Water to Wine and the Napa Valley
The Napa Valley is just 30 miles long and just 5 miles across at its widest point. Inside of this beautiful little valley is 46,000 acres of planted vineyards. A typical vineyard with a modern spacing of 4′ x 7′ has 1500 vines to the acre. Although these two numbers are just rough approximations it shows that there are at least 69,000,000 grape vines in the Napa Valley. Grape vines can consume between 2 to 6 gallons of water a week from July through harvest. When we put this picture together it basically shows that the Napa Valley converts water to wine.
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The Tasting that Shocked the World: Relive the 1976 ‘Judgment of Paris’
Pictured above, Chateau Montelena in Calistoga California; famous for winning the 1976 Judgment of Paris Chardonnay competition.
Once a sleepy, overlooked California wine region, the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 competition would go on to change wine country as we know it. On May 24, 1976, nine of France’s foremost wine experts came together for a blind tasting that pitted California Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignons against French varietals from some of the top winemakers in the world.
Where to go Grape Stomping in Napa Valley
The timeless tradition of grape stomping has been around since the 3rd century AD as a means to macerate ripe grapes in preparation for winemaking. Although nowadays used to attract visitors to wineries, it’s still a blast to pay homage to this ancient wine-making technique on your Napa Valley vacation. So kick off your shoes and jump into a barrel of Napa Valley terroir grapes. It’s time to get stomping.