From the day of San Francisco, I wanted to visit Napa Valley, because when I was in China, I often heard that the wine produced in Napa Valley in San Francisco, California, USA was world-famous! Therefore, Napa is also known as the wine holy land of the United States and even the world!
A friend of mine who is particularly fond of wine once told me that Napa wine has been in the leading position in the world since the 197s. He said: In the blind tasting in 1976, it was Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Luyue Wine Cellar in 1973 that defeated the famous Bordeaux first-class chateau Zhuang Mutong Rorsch, which made the eyes of the whole world focus on Napa. Then, on the 3th anniversary of the Paris wine review, the sponsors of that year organized a wine tasting party again, and opened 1 kinds of wine that had been aged for 3 years for a blind taste rematch. As a result, to everyone's surprise, the top five wines are still all from Napa! Since then, Napa has once again attracted the attention of the world! Therefore, the magic of Napa wine makes me unforgettable! The sacred place in Napa Valley has always fascinated me!
But I always have a question, that is, why can Napa Valley produce so many good wines recognized by the world? Is there any difference between this place in Inappa Valley and other places? Out of curiosity, I have checked the geographical location of Napa on the Internet many times. Sure enough, some experts on the Internet explained that Napa Valley is a hilly area near the bay, mainly due to the influence of the gulf climate! Of course, the uniqueness of Napa Valley topography is also a very important factor! As far as topography is concerned, Napa is plain, but it is quite undulating. It is mountainous and there are no peaks, and the undulating slope is very conducive to sunshine. The high and low hills can better store the warm and warm sea breeze blowing from the bay. This special geographical environment makes Napa Valley have warm early spring and warm summer every year, thus creating almost perfect climatic conditions for the growth of grapes!
There are more than 1 kinds of grapes used for wine making in Napa Valley, among which Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot are the most used varieties. The first two kinds of grapes are very small, green, a little bigger than nails, and form a series of small balls, which are very full. If you are greedy and insist on tasting them, the results will definitely make you sour! Cabernet Sauvignon is recognized as the king of red grape varieties in Napa. Experts say that such a good grape variety is a good raw material for brewing high-end wine. As for brewing red wine and white wine, that's just the difference in brewing methods!
According to high-end people who have drunk Napa wine in China, Napa wine, whether red or white, has different tastes of sour, astringent, sweet and fruity compared with many domestic brands such as Great Wall, Changyu, Fengshou, Xintian, Tonghua and Yunnan Red! I have long yearned for it! But my friend who loves wine said that Napa high-end red wine is rare in China, because the price is too high, and it was bought out by Americans in China just after leaving the factory, so it is difficult to buy it in China!
After careful arrangement by Aerospace and Lihui, we chose to take a one-day tour with the group to Napa. Before we leave, I think we must buy some bottles of wine from Napa this time. Besides giving them to our relatives and friends when we return home, we will leave two bottles for Aerospace, Lihui, Liu Qi and ourselves to taste slowly! I want to realize my long-cherished wish for many years, and I don't need to say anything about joy!
The tour group took the famous Golden Gate Bridge to Bay Mountain, which is more than 2,5 feet above sea level on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, and passed through Redwood Canyon, the first privately donated Redwood Park in the United States that was designated as a national park. At this time, it was the season of "the weather in May was getting longer, the trees were overcast and the flowers were fragrant", and it just happened to catch the sky was high and the clouds were light, but the weather was still fine. Everyone was interested in visiting Redwood Park! Of course, what impressed me the most in Redwood Park was the ancient redwood fir trees on the coast, which towering over 2 meters! Until about 12 noon, we went with the group to a Chinese restaurant that had already been booked!
After lunch, we started our trip to Napa Wine Country. As the car approached Napa Valley, a famous wine holy place in California, vast tracts of beautiful vineyards came into view as far as the eye could see. The green vines were covered with bright and fragrant flowers, and huge hot air balloons fluttered over the vineyards full of rows of vines! The whole picture seems to be like a beautiful oil painting, which makes people feel happy after reading it!
after passing through several beautiful vineyards, the minibus directly delivered us to Napa wine factory. At that time, we were randomly arranged in a 4-minute visit queue, led by professionals of Napa wine factory, and visited various winemaking workshops. Everyone lived and listened to the introduction of winemaking knowledge by winery professionals in detail, and then visited the brewing equipment and large wine cellar, and then went to the tasting room to taste various types of wines and fragrances.
