touring Rutherford Hill in Napa Valley

Believe it or not, touring a winery can be a mixed bag. Don’t get me wrong. It is thrilling to go to wine country, sample expensive and rare wines, occasionally talk with the wine makers or owners, admire the facility or get lost in the view or in the romance of it all. The quality of the guide makes a difference, but, more importantly, the other visitors in your group can have a big impact on your experience.

Recently, we went to Rutherford Hill, where Hegui’s a member, to pick up our fall club shipment and take the tour.

It really is beautiful there, and their facility is quite impressive, at least to this non-professional eye. Aside from the sweeping views of Napa Valley, I always enjoy seeing the caves on winery tours. They seem like enchanted places out of “Alice in Wonderland” or perhaps “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” You know, places that are sensorially completely different from everything that has led up to that moment that you walk through the massive doors into the underground ‘kingdom of wine.’ I adore the yeasty smells and the dampness in the air, the slight chill, the dim lighting, the sound of water dripping down the walls, the taste of wine on my lips; in short, everything. Magical!

I felt that way in the large manmade caves at Rutherford Hill, so it was all worth it.

I didn’t really pay that much attention to our guide, as I’ve heard it all before at Pride, Benziger, Beringer, Mondavi, Spring Mountain, Shafer, you name it. There’re only so many times someone can feign an interest in the number of staves in a wine barrel. (This time our guide said, “I think that there are thirty-nine.” At Beringer, the guide more decisively said “fifty-four.” I cannot really find a specific number by searching for it on line, though Wikipedia suggests that there are several sizes of wine barrel, thus implying that the number of staves is likely variable. And really, does it matter unless your plan is to actually make one? Exactly my point, too. Who cares. Perhaps Hegui is right and we have become a bit jaded?)

Our group was extremely small that day: just the two of us, and three others, besides the guide. Two of the rest were married to one-another, and I think they were a little drunk, too. At least I recall one of them saying that they were. They asked a series of basic to unusual questions that were fun. Aside from the eternal number-of-staves-in-a-wine-barrel issue, they particularly wanted to know where the wine was distilled. Oh dear.

That said, winery tours are lovely experiences and I can’t say that I plan to stop taking them anytime soon.