CULINARY ENOLOGY
story by Jill Silverman Hough | photography by Maren Caruso

"…I'd just been to Cakebread Cellars in Rutherford to meet Culinary Director Brian Streeter. Streeter spends his days in a roomy kitchen with two big banks of windows overlooking gardens tended by owner and master gardener Dolores Cakebread. The gardens surround an oversized, casually elegant house that's used to entertain special guests and clients. Just beyond are an outdoor kitchen, a winemaking facility, a tasting room, and vineyards. It's a relaxed, breathtakingly lovely setting straight out of a Hollywood set…"

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INTO THE WILD
story by Thom Elkjer | photography by Bruce Fleming

One day, a friend and I were driving toward San Francisco after a day tasting wine in Napa Valley, and traffic heading south on Highway 29 was jammed up. My friend, eager to show me what his new convertible could do, swung impulsively onto Redwood Road in the city of Napa and said, “Let’s go west over the hill and pick up the highway in Sonoma!” As mildly as I could, given the rush of the wind in the open car, I told him I hoped he had some time on his hands. But he was slipping a CD into the car stereo and didn’t seem to hear me.

I knew what was coming, but I didn’t mind. We were about to take a redwood-shaded ride the length of the Mount Veeder appellation (known in wine country as an AVA), one of Napa’s largest subappellations (or sub-AVA) in terms of territory, but one of its smallest in terms of wine output. Our “shortcut” was going to make us late to our destination, but the journey would be its own recompense

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THE ACCIDENTAL CHEESEMAKER
Story by Deborah Grossman | Photography by Lori Eanes

"….The Backus’s highly acclaimed cheeses, called Goat's Leap, are sold at local markets and served at top-tier restaurants such as the French Laundry in Yountville and Terra in St. Helena. What’s more, Goat’s Leap wouldn’t make French-style cheese anywhere else but in the foothills of Spring Mountain, halfway between St. Helena and Calistoga…"

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THE MASTER COOPER
story by Henry Work | photography by Charles O'Rear

On early morning walks through vineyards in Napa Valley’s north end, listen for the clanging of metal hitting metal. The piercing sound emanates from a nearby cooperage, where hammers are striking the hoops that encircle wooden wine barrels. Those sounds, drifting from the Nadalie Cooperage (north of Calistoga) through the quiet air, sing of a rite of passage for artisans of the barrel craft: the inevitable hammering of the thumb with a heavy hammer.

Wooden barrels play an essential part in the making of premium wines. Nurtured in the barrel, a wine integrates its container’s disparate essences and rounds out any rough edges during the process called aging….

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