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| Field Trips |
The organizers of Terroir 2006 reserve the right to cancel any of the field trips due to inadequate registration, sickness, or other events beyond their control. Should that occur, participants will have a choice to join another field trip or to receive full refund.
“What you’re tasting in a bottle of wine is a hundred million years of geologic history” Trip leaders:Dr. Jonathan Swinchatt President, Earth Vision, Inc. Co-authors of The Winemaker’s Dance, Exploring Terroir in the Napa Valley This field trip provides an exciting opportunity to explore the interplay of winemaker, geology, and terroir. At Caldwell Vineyard in the Coombsville area of Napa Valley, barrel samples of wines made by three winemakers, all from Caldwell Vineyard grapes, will highlight the human influence on wine. Here, geology is the constant, while the winemakers’ individual sense of style and balance describes the steps. At Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, we will taste wines from blocks with different geology all made by the same winemaker—a chance to experience the influence of geology. At Rudd, wines from two blocks with the same “soil” but different geologic attributes will provide an additional opportunity to explore the interplay of geology, terroir, and wine. Discussions of local and regional geology and commentary on the wines by winemakers provide the background and context for the tastings. These tastings, and their context, will provide an opportunity for participants to consider and discuss a variety of themes developed in the conference presentations. We will be joined by John Caldwell, Caldwell Vineyard, Warren Winiarski, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, and Charles Thomas of Rudd. We will travel to the Napa area for a 5:00 p.m. gala dinner and the evening event, combining with other field trip groups and returning to Davis late evening. Materials: Lunch at Stag’s Leap, signed copy of The Winemaker’s Dance 
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Trip Leaders: Dirk Hampson, president and director of winemaking, Number of people: Maximum of 25 participants * Minimum 10 Nickel & Nickel, based in Oakville, California, is an exciting Napa Valley winery devoted exclusively to producing 100 percent varietal, single-vineyard wines that best express the distinctive personality of each vineyard. Founded in 1997 but born from a tradition of exceptional winemaking, Nickel & Nickel creates wines that articulate the singular expressions of the vineyards in Oakville and beyond. This field trip will begin at Nickel & Nickel, with an introduction to the winery and its terroir-based winemaking philosophy. The group will then tour four different Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards in Oakville, and explore the differences that contribute to the individuality of the wines each vineyard produces. The vineyard tour will be followed by a horizontal tasting of single-vineyard Cabernets at Nickel & Nickel, after which lunch will be served. Materials will include lunch at Nickel & Nickel, and wine tasting 
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Trip Leader: Dr. Terry Wright, Professor of Geology, Sonoma State University A scientific and tasting tour of geology and winegrowing in Sonoma County centering on the Russian River AVAs. We will investigate the geologic history and related soil development and the effect of both on wine quality. Our path will include lectures in passing during the bus ride, visitation of Benziger Family Winery in the Sonoma Valley and the geologic/soils display and wine tasting. We will continue through Santa Rosa to the Russian River AVA for lunch, field investigation, presentations by local winegrowers at Deloach Winery. Stops at Joseph Swan Winery and Iron Horse Winery in Forestville will include tasting of wines from distinctly different terroirs. We will travel to the Napa area for dinner and the evening event with other field trip groups, and return to Davis late evening. Materials will include lunch at Deloach, wine tasting, and a guidebook.
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“From Valley Floor to Mountaintop: A Comprehensive View of Napa’s Terroir Diversity” Trip Leaders: Genevieve Janssens, Director of Winemaking, Robert Mondavi Winery Number of people: Maximum 25 participants * Minimum 10 This tour will explore the rich diversity of Napa Valley terroir. Starting with a bird’s-eye view of the valley, we will climb up to 1,600 feet high above the valley floor to explore the vineyards of Mount Veeder Winery. Major replanting at one of the vineyards allows an insider’s look at the winery’s careful appreciation for balance in its unique ecosystem. Next it’s “down to earth” in the valley’s floor. We will visit the Oakville vineyards of Franciscan Oakville Estate, with a dramatically different type of soil and surrounding environment than that of Mount Veeder. A catered lunch will be served in a charming Gazebo at the vineyard’s reservoir. After lunch, we head to the very heartbeat of Napa Valley: the Robert Mondavi Winery. The winery is located in perhaps the valley’s most recognized terroir—the To Kalon Vineyard, which is situated on the renowned Oakville Bench. To Kalon’s uniqueness was recognized as early as the late 1800s, when it was first planted. Prof. Anamosa, who has conducted extensive soil analysis at To Kalon, will guide us as we walk the vineyards, examining how trellis system matches to soil composition. At Robert Mondavi Winery, we will taste block-specific wines from the three distinctly different terroirs we have visited including four 2005 samples from the area surrounding “Block V,” which give pure expression to the terroir of To Kalon. From Oakville, we will travel to the Gala dinner and the evening event with other field trip groups, and return to Davis late evening. Materials will include lunch at Franciscan Oakville Estate’s vineyard Gazebo, wine tasting, and field notes. [ back to top ]
Trip Leaders: This tour will feature biodynamic viticulture, tasting of biodynamic and organic wines, and the unique terroirs of the Lake, Mendocino, and Sonoma County areas.. The route will take us through the springtime agricultural splendor of the Sacramento and Capay Valleys to Clear Lake, where we will visit the biodynamic vineyards and beautiful villa of Ceago del Lago at Nice, CA. The tour will continue into Mendocino County to Fetzer Winery’s McNabb Ranch, where the discussion in the vineyards will focus on long-term scientific plots that compare organic versus biodynamic viticultural systems and the expression of terroir. The catered lunch will be at the arbored ‘torre’ (tower) area of the historic McNab Ranch. After lunch, we will drive to Glen Ellen in Sonoma County to visit the Benziger family winery. There, we will tour their famous gardens, the geologic/soils display, the biodynamic vineyards, and taste wine. From Glen Ellen, we will travel to the Napa area for dinner and the evening event with other field trip groups, and return to Davis late evening. Materials will include lunch at McNab Ranch, wine tasting, and a guidebook.
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Planned Field Trips (partial list)
Robert Mondavi Institute · University of California
One Shields Avenue · Davis, CA · 95616-8571
Information: (530) 754-6349
Fax: (530) 752-4759
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