I'm finally catching up on my blogging so we have to go back in time about a month to my visit to Napa. My inlaws were in town so my fiance and I took them to Napa. (7/9 - 7/11)
I've been very lucky to grow up and spend my life in the Bay (an hour or so from Napa) not to mention my brother managing the Napa Marriott Hotel for years and visiting him and his wife almost every weekend.
That said, there are a few wineries in Napa that hold a special place in my heart. One of these is Schramsberg. I had a chance to take my fiance and her parents there on this last trip. My fiance hadn't been there yet with me because all out Napa trips had been last minute get-aways and you need reservations WELL in advance for tours and tastings at Schramsberg.
Schramsberg makes sparkling wine. It's more commonly referred to as champagne but since it is produced in California and not the Champagne region of France it cannot TECHNICALLY be called champagne.
The winery was founded by Jacob Schram who moved to Napa Valley from Germany. (in german, berg means mountain so the vineyard name translates to Jacob Schrams mountain). In 1965 it was taken over by the Davies family who's son Hugh runs it today. It's a proud legacy and an amazing story.
The property itself is gorgeous. The caves are breathtaking. The labor that was involved is mind boggling.
We took the tour which winds you through the caves, shows you all the bottles at various stages of processing, shows you how the bottles are rotated and why, the famous wine casks that have been traded back and forth between wineries through various poker game losses and wins, and of course - ends w/ a tasting.
We tasted 4 of their wines - all sparkling. They do make several still wines but our tasting was only for sparkling. We tasted:
2006 Blanc De Blancs - white wine from white grapes
2001 J Schram - Chardonnay - focused
2006 Blanc De Noirs - white wine from red grapes
2001 Reserve - Pinot Noir focused brut
J Schram and the Reserve have always been my fav's but at $100 each I reserve them for special occasions. The Blanc De Blancs was excellent but the Blanc De Noirs was a tad too dry for my taste.
Since my 30th BDay was only a few days after our visit I decided to spoil myself... and do I mean spoil myself.
I brought home 2 bottles of J Schram, 2 bottles of Reserve, 1 bottle of Blanc De Blancs and a bottle of Cremant (1/2 pressure of sparkling wines - creamier texture) for my fiance to try.
AND on top of that, I joined the cellar club. 2 bottles every quarter (4 times a year) are shipped to my house with a letter explaining each varietal. Plus free tastings, tours and special events whenever we visit. Worth EVERY penny!
My first shipment arrived about a week ago. 2 bottles of sparkling. I'm hoping to get a still bottle in the next shipment and give it a shot.
I've had a wine collection growing for quite some time now, but with the addition of more and more bottles that I want to keep 20+ years before ever considering opening, I needed more storage options. Enter - the 28 bottle wine fridge.
And it's already full.
And there's bottles waiting to go in.
In our next house, I'm building a wine cellar. No questions asked... it has to happen.
1 comment:
So umm..... when I come visit, if you need help drinking any sparkling wine... I mean, just to make room for the other bottles waiting to get in the pool.... let me know :-D Just tryin to be helpful. Haha miss you!
lil sis
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