Last week Chris and I, with friends Brad & Kim, visited San Francisco and Napa Valley. As such, the next few blog entries will shift the focus off of my usual Ontario winery reviews to recount our exploration of the region that made new-world wine famous across the globe. Since Canadian customs only allows each adult traveler to bring two 750 ml bottles back into Canada, we planned this trip carefully, intending to only buy wines that are not available (or rarely available or available but really expensive) in Ontario. One tool that helped us accomplish this was the LCBO app for iPhone, which we used to check inventory levels of different wines across the province. (Note: the search engine in this app isn't very "smart" so check your spelling carefully before concluding that a wine isn't sold in Ontario.)
For some perspective, consider that there are just over 80 wineries in the Niagara region and that it's taken me a year and a half to blog approximately half of them. As such, what proportion of Napa's 450+ wineries could the four of us realistically visit in just 3 days? Solution: the Napa Valley Winery Exchange has shopped most of the region's boutique wineries (and some of the larger ones too) to bring together a collection of wines that generally are not sold outside of California. It's a small storefront near the not-so-desirable Tenderloin district of San Francisco with limited hours (10-6 most days), but for wine tourists it is an absolute must-shop while you're in town. It's well organized inside, with shelves divided by varietal and with professional reviews, tasting notes and ratings beneath most wines. Perhaps the best feature of the NVWE, though, is its staff. On one hand, they really know their stuff; you can give a fairly detailed description such as "cocoa and eucalyptus with no tobacco" and they know which bottle to recommend. On the other hand, if you're not as wine-literate, they will coach you through easy questions, beginning with "red or white?" Below is a look at the 3 bottles we purchased from this store. Each photo links to more information about the wine. However, just like in Ontario, the smaller wineries don't seem to spend much time maintaining their websites!
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| Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards 2010 Right Bank |
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| Limerick Lane 2009 Zinfandel Block 1910 |
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| John Robert Eppler Wines 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain |
Chris wants me to mention that key to NVWE's business plan is the symbiotic relationship between it and the wineries. The store helps promote wineries that might get lost in a world of Mondavi and Montelena but also counts on being able to purchase a substantial portion of limited production wines. In fact, during our visit, we didn't get to meet the proprietor as he was meeting with a local winemaker that day.
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