lgsjr – Page 42 – Power Tasting – The Wine Tasting Experience

Railroad Square

Sonoma and Healdsburg, in Sonoma County, are dissimilar in many ways but they have one feature that is very similar. They each have a major town square, with inviting leafy parks that are the focal points of each town. Today they are surrounded by restaurants, tasting rooms, galleries and boutiques that announce that these are towns for people who have made it, who have the means to live the good life in Wine Country. As a visitor, you know that there is money there.

There’s another place in Sonoma County that also has a lot of history, with shops and restaurants too, but this place says something else: “I remember the old days, before Sonoma County became fashionable”. That place is Railroad Square in Santa Rosa. It’s actually a formally designated Historic District, and we like to think that that’s not so much because anything terribly historic ever happened there, but because it has retained its roots.

There’s a railroad station of course, but no railroads anymore. However, the Web (http://www.railroadsquare.net/) says that there will be light rail trains stopping there again, beginning in the fall of 2016. Trains notwithstanding, this is a section of town to be seen as a pedestrian. No matter where you’re from, you get the sense that you’ve been here before, and that you’re welcome back.

The old Santa Rosa station in Railroad Square (photo courtesy of City-Data.com)

There’s the old Hotel La Rose that’s been there since 1907. It’s the kind of railroad hotel that, in the movies, the new sheriff stayed in while the schoolmarm fixed him up a place of his own. To be honest, we’ve never stayed at the La Rose. You can’t use frequent flyer points there, alas. But it is awfully pretty to look at.

Up the street is a favorite restaurant of ours, Lococo’s. It’s a little Italian trattoria with red and white checkered napkins and with real Italians working in it. The food is good, the prices are reasonable and the charm comes free. Like we said, it’s homey.

Further up the street is Jackson’s, the latest establishment to occupy that corner spot. It’s changed hands and cuisines every few years and right now it’s a frank and honest bar. Oh, you can get food there, too, but it’s really the spot for a cold beer or a local wine, preferably on a hot summer evening. With each change of ownership, the new proprietors have been smart enough to keep the art deco cabinetry that once again provides historic continuity.

Another good part of Railroad Square is the coffee shops. Whenever we’re in Santa Rosa, which is pretty often, we get our morning joe (well, actually latte) at one of two places. The Flying Goat is newly renovated, with black and white tiles and a lot of sunshine pouring in, a very modern look. On the other side of the square, there’s A’Roma Roasters with its rustic style, little wooden tables and stools, old posters on the walls and a long row of dispensers of coffee beans, which they sell at retail. It smells of breakfast when you enter. Both have a few tables outside where you can enjoy your coffee and watch the crowd.

The choice of coffee shops is a deeply personal one, but both of these offer the same thing: they’ve been there a long time, they’ll be there a long time and you’ll feel welcome whenever you get there. Sure, there are tourists planning their wine tasting days (isn’t that what you’ll be doing too?) but there are a lot of locals as well. It’s not infrequent that people will ask where you’re from, what you’re doing in Santa Rosa and ask how you found this particular place for a cup of coffee. Just tell them you’re coming home.

The Good Stuff

The reason to go wine tasting is, of course, to taste wine. That rather unextraordinary statement obviously needs some refinement.

The main reason we go wine tasting is to educate our palates and increase our understanding by sampling the finest wines we can, in whatever region we are visiting. We realize that there are some people, usually those living nearby, who are simply enjoying a day in the country along with some nice beverages to enhance the pleasure. For them, lingering over a rare and expensive Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay just isn’t a part of the game plan. If you are one of those people, the rest of what follows really isn’t for you.

So now that it’s just us serious tasters, we’d like to ask a question: If you’ve come all this way to France or California or Italy or Australia or…why would you want to spend your time and tolerance for alcohol on anything other than the best wines? (There are actually a few good reasons and we’ll get to those later.) But for now, please take our advice and when you enter a tasting room, scan the wines offered and select the best available.