According to the wine-making professionals, Napa wine-making is divided into three stages. Of course, what we can taste is only the primary stage called "Bai Xian Fendai"! White fairy powder is closer to the taste of women, soft and long, fresh and with the fragrance of the field, such as the first ray of sunshine in the morning, the little traces sprinkled on the leaves, more like the water drops falling down the tip of the leaf, and the true meaning of life can be understood through careful taste! The second stage is "Cabernet Sauvignon!" "Cabernet Sauvignon" is aged in oak barrels for 18 months! Among them, Cabernet Sauvignon has both wild king temperament and rich and heavy taste, and it is the king of Cabernet Sauvignon! The third stage is fruity red wine, which is equivalent to dessert after dinner. Fruity red wine is like the first ray of fragrant coffee in the morning and the last ray of sunshine sprinkled on the hill in the evening. It seems to be reluctant, but after all, it is necessary to wash the lead and banish the dust, and there is a leisurely and quiet inside, like a match, which warms the deepest part of our hearts!
The recommendation words of wine-making professionals are meaningful, seemingly exaggerated and romantic, which makes me intoxicated, and I still know and understand a lot of wine knowledge and culture! It also made me really have a long knowledge and opened my eyes!
There are various kinds of grape wine, exquisite wine utensils and souvenirs on display in the winery for the group members to choose freely. I bought a few bottles of red wine according to the established plan, but I only bought the middle and low-grade red wine "Bai Xian Fendai" because I was short of money. How dare I expect the elusive "Cabernet Sauvignon" of the king of red wine!
After coming out of the wine-making area, we visited the ancient castle in Napa Valley! It is said to be an ancient castle. When you walk into it, it is sure enough. It is an out-and-out medieval castle and a veritable medieval fortress. It was built on the top of a hill. The watchtower is the commanding height of the castle. The top of the watchtower is an umbrella-shaped hexagon. There are zigzag gun holes and gun holes all around the high wall!
While everyone was sighing about the ancient European cultural scene, a Chinese traveler who was very talkative with the group made a surprising remark. He said, "In fact, this castle is not a monument, it was only built in 28!" When his words came out, we all felt incredible. "How is that possible?" Seeing that we were very suspicious, he went on to say, "Think about it. The United States has only been founded for two or three hundred years. How can there be a medieval castle in Europe?" So he shared a story of the castle owner with us without stint! He said that this true story was discovered when he first came to Napa!
It turns out that this is not a real historic castle, but a winery. The owner of the winery is Dario Sedoy. His great-grandfather ran the winery in San Francisco as early as 1885, and was forced to close down because of California's "Prohibition Law". When Dario was a child, he played hide-and-seek games between abandoned barrels at home, so he had the dream of returning to his great-grandfather's old job since he was a child. In 1975, his dream finally came true, and he used the money he earned from his clothing business to open the Sedoy winery in Napa Valley. Dario knew the business well. He not only sold wine to tourists, but also served them cold meals and personally poured wine for them to taste. Soon, the business of Sedoy winery is booming, and the annual sales volume far exceeds that of Napa Valley winery!
in 1993, Dario spent $3.1 million to buy a 69-hectare piece of land 11 kilometers away from Sedoy winery, with a large Victorian manor for himself and his family to live in. At that time, he came up with a grand plan to build his own castle at the top of the hill. In order to ensure the historical accuracy of the castle, he specially invited experts from Europe to design vault ceilings and artists who are good at murals. The materials used, including bricks and tiles, were all taken from Austria, Italy and Romania, and these materials were shipped to the United States in 2 containers. In 28, this huge castle with an area of about 14, square meters and a cost of 4 million US dollars was finally completed and opened to tourists!
After the castle was opened to the outside world, Dario received many visitors to the castle, and so did our Chinese traveler on the day he first came to Napa. He said that he met Dario in the wine tasting room on the first floor. He was 71 years old, tall and thin, like a refined and gentle gentleman. He personally showed him the decorations and objects inside his castle, especially explaining some details, such as grape patterns on the walls, exquisite parquet floors, ceilings engraved with exquisite patterns, a grand piano decorated in the 197s, a hand-carved oak dining table, etc., which made Chinese travelers feel that Dario talked about with relish and seemed to be intoxicated! "But they are all replicas!" He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Otherwise, I should have lived more than 2 years ago!" "
I was intoxicated by this Chinese traveler's narration, which made me really understand the ins and outs of Napa Castle! At the same time, I have added a little respect to the castle owner Dario! From that day on, I have been thinking: the ancient castle is just a symbol of history, and every stone and object of it is recording history like documents, photos and images. When we come here, we are not only tasting wine, but also enjoying a beautiful art!
