JC Wine Tasting

What a wonderful day in the Napa Valley!

Today started off with a trip to the wine warehouse in Napa. Lindsay and I hopped in the big white van with Chris to go get wine for the tasting room. Before we left, the general manager and direct of retail sales put together a list of inventory the tasting room needed. Then once we got to the warehouse, Chris presented the list to the workers and they loaded the wine into the van. After we arrived back at the tasting room, Chris had to check the order for accuracy. Inventory management is very important in the wine industry because the product is controlled by the government. Jessup Cellars must know where every bottle is located in case of an audit. I will be learning more about inventory management when I meet with the administrative staff at Jessup.

Early this afternoon, Lindsay and I learned from the director of retail sales and business services about the history of the Napa Valley. She presented a powerpoint about the Napa Rocks. Some aspects of the presentation that I found noteworthy are as follows. Napa Valley is considered the “new world” wine region because wine has only been grown here for 150 years. In 1981, the Napa Valley became California’s first American Viticultural Area (AVA). Now there are 15 sub-AVAs that make up the Napa Valley AVA.

I found it very interesting that the Napa Valley region only produces 4% of California’s wine and that 95% of the wineries are family owned, not corporate owned. The wineries in Napa Valley provide 40,000 jobs and have an annual impact of $42.4 billion on the US economy. Soil and climate play a major role in the production of wine. In the Napa Valley alone there are over 100 soil variations, which allows for the growth of many different wine varieties. It is also located in the Mediterranean climate that allows for warm summer days and cool nights, which is ideal for winemaking.

Later in the afternoon, us girls got to do a private 2-hour tasting with Bob, who is a Sommelier. He is a wealth of knowledge and knew everything we asked about wine. He taught us a little bit about the differences between white and red wines and how to pick out different aromas when smelling the wine. We both had such a wonderful experience learning about the wine Jessup Cellars has to offer! I would recommend them to all of you!

A few of my favorites included the Sauvignon Blanc, “Table For Four”, Petite Sirah and Zinfandel Port. I also like the Juel, which was named after my late Grandpa Juel Johnson.