Goosecross Cellars

Last fall we were fortunate enough to spend one gorgeous, sun-drenched afternoon in the Napa Valley (the fact that I haven't written about it up to this point only serves to underscore how incredibly hectic that particular stretch of 2010 was for us). To be honest, it was a bit of a last minute excursion during a weekend visit with friends. And, to be even more honest, I realized after we'd decided to go that I just hadn't been drinking a lot of Napa Valley wine recently. So our agenda was a bit, ahem, unstructured.

Luckily for us, sometimes a lack of plan is the perfect catalyst for a fresh experience. On that particular day, Goosecross Cellars was a big part of just such an experience for our little group. Thanks to a friendly tip, we headed over to taste wine in the barrel cellar at Goosecross. The laid back atmosphere of the barrel cellar was just our style. And we loved hanging out with Jose, who entertained us with lively stories and trivia questions while he poured us our tastings. It was a ton of fun and the wine was absolutely delicious. Delicious enough that Kevin sprang for our most expensive bottle ever - an exquisite Merlot (okay, it wasn't that expensive, but when you buy as much wine as I do, there has to be a limit somewhere). I also loved the Syrah and, among the whites, the Viognier especially stood out.

A few weeks after our trip, I searched out the Goosecross website, wanting more info on the wines that we'd tasted. I was surprised, though I shouldn't have been, to find a website that goes well beyond an online store... What I found instead was a website dedicated to the wine enthusiast. Ever the school nerd, I was happy to see that Goosecross has a Director of Education on staff and tons of online educational content, including articles and a quick, but entertaining Wine Trivia Challenge.

The real win for me, though, was finding Napa Valley Wine Radio. The podcast, which is available via the website and also on iTunes, is released every three weeks. Generally hosted by Nancy Hawks Miller, who is the Director of Education at Goosecross, the episodes are just about perfect in length and cover various wine and food topics. Recent episodes include a 2010 Harvest Recap, a conversation with Master of Wine Benjamin Lewin about Wine Myths and Reality, and an interview with Duane Dappen, president of Zinfandel Advocates and Producers. I have to say that after listening to the recent episodes, and perusing the list of back episodes, I am eager to dig into the archives to learn more about wine clarification, the integration of food and wine, even how to plant a vineyard from scratch. There are over 100 episodes, so I might be busy for a while...

So, if you find yourself in Yountville, definitely search out Goosecross Cellars and make an appointment for a tasting in the barrel cellar (try to be more prepared than we were..!). If not, consider taking advantage of all of the awesome education Goosecross provides. If you are even a bit of a wine geek like me, you will be fascinated!