BERINGER WINERY

BERINGER WINERY
Today (April 28, 2010), we are heading to the Napa Valley - once again. Like San Francisco, I never tire of seeing such a great environment. There are five residents on the bus - two of us who are ambulatory, one with a walker, and two riding power chairs. Tony is so patient, and careful, when loading and unloading the latter. We leave at 9:25 in cool weather and broken clouds. It was clear earlier this morning, but convection has turned the humid air into clouds.
The Arco gas station is posting gas at $2.98. The futures price today is $82.44/bbl, down $1.76. We are on I-80 heading westbound. Traffic is light in both directions. We are crossing the Putah South Canal. The source of this small stream of water is the Putah Diversion Dam about 6 miles downstream from the Monticello Dam. This dam forms Lake Berryessa.
I am seeing more trucks on the highway than I used to see a few months ago. This is one way that I keep tab on the progress of the recovery from the recession of the last couple of years. My other measures for testing the economy are the number of cars in the Mall parking lot, the number of “container” trucks I see and the number of ads in the Wall Street Journal.
The sign says Vallejo 14, and San Francisco 44. Passing a bottom-dump truck and trailer. I don’t see many of this type of truck, unless they are moving dirt or rocks. Yet, there are bottom-dump trailers for hauling loads of bulk sugar. The mustard seed is still blooming and doing well. Most of the poppies have departed until next spring.
Now, the sky is black, and cars coming from the opposite direction all have their headlights “on”. It is also windy - flags are waving straight out. The weatherman forecasts “showers”. I believe him. I can tell that we have had a rainy season. There is a lot of standing water in the lowlands below us. Rain is always good news, after three seasons of less than normal rainfall. Now, I can see blue sky. We are passing a Chevron station. Gas is posted at $3.16 - higher in prestigious Napa County. Passing the Don Giovanni Bistro. We have eaten there on one of our outings, and the food was very good.
We are passing the Vintage 1870 complex on the right. They have a lot of interesting shops and good restaurants. Passing a lot of wineries before we pass the Oakville Grocery. This market was established almost 130 years ago. It is a very interesting place to visit - excellent sandwiches and picnic supplies. It is like visiting Wall’s Drugs in South Dakota - only on a much smaller scale. Check it out if you are in the area. The young grape vines are about two feet high. Passing by the small town of Rutherford, and next to the Napa Wine Train tracks. Passing Sattui winery on the right. We are passing through the city of St. Helena - a very interesting setting. The city has done a good job refurbishing their Main Street - some very interesting shops. (Not much tourist traffic yet).We pass 76 and Chevron stations - gas at both is $3.20! There are a lot of appealing smaller homes, along the highway, in St. Helena. You could probably buy one for a million!
Tony drives past the Beringer Vineyards driveway to avoid making a dangerous left turn. He goes a little way before he can pull over to the right and swing around and make a 180. We pass the Christian Brothers winery and the Culinary Academy (many cars in the parking lot). He makes a sharp right turn into the narrow Beringer winery drive, and parks in the “Handicap” loading area to drop us off. It is 10:25.
I haven’t been here at Beringers for probably 40 years. When I last visited, there were only a few wineries in the Napa valley - primarily, Beringer, Charles Krug and the Christian Brothers facilities. Charles Krug was the first winery in the Napa Valley. It was established in 1861. But, Beringer is the oldest continuously- operating winery in the Napa Valley, founded in 1876. Since then, the winery has changed hands a few times. As I remember, PepsiCo owned it at one time. Today, Foster Brewery of Melbourne owns Beringer. Foster’s Beringer- Blass Group is the seventh largest wine producer in the U.S.
When Marie and I started visiting Charles Krug so many years ago, it was operated by the Mondovi family. Shortly afterwards (1965), Robert split from his Mondovi family at Charles Krug, and established his own winery in nearby Oakville. It was so long ago, when we visited wineries, they didn’t charge for wine tasting or Tours! (Today, most wineries charge $10 for sips of three varieties.) Back then, Beringer could handle the crowd in their stone mansion - their only wine tasting facility. Today, Beringer uses this quaint mansion for tasting their most expensive “Reserve” varieties. They re-habbed one of their stone- storage facilities to include a tasting area for their moderately priced wines, a gift shop and rest rooms. This area is not very ADA friendly. We had to walk/ride up the hill on a long incline, then double back and continue climbing on the walkway to a small lift. This Rube Goldberg held only a wheel chair and an attendant. The top was open and I could talk to the operator of the “elevator” a few feet above.
