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Sip and tell An American couple tasting the wine at the famous Mondavi Robert winery

But more surprise awaited us as we drove to the Napa Valley at a distance of 53 miles from Dublin. The Napa town with its geometrically laid roads, Victorian model houses and their neatly manicured gardens, avenue trees and non-stop signals presented itself in all their splendour and glory. We had little difficulty in locating the Winery Information Centre at Napa where a good lot of souvenirs, brochures and magazines were neatly arranged on stands for tourists and visitors to take home free.

Another attraction of this centre was that one could taste an array of orchard produce such as raisins, almond, cashew nuts, cherries, apricot, wine (spoonful only) and so on. Then we moved on to visit the most famous winery and vineyard of Mondavi Robert not very far from the Information Centre. The 30 mile long Valley of Napa is home to 400 wineries, restaurants and luxury resorts, besides outdoor activities.

Actually, Sonama county in California is the birth place of the state’s wine industry, but Napa county is better known due to a famous upset victory in now a legendary event called “The Paris Tasting”.

A picturesque vineyard.

In 1976 a noted Parisian wine merchant organised a formal wine tasting competition for superior French and California wines.

And a blue ribbon panel of judges — all from Paris — awarded top honour to the Napa Valley vintners for their red and white wines. Thus, the Napa Valley wine has come to occupy the centrestage.

We stepped into Mondavi Robert’s winery around 11 a.m. As far as one could see there were vine yards up to the foot of the hills. For making sparkling wines, grapes are harvested earlier, giving them an edge of acidity that goes well with food.

Acidity in wine cleanses and refreshes the palate. The bubbles in the sparkling wines help cut through fat, salt and protein and prep one’s taste buds for the next bite. The encircling mountain range and the valley make it a nice picnic spot.

Almost all visitors on that day made a bee line for the wine tasting room. Wines of sparkling colours were kept on the side racks, and on the edges of the delivery table.

For 10 dollars, one could taste four glasses of different wines. Every one was presented with a wine glass to take home as a memento.

Though a teetotaller, I had a sip, and to my utter discomfort, it tasted bitter! It is said that the first rule of wine and food pairing is to drink what one likes.

Dry rose sparkling wines pair with almost everything from salads and cheese through the main course.

Opposite the tasting room was the exhibit room where all the period tools employed in the wine cellars were kept for public view. Another attraction of major wineries is the plying of the wine train through the Valley to different destinations such as Calistoga, St. Helena, Rutherford, Oakville and Yountville from Napa.

The wine train has a pantry car that serves exotic brunch, lunch and dinner. From Calistoga in the north, one can have a ride in gondola savouring the green gardens of grapes down below up to Napa. But it is prohibitively expensive.

A stroll in the down town of Napa revealed its historic buildings dating back to the Gold Rush and a less famous silver rush of the mid-1800s. Historians seem to agree that the name Napa is derived from the native American word “Miwok” meaning “plenty”.

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