From Napa, I returned to Beihan Yuhang and Lihui, where they lived. It was past 7 o'clock in the evening. Yuhang and Lihui had already left work, and Liu Qi had already returned from studying in English class. It seems that he had not eaten dinner. At this time, Liu Qi had just cooked dinner, and he was bringing out his best multi-faceted cakes from the kitchen, as well as a few side dishes they liked. Aerospace was very happy to see us come back safely and asked me, "How was your trip to Napa?" I said, "It's really an eye-opener. In short, it's glad you came!" Li Hui looked at my backpack and said, "I have to buy wine when I go to Napa. What kind of wine did my uncle buy?" ！” Aerospace can't be blamed. I opened my backpack and took out a bottle conveniently, saying, "Come on, let's taste it first!" " The five of us drank two bottles of red wine that night, and everyone was full of praise after drinking!
How is the landform of Napa Valley formed, and what effect does it have on grape planting?
Napa Valley is a hilly area, and more than 3 soil types have been identified so far. Because of its mountainous terrain and the influence of the Pacific Ocean, it belongs to the Mediterranean temperate climate, which accounts for only 2% of the world. Warm early spring and warm summer create ideal climatic conditions for grape growth. Napa's wine industry has a history of more than 17 years since the first grape plantation was cultivated in 1838. During this period, the wine industry has encountered difficulties such as disorderly expansion, the invasion of nodule aphids, prohibition of alcohol and World War II, but Napa people have never given up. Now, they have not only made the industry fine, exquisite and exquisite, but also formed the whole industrial chain. They have also achieved a leap from production and management to brand management and then to cultural management. Napa Valley wine production accounts for only 4% of California wine production, but its output value accounts for about 3%, earning nearly 1 billion US dollars for California a year.
Geological conditions
The landform we call Napa Valley was formed under the action of extremely violent and profound and slow forces, and its formation process exceeded our imagination. Compared with the time when the soil of Three Palms vineyard was formed, the history of human beings is only an extremely insignificant part. The valley is a part of California's coastal edge, which is formed by the old seabed, all kinds of large rocks from the Pacific Ocean Plate, and fire-refined materials spewing out from the interior of our planet. For millions of years, the west coast of North America has risen from the sea because of the violent and slow movement of several plates colliding with each other. Long-term and steady compression forces folded the rising seabed into mountains. In this process, different types of valleys were created. In some cases, low troughs between mountains are extended and lowered. Napa Valley is one of the valleys that have been sunk and extended in this way. Compared with the more typical coastal valleys formed by high-altitude streams, Napa Valley has a lower altitude.
along the connection zones of many thinned crust, volcanoes open like exhaust valves and spew out molten rocks and ashes. In the long era of sea level fluctuation, land repeatedly flooded into the water, dried up and then flooded into the water again, increasing the sediment layers formed in turn every million years. The vegetation of forests and swamps is reduced to organic soil composition, which helps to provide new plants and bases for new forests, which eventually become the soil for human cultivation of huge grape orchards.
the Mediterranean climate is mainly distributed in the west coast of the mainland in the mid-latitude area (about 3 ~ 4 north and south latitudes), with the typical characteristics of "rainy in winter and dry in summer". According to the distance from the ocean, it can be divided into cool summer subtropical summer dry climate and warm summer subtropical summer dry climate. The cool summer subtropical climate is dry in summer, because it is close to the ocean, there is a cold current passing along the coast, and it is influenced by the sea-land wind. The summer is cool, with less sunshine and foggy, and the hottest month is below 22℃. The warm summer subtropical dry climate is far away from the ocean, and the cold current of the ocean in summer has little influence. Under the influence of subtropical high, the summer is warm, and the hottest month is below 22℃. There is more sunshine, and annual range is bigger than the latter.
though, the temperature is slightly different in winter every year. The Mediterranean climate still gives grapes a suitable temperature during their growing season. The favorable Mediterranean climate factors for grape growth include:
1. Sufficient sunshine, so that grape sugar can be fully accumulated;
2. Sufficient heat makes the grapes ripen smoothly;
3. Moderate and