Mt. George? The pending Coombsville AVA? Southern Napa. About 2 miles East of the town of Napa. Remember the last episode. I thought I was at the winery – still had 2 miles to go. (January 12, 2012 note: The Coombsville AVA went into effect today. That makes 16 Napa Valley AVAs. Can you name them?)
Henry Hagen owned the highly acclaimed Cedar Knoll Winery in the late 1800s! The Hagen house is now home to Amalia and Julio Palmaz.
Yep. I’ve now worked and lived in Napa Valley and visited many times in years past. I usually went middle or north due to time constraints. Spring Mountain. I’m fairly familiar with some of the Stags Leap wineries too. Lived in Oakville. Worked in Rutherford. Reverie and Von Strasser on Diamond Mountain. But, I’ve largely overlooked anything south of Darioush.
Faust gets a large portion of their grapes from this area. Silverado bottles a Mt George merlot; planted right next door to Palmaz. Farella Vineyard is nearby too. Inherit The Sheep? Wow! Go on. (another blog on Coombsville – vinsanity)
The view northwest from Level 5. The winery goes 18 stories deep into Mt George. The caves are 4 levels.
Every process is gravity flow. You are looking down from the crush pad!
Right out of a Bond movie. Those tanks are on tracks that rotate them right under the crush pad! Data and tank control all monitored and manipulated by that computer screen.
Custom sorting-destemmer-sorting-crusher. Yes. Double sorting. There is an opening on the floor at the lower left that drops the crushed grapes and juice into those tanks.
The biggest single day for Palmaz was 6-7 tons of grapes. They did around 70 tons total this harvest. They make around 6 thousand cases – Chardonnay, Riesling, Muscat, and Cabernet.
The software for their tanks includes a custom programmed iPhone app that allows winemaker Tina Mitchell too receive all manner of data from each tank. As everyone knows, during fermentation this is crucial. I imagine consultant, Mia Kline, has one as well!
Tasting for one. The lonely guy. Chardonnay, 2 vintages of Cab and the Muscat beautifully paired for royalty. All the custom toys paid off - great wines.
While I was definitely wowed by the winery and all its techno innovations and custom-built equipment and software, I was equally taken by the genuine hospitality afforded to a single intern. It was just me. Brad, my host joined me in my tasting. He spoke passionately about, not only the Palmaz wines, but quality winemaking in general. Florencia Palmaz walked by, heard us talking, grabbed a glass and joined the fray. We had a lively discussion on all manner of wine topics: biodynamics, enology & viticulture, sales and marketing, 2nd labels, cellar practices and visiting neighboring wineries. Wine as art. Theirs is art and they seem to have fun doing it.
Dr. Julio Palmaz
Foote Botanical Preserve
As I made my last run through the Oakville neighbors it triggered memories of these past few months. I realize I did find eden. Yes, perhaps for only a brief and fleeting moment; but it was a rich, rewarding experience.
