Monday, October 14, 2013

Tasting Some Juice

October in the Napa Valley is a special time.
The vineyards are a flurry of harvest activity, the scent 
of crushed and fermenting grapes permeates the air,
lights are on in the barrel rooms until the wee hours of the
  morning as winemakers tweak their wines to perfection,
and wineries are overflowing with their new releases. 
There is a general feeling of goodwill and festivity
as visitors descend upon the valley in a flurry of
tasting and touring, eating and celebrating.  
If you didn't book a table at your favorite
restaurant back in September, you'll have to wait 
until mid-November for a seat, even on a Monday night.

It's hard not to get caught up in the swell of 
wine-tasting fever in this beautiful valley,
so when some friends landed from Denver with
an off-the-beaten-path tasting itinerary, 
tagging along was the only option for me.


Let's enter the caves at Caldwell Vineyard in Coombsville,
 tucked away in the southeast corner of Napa Valley.




Grapes are being de-stemmed and sorted,



then do their time in the fermenting tanks.

Basically a highly tweaked combination of yeast and grape,
the "juice" is constantly tested and tasted.

Final concoctions are stored away in oak barrels.

This particular tasting was all about the 
wines of Drew Nieman, an independent winemaker 
who hones his craft at Caldwell Vineyards.

Unlike the reds that ferment in stainless steel tanks, 
Drew's chardonnay grapes ferment in the barrels
(you can hear them crackle if you put your ear to the hole).





Now the fun part. 
What a cool tasting cave.


Drew painstakingly paired some amazing cheeses
 to go in perfect harmony with each wine.  Divine.


His 2005 Proprietary Red was phenomenal.


Drew had a story (and an anecdote) about everything,
including his label (you'll have to hear it from the horse's
mouth, I couldn't possibly do it justice).


An exceptional winemaker,
he is also quite the character.
(just ask his cult following who started
Drewpie Nation on Facebook).

Lock up the brakes....we're doing a 180.
Complete opposite side of the valley, we're heading
to the remote Yates Family Winery at Mount Veeder.

One of the oldest wineries in the country, and way way out IN the country
Castle Rock winery was established in the late 1800s
(not to be confused with the modern-day Castle Rock - different
entity entirely).  The Yates family bought the property in the 1950s,
and started tinkering.

The original barrel room (white section to the left) was built in the 1800s,
the addition came in the early 1900s.

Original fermenting barrels.

And a couple of "modern day" chain saws
(the forest was cleared for the vines one tree at a time).

De-stemmer.

During prohibition, wine grapes became
"wine-grape-juice," and labeled as such with the barrel stencil.
(I'm thinking this is ripe for incorporating in a mixed media sculpture)


Antique sorter,

and bottler.


This thing is called a ram-crusher...
a big giant tree trunk that squishes grapes underneath wood panels.

True vintage bottles....a collector's dream.

This is a taster's bottle, from 1902,
complete with the winemaker's notes on the label.

Loved the humble and homey tasting room.

Grandpa Yates (or someone like that)
began a quirky corkscrew collection.



Final stop of the day was at O'Brien Estate Winery
smack in the middle of the two previous
wineries, dead-center on the valley floor.
We didn't taste the O'Brien wines, but we tasted
O'Brien winemaker David Yorgensen's private
label, Kind.  
The tasting was ultra casual in the barrel room,
and David was a very cool Vermont transplant
living his dream as a winemaker.

David is purist in his approach, minimalist in
his interference with the wine's natural processes,
and has developed relationships with small family
vineyards for his grapes, including Henry Brothers
Vineyards on the remote 1900-foot Howell Mountain.
Kind has no retail presence and is only sold direct
through his wine club, rare for a winemaker with
such a small production.  The Sauvignon blanc
and Syrah wines were particularly noteworthy.

Anyone can go to the big-label wineries and taste 
"good juice," but it is well worth it to find someone
with connections to the hard-to-find 
vineyards and winemakers.  It's ultimately all about
the experience - which was, in this case, absolutely delightful.

For this "Boutique Wine Experience," we were escorted
by "Owner & Guide Extraordinaire" Paul Diaz. 
707.235.5142

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Doing Penance

Poor blog fell to the bottom of the to-do list during a hectic four months where I readied and sold the house on the east coast, moved to the (finally) renovated house in Northern California (as well as the cabin in the San Juans), moved daughter #1 to Seattle, got daughter #2 shipped off to France, and bought an aqua-farm (more on that in another blog post).

With nonstop busy-ness and good-bye celebrations, general chaos and lack of structure, the normal eat-well-and-exercise routine was replaced with eat-whatever-and-what's-a-workout?

The system was desperately calling out to hit the reset button.
SO, I marched myself off for a week totally off the grid for a complete mind/body re-centering.

It was the hardest physical week of my life, but best thing I've done in a long long time.  

Enter The Ranch at Live Oak.




Don't let the pretty looks fool you,

this place is diabolical.


And completely vegan.
One of our morning breakfast smoothies:
kale & berries with granola on top.

5:30AM wake-up every day.  First an hour stretch class,
then breakfast, then off to a 4+-hour hike.  Up.  Always up.

We covered anywhere from 8-13 miles of canyon-hiking
 a day, depending on your pace.




All set in the Santa Monica mountains,

though the beaches of Malibu below were where most of us
 really wanted to be.



Each morning after breakfast, we'd line up to have our blisters popped,
second-skinned, and taped by our cheerful guides.  



I was the champion with nine.  Big ones.  
 

But the hiking continues.  No sympathy here.

We hiked trails that the wildfires wiped out just a few months ago.


Back at the Ranch the only pool-time is an
organized game of water polo.
Then it's off to TRX class, core training, yoga.
And a heavenly 1-hour massage.

Weary, we congregated in the big house before dinner,
comparing aches and pains.

Communal dinners with great conversation
marked the end of the evening.

Back to our little bungalows.....


we fell into bed by 8PM.

Same schedule six days straight.

There were moments when the f-bomb was dropped often and loudly.


Hot, dusty, thighs screaming with lactic acid,

a flattening of the trail was a gift from the gods.

And every now and then, signs of encouragement
appeared when needed most.



Some people think this formation looked like
the Virgin Mary....
...to others a thumb.

Our detoxed and fit comrades before the final hike.

Note the post-hike leg dust.

And a final packed lunch to send home.


The Ranch at Live Oak, Malibu is a superb place to jump-start
your fitness, detox and cleanse your mind and body.  
Not for the faint of heart, it takes commitment and a willingness
to push the levels of discomfort.  If you don't follow the
recommendations to ease off alcohol, caffeine, sugar and 
artificial sweeteners well in advance of starting at the Ranch, 
you will suffer detox symptoms heavily and uncomfortably 
in the first few days.  Not a thing you want to feel when you are six
miles in, fighting the heat and fatigue.  Most difficult for many people
is the strict vegan diet.  But on day six, with skin aglow, fitter
bods and numerous pounds melted away, everyone walks out 
a renewed and happier version of themselves.  And as there
is zero cell phone reception or internet connection, a week of  
forced off-the-grid living is an added mind de-cluttering bonus. 

www.theranchmalibu.com