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WEEKLYPRESS.COM ·
UCREVIEW.COM · NOVEMBER 07 • 2012
White’s Wines: An Iron Fist in a Velvet Glove N
By David White
apa Valley accounts for less than 4 percent of America’s total
wine production. Yet it’s the country’s best-known wine region.
Napa rocketed to the fore-
front of American winemak- ing in 1976, when British wine merchant Steven Spurrier organized a wine competition in Paris to pit California’s best Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon against the best wines France had to offer. Everyone assumed that France would win. After all, the nation had been making wine for thousands of years
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and was widely regarded as the world’s top wine region. But with both its whites and reds, California won. The white wine, produced by Chateau Montelena, came from Calistoga, a city at the north end of Napa Valley. The red, produced by Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, came from the southern Napa town of Yountville.
The outcome shocked the world. Ten years later, the red wines were re-tasted at the French Culinary Institute. Once again, California came out on top. This time, the Cabernet Sauvignon was produced by Clos Du Val, a winery located down the road
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from Stag’s Leap. Ever since, the world has
recognized America’s ability to produce world-class wine. The portion of Napa Valley
that stretches from just north of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars to Clos du Val is now known as the Stags Leap District, a one-mile-by-three mile stretch of land that comprises just 1/100th of Napa
Valley.The federal government recog- nized this district as an official American Viticultural Area in 1989.
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If it weren’t for this stretch of Napa Valley, America might not have its reputation for producing some of the world’s best wines. In early October, I spent a week in Stags Leap learning about the region, its history, and its wine producers. Grape growing in Stags Leap began in 1878, when Napa Valley was little more than sleepy towns and horse paths. That year, an entrepre- neur named Terrill Grigsby built Occidental Winery, the region’s first winery. Fifteen years later, Grigsby was joined by another entrepre- neur, Horace Chase, who founded Stags’ Leap Winery.
Stag’s Leap
By 1895, Chase’s winery was producing 40,000 gallons of wine each year. Grape-growing in the
Founders Horace and Minnie Mizner Chase founders of Stag’s Leap Winery.
region took off. But around the same time, a pest called phylloxera was spreading - and it soon destroyed half the area’s vineyards. Most vines that survived were ripped up during Prohibition, as vint- ners planted walnut trees and other legal crops. Grapes returned to the
region in 1961, when a gutsy farmer named Nathan Fay planted several acres of Cabernet Sauvignon near the now-shuttered wineries. Fay’s grapes quickly gained a reputation among Napa Valley’s vintners, including Warren Winiarski, an intrepid winemaker who was quickly gaining a reputation as one of the best. In 1970, Winiarski
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decided to buy land next to Fay and establish Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. The rest is history. Today, the Stags Leap District is home to 19 highly praised wineries.
The wines from the region are unique for two main reasons. First, there’s the soil. Most of it is coarse and volcanic with good drainage, which is perfect for Cabernet Sauvi- gnon.
Then, there’s the geogra-
phy. At the southern end of Stags Leap, low-lying flat- lands extend all the way to San Pablo Bay, an extension of San Francisco Bay. The eastern side of Stags Leap is marked by dramatic, cliff-like hills, which serve two purposes. In the mornings, they reflect heat onto the vineyards below, enabling temperatures to rise more quickly than they other- wise would. In the afternoons, they help funnel cool air in from San Pablo Bay, resulting in low nighttime tempera- tures. These swings help the grapes attain complex flavors and achieve balance. These factors result in wines that display not just richness and ripeness but vibrant acidity and soft tan- nins. Especially when young, Cabernet Sauvignon from the Stags Leap District is more ap- proachable than other Napa Valley wines.
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It’s no wonder that Cab- ernet Sauvignon from Stags Leap District is sometimes described as an “iron fist in a velvet glove.” The wines from this region aren’t cheap - few wines from Napa Valley are - but they’re worth seeking out. David White, a wine writer, is the founder and editor of Terroir-
ist.com. His columns are housed at
Wines.com, the fastest grow- ing wine portal on the Internet.
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