A dictionary defines ‘to civilize’ as to ‘educate in the more refined arts of life’, ‘to enlighten and elevate’. If, as Hemingway asserts, wine is our most redeeming course of study, then Napa Valley is certainly its foremost school in our better pursuits. As with so many truly beautiful things, the path to the paragon can be traced to the root, and in this case, quite literally, the soil. An improbable mélange of climate and type packed within a scant 30 x 5 mile stretch, it has shown itself time and again to be a proving ground for whatever it is you’d like to grow. To spend a few days among the local luminaries is to be in the presence of passion. This land of otherworldly beauty provokes a certain fearlessness of spirit and emboldens the second act, like that of Thomas Keller who famously decamped to a sleepy township’s former steam Laundromat and transformed American fine dining; like that of Mike Smith who worked harvests for free before taking the leap to study under Thomas Brown and is now a 100-point winemaker many times over; like that of Cindy Pawlcyn whose 30+ years in the Valley are defined by pioneering delicious, sustainable comfort food in an archetypal atmosphere; like Russell and Victoria whose Bevan Cellars wines transported them from 9 to 5 city dwellers to powerhouse producers in a matter of years. Napa is a place that exists for enrichment and enjoyment, and as much as it is tended, it too plants something in each of its visitors. It doesn’t have to work to dazzle you: the five star hotels and Michelin star restaurants are the result of its allure, not the cause.

The journey leaves you Cabernet-stained, satiated and wiser, thoroughly schooled in life’s oldest, simplest and most universal pleasures. Very civilized, indeed.

With Love From Wine Country,
Katie