How do you know which are the best? One way, of course, is that there’s a special list with the best wines on it, often called the Reserve or the Library selection. If there isn’t such a list, there will be some wines that are more expensive than the others. It is highly likely that those are the wines the proprietor considers the best.

Not only will you taste better wines this way but you will have a better experience. Sometimes, the glasses will often be larger and thinner. You will probably get a better explanation of what is being offered to you, especially if you are tasting on a weekday. You may very well be in a special, more elegant tasting room as is the case, for instance, at Beaulieu Vineyards and at Cakebread in Rutherford.

Naturally, these better wines cost more to sample. For example, at the two aforementioned wineries the cost of a regular tasting at Beaulieu Vineyards is $20 and $35 for the Reserve tasting. At Cakebread it’s as little as $15 for a selection of current releases and $40 for the Reserves. We always choose the Reserve lists.

Now, we understand that the higher price may be a deterrent for some people. That’s one of the good reasons mentioned above for choosing the lesser quality tasting list. Another might be that there are wines that are on the regular list that you’d especially like to try. A particular winery might not have a reserve Merlot, for instance, and you’d like to know what their Merlots are like. There’s also the fact that you might want to taste wines that you are more likely to buy when you get back home.

Here are a few tips that might make tasting the good stuff more affordable. We two almost always share a tasting. Remember that the idea is to taste, not drink, so a shared glass gives both of us enough of an idea of what we want to know. Moreover, we have sometimes found that the server will pour a bit more into a shared glass than to a single taster’s. If, in addition, you want to try something on the lower priced list, the server will almost always accommodate you if you purchase the more expensive tasting (although often not the other way around). In fact, it is often a very good idea to taste both the regular and the Reserve wines side by side. (Just ask for an additional glass.) You may well find that the regular wine is more to your liking than some of the pricier ones.

BYOB

Let’s say that you’re in some wonderful sector of Wine Country and all day long you’ve been tasting fabulous wines. If you’ve taken our advice, you’ve selected only the best wines to sip even if you had to pay a little more for the experience. At the better wineries, you could be enjoying a pour from bottles that go for a hundred dollars or in some instances, several hundred.

Then you go to dinner.

Remember that wine you liked so much this afternoon. Well, with the restaurant’s markup, that could make the price of drinking it with your meal unaffordably high. But there is a way around it: bring your own bottle. Remember, most restaurants charge a corkage fee if you bring a bottle with you. It could be as little as $10 per bottle or as high as $25.

But look at it this way. Restaurants mark up their wines between twice and three times the retail price. So if for example you loved a $75 wine, you might expect to pay $150 to $225 for this wine to accompany your meal. If you bring it with you, it would cost you only $100. Now, “only” is a relative term, but it certainly is cheaper than the price on the wine list.

If this is your plan, it could change the way you approach wine tasting during the day. If you know the restaurant at which you plan to dine that evening, call them and find out their corkage policy and fees. You might even ask what the specials of the day will be. Then go wine tasting with your dinner in mind.

Perhaps you’re planning on having a steak, a big, luscious steak. A Cabernet Sauvignon would be just the right wine to drink with it. And luckily enough, you’re in Napa Valley or Sonoma County (or Bordeaux or Chile) where they just happen to be famous for big, luscious Cabernet Sauvignons. As you go through the day, try the Cabernets that would fit your budget with the corkage fee added. When you’ve found the perfect wine, buy it and take it with you to dinner.

Of course, you might taste several “perfect” wines while you’re visiting the wineries. If you’re thinking of buying one for your evening meal, it’s a good idea to take a few notes as you go along and then decide which one is most to your liking or fits best with your dinner plans. You can then go back the winery where you tasted that wine and buy a bottle.

Here’s a little tip that will make bringing your wine even more attractive. Many restaurants, even some of the best, don’t charge corkage at all. They may place some restrictions on that policy. For example, Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg only extends the no-corkage policy to wines made in Sonoma County. That still gives you a lot of room for maneuver. Another California restaurant with a no-corkage policy is Hurley’s in Yountville. We especially appreciate that the sommelier there gives extra attention to wines that are more than ten years old, because they and their corks can be a little more delicate.

