To
celebrate a long-time friend’s birthday, this past weekend we went out for a
little wining and dining in the Napa Valley at Beaulieu Vineyards (BV) and The
Rutherford Grill. Although these are two distinctly different establishments
they share the same parking lot so it is a convenient stop to do a little
tasting at BV and then have a fantastic meal at the restaurant.
Beaulieu
Vineyard (BV) is an important winery of great historical significance in the
Napa Valley. It was established in 1900 by Georges de Latour who was a native
of Bordeaux France. The name “Beaulieu”
was inspired by Georges’ wife Fernande who upon seeing what was a
four-acre wheat farm declared, “Quel beau lieu!” (What a beautiful place) The
following year they purchased a nearby winery originally built by California
State Senator Seneca Ewer in 1885 and then later established their own winery.
There
are several accomplishments that established BV as a founding winery of the
Napa Valley. First, During the time that Georges
de Latour founded the winery phylloxera was plaguing the Napa Valley. But
De Latour had knowledge about the remedy so he import a rootstock variety that
was resistant to the pest which helped establish him as one of the most
important early pioneers of the California wine industry.
Another
important and very wise decision that fortified BV’s place in the valley was
the ability to survive the most devastating blow to the wine industry in the
United States - the Prohibition of 1920. While most wineries in the country
were forced out of operation Beaulieu obtained a contract to supply sacramental
wine to churches across the country. The demand for such wine increased
dramatically during the years of Prohibition and the winery repeatedly
expanded. By the Repeal of in 1933, BV’s production had grown to over 1 million
gallons per year.
André Tchelistcheff (1901 - 1994)
The
third major wise move that the De Latour made was to hire a man who would
essentially become the Jedi Master of the American wine industry. In 1938, following
Repeal of Prohibition, Georges de Latour visited France in search of a new
winemaker who had a cosmopolitan and scientific background. During his trip he visited
the French National Agronomy Institute and was introduced to André Tchelistcheff (Russian: Андрей Челищев, December 7, 1901 - April 5,
1994) who
was doing research at the Pasteur Institute. De Latour then hired Tchelistcheff
to
become the winemaker and vice president of BV.
Tchelistcheff, went on to became
a mentor to other important winemakers such as Mike Grgch (whose Chateau
Montelena Chardonnay won the Judgment of Paris), Joe Heitz of Heitz Wine
Cellars, and Robert Mondavi. Tchelistcheff had a huge impact at BV as he
concentrated his efforts on defining a style for high-quality California
Cabernet Sauvignon, and created the “Georges de Latour Private Reserve” label.
By the mid-1940s, “Private Reserve” was widely recognized as the benchmark for
California Cabernet Sauvignon, and was served at all important White House
functions. He also introduced new techniques and procedures to the region, such
as aging wine in small French Oak barrels. The shift to using small American
oak barrels took place after the United States entered WWII, and became an
accepted tradition at BV under Tchelistcheff and his successors until 1989. Tchelistcheff
provided other significant contributions to winemaking such as the techniques
of cold fermentation, vineyard frost protection, malolactic fermentation, and
the development of winemaking regions in Los Carneros, Oregon and Washington. He
remained vice president of Beaulieu Vineyards until his retirement in 1973.
While
visiting Beaulieu Vineyards we did a unique historical barrel room tour
followed by a barrel tasting of the 2011 vintage of their Cabernet Sauvignon. During the tour we were able to walk
amongst their historic 100+ year old Redwood Tanks. To my recollection, all of
the 114 wines I have visited in the Napa Valley either use stainless steel
fermentation tanks or modern French oak tanks. Walking amongst these beautiful
giants was like taking a step back in time.
At the end of the tour we walked
through a little museum in the Heritage Room and then barrel tasted two samples
of the 2011 vintage Cabernet Sauvignon.
The first sample was from an American
oak barrel and the other was from a French barrel. The American barrel Cabernet
was vibrant ruby in color and on the nose it displayed aromas of green vegetables
(especially Bell Peppers), pomegranate, and cherries. The 2011 vintage was an
odd year as it was a very cool summer and most had a very late harvest. When
Cabernet Sauvignon doesn’t get enough heat the seeds do not fully ripen (turn from
green to brown) and consequently they impart pyrazines (paradiazines)
which give the wine a green vegetal character. These traits are very common in
Cabs from Chile.
The second sample from the French
barrel which had a huge bouquet of canned cranberry sauce and on the palate it
seemed candied with a hint of residual sugar.
Of course it is far too soon to make
a judgment call about this vintage for these wines have a long way to go in
ageing and will undoubtedly be blended together with perhaps a little Merlot or
Petite Verdot or some other Bordeaux varietal to improve the wine’s profile. It
will be interesting and quite educational to buy a bottle of the 2011 vintage
when it is released and then taste it in 5-6 years.
To
visit or for more information:
Beaulieu Vineyards
1960 St. Helena Highway
Rutherford, CA 94573
Phone: (800) 264-6918 x 5233
http://www.bvwines.com/home
To see more pictures, check out Erik Wait’s Wine Country Photography
at:
http://erikwait.blogspot.com/2013/03/beaulieu-vineyards-rutherford-napa.html
The Rutherford Grill
Because
the focus on this wine country travel journal is on vineyards and wineries I’ve
never done a review or made a video of a restaurant before. But, enjoying the
wine country is not just about wineries, they’re also a great place for superb
dining.
After
the tour and tasting at BV we walked
across the paring lot to the Rutherford Grill. This is one of my favorite
restaurants in the Napa Valley and I’ve probably eaten here somewhere between
20 and 30 times.
The Rutherford Grill is family-friendly and casual
yet upscale enough to entertain friends on special occasions. It is an inviting
cozy steakhouse (part of the Houston's family) that features intimate leather
seated booths, weathered wood and stonework, a wood-burning fireplace, and a
kitchen-side bar.
You can also eat outside on the canine-friendly
patio which also has an outdoor bar and wood burning fireplace (for those rare
colder days).
The menu features a great line-up of
steaks including a hardwood-grilled filet mignon (which I chose), absolutely
killer barbecued ribs (which is what I usually order), and iron-skillet
cornbread. Some of my favorite side dishes include the awesome garlic-butter
mashed potatoes, the in-season heirloom tomatoes salad and their coleslaw is the best I have ever eaten in my life!
The prices on the menu are very
reasonable and the added feature of no-corkage fee for bringin in a bottle of wine makes this restaurant particularly
attractive for the budget minded wine country traveler. But they also have their own wine list of by-the-glass or bottle with very reasonable prices.
To
visit or for more information:
Rutherford
Grill
1180 Rutherford Rd
Rutherford, CA 94573
Hours:
Sun-Thu 11:30am - 9:30pm; Fri - Sat 11:30am - 10:30pm
Phone: 1-707-963-1792
http://www.rutherfordgrill.com
Note: I’ll
be on the road to Oregon tomorrow so for the next couple weeks all my wine
country traveling articles will be on Oregon Wine Tasting Adventures!
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