Leaving Jordan...so sad.

February 2nd...I have indulged in 3 bubble baths in less than 12 hours. I was up just before 6, and my breakfast was delivered to me in my suite at 7:15. Sadly, there is no firewood left, as I seem to have ignited a small forest last night. It is a bit rainy outside, so I stay in bed watching the news and reading the Wall Street Journal, which arrived with my coffee. Kim came in my room around 8:15, when I promptly announced that I was not leaving until they made me. She countered with moving our 10 am appointment, and I got out of bed.

Bubs and bubs

one of our beautiful suites!

We are being hosted (again) by Alexander Valley Vineyards, for a tour of the facility and lunch with the daughter of the owners. Our tour guide, Toni, was great, and we stopped thru caves in pouring rain. AVV uses something like 12 different barrels from all over (Appalachia, Ozarks, France, Hungary, etc..). Lunch was in the original home on the property, which was a one room abode, with walls covered in animals from a hunt on Kenya.

Melissa, watch out behind you!!!

I've seen many whale bones, but I think this is my first elephant tusk!

After lunch, we head south to the town of Napa, for a tour and tasting at Palmaz. We are greeted in the driving rain by Jessica, the Houstonian daughter-in-law of the wealthy Argentinian owners of Palmaz. The facility is 18 stories...all underground gravity flow production. After our tour, we head upstairs for a tasting with Jessica, overlooking the Valley and the rainstorm.

The crazy, rotating gravity setup, in a 10-story dome (bomb shelter-esque)

Fancy-ass computers!

We wave goodbye to Jessica, and head to Yountville, specifically Sean Larkin's condo, where we will be crashing for the next 2 nights. Sean is on the East coast and was kind enough to offer us his home during this time. We unload the little Avenger, say "Cheers" over a bottle of Jordan Chardonnay, and head into Yountville for a quick bite at Pacific Blues Cafe.

We found lots of Nantucket paraphernalia at Sean's and it felt like home

Alexander Valley Vineyards

Sonoma County’s Alexander Valley was mostly prune orchards and pastures when, in 1962, Maggie and Harry Wetzel purchased a large portion of a homestead built by Cyrus Alexander, the valley’s nineteenth century namesake. Here, in a rural community of family farms and ranches, the Wetzel family settled. They raised livestock, cultivated bountiful gardens and restored Alexander’s original home, making it the center of family life. With an eye to their neighbors in nearby Napa Valley, the Wetzels boldly planted premium grape varieties, among the first in the area. Then the family built a small winery.
Alexander Valley Vineyard’s first wine was made in 1975. AVV quickly established a reputation for estate grown wines with distinctive varietal character. Acclaimed for crisp Chardonnay and luscious Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley Vineyards brought recognition to the appellation and became a leading winery in Sonoma County.
Today the Alexander Valley is a prominent appellation known worldwide as the source of elegant, age worthy wines. The Wetzel Family Estate now grows fourteen grape varieties, on diverse sites stretching from the banks of the Russian River up onto the hillsides. Each grape variety is matched to a specific soil type and exposure. Vineyard Manager Mark Houser and Winemaker Kevin Hall work as a team to maximize fruit flavor in the vineyard and to create balanced wines that capture the grapes’ varietal characteristics. Hank Wetzel oversees the vineyard and winery operations, and his wife Linda continues to oversee administration. Now the third generation of Wetzels has joined the winery. Harry Wetzel, IV is assistant winemaker while younger brother Robert is the National Sales Manager.
Alexander Valley Vineyards produces 100,000 cases annually, 17 varietal wines and proprietary blends. Seventy-five percent of AVV’s production is red wine. Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon constitute over one-third of total production. Other varietals include Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Gewurztraminer, Syrah, Sangiovese, Viognier, and Cabernet Franc.
Cyrus, a limited production, proprietary red wine, named in honor of the pioneer Cyrus Alexander, is AVV’s benchmark, honoring the past while signaling the future.

Palmaz Vineyards

The vineyards grow in more than fourteen unique terroirs at three elevations — 400, 1200, & 1400 feet above sea level and are nurtured by sustainable agriculture. They thrive on the slopes of Mount George at the southern end of the Vaca Range. The foundation for it all is base rock laid down during the Pliocene volcanic age. Geography ranges from steep slopes with shallow nutrient-poor soils, which produce concentrated grapes, to stony colluvial deposits made up of cobbles, gravel, and sandy loam. Variations of soil type, sun exposure, & elevation produce a range of flavors and concentration to create a wine with balance & complexity.

The winery’s 24 fermentation tanks accommodate the yields of individual blocks within the estate, vinifying each parcel’s grapes separately to preserve the unique characteristics intrinsic to the parcels. This provides a complete and pure palette for the winemaker’s art — tasting, appreciating, and blending individual lots to bring balance to the wine.

The vineyard is planted primarily with Cabernet Sauvignon, plus some small lots of Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, which are used as blend components for Palmaz wines. The vines are hand pruned and trellised,with production carefully moderated to grow only the finest quality grapes.

Palmaz Vineyards' winemaking and aging takes place within the living rock of Mount George, in a flawlessly engineered maze of tunnels and lofty domes. The height of the wine cave is equivalent to an 18-storey building, providing the vertical range needed for true gravity-flow winemaking. Thus, the wine is never subjected to the violent agitation of pumping, which can change the wine’s intra-molecular structure. This gentle treatment allows the finest nuances of flavor to develop naturally—the result is a complex, elegant wine.

Not once, in the complete winemaking process at Palmaz Vineyards, does the wine come in contact with a pump. It is this extraordinarily gentle handling that gives Palmaz wines their unique “hand-made” quality and rare elegance.