There may be other restrictions, such as only certain nights when corkage is waived or a requirement that you buy one bottle off the list before they waive the corkage on the one you bring with you. A little advance planning pays off. There are lists on the web, but we’re not vouching for their accuracy. A few simple phone calls are the best bet.

Domaine Carneros

As we often point out, Power Tasting is not about wine itself but about the pleasures of visiting Wine Country and tasting wine. In our estimation, there are few if any places worthier of a visit than Domaine Carneros in the Napa County side of the Carneros region. In a word, the experience is simply lovely.

Domaine Carneros is the US subsidiary of Taittinger in Reims, France. Their wines are among the most famous champagnes in the world. The French have laws that restrict the use of the word champagne to sparkling wines made of grapes grown in the Champagne region. Therefore, being a French company, they do not call their California production champagne, only sparkling wine. You can now forget that distinction and call it whatever you like.

And we’re pretty sure you’ll like visiting Domaine Carneros.

You enter the grounds through a wide gate (remember that gate) and park at the foot of a long staircase leading to what to the naked eye seems to be a grand French chateau. Honoring their roots in France, the Taittinger people constructed a faux chateau in California, very much like the one they have on their French estate. The staircase cuts through rows of Pinot Noir vines, one of the three grapes used in champagne and thus in Domaine Carneros’ cham…, excuse us, sparkling wines. (The other two are Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier.)

The faux chateau at Domaine Carneros

You then take a seat at a table on the wide terrace (or inside on days with inclement weather). The views from that terrace are priceless: vineyards, the rolling green and beige hillsides of Carneros, blue sky, a lake, sheep nibbling the grass. Wait. Sheep? Actually, the Domaine Carneros folks put up flat wooden replicas of sheep, just to enhance your experience.

The view, with “sheep”

Soon a server will bring you a menu and ask what you would like. Here you pay for wine flights at different levels, from $30 to $40 dollars. You can also order by the glass, at prices ranging from $10 to $30 a glass. No, it isn’t the cheapest place for wine tasting in Napa Valley, but you should consider the matter of value for money. Visitors can have their sparkling wines or their Pinot Noirs, the most renowned of which is called Famous Gate. (Remember that gate?)

You can also order rather pricey nibbles, like charcuterie and caviar. Your server will also bring you some almonds or other snack to go with your wines, without charge.

A few words about those servers. They are always very well-mannered and attentive and are usually quite informative about the wines they serve you. They tell you what you need to know and don’t enter into your conversation. It can be a little difficult to get their attention when you want to order some more to drink, and in our experience, we’ve always wanted more. But they can be rather pushy about joining the Domaine Carneros wine club. (See Wine Clubs in a previous edition of Power Tasting.) We must admit that we have succumbed and have joined, but that is neither a recommendation nor does it mean our arms were twisted by the server. Just be ready for the sales pitch and politely say “no” if you’re not interested.

It is important to remember that a visit to Domaine Carneros is more about drinking than sipping, as compared to any other winery we’re familiar with. If you show interest in purchasing the wines, or especially if you show interest in joining their club, the server will bring you healthy pours of virtually all the wines on their list. So take it easy and keep in mind your wine tasting agenda for the rest of the day when you visit Domaine Carneros.

For us, it’s usually the first place we visit when we arrive from San Francisco, the winery being one of the southernmost in Napa Valley. It may be our only visit for the day. Or it’s the last stop on the last day of our trip, the only place we go as we leave Napa Valley (or Sonoma for that matter). We can’t recommend visiting Domaine Carneros highly enough, but you do need to be prepared.

Don’t Try to Visit Everyplace All at Once

There are two types of locales in Wine Country. Some are places with a small number of wineries, often not of the very highest grade. Areas like Temecula Valley, Long Island’s North Fork and Jerome, Arizona fall into this category. Then there are the sectors where the world’s great wines are made, such as Bordeaux, Napa Valley, Stellenbosch, Barossa, Tuscany and the Cote d’Or in Burgundy. These are enormous territories with hundreds of wineries and tasting rooms. (For example, there are more than 400 wineries in Napa Valley alone.)

