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Joy the Baker in Wine Country

March 10, 2009 by Joy the Baker 51 Comments

Joy the Baker in Napa

Can we take a few moments to discuss my spur of the moment, Monday afternoon, high speed trip to Napa?

Napa seems to be in a perpetual state of sunshine.  It’s absolutely gorgeous.  There are grapes everywhere.  If not actually growing from the earth, then engraved into the side of a freeway overpass, or painted on…. um… every available space in Napa.  Turns out they’re really into grapes.

Can I be honest?  Napa was a little too uppity, snootypants for my taste.  I know just enough about wine to make my way through a conversation about tannins and acid, grape varietals, oak aging and whatever other terms wine people drop…. but I don’t think good wine should be all about the secret, and unapproachable language of wine.

Joy the Baker in Napa

I discovered, in these few hours in Napa, that the beauty of wine is all in the land.  See, it’s the land that creates the beautiful grapes.  It’s the land that’s beautifully adored and so carefully tended.  It’s the careful love of soil that creates such beauty up in wine country.  The care is evident in the carefully places acres and rows of grapevines.  It’s lovely to see the earth adored for what it can produce.  I feel like the story should be about the people and the land… not about fruit forward mouth feels… or whatever.

Joy the Baker in Napa

Joy the Baker in Napa

Here’s the deal:

The looking.  The strolling out in the sun.  The lazy walks through the tall grass of the vineyards… that’s free.

The tastings and the wine… so very far from affordable.  Do I sound like I’m looking for a free ride?  It’s not that, it’s just that a $65 bottle of wine is outside, way outside, my wallet’s comfort zone.  Fact.

I need your help.  I need your wine country guidance.  Where’s the wine with spunk?  Where’s the wine with story?  Where’s the wine that will make me want to give three cheers to Napa.  Let’s go there this spring.  Seriously, we’ll make it a party!

Joy the Baker in Napa

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  1. The Vine Goddess

    April 11, 2009 at 10:54 am

    Joy,
    I’d love to invite you to visit Michigan. You’ll find a lot of very friendly, small winery experiences here. To learn more about growing wine grapes in Northern Michigan, I invite you to visit our blog at https://www.thevineyardchronicles.com/ where we write about our experiences growing chardonnay and pinot noir for the last 20+ years.

    Reply
  2. Suzanne Lowell

    March 17, 2009 at 5:31 pm

    I am an Aussie living in Napa with 2 little kids and wine geek husband, I would like to think that I am down to earth and not snooty, but I am sure I can have my moments. Napa can be snooty but if you ever need any help, I would love to help make your visit less snooty.
    PS Fatted Calf makes killer sandwiches as well.

    Reply
  3. Faith

    March 16, 2009 at 5:43 pm

    Joy, I’m from Napa and I now live in Sacramento. I MUCH prefer to go winetasting up here in Amador County. My friends and I head up there often, my favorites are Montevina, Bray (try their red table wine, the “Bray-Zin Hussy” and if you shoot over to Clarksburg, you’ll hit Bogle, which is amazing.

    Reply
  4. Aunty m

    March 15, 2009 at 3:25 pm

    How things have changed. We lived in the napa and sonoma valleys and woudn’t live there again, too many people snooty or not. It is too bad napa has become… well your right a tad snooty. And downtown holly molly! The town of Napa used to be where the poor people lived and the rich in St Helena, Calistoga back to more ordinary folk. Don’t think it’s that way anymore. With that said one of my very best friends lives and makes wine in the valley. It helps to find a local and talk them up. Walk into any of the hot air balloon companies and talk them up, trust me they love to talk, full of hot air and all….

    My vote go to Korbel for a good champagne but also a wonderful garden and a history in pictures of the early 1900’s harvesting redwood trees. Big big redwood trees.

    The CIA is a wonderful place to have a not too expensive lunch and talk up the wait staff who are also the students. Tell them what kind a wine you like, what your price range is and I am sure you will lots of suggestions. They also have a herb veggie garden too die for. Used to be a winery… forget which one. Christion Brothers?

    Baringer gives a good tour, one doesn’t really need more then one. Go find the Olive Oil store in St. Helena for funk and great food stuff. Hmm I wonder if it’s still there? Also this little bakery in St. Helena on the west side of the main street at the north end of the second block. Chocolate cookies with expresso, gotta get there fairly early they sell out. Silver Oak yummy yummy, Heizt (sp?) old family wine could be out of your price range.

    Oregon wines…. sorry Oregonians, lived in Oregon, wines do not compare to Sonoma, Napa and some of the central valley wineries. No way no how. My opinion.

    My upper divsional science class at Sonoma State was a wine making class. That was a hoot. I start rolling my eyes when the instructer would start talking about the essence of orange…. or some other od discription. Ya either like it or ya don’t. Now Yellow Tail from Austriala is pretty darn good, so are wines out of chili. And cheap!

    Reply
  5. mary grace

    March 13, 2009 at 11:49 am

    I completely agree with the Napa/Sonoma comments above — Sonoma is the “country-fied” (read: friendlier) version of Napa by far. Santa Rosa isn’t all that bad either (although not a lot of vineyards, it’s gorgeous!). I work in Sebastopol, which is definitely the country side of Sonoma County… great for boutique shops and cafes. Come explore! :)

    Reply
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