Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/522996
94 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } JUNE/JULY 2015 As lunchtime approached, they moved on to Spring Mountain, for more tastings and a panel discussion among six vintners who were raising grapes in wildly divergent Napa microclimates, elevations and soils (see sidebar 2). Lunch meant more wine, of course, but this time featuring some of the white stars in the Napa Valley firmament (see sidebar 3). And then on the somms went, to Honig winery in Rutherford to learn about the winery's sustainability practices, and then to Tournesol for a roundtable discussion with ten winemak- ers, each of whom spoke of the decisions they faced in their specific circumstances of terroir. The somms' indoctrination continued early the next day, as they invaded the south, first visiting Truchard, and then The Hess Collection, for more tastings, more discussion and more immersion. They even stopped at the iconic sign welcoming visi- tors to Napa Valley for their own souvenir shots, before heading to the gleamingly modern HALL Winery to explore the effects of barrel toasting, maceration, wine base aging and other specialized techniques. And so by midday of their second full day, the somms had traveled up and down the Valley's 30 miles, and back and forth across its five-mile width, and they had gone from the mountaintops down to the valley floor. They had sampled a substantial number of wines from many of its 16 nested AVAs, and now the differences in the Cabs were fresh on their minds and on their palates. There are Napa Cabs, and then there are Napa Cabs. Not that one style or terroir is better than any other, of course, but their varieties and styles are profoundly influ- enced by where they came from, and by the winemaker's methods and intent. And similarly, as we veered now toward the heart of the summit, we were reminded that there are steaks, and then there are steaks. There's tenderloin and there's ribeye and there's filet, and there's everything in between. And there's grass-fed and grain- feed beef, and there's wet-aged and dry- aged—and Dorothy, we're not in Kansas (or Omaha or Calgary) anymore. To throw more light on the matter, or more specifically explore the possibilities of the various combinations, the chefs at Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch restau- rant in St. Helena conducted a demonstra- tion. They set up three sequences in which two different cuts and styles of steak were paired with two different expressions of Napa Cabernet. Gilian Handelman of Jackson Family Wines set the stage, running through the parameters and describing in broad terms the differences between the leaner, moun- tainous Cabs and the lusher, rounder ones from lower in the Valley. The somms blind tasted the first pair of wines, which we learned later were the Insignia 2011, with its notes of tobacco and black fruit, and the Mt. Brave 2011 from Mt. Veeder, which had brighter acids and more pronounced tannins. The Insignia was first paired with a wet-aged filet, and the result was unsettlingly herbaceous. The wine did not coax all that was possible from the steak, nor vice-versa. But when the Mt. Brave was paired with the same wet-aged filet, the result was seamless, each encour- 2. Panel Discussion and Tasting Moderator: Larry Stone, MS, Estate Director and Wine Director with Huneeus Vintners. Panelists and wines: Glenn Salva, Wine Estate Manager, Antica Napa Valley; Antica 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon, Atlas Peak. Jeffrey Stambor, Director of Winemaking, Beaulieu Vineyard; Beaulieu 2011 Georges de Latour Private Reserve, Rutherford. Cathy Corison, Owner, Winemaker and Vineyard Manager for Corison Winery; Corison 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon, Kronos Vineyard, St. Helena. Curtis Strohl, General Manager, Elizabeth Spencer Wines; Elizabeth Spencer 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville. Dan Petroski, Winemaker, Larkmead Vineyards; Larkmead 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon, Calistoga. Susan Doyle, Technical Director of Vineyards and Winemaking, Spring Mountain Vineyard; Spring Mountain 2011 Elivette, Spring Mountain District. Chris Clark, Wine Director, Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House, Washington, D.C. Peter Mondavi, Jr. greeted the steakhouse somms on their first day in Napa.