Wine Country

As most Napa trips, they start out with a drive from whichever airport you fly into, whether San Fran, Sacramento or Oakland. We flew into San Fran and hit the road with, as many of you know, a picturesque view of the ocean. We made it to Napa in no time and enjoyed an incredible meal. For me, it was almost a homecoming as I had been many times before. I was retracing the memory banks as to where all the wineries were located and their proximity to one another. I’ll touch on this a little bit later.

We found a beautiful Airbnb in Sonoma that had been totally restored, and besides some hot water issues, was perfect for us. Located on the historic 500-acre Denner Ranch, the setting couldn’t have been more wonderful — a covered porch to watch the sunrises and sunsets, and see the cows maneuver to all of their watering holes. A state-of-the-art kitchen came in handy so we could enjoy breakfast together and a couple of family meals with wines that we picked up at the vineyards.

The main purpose of the trip was to witness our very own Private Cordillera “C-Star” wine being bottled — a project that has been a couple of years in the making. We teamed up with Stu Lerner and The Lerner Project to make all of this come to fruition. 

Many of you might have met Stu when he visited us in the past for a Meet the Maker dinner. We touched on it then, and now, lo and behold, we are so close to sharing these wines with all of you.

On the trip, we enjoyed Spring Mountain and Diamond Mountain, which were tremendously beautiful, as well as the Pritchard Hill area overlooking Lake Hennessey. We also had tastings at the Valley Floor, with Chef preparing food pairings at the wineries.

From many years ago, we went back to Pizzeria Tra Vigne, where I actually called Debbie Pepper, past Membership Director, and sent pictures to rekindle some of those memories.  

Now, the next reason that we travelled was (drum roll, please) a fact-finding mission as we plan to prepare for our next wine trip. Reaching out to longtime friends and vineyards and starting to build the momentum was and is exhilarating. No dates have been set but I, at least, am thinking June of 2027. I hope many of you will save some time during June and travel with us. 

Back at the Club

With all of that said, I am excited to set the stage for a fall filled with Vitis vinifera, a.k.a. WINE at the Club. We have introduced new events to go along with our weekly wine tables and our monthly wine dinners. Even our wine dinners have had a nice spin to them as we have introduced the “Speakeasy” series. 

We have had two Educational Series events with DAOU and Penfolds. These are complimentary to Cellar Club members and $35 for non-Cellar Club members so they can get a taste of what the Cellar Club benefits can bring. Our next in the Educational Series will be Darioush Vineyards and will take place on September 1. It will go from 5:00 to 6:00pm, and we will take only the first 20 members that sign up. 

Another path has been set toward creating a different style of dinner, one that will give Chef Issac and his culinary artists the opportunity to pair food with wines from lesser-known vineyards as well as some of the most elite vineyards. These will also be very limited, and the food will be served either family-style or you will enjoy tableside plating. Called the “Chef’s Table,” it will only be offered to the first 12 reservations. The vineyards that we have scheduled to date are Immortal, DANA and Hundred Acre.

For all of you sports fanatics, Axis will be the place to watch the games. On Saturdays for college football and Sundays for the pro games, we will have drink specials along with my Game Day 40. Every week, I will select a handful of wines for you to choose from that will be specially priced at $40. Bottles must be purchased, and these will be wines that we already carry and you enjoy regularly. We will have game day discounts on BTG’s (By the Glass) as well. Wear your jerseys and root for your favorite teams. 

One last thing to cover before I end.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! This year’s Wine Extravaganza (the Bubbles & Big Reds Holiday Show) will take place on November 24. This will be the best ever, by far!

So much excitement ahead, with an entire fall season to enjoy it all!

See you at the Club…