Here’s a little non-secret: you can’t visit them all. Probably not in a lifetime and absolutely not in a day. So if you’re visiting one of these legendary wine-making areas and you only have a day (especially if you only have a day) there are some tips that will make your visit more enjoyable.

Do some advance planning. Figure out where you will be starting from that day, how long it will take to get to Wine Country and when you need to be back. Many thanks to Google Maps; everyone can be an expert in these matters nowadays. You also must factor in the number of wineries you intend to visit, which is governed more by your tolerance for alcohol than in the number of hours you’ll be in the area.
Choose just one section to visit. Or maybe two, at the most depending on the geography. The point is that you want to spend your time visiting wineries, not driving long distances from place to place. [Exception to this advice: Maybe you do want to drive around in order to take in the scenery. Maybe you want to see the vineyards surrounding castles in the Medoc or the gracious hills in Sonoma County or the Route Touristique in Champagne. That’s a great idea, too, but then plan to minimize your winery visits.]
Figure out where you’re going to have lunch. If you are going wine tasting, you are going to have lunch. This may be a picnic by the side of the road in a Burgundian village or a fine repast at a South African wine farm. But these meals don’t just happen. You need to plan ahead if you’re bringing lunch with you or know where restaurants are if you intend to dine that way. Some of the best bets are knowing where the local delis are. These days, many have gone gourmet, which isn’t bad at all.
Go to the best wineries in the section you choose. This is easy if you’re familiar with the area, but what do you do if the wineries are all just names to you? There are several answers. Again the Web is your friend; look up “best wineries in ______” and you’ll have an excellent chance of tasting something worthwhile, at least to someone’s taste. Or just ask people. We have often pulled into the first winery we see, tasted their wines and then asked the people there where else we should go. These folks in wineries are usually very generous with advice and have often led us to some of the greatest wine tasting experiences of our lives. (See Valpolicella Follies, for example.)
Do your wine tasting in a town, not at the vineyards. As a general rule, tasting rooms in towns are inferior to what you’ll be able to try at the places where the wine is actually made. But that is not universally true. For example, you can have a very pleasant experience walking down Grand Avenue in Los Olivos, stopping at a few (just a few) of the 25 tasting rooms in town. You can do the same thing at the degustaziones in Montalcino. If you happen to be staying in those places, you don’t have to worry about getting behind the wheel of a car, so your day is optimized.
Don’t worry about what you didn’t get a chance to see. It is far better, to our minds, to get the most out of a small sample then just to skim a larger selection. We realize that not everyone feels this way, but consider the fact that having visited one corner of Wine Country, life has a way of giving you another chance one day.

Meeting the Winemaker

As we state on our front page, Power Tasting is not about wine as such, but about visiting Wine Country. We offer advice to travelers, not connoisseurs. The people we generally talk with when we go visiting are servers and tasting room managers, not winemakers. Still, over the years we have had the occasion to meet many winemakers who just happened to be in the tasting room while we were there.

Perhaps our warmest memory was meeting two generations of the Charavin family at their winery in Rasteau, Domaine des Coteaux de Travers (www.coteaux-des-travers.com/index.php/en). We were already familiar with their wines and made a point of visiting them. The winery had only a simple bar in front of the production area. The young woman who served us was the both the wife of the present winemaker and the daughter of the family that had owned the estate in previous years. While we were talking with her, her father-in-law, Robert Charavin stopped by and we learned a bit more about the history of the winery. And then his son, also named Robert, came by in his mud-covered boots. They were all excited to meet Americans who loved their wines, but not as excited as were to meet them. It was a unique and educational experience.

