Wednesday:
Today is my day of appointments set up by a couple of distributors.  Chapellett was my first visit.  This was a treacherous and beautiful drive up a mountain.  It was rainy morning.  I arrived early and snapped a few photos.  In my tour group was a French winemaker whose wines we (Binny's) carry and a family of four from New York.

We walked through their immense barrel room and our guide showed us the different wines in the barrels.  Our guide talked about the winemaking process and we went through their mountainside vineyards as well.  The many different elevations are one of the main reasons why they produce such great wine.  Vineyards with higher elevations receive more sunlight.

We tasted through the Chapellett wines, they were very nice, ranging from $25 to $125.  Their Mountain Cuvee Red Blend was a great value at $25.  The guide asked the kids in the family if they learned anything.  A nine year old said, "no, I already knew how wine is made."  I cracked up laughing.  This was an enjoyable visit.  The rain stopped and I was off for my second appointment.

Flora Springs was next.  They own the fourth most land in all of Napa.  They do not produce a ton of wine.  About 80% of their grapes are sold to wineries around Napa. (Plumpjack, Silver Oak...)  I met with Jason and we walked through their vineyards as the rain stopped.  Some grapes on the vines were already starting to bud.  We then tasted through their main wines.  Their Chardonnay was a great value at around $20.

Next we walked (glass in hand) through the Flora Springs caves.  It looks like a bomb shelter with a lot of wine barrels. Jason let me taste five wines that were still in the barrel.  I have not done any barrel sampling before.  I tried a Malbec and a Cabernet Franc, which are used in their proprietary blend.  They were really good.  Jason taught me a lot about wine making, the use of oak and why wines are blended.  Malbec helps with color and fruit.  Cab Franc helps brightness and ripeness.  I learned a lot.  It was a great experience and I was late for my Shafer visit.

I had just pulled into the Shafer parking lot as my tour group made it outside. It was windy and warm.  John Gretz (Shafer wine educator) greeted me and introduced me to three married couples visiting.  He showed us the estate hillside vineyards and explained how the vines struggled to stay alive.    Before picking, the berries will be tiny compared to other Cabernet grapes. These vineyards, even being in the same enclosed area have different micro-climates. There is a wind tunnel that blows cool air from the San Francisco Bay.  It wasn't windy at the two wineries I visited before Shafer.  Interesting.  Only the best grapes from the hillside vineyards will be used for Shafer's flagship wine, Hillside Select. It was a beautiful sight.

Doug Shafer (the son of the owner) sat down next to me as we were tasting through the wonderful wines.  He was wearing shorts and sandles.  His large yellow lab followed him in. I loved it. The wines were wonderful.  The Merlot is "affordable," and smells like Napa on a warm day.  The flagship wine, Hillside Select was the best wine I've had in my life.  John Shafer made his way down to the shop area, arm in a cast and talked to me about my work and wanted me to thank everyone for pushing his wines. (It doesn't take much.) He and Doug were humble and very laid back.  They thanked me for coming to their winery. I was beside myself leaving Shafer.  This was this single best wine experience I've had.  This was a great day.  I left with purple teeth and a big smile on my face.  I won't forget it.