Sifting through a wet week spent in Napa. Very busy time. Not a lot of time to reflect. Just a couple of thoughts.Napa Valley, indeed, has terroir. Tasting today, at Stony Hill, and the wines of Nickel and Nickel, along with a few other properties, has me thinking about the territoriality of this place. Much more on that, soon.
Napa Valley has wealth, in money and in workers. As we walked into a man made cave, temperature and humidity controlled by computers, my thoughts ran from the gentrified farmer who made millions in silicon to Raul, Joe and Luisa, who were hurrying to get the vines ready for spring. Later that night in a warmly lit room with sample after sample of wine and food served to us by the children of Raul, Jose and Luisa, I thought about the abundance around us and how it is that we can all but make invisible these souls who toil in the vineyards and serve the food to our tables.
Napa Valley has women of all ages who define a lot more of where this place is going than they get credit for. Strong women with a determination to dig in and be part of the evolution of this place and the world on wine. Exciting time, for the dialogue is more interesting because of this diverse range of personalities who are shaping the future of the wine business. I promise to do a post profiling some of those women, in the very near future.California and all the Border States are the Ellis Island of the 21st century. People looking to achieve a better life have landed and are here. We cannot isolate them. They are part of the fabric of our future. Many of them are kind, hardworking, decent folk. We demonize those who grow our lettuce, harvest our fruit and clean up after us. This is not the way of the grape. Or good for the future.
Change is coming, the circle is widening, the fire is burning brighter.