Also in the Rhone Valley, we visited Chateauneuf du Pape, an area famed for its hearty and expressive red wines. Traveling through the sector, we stopped at a winery we had been told was up-and-coming, Domaine Paul Autard (www.paulautard.com, in French). The woman serving us recognized that our accents were from North America and when we asked a few questions decided to introduce us to the winemaker, that is, her husband Jean-Paul Autard. He explained that his father, Paul, had started the winery and that he was setting about to create world-quality wines. We discussed his trips to New York, invited him to call us when he was there the next time (he never did) and he gave us a nice corkscrew that we use to this day.

autard

Jean-Paul Autard (Photo courtesy of Domaine Paul Autard)

One more story. We have been drinking the wines of David Cofaro for quite some time and visit his winery often. We’ve gotten to know him and his wife Pat a bit over the years. In 2015, we got to meet his new assistant winemaker, Josh. He’s an earnest and thoughtful young man who has some great ideas about how he could improve wines we already thought were pretty terrific.

In all three of these stories, there’s a common element. There’s more to wine than barrels and terroir. There are the people and the way they think about wine, their personal histories, their way of approaching what they do for a living with passion and intelligence. We are not oenologists or critics, so our interactions with winemakers is necessarily irregular. But when we do get the chance, it adds enormously to our understanding or wine and to the pleasure we get going wine tasting.

Jocko’s Steak House

Power Tasting doesn’t do restaurant reviews so this is not a restaurant review. It is about a restaurant that is definitely a place worth a visit if you ever happen to be in Nipomo, California. Actually, no one ever just happens to be in Nipomo, so we’re really saying that if you ever are wine tasting in San Luis Obispo County or nearby Santa Maria, make a pilgrimage to Jocko’s.

A visit there is not just about the steak although the steaks are very good. It’s about the experience. For one thing, you feel as though you have been transported to a Saturday afternoon western of your youth. (You do remember Saturday afternoon movies, don’t you?) The bar is wood-paneled, with the heads of various dead animals (deer and such, not cows) shown proudly. Sorry, the door is just a door, not of the swinging variety. Surprisingly for a restaurant smack in the middle of Wine Country, the list is not particularly impressive although you’ll surely find something to enjoy with your steak.

Then there are the folks who assemble there. Ten gallon hats and boots are much in evidence. Everybody is a regular or, more likely, they treat everyone as though they were regulars, which is even better. You’d better have a reservation as Jocko’s is quite well-known locally and seems always to be crowded. Not that you’ll actually get a table at the time you reserved, but it will put you in the running to get a table and give you time to enjoy the bar. Then, when it is your turn, you’ll hear your name bellowed out to overcome the din.

The dining room is a large, open space with cinderblock walls and Formica covered tables. This is not a restaurant for gracious, elegant dining. It’s for seriously committed carnivores. Oh, they give you salad and vegetables, too, but the raison d’etre of Jocko’s (not that they’d ever use a phrase like raison d’etre) is enormous slabs of meat, mostly of the bovine variety. There are some fish items as well, but really, why bother?

jockos

The firepit at Jocko’s. Photo courtesy of A. Rios on Flickr.

So now you’ve ordered your dinner. You can go out back and watch them cook it in a great, wide open, wood fired barbecue pit. There are dozens of steaks and ribs and chops being cooked at any one time and at least one of them is yours. The fellow tending the grill must be able to stand the heat, because he’s staying in the kitchen.

Go to Jocko’s for the experience. Don’t worry, if you’re a meat-eater, you’ll love your meal.

Beringer Vineyards

There’s a lot of history in Napa Valley. And then there’s history. If you’d like to get a glimpse and a taste of Napa Valley’s past and it’s transcendent present, there are few places more suited for that than the Beringer winery in St. Helena (www.beringer.com). Some may think that successful California winemaking started with the so-called Judgement of Paris in 1976. And indeed the Beringer brothers were making wine in ’76…1876 that is.

