Because we belong to several wine clubs, we get invitations to all sorts of events. And now that we live near Napa/Sonoma, we can take advantage of them. Sunday, we headed up to Napa for the Shop Hop (see quilting blog) of Wine Tasting. Sixteen wineries opened up tasting rooms for participants of this event. Several of the wineries don't have tasting rooms and aren't usually available to the public. We were assigned to start at Honig where we collected a "passport" that was then stamped at each winery. We were given tastes of whites and reds and also had delicious nibblies at each place. Mark, the CACorkDork wrote about all the wines. I'll just fill you in on the fun. When you get to the winery, you are directed to the area set aside for the Wine Hop participants. You hear the spiel about the wine, swirl/sip/swish/swallow, look studious as if you are thinking about all the flavors and aromas you have just experienced and are rating this wine against your vast knowledge of this varietal. Then you nod slightly making some small comment about the wine as the winery person stands by watching you and holding the bottle half raised as if to toast. If the comment you mumble is not sufficiently exuberant, they will look worried and lean toward you hoping for more information. If you feel guilty, you will immediately loudly declare that the wine is more than "not bad".... it's actually "quite good". You continue with the comments until they lean back and look relieved. Phew! You passed that taste. Then they pick up the next bottle and looking at you covertly, they lean in to share a secret...
this wine is the special library reserve select limited edition red that won all these awards and is ONLY being tasted by participants of this event.... You swirl and study the glass and maybe swirl a bit more. You know that alot is resting on the mouthful you are about to consume.... So you stick your nose in the glass and sniff a bit making a few mumbling comments about the amazing bouquet. Then it is time for the taste. A small sip flows into your mouth.... your swish it around a bit - not like Scope and a good morning gargle. Then if you REALLY want to impress the crowd, you suck a little air through your partly opened lips and closed teeth. This passes air over the palate allowing for a more complete taste of the wine. But I recommend that you practice this at home because you can suck the wine into your windpipe or it can dribble out of your mouth all of which would spoil the impression of a great wine connoisseur. Then you tip your head and contemplate what you have tasted..... a hint of blackberry... or is it blueberry... what did she say you should be tasting? Some berry. You swallow and look up. She is standing with bottle in salute position leaning forward. You smile and say something like, "excellent" or "delicious" or just make a yummy noise. She bursts into a huge smile and seems very happy. You have made it through a tasting. Then she stamps your passport and you buy a bottle or two and off you go to the next winery. The trunk begins to fill up and I begin to feel the wine, so Mark drags the snack bag out of the back seat. We learned after the last Napa trip that you MUST bring water and a snack bag. After every winery, I drink a bunch of water and eat some bread and cheese. This enables me to make it safely through the day. One of the wineries we stopped at was the Rubicon Winery (see photo). The estate, begun in 1879 was the Inglenook Winery. In 1975, it was purchased by Francis Ford Coppola. It changed its name to Rubicon and produces both white and red wines. The location is beautiful, the house amazing, the wine..... so so.
Another part of the Winery Shop Hop was visiting with other tasters. When you get to the winery and are shown to the special area, there are several other people standing or sitting and tasting. At the Sullivan Winery, we were seated in a lovely outdoor area with a couple from a nearby city. Not only do you share the usual who-you-are-what-you-do stuff, but at a wine tasting, you also share wine info. What clubs do YOU belong to? What wines do YOU like? Have to been to the Up-In-The-Hills Winery? It is absolutely
fabulous. I wanted to know which wineries on the list had the best snacks..... what can I say? We have another event next week.... another dinner in Monterey...... I'm practicing my suck-air technique and looking up new expletives so I will be ready.
