April’s Fool

Learning lessons from the Napa Valley

By Michele Francisco, OWP editor

High alcohol, over-extracted, heavily oaked wines. Blech. My delicate, refined Northwest-centric palate is especially sensitive to these characteristics.

As someone who struggles to maintain a poker face, I began to worry as my trip to Napa approached. Would my disdain be apparent with every sip? After a recent snowstorm prevented my companion from joining me, I considered canceling my appointments. However, as a lifelong student of wine, curiosity got the best of me.

What I discovered surprised me. An impressive transformation has occurred since my last visit to Napa Valley. Winegrowers and makers favor a more restrained style rather than the big, bold wines popularized by critic Robert Parker. I found wines with more elegance and nuance. It’s as if Napa has taken a page from Oregon’s winemaking book. I was pleasantly surprised by what I tasted.

Between my winery appointments and other tasting opportunities during the Wine Writers’ Symposium, nearly every wine I sampled showed balance and a clear expression of variety.

But the lessons didn’t end there.

Winegrower Tom Gamble, owner of Oakville’s Gamble Estates, uses a sophisticated anti-forgery system to ensure each bottle’s authenticity. Counterfeiting is big business, and as Oregon’s reputation and prices rise, our wines may also become targets.

CADE Estate Winery, an organically farmed property on Howell Mountain, was the first LEED Gold-certified estate winery in Napa. It achieved this status by generating nearly all its energy with solar and constructing buildings and a labyrinth of caves using concrete made with fly ash recovered from coal-burning power plants.

Revana Estate sits inconspicuously on the busy road leading into St. Helena. There, I met Rose Ballantine, a talented young winemaker who previously served as assistant winemaker at Alexana Estate in Oregon. Her Oregon experience influences the wine style she’s creating at the sister winery in Napa.

A more mature Napa Valley provides glimpses into our future. For better or worse, she remains Oregon wine’s big sister. We can– and should– learn from its successes while avoiding some of its missteps.

I chide myself for holding on to my outdated beliefs about Napa for so long. Today, I embrace the similarities between us while welcoming our differences. Believe me, this fool has learned her lesson.

Michele Francisco spent her childhood reading and writing, eventually graduating from UCLA with an English degree. She attended graphic design school and began a career in design and marketing. After moving to Oregon in 2010, Michele studied wine at Chemeketa Community College and began Winerabble, a Northwest-focused wine blog. She has been a cheerleader for Oregon wine since her arrival.