Atlantica - 01.06.2006, Page 33

32 AT L A N T I CA
“You don’t want to make a left turn off Highway 29,” jokes
Hank Kaspar, guest relations coordinator at Opus One
winery, located off Highway 29 in Oakville, California.
Hank speaks the truth. During high season, miles of cars drive the
quick one-hour trip from San Francisco to Napa Valley’s wineries, flood-
ing this two-lane stretch of highway running north through St. Helena,
up to Calistoga. Five or six cars in front of my rented Cadillac, a driver
lugs a boat hitched to a trailer, causing traffic to slow to a crawl.
I can think of many less scenic routes to be stuck in a traffic jam.
To the east and west of Hwy 29 are sprawling vineyards, magnificent
estates and lush green hills dotted with olive trees flourishing in Napa’s
warm, Mediterranean climate.
Like everyone else, I’ve come to Napa to taste wine. My introduc-
tion to wine culture came not from Sideways, the film about a pudgy
guy who drives around California wine country in a beat up Saab. My
indoctrination occurred on a visit to Italy, from an Italian friend with the
same first and last name: Gaya.
I was confused, too. But then Gaya explained to me that her last name
is spelled with a “j” instead of a “y”. Her father is Angelo Gaja.
Anyone who knows anything about wine should recognize the last
name Gaja. It’s synonymous for elegant, opulent wines like Barbaresco,
grown in and around Piedmont, northern Italy.
Scenically, Napa reminds me of Italian wine country. Wine snobs
might scoff at any type of comparison, but Napa wines long ago
cemented their reputation as comparable to, if not better than,
European wines.
I hear Europeans laughing. Remember back to the blind tasting
conducted at the Intercontinental Hotel in Paris in 1976. California
clobbered France in what would later be known amongst the wine
literati as “The Judgment of Paris.” This May, experts gathered in both
London and Napa to replay the original tasting, including the original
red wines tasted in 1976 to see how they had aged. The top five wines
were all from California; a 1971 Ridge Monte Bello Cabernet ran away
with top honors.
Head-to-head success against European wine giants explains why
Napa has become one of the world’s premiere growing regions, a place
where an acre of land can cost up to half a million dollars.
“We have the second most expensive land in the world, second to only
Burgundy,” says Hank.
WINE APPRECIATION: STAMP COLLECTING OR SEX?
My photographer and I have inched out of traffic, successfully navigat-
ing the left turn off Hwy 29 onto the grounds of the elite Opus One
winery. There are no clunky Saabs to be seen as we roll past the rows
of olive trees planted up and down the long driveway, greeting those of
us visiting the immaculate estate. Parking between a Porsche 911 and a
BMW, our rented Cadillac feels more like a used Honda.
Opus One’s estate building appears to be growing out of the fer-
tile soil. It reminds me of a cathedral. The cream-colored limestone
“y
You needn’t be rich to spend
a wine-tasting weekend in
California’s Napa Valley. But
it sure wouldn’t hurt to have
a hefty discretionary income,
writes Edward Weinman.

On the opposite page:
The luxurious Opus One
winery, located in California’s
Napa Valley.
032-40NapaAtl406 .indd 32 23.6.2006 11:40:32