An Offer I Couldn't Refuse

4/06, 0916, Parking Lot of Rubicon Winery, Rutherford, CA – I sit awaiting the opening of Francis Ford Coppola’s winery, which has gone through many names in its existence, including Inglenook, Neibaum-Coppola, and now Rubicon. It sits in what is probably the Garden of Eden for Cabernet fans with Beaulieu Vineyards across the street, Opus, Robert Mondavi, Groth, and numerous other wineries famous for their Cabs. This is sacred ground.

I arrived in Wine Country yesterday (Thursday) after a relatively quick drive up 101 from San Francisco. I decided to deviate from my original schedule since I arrived so early, and chose to drive to Sonoma first, instead of Napa. Sonoma’s town square is neat and inviting, very “small townish” and friendly. It was easy to get around and I quickly stumbled upon a coffee shop with free WiFi. The atmosphere was very comfy, the coffee acceptable, but the Internet access was a godsend. I cranked through some e-mail and cranked up my caffeine level.

The Sebastiani Winery was just a short distance away, so I decided to “go with the flow” and drove the few blocks to their new facilities. Sebastiani is Sonoma’s oldest continuously operating family winery, a distinction owed primarily to an early family member’s quick thinking and decisive action which landed the area’s only permit to make sacramental wine for the Catholic Churches during Prohibition.

Sebastiani’s staff was very welcoming, friendly, attentive, and the tour (which lasted just under an hour and was the first of that morning) was both entertaining and educational. I chose to forego the initial offering of a taste of wine upon arrival, which turned out to be a great move on my part. Our tour guide ended up being my tasting server and by that time, we’d chatted and he was much more generous with the number of wines offered. He was also very talkative (in a good way) and I learned a lot from our brief chat. One of the tastes I had was of Sebastiani’s new Port, which – while it did taste like prune juice (what port doesn’t?), was smooth and not nearly as repulsively powerful as other ports I’ve tasted. Not bad.

Despite collecting wine for going on 14 years now, I was unaware of the viticultural history of American wine grape cultivation and learned that for quite a while, American attempts to grow wine grapes (Thomas Jefferson being on of the first) met with less-than- stellar success. Attempt after attempt met with initial success, then failure. Eventually, it was discovered that a disease in American soil was killing the vines, a disease from which European vines were immune. After a disastrous experiment with American vines in Europe (it nearly wiped out the European industry), it was discovered that American’s could cultivate wine grapes by grafting their vines on European roots. The roots were immune.

The rest is history.

After the Sebastiani tour, I returned to “downtown” Sonoma for lunch, stopped by the coffee shop for another “hit” on their WiFi, then headed north on Rt. 12. I visited Imagery Winery (recommended by my tour guide at Sebastiani), as well as Kenwood Winery (their 1986 Artist Series helped to establish my respect for California Cabernets).

Then, I stopped at Chateau St. Jean. Interesting experience. Beautiful winery. Immaculately landscaped and manicured grounds. But, the pretension level was high and there were a number of stereotypical “California-types” (self-absorbed, cell phones attached to their heads, silicone-injected) strutting about the place. It was like something out of a movie…and a bad one at that. It scoped the tasting room, the winery store, then departed. Weirdness level was simply too high for me.

The hotel is passable, but only barely. Motel 6 has been advertising their “new rooms” for roughly 7 years now. Make a note: They’re not new anymore. Staff is not exactly “user-friendly” either. But, the location works, the price is right…

(Later, that afternoon, 8/4,1506, Ada’s Cantina, St. Helena, CA) – I started out this morning driving to a “not-quite-awake” Napa, and drove around trying to get my bearings straight. Not an easy thing to do. Napa is not exactly “logically set up” and is somewhat confusing to navigate. I eventually found The Butter Cream Bakery and had breakfast there. The place has evidently been around forever. Bakery on one side, diner on the other. The food was just fine, but the atmosphere was even better. A head cook who looked into her early 60’s whose life was centered around that kitchen. She was mouthy, cantankerous, and hilarious to watch and listen to. Everyone working there was “honey” to her, but you also knew not to cross her. A few of the signs on the wall:

- “Harassing the cook will DEFINITELY result in smaller portions.”
- “No whining zone”
- Price. Quality. Service. Pick any two.”

