For generations around the world, families made their
own wines, sometimes tending small vineyards behind their homes
or just checking on a ceramic crock of fermenting juice hiding
in a closet. It was a tradition for everyone--from mom and dad,
to the smallest children--to be involved in everything from growing
the grapes, to crushing and bottling (or jug-ing, perhaps) these
rustic wines. Today, many small-production, boutique wineries
continue that tradition in Napa. Though technology has made the process easier, and many hire some of the valley's most prestigious winemakers to help craft exceptional, rather than rustic wines, the homegrown feeling is much the same. Walking into tiny tasting rooms, often run by the family themselves, the air is less of a corporate machine, and more of an extended living room where visitors can casually sip a glass of wine while chatting with the folks who know the wine from the inside, out.
Continue reading A Family Affair: Several Napa Wineries Pass on the Spirit of Winemaking.
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