Napa Valley's Dark Underbelly

Three months now since I moved to Napa Valley. Where does the time go! An alarming amount of it seems to have been spent spraying Wine Away on red wine spilled on my white carpet and then blotting it up with paper towels. Any landlord who rents an apartment with white carpeting to a wine professional is placing their property in grave danger.

A lot of time has also been spent learning more and more about wine. Opportunities to do so here have far exceeded my greatest expectations, and my knowledge has been growing exponentially.

My tasting group's blind tastings continue to be the source of an incredible amount of knowledge. Where else would I be learning about ten white Burgundies one week, including the subtle differences between Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet and Meursault, and then exploring ten Oregon Pinot Noirs in depth the following week -- with small grower Champagnes coming up next?

This month I also had the opportunity to attend Forum Vinum featuring wines from 85 French wineries. The highlight of the event for me was a seminar in which I tasted twelve rosés from Provence – not the kind of learning experience I was likely to stumble upon where I used to live.

One of the more practical things I've learned is that here in The Valley there are ears everywhere.