I left Napa and drove up Hwy. 29 to Rutherford. I had plenty of time on my hands, so I located the wineries I wanted to visit, then headed up to St. Helena for a walkabout. So far, St. Helena is my favorite Napa Valley town, though as I write this (4PM) the traffic outside Ana’s window can be described as “stupid.” (And I’m about to head out into it!)

The Rubicon tour was outstanding, and not just because there were only three of us on the first tour of the day. The attention was very personal, the knowledge base was very deep, and the ancient-but-still-in-use winery was an incredible thing to see. Coppola’s Oscars, a Tucker car, the desk from Godfather Don Corleone’s private office, costumes from Bram Stoker’s Dracula…that was all “gravy.” The restored winery, tasting room, grounds…not to mention the story of Inglenook/Neibaum-Coppola/Rubicon…it was pricey ($25) but well worth it. Not sure folks who pay that amount and have a crowd of 30 people taking the tour with them would have the same experience or level of satisfaction. What a place. First class.

Our tour guide was a professional photographer who is having an opening in Napa tomorrow. Since two our of three of us “tourees” were carrying nice Nikon cameras, we had a lot to chat about.

The wines we tasted were excellent, and the flagship – Rubicon (a Bordeaux-style red) – was striking even though it hadn’t aged that long. Francis knows his wine and has done a great deal to redeem the Inglenook heritage from the jug wine reputation it developed when the family had to sell out to major corporations. He has not only restored the reputation, but also the property. Coppola has purchased back all of the 2000 acres Capt. Neibaum at one time possessed.

So, where to go after that? Across the street to Beaulieu Vineyards (BV), of course. I was hoping they have a tour – I mean, they ARE one of the “anchors” of Rutherford’s success as a wine region – but, alas, only a tasting. I opted against it since I’d just had one across the street. So, I checked the map and realized Mumm Champagne was a short drive away.



Now, there’s a bit of a history here, because I visited Mumm’s facility and caves in Reims, France 30 years ago this summer during a 6-week trip to Europe. The Napa facility was FAR more modern of course – in both its construction and techniques – but it was worth stopping by. The property was beautiful, the view of the Rutherford area from their facility was picture-worthy, and the tour was led by a young woman who is scheduled to visit the Reims facility in a couple weeks (now THAT’s professional development!). So, we had a thing or two in common.

A family that was along for the tour lived in Sunnyvale, but was from the Ukraine, and had their mother (visiting from the homeland) with them. It was interesting to hear the the running translation. God forbid they should somehow find this blog, but I have to say I’ve never seen a sadder face than I saw on the wife. Perhaps it was her mother-in-law who was visiting. It was striking.

I didn’t have a tasting at Mumm. As much as I love champagne, it tends to give me headaches. This is my damn vacation. I left headaches behind. Still, if I DID get a headache from the champagne, at least I couldn’t blame the headache on someone else.

After leaving Mumm, I drove to Rutherford Hill for a quick look around and more pictures. It overlooks Napa Valley from an even higher vantage point than Mumm. Again, worth the stop. Looked like a nice facility, but the tour schedule didn’t meet with my schedule, so I looked around and departed. I’d “spied” Ana’s Cantina during an earlier drive through St. Helena and wanted to take advantage of the WiFi (an all-too rare commodity around here, believe it or not).

So, I sipped on a pint of Sierra Nevada and tapped out this blog entry.

I have no idea what to expect tomorrow. I’m making it up as I go at this point. It’s working so far. I know the weekends are a madhouse in Wine Country. I may lay back and take it easy. The only “for sure” appointment I have is at Groth Vineyards in Oakville on Sunday.

Well, time to head south.

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