back with a glass of Syrah-Merlot blend (rare) from Arietti, nothing leaves a greater impression than when it comes from the lips of the actual winemaker to your glass. So let's chat about racking the wine, that is, taking it out of the barrel into the tank, back to the barrel and into the tank and back to the barrel. There's a great scene in Bottle Shock where the son, Bo Barrett says to his father, no one in the Valley racks their wine three times. He says, "rack it." At Sloan, probably our greatest treat on this wine journey, we witnessed first hand how they break down each barrel physically (painstaking) to remove the wine (rack it) only to put the barrel back together to refill with the wine.
As you look down a cave as long as a football field and see barrel after barrel, it seems like a daunting task. But winemaker Mary McClellan isn't your "run of the vineyard" winemaker. She's a meticulous, marathon-running, gracious winemaker who elevates the bar higher than anyone we met on this "over the top" wine trip. On our first evening, we had the opportunity to sample a library wine that her husband and Harlan winemaker, Bob Levy and Martha produced several years ago and then proceeded to share with perfectly good strangers (us) (thanks to our friends Stuart Pliner and Barbara Bing for securing). The more than $1,000+ wine was the best of the trip. But the real prize was enjoying it with Bob and Martha, along with a few acceptable wines and an evening of banter than ended with big talk about me joining Martha for one of four scheduled marathons in the coming year, The Great Wall of China Marathon.
By now, you are wondering why did I title the blog, Shattered But Not Broken. Well, in every private winery tour we explored ... Jones Family Vineyards, Quintessa, Turley ... the Shattered theme came up. That is, they all suffered a hard June rain that literally shattered 20-30% of the grapes off the vine. That translates to a loss of some very good wine, for them and all of us. The level of work that goes into tending to the winery for almost a year, only to lose as much as 30 percent of your grapes because mother nature felt the tendency to ball her eyes out in the Northwest ... would have me balling as a winemaker. Not these winemaking vets. Each of them took it in stride ... not only unphased, but excited about the days and weeks of picking that lie ahead. They are the best of their trade, living an always on, 58 degree lifestyle that can be unforgiving and yet, miraculous in its end product.
So we left Napa eager to return to the swaying hillsides of vines, the color of passion fruit and the scent of herbs that lines the Silverado Trail. It was a true treat to experience ... life in Napa from the eyes of real winemakers. Cheers.
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