Atlantica - 01.06.2006, Page 37

36 AT L A N T I CA
NAPA VALLEYa
help me with my article. I ask to speak with some of the employees,
those who make the wine or pick the grapes.
“No,” he responds rather snootily. Then Hank proceeds to guide the
photographer and me on our own private tour of the winery’s estate,
explaining the journey grapes travel from field to bottle, and illuminat-
ing why Opus One sets buyers back roughly USD 165 a bottle. There are
the 75 acres on this vineyard (plus another 30-acre parcel down the road)
where expensive farmland will lie fallow for two years before planting. It
takes five years after planting before the fruit is ready to be plucked from
the vines. The grapes are then hand-sorted, the juice gently separated
from the fruit, and stored in French-oak casks costing up to USD 1,000
each for about 18 months during first-vintage fermentation. While each
vintage ages differently, Opus One wine takes three years between the
vintage year and release to the market.
It’s 58 degrees Fahrenheit and 86 percent humidity in the dark nursery
where roughly 900 oak barrels are stacked neatly on top of each other
in long rows. With all this oak and fruit in one room, it smells some-
what like walking through a coastal forest six hours after a downpour.
According to Hank, each barrel contains enough wine to fill about 300
bottles. “You do the math,” Hank says, when I ask how much all this
wine is worth. My math skills are a bit rusty, but USD 165 times 300
equals about USD 50,000 per barrel times 900 barrels. That’s a lot of
money, which is why Hank asks the photographer politely, but firmly,
not to touch the stopper plugging the barrel that he is about to pick at
out of curiosity.
We’ve come to the end of our tour, and thankfully Hank has finally
loosened up. He leads us into a private tasting room where a bottle of
2002 Opus One awaits. Hank pours us each a glass, explaining that he
came to wine with a degree in bio-medical engineering.
“You can enjoy wine just for the taste, but if you want to become
more knowledgeable there are other factors like climate, grapes and soil
that provide limitless study,” he says, gently swirling his glass, allowing
the oxygen to penetrate the wine, aerating it and releasing its vapors.
Before enjoying the wine’s scent through his trained sense of smell,
Hank explains that the final exam question on his wine appreciation test
asked if wine appreciation was stamp collecting or sex.
Hank sloshes the wine around in his mouth and swallows. “It’s a little
of both.”
TASTES LIKE BUBBLE GUM IN THE SUMMERTIME
There are 391 branded wineries in Napa, according to Napa Valley
Vintners. So, where should you start your wine-tasting weekend? It
depends.
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