Unfiltered, Unfined

A few columns back I promised the rest of the story of my recent trip to North California, specifically the portion that occurred after my media tour had ended…Tasting is always more fun with friends, and so for this two-day trek across Napa and Sonoma I had coordinated with Asbjoern, a young Danish sommelier I met in Austria, and Amos, brother of the much-mentioned Jerry, who lives in nearby Santa Rosa. The overall idea was to give Asbjoern, who was visiting U.S. wine country for the first time, an overall view of North Cali wine. I had therefore organized three winery tours in Napa on Day One; Day Two included the same number of visits but in Sonoma.

The Stags’ Leap Luxury Media Tour’s email made me do a double-take when I received it, mostly because of the word “Luxury” in the title. I’ve attended a bunch of these tours, and while accommodations and especially the wines have usually been quite sybaritic, none had previously placed that word up front and center. So I was naturally curious as to what defined vinous luxury for a bunch of winos living it up in Northern California.