The overall effect of the first view of the Beringer property is that is not so much a winery as a park. The grounds are adorned with fountains and ancient trees that keep everything cool even on the hottest summer days. There are two venues for tasting, the Old Winery and the Rhine House, the latter the 19^th century home of founder Frederick Beringer. (His brother’s Hudson House is also on the property.) So even if you have people in your party who are not wine drinkers, there’s a lot to see and do.
Still, Power Tasting is about wine tasting, so let’s talk about that. Now owned by Australia’s Treasury Wine Estates, Beringer makes wines that range in quality from everyday table wines to some of the finest wines in California, if not the entire world. We recommend that serious wine enthusiasts choose the reserve tasting at the Rhine House, which gives you a chance to sample the famous Beringer Private Reserve. This wine was the creation of former winemaker Ed Sbragia, who propelled Beringer to the front ranks of American winemaking.

The Rhine House at Beringer Vineyards

Let us relate a few stories from our previous visits.

On warm afternoons, you can take your tasting to tables on the porch surrounding the Rhine House. On our first visit, we arrived late in the afternoon with about an hour to go until closing time. We found the wines to be spectacular and took our time, with Steve going inside to collect the next pour while Lucie stayed at the table. After luxuriating in great wine and the shafts of golden afternoon sunshine piercing the trees, Steve went to pay…and all the staff had left for the day! We do recommend a late-afternoon visit but also encourage you to pay for your tasting.

We have previously discussed Christmas in California’s wineries; Beringer is one of the loveliest. For one thing, Rhine House looks as though it could be made out of gingerbread. For another, they erect a magnificently decorated Christmas tree in the center hallway. Their shop also has many lovely gift items. It’s impossible not to feel the spirit of the holidays.

Christmas at Beringer

We have found the servers at the Rhine House to be knowledgeable and helpful. We have long enjoyed Beringer’s Knight’s Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and one time wanted to taste it in comparison to the reserve wines. However, the Knight’s Valley is not served in the Rhine House. So an attendant hopped in a golf cart, drove off to the other tasting room and brought a bottle back for us. How’s that for service?

We have always found that if you are obviously interested in fine wines, the servers at Beringer have some special treats stashed away. So if you particularly admire, say, the 2010 Private Reserve, there might just be a 2004 under the bar for you to compare it with and get an idea of how it will age.

Beringer is one of our favorite destinations in Napa Valley. We recommend that you visit it too. We think it will become one of your favorites, too.

Old Times in California #2 – Napa Valley Under Water

In these days of drought, it’s hard to believe that not that long ago the issue facing winery owners was too much rain, rather than not enough. Beginning on January 8, 1995 there was heavy rainfall in Napa and Sonoma counties, causing the Russian River and the Napa River to overflow their banks. This had a major impact on tourism as many likely visitors were scared away. It was not as much of a crisis as it would have been in the summer or at harvest-time, but news reports were pretty frightening anyway: 500 people displaced; roads closed for as much as two days; lost sales for those vintners who only sold at their wineries.

In the midst of all this, Steve was to attend a major conference in his field (that is, information security, which he does when he’s not tasting wine). The conference was in San Francisco. Not only that, but his boss was planning to attend with him. The boss knew that Steve had visited Napa Valley often and suggested that they get to San Francisco a few days before the conference and go wine tasting. This is how Steve became a chauffeur and sommelier for his manager and said manager’s girlfriend, who came along as well.

Now the relationship among the three was quite cordial but it’s never a good idea to get one’s boss stuck on a road that has been flooded out. Keep in mind that many well-known wineries had closed in deference to the rising waters. The Napa River had crested just north of Yountville and the Yountville Cross Road, one of the Valley’s major east-west thoroughfares had been washed out. That meant that several wineries were difficult to reach and a few were inaccessible altogether. Steve well remembers pulling up to the old Silver Oak winery, north of the worst inundation, only to find the doors boarded up with sandbags outside.

So it took some maneuvering to find roads that were dry and wineries that were open. Cell phones weren’t common in those days, so there was no chance of calling ahead and asking if anyone was serving wine that day. Steve’s manager was busily studying a map, but Steve had been around the region often enough that he was able to stick to the relatively higher Silverado Trail and then make excursions onto the crossing roads that appeared open. He also had a good enough mental picture of Napa Valley, simpler in that bygone era, to know where the better wineries were. Or at least he thought he did, which is nearly the same thing. He just pulled onto a road, found an open winery and pretended that was where he was heading all along.