I browsed around the gift shop. Instead of spending $10 tasting, I added another $10, and bought a bottle of Beringer’s Napa Valley Merlot. Since buying this wine, I read in today’s Wall Street Journal “Taking advantage of the Wine Glut”, (May1-2,2010), that there is a world-wide over supply of wine, from over production, plus diminished consumption. Now, I am wondering if I overpaid for my Merlot? I probably will live with this unanswered question the rest of my life. Because of the wine glut, some winemakers are plowing up their vineyards. Some French producers are turning their wines into ethanol and it is causing local winemakers to seek financing.
There was quite a range of prices for the bottled wines in the gift shop. The “reds” ran from $19.00 (my buy) to $80 for a 2004 Montagia Cabernet Sauvignon (a Reserve). The “whites” ran from $7.00 (White Zinfandel, White Merlot, Moscato and Chenin Blanc.) to $20.00 for a 2007 Stanley Ranch Chardonnay. There is a tug of war going on for the
wine-bottle -stopper business. Cork is losing some of it’s long held market monopoly to screw top and plastic inserts.
I miss touring the wineries, like Marie and I used to do. Those free Tours ended with free wine tasting. Today, you don’t see much touring of winery facilities, because there is also an extra charge for them.
We leave the winery at 11:35. An Exxon station is posting gas at $3.20. We are passing St. Helena High School. The marquee in front of the school advertises their baseball game after school. I hope that they get it in between rain showers. Passing the Zumwalt Used Car Agency, The sign particularly drew my attention, because it was spelled the same as the famous Admiral Elmo Zumwalt. I remember Marie speaking of him - one Of Tulare’s famous sons! Elmo graduated from Tulare High School three years ahead of Marie, in 1938. He was the class valedictorian. Elmo’s dad was a doctor in Tulare. Thinking about it now, I wonder if he could have delivered Marie? Interesting thought! Another famous son of Tulare, was Bob Mathias. (His dad was also a doctor in Tulare!). Bob went on to star in football at Stanford, and won two gold medals in the Olympics (Decathlon). His first medal was at the London Games in 1948. He was 17 years old - the youngest gold medalist to win a track and field event. Dr. Elmo Zumwalt was then the Mayor of Tulare. He presented Bob with the “Keys to the City” after a huge celebration and parade. Mathias also served four two year terms in the House of Representatives. It is a small world!
I have digressed. Back to the Napa Valley. As we are riding along, I couldn’t help but wonder about the total assessed value of Napa County? A BIG number! We arrive at the Rutherford Grill at 11:45. The restaurant was already packed. Many were eating at the bar, so the hostess was able to seat all eight of us , but we were separated at two tables. The quality of the food was very good, but the place was very noisy. I think the younger crowd likes this ambience. As I look out the window to check the weather, the Napa Wine Train is slowly moving along heading up-valley.
When we leave the restaurant at one o’clock, it is sprinkling - and I left my umbrella on the bus! Good planning! The parking lot is full of very expensive cars.(Tony had to park off-site). I notice a few workers in the vineyards - all wearing yellow slickers. We are passing the Robert Mondavi Winery on our right side. I reflect back many years , when Marie and I came here to picnic on the lawn, while listening to great music. We are passing many wineries and good restaurants. The California Veterans’ Home always stands out, against the green background, off to the right. We are passing the Red Hen, and the sun is popping out. The pavement is dry here, but that is the nature of shower activity.
The Factory Outlet Stores complex is on our right. We are passing my favorite white-belted cattle, grazing. I notice a lot of cattle grazing in various areas, but I never see the source for their drinking water? While waiting for the light to change at the intersection of highways 29 and 12 (Jamison Canyon), I point out to Tony, that his truck is along side -
(Tony’s Fine Foods).
We are back in Fairfield. Shell gas is posted at $3.09. Tony pulls in to Quail creek at 2:50. It was a nice day. RCL - 5/3/10.