Whether you’re looking for a classic winery, word-of-mouth indie or an off-the-beaten-track destination, this is your guide of Napa Valley wineries to see.
UNIQUE WINE EXPERIENCES
In California, wine lovers have literally thousands of options for touring and tasting. It’s that access that drew chef Tyler Florence to make California his home.
For businesses around the globe, there isn’t a single day that the innovation challenge doesn’t rear its head. Disruptors, new buying preferences, and new demographic and geographic shifts are all constantly impacting the way business has to be done.
Palmaz Vineyards melds futuristic innovation with ancient winemaking techniques
FROM SELF-DRIVING CARS TO 3-D PRINTERS, advances in technology get a lot of buzz in the news—as they should. Some, like cancer-detecting blood tests or holographic computers, have world-changing potential. When it comes to winemaking, however, the scienti c breakthroughs are relatively quiet. In a romantically antiquated fashion, winemaking is done much as it has been for thousands of years—leaving it to fate and the elements to determine taste and quality. The progressive-thinking Palmaz family, however, thinks otherwise; they believe wine and technology, like a crisp Sancerre with oysters, are a perfect pairing.
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Palmaz Vineyards’ president, Christian Palmaz, told BeverageDaily that there is a place for technology and old-school craftsmanship in the wine industry, but it’s about striking a socially-responsible balance.
A group of visionary vintners in Napa Valley have uncorked a technological revolution that’s changing winemaking
IN 2000, WHEN START-UP GURU CHUCK MCMINN ARRIVED IN NAPA VALLEY to embark on a second career as a vigneron, the man who once worked at Intel and later as CEO of early DSL provider Covad Communications encountered a community of humble farmers so focused on the minutiae of growing, harvesting and fermenting grape juice that the world had passed them by.
FROM A RARE VERTICAL TASTING spanning 30-plus years of Spottswoode Napa Valley Cabernet to a constellation of real-time data projected on the domed ceiling of a futuristic winery, it’s possible to witness the past and future of winemaking without leaving the 30-mile stretch of Napa Valley.
ALTHOUGH IT’S LOCATED ON THE RUGGED SLOPES of Mount George east of Napa, Palmaz Vineyards is just a short drive from downtown. Before Prohibition, the site was home to the Cedar Knoll Vineyard and Winery started by Napa Valley pioneer Henry Hagen in 1881. During Prohibition, the winery was abandoned until Julio Palmaz and his wife, Amalia, purchased the property in the late 1990s.
PALMAZ VINEYARDS has made quite a statement in a relatively stoic industry. Gentry takes a look inside Napa’s Mt. George.
ANY SURVEY OF THE WORLD of Riesling (including the recent one by yours truly) would logically focus on Germany and Alsace, with a nod to upstart regions such as Washington State, New York’s Finger Lakes and Australia’s Eden Valley. California would rarely be on the radar screen, due to a warmer climate and widespread consumer apathy. And the Napa Valley? As they say in Brooklyn, forget about it.
Against this backdrop, the Louise Riesling from Palmaz Vineyards is a delightful surprise. Prior to Prohibition, the property was known as Cedar Knoll; it was purchased in the late 1990s by Julio Palmaz, a physician who invented the Palmaz Coronary Stent (possibly one of the few things better for the heart than wine). The winery focuses on producing Cabernet Sauvignon from estate vineyards. Their 2012 Cabernet ($125, reviewed here) is sumptuous and structured, a seamless match with steak, lamb, stews and game dishes.
