Bubbly in the valley
The Hindu : Napa valley in California is famous for vineyards, wineries and vintners. Based in Dublin (about forty miles from San Francisco), which falls under the Tri-valley (the other two being San Ramon and Livermore) as we would proceed towards Livermore we noticed vineyardson either side of the road on far away hill slopes as well as the plains. Butmore surprise awaited us as we drove to the Napa valleyat a distance of 53 miles from Dublin.The Napa town with its geometrically laid roads, presented itself in all its splendour and glory. We had little difficulty in locating the Winery Information Centre at Napa where souvenirs, brochures and magazines had been neatly arranged. Another attraction of this centre was that one could taste an array of orchard produce such as raisins, almond, cashew nuts, cherries, apricot, wine.Then we moved on to visit the most famous winery and vine yard of Mondavi Robert not very far from the Information Centre. The thirty mile long valley of Napa is home to 400 wineries, restaurants and luxury resorts besides, outdoor activities.Actually, Sonama county in California is the birth place of the state’s wine industry, but Napa county is better known due to a famous upset victory in the “The Paris Tasting”.In 1976 a noted Parisian wine merchant organised a formal wine tasting competition for superior French and California wines. And a blue ribbon panel of judges — all from Paris — awarded top honour to Napa valley vintners for their red and white wines. We stepped into Mondavi Robert’s winery around 11a.m. As far as one could see there were vine yards up to the foot of the hills. Black prince, as we call it, is the ruling variety grown here. It is most suited for making wines. For making sparkling wines, grapes are harvested earlier, giving them an edge of acidity that goes well with food. Acidity in wine…More
