It may surprise many of you to learn that Napa isn’t just a valley of independent wineries working in competition with each other. To the contrary, as with most industries, there’s a common trade association to which about 450 wineries belong, and through this organization, known as the Napa Valley Vintners (NVV), a great number of important goals are realized, both for the wine industry and the community as a whole.
For many reasons (perhaps the winery is too small, its owner can’t stand the politics or someone simply isn’t interested in the bureaucracy) some wineries choose not to belong to NVV, very much like not all trial lawyers belong to the American Association of Justice. This is just the way things are, and worthy of being understood. But it’s also of note that NVV speaks well for many.
Most trade associations, including Napa Valley Vintners, do a fabulous job in multiple areas. The mission statement for NVV, which is being fulfilled quite ably, is to promote and protect Napa Valley wines, appellations, vintners and the community. It does this through cooperative programs among members, worldwide education about Napa and highly significant charitable donations to the local community.
The famed Napa Valley Auction, held annually in June, serves as a fund-raiser and each year raises millions of dollars ultimately earmarked for needy people, organizations and projects. Not quite so famous outside the wine trade is the week of Napa Premiere, when bidders come from around the world to sample more than 210 wines produced by vintners who belong to the NVV on one glorious day, and then bid on these wines. The money raised is used to fund NVV operations for the following year. Quite incredibly, it’s the wineries that entirely donate their wares (five to 20 cases per winery for Premiere and 10 to 20 per winery for Auction) to make this all possible. The charity of the valley is one of the qualities that drew us here many years ago, and it hasn’t waned.
For lucky retailers, restaurateurs and media who are able to attend the always sold-out Premiere festivities, it’s a week of visitation and pre-decision making about what wines they prefer, and an end-of-the-week, three-day party-fest where scores of wineries bring out their best to impress and host their best customers, customers-to-be and press who write about them. The amount of wine poured during this period is simply staggering, and of course all of it for free as the wineries hope for big recognition, which will lead to even larger sales.
This year, we attended eight to nine events, both on Thursday and Friday, some with upward of 17 wineries set up and pouring. Spitting is called for among those with even moderate intelligence, but sipping a little is approved as good form as well. While it might put you to sleep if we listed all the wineries and locations we visited, some of the most impressive properties included the Porter Family Caves in Coombsville, the Boswell caves in St. Helena, the Far Niente caves in Oakville and the Ovid facility high on Pritchard Hill. Evening soirees included a “Rocky Horror Picture Show” bash at the Uptown Theatre hosted by Premiere Chair Steve Reynolds, the elegant Napa Gras hosted by Raymond owner Jean-Charles Boisset (where we think our peacock and dragon masks were a hit) and the lively barbecue at the Sklars and Baggetts’ Alpha Omega Winery following the last gavel on Saturday.
We’re happy to report that bidding at the main event showed strong support for the 2011 vintage of Napa wines, which were the vast majority of what was available for sample. This is good news for the wine world, in that certain critics have already disparaged this vintage due to the inclement weather of that season. But Napa winemakers are the best in the world, and their expertise was on display for all to see. No further proof is needed than to let you know retailers paid a near record $3.04 million for the wines they fancied. They must believe in their ability to sell them.
Sadly, much like in 1998, when some critics bashed Napa’s wines before they were even bottled, there are critics (not us) doing it again. Those who wrote about how bad the 1998 vintage was when they first tasted it have been embarrassed (or at least they should have been) as those wines continue to improve 15 years later. Winemakers and viticulturists almost unanimously agree that the 2011 harvest required difficult decisions—most of them surrounding how much fruit would need to be sacrificed to keep the remaining grapes healthy and flavorful. As a result of the actions taken, there will be less of the vintage available in the marketplace than in most other years, but what’s there looks to be of Napa quality. It’s going to be very interesting to see what happens when the wines are bottled and distributed.
So, way to go Napa Valley winemakers, vintners and bidders! And huge huzzahs and shout-outs to Napa Valley Vintners, as well. Its collective educational and sharing programs allowed many winemakers to grasp ideas from others and produce a good vintage in what was indisputably a strange and problematic weather season. Everyone was therefore able to benefit from Premiere week.
Monty and Sara Preiser have been writing about wines nationally for 20 years. They also publish the most complete guides to Napa and Sonoma wineries (The Preiser Key) and own Shadowbox Cellars, the producer of four premium wines.
