Take a Napa

It's been raining since I got to San Francisco, which I really cannot complain about since New York just got another snowstorm. I thought maybe if I went up to Napa the weather would be better, but it was the same, rainy and gray with flooded vineyards. They get most of their rain in winter (and early spring apparently), and then the rest of the year will be sunny. Part of my quest for what's next involves sampling the region's wines. After all, how can I determine which winery I would want to work for if I haven't sampled their wines?

First I went to Darioush, which looks like a Persian palace. Impeccable customer service awaits as you view their stainless steel tanks overlaying a blue tile floor and press pad overlooking their estate vineyards. Despite the lavish decoration, you can still see a working winery. Here I learned that a lot of wineries in Napa harvest at night, when the grapes have cooled off from the intense sun. Darioush then sorts the grapes first thing in the morning, first the clusters as they go into the crusher/de-stemmer and then the individual berries as they come out. Their 2009 Viognier was floral and pretty, with good acidity. I was surprised by the alcohol - 14.8% - because I didn't really notice it. I really enjoyed their 2008 Russian River Pinot Noir, which had some great spice overlaying the cherry and tobacco notes. It had good body and structure but a comfortable lightness. The 2007 Merlot was very bright, with raspberry and baking spice flavors. The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon was the best of the tasting - remember that I normally don't like young Cabs, but I loved this one! It was so smooth, with delicious blueberry, currant, chocolate and spice, balanced by great acidity. This is their best seller and their largest production at the winery with 7,000-10,000 cases made per year. It goes for $80 a bottle!

At Signorello, their wines are nicely balanced and elegant. They spend a lot of time in the vineyard, keeping yields low, allowing a small amount of fruit to battle for nutrients. They have 42 acres and produce only 5500 cases. I'd probably want to cellar most of the reds for a few years. The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon was my favorite, smooth with chewy cocoa and spice and nice acidity and tannin.

My last stop was Far Niente, where I toured the property, which includes an acre of underground caves where they store their wine in barrels. It is the perfect temperature and humidity for wine storage and aging. They only make two wines, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. We had 2 Cabs, one from 2000 and one from 2008. I liked the older one better, but the 2008 had some great fruit and spice, with good grip from the tannin; I could see how it would age well. They also have another label called Dolce, which is a sweet Sauternes-like dessert wine made from Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. This was a beautiful wine. They did a great wine and cheese pairing, which was a really nice way to finish the rainy day.

Chardonnay is Queen and Cabernet Sauvignon is King out here, so my education of these two wines continues...