{"id":280050,"date":"2010-07-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-07-21T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/taste-of-wine-07-22-10\/"},"modified":"2010-07-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-07-21T07:00:00","slug":"taste-of-wine-07-22-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/taste-of-wine-07-22-10\/","title":{"rendered":"Taste of Wine 07-22-10"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Latest from Napa Valley It had been a few years since I had set foot on the hallowed wine country of Napa Valley, perhaps the most talked about appellation in all the world. \u00a0There is a saying that I want to start out with : \u00a0the more things change, the more they remain the same. In meeting new people, experienced hands and tasting new wines, I got the feeling that there is a unity of spirit in Napa Valley, that they genuinely believe theirs is distinctly the highest quality wine in the world as it has been for some time. With that roadmap for the over 400 wineries in a 30 mile stretch from Napa to Calistoga and the easy decision to break this report into a two part column, let\u2019s begin the journey: \u00a0a sweeping world-class \u00a0tasting from \u00a0Carneros in the south; Oak Knoll, Yountville, Oakville and Rutherford in the middle; then St. Helena, Spring Mountain, Calistogoa and Howell Mountain in the north. \u00a0 The down economy has dented the Napa Valley story but you would never know it by listening to wineries like V. Sattui Winery just north of St. Helena and Sattui\u2019s colossal Castello di Amorosa, just south of Calistoga. Tom Davies, the President of \u00a0 \u00a0 The V. Sattui Winery in Napa Valley has many guest experiences, \u00a0like the largest Italian style deli in Napa with over 200 cheeses. V. Sattui pointed out the many customer experiences that draw people into his facility, built up over his 30 years with the present owner Dario Sattui. \u00a0&#8220;We have 4 acres of winery grounds and picnic tables at the, and 34 acres elsewhere,&#8221; he began. \u00a0&#8220;We sell ourselves direct to the public in many ways. \u00a0We wanted to celebrate the Italian lifestyle with old world flavor and atmosphere. \u00a0Our Italian deli and food store in the middle of the main wine tasting room is just one example of getting people off Highway 29 and into the winery. \u00a0We started just the 2nd wine club in Napa Valley in the 70\u2019s. \u00a0We give customers what they want\u2026a wine experience. \u00a0We are now showing outdoor movies in our picnic area and on Saturday July 31 we\u2019ll host the V. Sattui annual Italian Festa by reservation from 6:30pm to 9:30pm. It will be a huge dinner, dancing, Italian music and discounts on our wines. \u00a0It is especially significant to our winery since this year is our 125th Anniversary from our beginnings as a supplier in San Francisco in 1885 founded by Vittorio Sattui.&#8221; V. Sattui has four different and stylish wine tasting rooms. \u00a0300 year old bricks line the walls holding collectors\u2019 library wines in the Gold Room, reserved for wine club members. \u00a040,000 members are signed up in the many wine clubs that account for nearly half the wine sales at V. Sattui. The winery now sells about 70,000 cases direct and offers some 45 different wine styles. My recommendations include: \u00a0Pinot Noir Carneros Creek 2008. \u00a0$25. &#8211; \u00a0smooth, velvet style, illuminated by bright cherry fruit. \u00a0A gold medal winner in the West Coast Wine Competition. \u00a0Zinfandel Ramazotti Vineyard Sonoma 2007. \u00a0$36. &#8211; spicy and richly flavored, and one of 9 different Zins offered. \u00a02 gold medals: \u00a0Amenti del Vino and Long Beach Grand Cru. \u00a0 \u00a0 Dario Sattui\u2019s greatest triumph was my next stop: \u00a0the great Castello di Amorosa, open to the public in 2007. \u00a0This 17 year project is an exacting replica of a Tuscan castle with 107 rooms totaling 120,000 square feet, 8 levels including 4 underground with all-European materials and the best craftsmen \u00a0 \u00a0 Castello di Amorosa, an authentic 8 level castle and winery, said to have cost 30 million dollars to build, is just south of Calistoga in the Napa Valley. \u00a0 in Italy to build it all by hand. \u00a0It attracts more than 400,000 visitors a year. \u00a0Here the wines tilt toward Italian style, with a 2006 Sangiovese $26. and a 2005 La Castellana Super Tuscan $65. that are typical of the style. \u00a0Traditional approaches and growing areas around the castle produce intense, well-balanced flavors similar to Tuscany and Umbria in Italy, which happens to be Dario Sattui\u2019s homeland. \u00a0Next week we will be looking at other wineries that are keeping Napa Valley on top. \u00a0For V. Sattui, access www.vsattui.com <http:> . \u00a0For Castello di Amorosa, go to www.castellodiamorosa.com <http:> . \u00a0 Note: \u00a0In last week\u2019s column on Rhone varietals and Paso Robles, we featured early efforts in planting Syrah based grapes, and should have mentioned Eberly Winery, a pioneer for this wine country. \u00a0Gary Eberle planted the first Syrah in 1974. \u00a0It was successful and by the late 70\u2019s he had about 40 acres. Find out more at www.eberlewinery.com <http:> . \u00a0 Wine Bytes \u2022\tGondola \u00a0Cruises at Loews in Coronado are again \u00a0going every Wednesday at 6:30pm through the \u00a0canals of the Coronado Cays for $45. pp. \u00a0\u00a0Wine tastings are included on the gondolas with sommelier Kurt \u00a0Kirschenman. \u00a0Private cruises can \u00a0be arranged as well as RSVPs by calling \u00a0619-429-6317. \u2022\tFirenze \u00a0Trattoria in Encinitas \u00a0now has \u00a0Jazz on the patio every Sunday through September from 4:30 to \u00a08pm as a free \u00a0service for their customers. \u00a0More \u00a0information at 760-944-9000. \u2022\tLa Costa Wine \u00a0Company has legendary Cakebread Winery of Napa Valley for a tasting Fri. July \u00a030 from 5 to \u00a08:30pm. \u00a0Cost is $25. each. \u00a0They have just opened their Artisan \u00a0Cheese Shop with cut-to-order service. \u00a0\u00a0Contact 760-431-8455. \u2022\tThe Grand Del \u00a0Mar\u2019s Addison has Tastings \u00a0on the Terrace on select Wednesdays for July and August, from 6 to \u00a07pm. Whites for \u00a0July , reds for August. \u00a0No RSVP \u00a0required. \u00a0Enjoy the wines July \u00a021, Aug. 4, 11 and 18. \u00a0$20. pp. \u00a0More information at 858-314-1900. Frank Mangio is a renowned wine connoisseur certified by Wine Spectator. \u00a0He is one of the leading wine commentators on the web. \u00a0View his columns at www.tasteofwinetv.com <http:> . \u00a0Reach him at mangiompc@aol.com. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0VIVI BENE&#8230; ( Live Well )<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Latest from Napa Valley It had been a few years since I had set foot on the hallowed wine country of Napa Valley, perhaps the most talked about appellation in all the world. \u00a0There is a saying that I want to start out with : \u00a0the more things change, the more they remain the [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":280051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11560","_seopress_titles_title":"Taste of Wine 07-22-10","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11560],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-280050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-la-jolla-village-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}