Spring is the season for Santa Cruz wine tasting

With spring's arrival and the gleam of summer just around the corner, many Santa Cruz Mountains tasting rooms are perfect for savoring a bit of the great outdoors. Some are picnic friendly, while others simply offer a pleasant atmosphere for taking in nature's renewed beauty over a glass of wine. Located at the northern edge of the appellation in the hills above Half Moon Bay, La Nebbia's property boasts verdant picnic grounds and a bocce ball court, as well as a glassblowing studio. World-class wines, along with breathtaking views of the bay and valley below, await visitors at this mountainside winery and tasting room. Tasting options include free pours of two house-selected wines, a single-vineyard flight of four wines for $5 and four estate single-vineyard wines for $10. A taste of the winery's acclaimed Bordeaux-style blend, Monte Bello, can be added to the estate flight for an additional $10. The winery grounds feature a stunning covered picnic area that is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Thomas Fogarty Winery & VineyardsAnother mountainside winery that boasts scenic views of the bay and surrounding vineyards, Fogarty offers three tasting flights. The single vineyard estate tasting features five estate wines ($18); the signature tasting ($12) offers a selection of five estate and non estate wines. Picnicking is welcome on the sunny patio, and visitors should take some time to check out the idyllic duck pond. The winery, best known for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the Santa Lucia Highlands, provides pours of five wines for $10 in its tasting room. The winery's large, tree-shaded Niclaire Courtyard is also home to Wine Bar 107, where wines are available by the glass and bottle, along with a selection of artisanal cheeses and charcuterie. Century-old vines and a redwood barn are just some of the pastoral charms offered at this winery tucked away in the hills above Saratoga. The daily tasting menu offers a minimum of six wines for $10, while a signature tasting is available on the weekend that includes five to six estate and vineyard-designate wines for $15.

Jim Barrett, renowned vintner, dies

The 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay, made just one year after Mr. Barrett and his family took over the Calistoga property, was the top white wine chosen by a panel of experts at the Paris tasting. The victory helped launch both California's modern wine industry and Montelena's reputation. While the win highlighted Montelena's abilities with white wine, Cabernet became its more important effort - a wine always made in a restrained style that reflected Napa's more modest 1970s tendencies. Mr. Barrett turned winemaking duties over to his son Bo in 1982, but remained as CEO and general partner. Mr. Barrett got his degree from UCLA in 1946, then a law degree from Loyola Marymount University, before serving as a submariner during the Korean War. In addition to serving as president of Napa Valley Vintners in 1986, during the association's formative years, and as a director of Family Winemakers of California in 1992, Mr. Barrett spent time in his later years working on land conservation issues, putting his earlier talents with real estate law to different use.

Exploring plants' tipsy role over the centuries

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Updated 12:50 am, Saturday, March 23, 2013

