Grin & Barrett

 Storyline and photos by califusa
 Left Coast Correspondent 
 to the Gang of Pour

Introduction

Sacramento would be the site of a memorable tasting of one winemaker's body of work.

I really needed a day like this: good company, good wine, good food. When all else is in turmoil, it sometimes helps to immerse yourself in the things that you love. With Monsieur Danger (Dahn-jer´) at the helm, we motored out of Vallejo and north to Napa.

Morning in Napa

It was a gloomy day in the Valley - but, then again, how gloomy can Napa be?

The clouds hung low, and the air was cool and damp. Surely summer has gone, and crush activity has moved from the vineyard and pad into the cellar. It seems as if folks are taking a few deep breaths, now that the rush to bring in the fruit has passed.

In some ways, this is my favorite time of the year in the wine country. The frantic pace of harvest is over, visitors have gone home for the holidays, and you can actually drive from one end of the valley to the other on Saturday.

I needed coffee, and David needed to shop for wine, so the Oakville Grocery was our first stop.

I like both the Stanford and Healdsburg stores, "but the original is still the greatest". Perhaps it’s the Corvalis effect, or the fine selection of hard to find wines, or the willingness of the staff to go out of their way to help - but coming here is just a sheer pleasure (unless, of course, it’s lunchtime in the summer).

Mary Danielak is a soft-spoken lady, which belies her experience and broad wine knowledge. After a bit of a turnover in the staff recently at the home site, she has emerged as the Wine Buyer. I left David and Mary to chat about the current available treats, and made my way to the front of the shop to normalize my caffeine level. As I was waiting for my Redeye (Depthcharge, Bullshot - fill in the name of your local French Roast with a shot of espresso) - who should walk in, but Nils Venge. He told us he would be over at Saddleback for most of the day, and invited David and me over to taste.

Well - who be we to ignore an invitation from one of the premier winemakers in the valley? After choosing a few special items for his cellar, David and I headed up-valley for a quick stop at Beringer’s Founder’s Room.

The holiday season is a good time to look for special items at the wineries. Beringer is no exception - they were offering limited amounts of older vintages of Chabot. David snagged an assortment of vintages back to 1985. We chose not to taste, and headed back south to Saddleback.

G a n g O f   P o u r | ©
December, 1999

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