54.7 F
Laguna Hills
Tuesday, Mar 19, 2024
-Advertisement-

Touring the Napa Valley With Fleming’s as the Guide

A trip to Northern California wine country is a favored getaway for anyone the least bit interested in wines and their provenance.

My husband Patrick and I have hosted or co-hosted some pretty marvelous wine trips for as many as 40 people through Napa, Sonoma, and Central Coast. We even did the entire Anderson Valley one time, starting above Calistoga and working our way to the Pacific Ocean.

The Fleming’s restaurant chain recently proved that they know how to put together a wine trip that’s high on the elegant meter. We were fortunate to be part of the four-day event.

It was 1979 when we took our first trip to Napa and Sonoma. I was a fledgling restaurant and wine writer, having only months before been offered that job by Orange Coast magazine.

Patrick and I knew what we liked to drink but I knew practically nothing about wines as a separate, serious subject. That trip was my baptism and I had an opportunity to meet some remarkable winemakers and winery owners who became close friends and mentors as my interest and education grew.






Table at Quintessa Winery: 280 acres in the heart of the renowned Rutherford region of Napa

Fleming’s invited members of its recently formed Magnum Club on the wine tour. The club is made up of the chain’s best customers. Fleming’s flagship restaurant opened in 1998 in Newport Beach,it’s still the busiest location. By the end of this year there will be 41 Fleming’s restaurants in the U.S.

I have no idea how Marian Jansen op de Haar, the wine director for Fleming’s nationwide operations, Stephanie Amberg from the corporate home office, Magnum Club director Shannon Harding and director of marketing Tanya Sparkman managed to put together such an impressive array of wineries to visit and dine in. The lodging was drop-dead magnificent.

Forty Magnum Club members came along. We arrived at the Oakland Airport on a Thursday with chauffeurs to spirit us away to the elegant charms of Napa Valley’s Meadowood Resort.

Meadowood consists of individual bungalows and duplexes in a gorgeous foresty setting. They supplied us with breakfast on their meadowland of a lawn each morning, fine wines before we boarded mini-buses to depart for wineries galore and more welcoming wine when we returned.

The first evening we dined at the new home of Kelly and Paul Fleming,yes, that Paul Fleming, the founder of the upscale restaurant chain.

We had the opportunity to drink Kelly Fleming’s first vintage of cabernet sauvignon (2002), the only wine she’s making right now. Eight years ago, the couple bought a 300-acre estate and began planting vines in 1999.

Let’s just describe this as a fantastic house with views that go on forever and having dinner on their romantic terrace was pretty special.

After a superb sleep in the cushiest of beds, we were having breakfast at linen-napped tables on the carpet of green lawn by 8 a.m. The first winery of the day was Beringer, a stunning place that dates back to 1869. We sat for the most comprehensive wine- and food-matching seminar that I’ve ever encountered.

It’s always fun reconnecting with people who have left us with special memories from the past. The matching was narrated by Jerry Comfort, who in the 1980s was the sous chef for Jeremiah Tower at Stars in San Francisco.

On one of our wine trips back then, we’d dined as a group at Stars and Jerry was in the kitchen overseeing our repast and then sharing culinary stories with us at the table. Jerry now does these seminal matching seminars, about 90 minutes long, as his passion refocused.

Off to Cakebread Cellars, which was founded by Jack and Dolores Cakebread. Dennis, one of their sons, greeted everyone and I grabbed a couple of cheeky smooches. We had a tour, did a blending seminar and then had lunch in the shade of the trees.

I made sure the group got to meet the winery’s resident chef, Brian Streeter, with whom I’ve had the pleasure of sharing kitchen duties in the past. Of course, all of you wine drinkers reading this know the stature of the portfolio of wines made by the Cakebreads.

After lunch, we made our way to the impressive Rubicon Estate. This is the winery of Francis Ford Coppola with a legendary past of its own. It has just been renamed Rubicon from Niebaum-Coppola. During the past 25 years, Mr. Coppola has reunited all of the original vineyards of the estate, which date back to 1840.

By 4 p.m. we were in our coaches traveling back to Meadowood. A little rest, a refreshing change of clothing and we assembled once again for wine in the main lobby of the resort before departing for the magical experience of Quintessa Winery for dinner.

Owners Valeria and Agustin Huneeus were spending their first day in their brand new home and were generous enough to have our whole group for dinner. It was our wedding anniversary, so that made it all the more important for our memory book.

Quintessa was founded in 1989 when the couple discovered the property, a remarkable spread of 280 acres in the heart of the renowned Rutherford appellation of Napa Valley.

