Wine Caves, Taking Chances and Organization

Never in a million years would I have thought that I would learn about taking risks, reaching for the stars AND organizing things all in the confines of a wine cave. But, then I did. I was in Napa for a friend’s wedding a few weeks back and coincidentally my friend Aerin (yes, Sharks in Pools Aerin) was having her bachelorette there the same weekend. Her other bridesmaids planned the entire weekend for her and I partook in the daytime festivities, which meant wine tasting and deliciously languorous lunches before rushing off to my other friend’s wedding festivities.

Gargiulo VineyardsWhile I’ve done plenty of wine tastings in my life, these were not average or run of the mill. Aerin’s friends are not only fabulous but they’re serious wine aficionados and super energized extroverts, which meant two things: they picked amazing vineyards and asked a gazillion questions during our tours. Me? I got to sit back, relax, and let others do the work for me while we toured, absorbed & sipped. Heaven for an Introvert. Although truth be told, I might’ve been chattier if I hadn’t been trying to keep a low profile to balance out the fact that I was dressed to the nines in my wedding attire, a blue satin cocktail dress with 3.5” black patent leather pumps, while touring Napa vineyards at 10:30am. I felt like Carrie Bradshaw shopping in a Moroccan market in a ball gown. How does that lady avoid ridicule for her wildly inappropriate outfit choices??

Our first stop was at Gargiulo Vineyards, where we stepped into a tasting room that had been a one room rustic stone farmhouse. The previous owner’s children gathered the stones for the walls and the owner mixed his own cement. The current owners expanded it into a full-scale winery. Then there was the “new” recycled school gymnasium floor and 4+ guitars displayed front & center, not to mention a breathtaking patio overlooking the rolling hills of their estate. The guitars reflected another love of the proprietor, Jeff Gargiulo, who taught himself to play when he was laid up with an injury as a teenager. Awe inspiring since I would’ve just used an injury as an excuse to sit on the couch, eat cheese puffs, and watch movies all day. We even met Jeff who despite having to help with the tastings on a Saturday—one of the gals had the flu—couldn’t have seemed happier to be there.

From his own description, Jeff’s life and career seemed a mix of hard work & serendipity. We learned about how he started farming—inherited his family’s tomato farm in Florida. How he came to be a vintner—grew the family’s tomato business beyond where previous generations had taken it, sold it, and then bought the current vineyard/ranch. He started churning out fantastic wine in the 90s, which he does now with the helps of his daughter, April. It was out of a story book complete with the pairing of delicious wines.

This is alo where I learned why wine barrels are often stained red in the center—it’s so when the winemaker is testing the barrels and splattering read wine down the side, the rows and rows of barrels don’t look jumbled and messy. Clearly, an anal-retentive Classic personality type like me or a Fun came up with this solution.

Tune in next week for the second stop on my magical mystery winery ride, where yet another Jeff surreptitiously teaches me a thing or two about life.