I made my first trip to the wine country and to St...

2009-11-25T16:16:30.749-05:00

I made my first trip to the wine country and to St. Helena in 1984 in November. We had dinner at a restaurant, the name escapes me, that had the barrister chambers from the San Francisco court house built into the walls. Before we ate the bartender asked if I liked port wine. I told him that I had a neighbor who had a bottle of port from his relative in Portugal and that it was 100 years old. I also told him that I did not believe it was that old but that it was too sweet and thick for my liking. He grabbed a glass and poured some of your early port and told me to take a drink. I told him it was great. We talked and I explained that we were there for two weeks and that I had every day planned out for different wineries. He told me to hold on and picked up the phone, it must have been about 7-8 PM and started talking. I listened as he said something like, "Jim, I have this nice young couple here from Southern California. Can you take them on a tour in the morning?" I tried to get his attention to say we had our day planned to no avail. He hung up and told us we were expected at 8:30 AM and gave us directions. I couldn't believe it. We talked over dinner, which we then ate at the bar and decided that it would be an experience. We came back every year for the next eight years and I still have a collection of bottles he signed for me.
We showed up bright and early and were greeted by Jim and Imogene. He invited us into the "lab", where we saw the early spider window, and we sat down for what was to become my absolute favorite time ever in the wine country. He became our teacher. He told us how the wine was made, explained in detail, he brought out vials for us to smell and placed a taste wheel in front of us. He proceeded to let us taste a number of wines, including taking us to the back and tasting from the cask. He quizzed us on smells and flavors with each sip. I eventually asked him if I was saying I could smell or taste something he suggested simply because he asked. He then brought out a young bottle of Cabernet and asked if I could taste the sauerkraut flavor and said that it was often present in a young cab. I told him I could not and my wife immediately said how much I dislike sauerkraut and that if it was there I'd taste it. Jim laughed an on we went. I had no idea how much time had elapsed. Eventually he graciously asked if we were still planning to go elsewhere that day and I told him we were going to go to Grgich, Cakebread, Trefethen and Mayacamas. I looked at my watch and it was almost noon. We bought two cases of wine that day mixed between the 1981 Noble Companion Lot 2 at $11.50, the 1982 Royal Escort at $15.00, the 1983 Summer Port at $7.25 and the 1981 Cabernet at $10.50.

Comments on The PSychos' Path: "Mr. Brecher, (and Ms. Gaiter), Open That Bottle!"...

I made my first trip to the wine country and to St...