The site was the last great undeveloped property in Napa Valley and had all the characteristics of a great wine estate: rolling hills, many different microclimates and a vast diversity of soil types. It had never before had grape vines on the property.

The owners describe it as a story of destiny and that inevitable journey has led them to make one world class wine, a red meritage that is, without flattery, one of the best wines I’ve ever tasted.

We had wine on their private island on Dragon’s Lake, a scene with a walking bridge, water lilies worthy of a Monet painting and a covered Thai pavilion with a hand painted dragon on its floor. A short walk down a still unpaved lane took us to their home and a most elegant table set beneath a long colonnade overlooking the undulating vineyards.

The lucky folks who were there that evening were allowed to buy a few bottles of Quintessa wine for $110 per bottle, a bargain recognized by the serious wine drinker.

As for the multi-course dinner, the entree of steak was prepared by Russell Skall, corporate executive chef of the Fleming’s restaurants.

We all slept great that night. Saturday morning dawned, breakfast was again a fine wake-up experience and we were off to visit Honig Winery and owner Michael Honig.

This was quite an educational stop as we learned much more about organic farming and sustainable agriculture, which is the standard at Honig. Besides tasting the winery’s sauvignon blanc and cabernet, we got to see a mother owl and her baby. That’s after we walked a long distance through vineyards and came to a giant oak tree that held an owl house.

It was a fascinating site to see a conservationist climb the ladder, take out the baby owl so we could have a quick look (owlets are not pretty) and then extract the mother owl and bring her down to the back of the truck and band her so that she could be tracked. Owls are important to vineyards as they feast on rodents and insects that can hurt the vines.

The walk to Frog’s Leap Winery from Honig is through one of the vineyards, making it a convenient stop for lunch and some hilarious times with owner John Williams. It was nice seeing him again as it had been several years since we’d giggled and sipped wine together.

John is one man everyone should meet. He’s such a serious vintner and yet he laughs constantly about life, winemaking and the tribulations and unexpected turns one encounters every day.

Of course, Frog’s Leap is historical too. It was founded as the Adamson Winery in 1884. In 1994, it became the home of Frog’s Leap. The winery aims to leave an ecologically sound legacy by way of their biodynamic farming and Napa River conservation project.

The wines,zinfandel, sauvignon blanc, merlot, cabernet, chardonnay, syrah and the utterly delightful Liepfr & #246;gmilch,show the essence of terroir in their articulately layered flavors. It’s wonderful to meet wines that are so good and yet know there’s someone smiling while making them. The happy attitude from heart to wine does show well.

The catered lunch under the arbor of trees led us through an array of fresh oysters, several salads, custom made pizzas and delicious desserts. We drank a lot of wine at Frog’s Leap.

That evening the group had a dinner at Franciscan Estate which was founded in 1972. Patrick and I have been there before but we did not join the others because we wanted to have a dinner alone with Mike Grgich at Grgich Hills Cellars.

Mike made the 1973 chardonnay at Chateau Montelena that took top honors as the best chardonnay in the world at the famed Paris Wine Tasting event in 1976. Mike not only shocked the French by besting all their fine white Burgundies, he literally put California on the global map as a serious wine producing region.

I highly recommend the Martini House in St. Helena as a place to dine. Mike chose it and we three had some marvelous food and, naturally, Mike’s famous wines. Martini House is the brainchild of restaurant designer/entrepreneur Pat Kuletto (he also did Boulevard, Jardini & #269;re and Farallon in San Francisco) and Todd Humphries, former executive chef of Campton Place.

Pat has combined the best of wine country and respect for native Americana in this pleasing place. And Todd’s food is always such a treat.

Our last day was Sunday, up early to organize our suitcases and then motor coaching over to the Sonoma side for a breakfast brunch at Gloria Ferrer Winery. More terrace dining with views that went on forever. We had sufficient time to breathe in the clear, clean air, soak up visions of such beauty and be thankful for this whole experience.

What a grand trip Fleming’s put on. The Fleming’s restaurants feature a yearly selection of 100 wines by the glass. Each summer, the list of special wines is revised.

It’s always an honor roll of excellence from around the world and yet this unique list features wines by the glass in all price categories.

OC’s Fleming’s restaurant is in Fashion Island at 455 Newport Center Drive. Phone (949) 720-9633.

You easily can find more information about all the wineries and places we visited on this trip by checking out their Web sites. There’s much fascination in those Web pages of wine history and winemaking today.

Want more from the best local business newspaper in the country?

Sign-up for our FREE Daily eNews update to get the latest Orange County news delivered right to your inbox!

-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-