Now there are some lessons to be learned from all this. First, while we don’t recommend visiting Wine Country when there’s a major flood, there is a lot to be said for going wine tasting in rainy or cold weather (which we have done several times since). There are no crowds – heck, there’s almost nobody there – and wine servers can be much more attentive and maybe offer you something they would not consider serving in better times.

Second, wine tasting has become a major tourism industry. Of course, there would be no tourists if there were no wine, but Napa Valley in particular has been described as Disneyland for adults. However, the infrastructure is still farm land. You may not even realize how congested it is until you see Wine Country with nobody in it.

And finally, that visit helped create a better relationship with Steve’s boss, not that it was bad to begin with. Still, like fishermen who can talk for hours about the big one that got away, Steve and his manager were able to tell increasingly harrowing stories about tasting wine in the face of surging flood waters.

A Wine Tasting Vacation

For some people, wine tasting is an event on a vacation. For others, especially those who live close to Wine Country, it’s an occasional excursion. Then there are some, like ourselves, who choose to take several days or even a week and spend the whole time in a particular wine region, with the primary purpose of tasting wine. We do it every year somewhere in California and have arranged our vacations that way in France, Italy and Australia. But that’s not all. This sort of vacation is also about immersing ourselves in the natural (and man-made) beauty of the region, picnicking, dining, lazing by the pool and generally relaxing.

A multi-day wine tasting excursion is not the same as a series of one-day trips. While each vacation day may stand alone, there are some significant differences with day-long outings from a central location outside Wine Country. For one thing, there is no need to rush back to wherever one came from at the end of the day. For another, one can sleep late and still be out tasting as the wineries open. And there is none of the psychological pressure to see and experience as much as possible each day; what does not happen today can wait for tomorrow. There might even be a day where the morning is spent in some other activity like visiting art galleries and the afternoon left to the wineries.

Most important perhaps is that a dedicated wine taster (anyone who spends several days going from winery to winery is by definition dedicated) can approach the wines differently and gain a more focused perspective. One day might be given to comparing an unfamiliar grape, such as Syrah or Pinot Gris, at multiple wineries. Another could be dedicated to comparing different winemakers’ approaches to Bordeaux blends or Chardonnay. Visitors with some knowledge of the best-known labels might enjoy a day of tasting only wines from unfamiliar vineyards; there is no better way to deepen one’s understanding of the region and its products.

As with day-trippers, a multi-day vacationer should limit visits to a concentrated region. Napa Valley, for example, aside from being a geographic region is also an American Viticultural Area (or AVA). There are 16 sub-appellations from Calistoga in the north to Carneros in the south. (Just to confuse matters, the area around Napa City does not have a sub-appellation, although we think it should. And to carry the confusion even further, most people refer to the sub-appellations as AVAs anyway.) It is possible for a vacationer with several days to spend to return to just one AVA and learn how adjoining properties growing the same grapes make very dissimilar wines, adding fuel to the argument that it is winemakers’ skills that make the difference.

Oh, but wait… When you actually see the properties, with minute differences of sun, elevation, proximity to water and other aspects of microclimate, you will be able to say that it is all about terroir. Only by giving yourself the opportunity to go into depth within an AVA does one get the knowledge to participate in the argument at all.

If you do spend several days winetasting, it is important to avoid a certain jadedness. If all you have been tasting has been wine of an extremely high quality, the bottle you can afford to order at dinner may seem a little bland, or maybe more than a little. Of course, there are many winemakers in the great winemaking areas in the US and abroad who aspire to greatness and not a few who achieve it. If you focus only on tasting the very best that one particular region of Wine Country has to offer, you will miss many excellent wines that you will be able to buy once you get home. You might try one of those wines and say to yourself “Gee, this awfully good. I wonder why I didn’t care for it when I was on vacation.” It’s all too easy to become an instant wine snob. Don’t let the superb be the enemy of the very good.