Legacy of Napa wine pioneers endures

Or perhaps in 1976, when California came home victorious from the Judgment of Paris tasting, proving to the world that America had to make no apologies for its bounty? Exactly how they have endured is a different matter, but even today, many of the wineries that helped build the valley's, and California's, reputation for greatness are thriving. Montelena, whose 1973 Chardonnay bested top Burgundies - even if the wine was a mix of grapes from Napa and Sonoma, a true North Coast representative - sits as it ever did at the valley's top, in the chateau facade that Alfred Tubbs constructed in the 1880s. The Chardonnay itself was made by Mike Grgich, who is about to celebrate his 90th birthday and whose Grgich Hills winery on Highway 29 is in fine shape, too, having converted most of its vineyards to biodynamic farming. (Go to: sfg.ly/YYyRZZ) The two new owners launched an effort to tune up the wines, and the latest releases of Cask 23 and SLV, all from the complex mix of volcanic and alluvial soils near the winery, are in good form. In both cases, the victors of Paris have kept a public face - an increasingly rare decision through the 1990s in Napa, as opportunities to taste many of its top wines became invitation-only affairs. The founding Portet family remains in control of Clos du Val, which continues to hang a shingle on Silverado Trail, and Bernard Portet recently launched a new label, Heritance. The Martha's was one the first Napa wines to collect its own fan base, and after a wobbly spell the Heitz wines have become worth revisiting in recent years - something easily accomplished by stopping in to its tasting room just south of St. Helena, where the Heitz family has welcomed visitors since the 1960s. Former owner Leon Brendel had farmed it, and Heitz has maintained the tradition for a half-century - both with a light red that's one of Napa's most affordable wines, and an occasional Grignolino Rosé. What's clear about the Mayacamas wines is their durability - the legendary 1974 is still tannic and young - not just the Cabernet but also the Merlot (one of Napa's little-known treasures) and the vibrant Chardonnay. The classic Mondavi wines remain, of course - including the Reserve Cabernet and the Fumé Blanc - although it's a fair question as to whether they remain as food-friendly and "sculpted" as the wines Robert Mondavi used to evangelize. Hardly new, the trend began at the start of the modern era, in 1969, when two of what historian Charles Sullivan described as Napa's Big Five, Inglenook and Beaulieu Vineyard, were sold to liquor giant Heublein. Coppola is also shifting the style of what had become known as Rubicon, pointing it more in the direction of the classic Inglenook Cabernets made by John Daniel in the 1950s that defined Napa's prowess in an era when it was still a sleepy farm community. [...] it, too, has been on a mission to revive its past glories, with a new winery facility designed to finesse its top wine, Georges de Latour Private Reserve. Under the ownership of Treasury Wine Estates (formerly a part of the Fosters brewing empire) it has become a widespread name in California, not only for top-flight wines like its Private Reserve and late-harvest Nightingale (named in tribute to longtime winemaker Myron Nightingale) but also for cheaper wines, right down to White Zinfandel. Rounding out the five, there's Louis Martini, which, too, was purchased - although in its case by the Gallos, who left the Martinis running their famed enterprise. Krug is where a young Robert Mondavi learned the ropes alongside his brother Peter, and Peter's family continues to run one of the valley's most historic operations. [...] what of all those upstarts from '72? Rather than chase a wine empire, the Bakers tapped winemaker Andy Smith to focus on creating what has become one of Napa's most extraordinary and relevant Cabernets - a wine grown on the same gravelly soils that once housed some of the state's most important genetic material for that grape, collected by UC Davis researcher Harold Olmo.

Napa Valley's history as a wine region

History unfolds in restaurants, wineries that helped build region Join us for a brief history lesson as we detail the valley's fascinating past and show how many of the pioneering wineries fit into the scene today.

A classic tour of Napa Valley

Not only is the main drag home to some of the most recognizable names in the wine industry, but it's also a treasure trove of history. Nearly all wineries on this route are geared for public visits, with tasting rooms that allow for a peek into their illustrious histories. Here's a look at five of the valley's most popular winery tasting rooms, and the tours and amenities they offer. When it comes to Napa Valley, all roads lead back to Charles Krug, who opened one of Napa's first commercial wineries in 1861 and its first tasting room in 1882. Krug was a Prussian immigrant who taught in Philadelphia, edited the West Coast's first German newspaper, and worked at the San Francisco Mint before founding his winery in St. Helena. The restored Redwood Cellar, built in 1872 and on the National Register of Historical Landmarks, has become the barrel room for Krug's Family Reserve wines. Though tours are unavailable now due to construction and redevelopment at the winery, the tasting room remains open and is worth a stop. The winery was among the first to emphasis wine education, and a variety of tours and tastings are available to visitors, including Wine Tastings Basics ($20), Pairing Artisanal Wine and Cheese ($45), Wine and Chocolate Expressions ($45), and Exclusive Cellar Tastings ($55) with wine educators - all of which should be reserved ahead. The seated group tasting includes three wines: on a recent visit, they were the 2011 Stags Leap District Sauvignon Blanc, 2011 Carneros Pinot Noir and 2008 Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon; three wines that reflect the winery's different holdings in Napa and Carneros. In 1875, Jacob Beringer, who started as a cellar foreman for Charles Krug, persuaded his older brother, Frederick, to finance a winery when 215 acres became available in St. Helena. Never mind that his plans called for the mansion to be built on the prime spot where Jacob's home stood - Hudson House was put on logs and rolled 200 feet north. The limestone, brick and redwood building holds 41 stained-glass panels, highlighted by the Shakespearean knights - thought to be Frederick and Jacob - that adorn the double-door entryway. The hand-painted and jeweled windows are also themed - fruit, wine and fowl for the dining room; Shakespeare, a globe and a mask for the library. Founded in 1964 by British businessman Peter Newton, the winery - complete with its aerial tram - was one of the first built specifically to cater to tourists. The bells ring every quarter hour, serving as unique soundtrack for Sterling's self-guided tour that ambles through its presses, fermentation rooms and cellars.

Two decades that made Napa restaurant history

Only 40 years ago Napa Valley was a sleepy wine producing area that got a boost when in 1973 one of the world's most recognized Champagne brands, Moet & Chandon, bought vineyards and begin producing sparkling wine. Many chefs and restaurants who brought international attention to the region continue to set standards.