The 15th annual 'Afternoon in the Vineyards' was held today, so Vinomaker and I hopped into our trusty Vinovehicle and headed over to the nearest participating vineyard to Vinoland. This year there were 6 vineyards to choose from, one more than last year - it's a good community event.
Boyd Family Vineyards is located on Big Ranch Road in the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley AVA. I love Big Ranch Road, so close to downtown Napa yet it feels like it is miles away from anywhere. Proprietor Joan Boyd was hosting an informal talk in the vineyard when Vinomaker and I arrived. Mrs Boyd certainly seemed to know her stuff, so refreshing that a vineyard owner could be so knowledgeable and hands on. There were three Boyd Family wines available to taste, a 2012 Merlot was the best of the bunch, in my opinion. The Boyd Family dogs, one yellow and one black labrador, were on hand making sure people were having a good time. Love vineyard dogs.
Vinomaker asked Joan what variety were the new vines that we had passed by on the drive in. "Greco di Tufo," she replied, "but they're not mine." The baby vines apparently belong to Robert Biale Vineyards.
Greco di Tufo is a very unusual grape variety for California. A native of Italy, Greco di Tufo makes an aromatic, medium bodied, citrusy wine with aging potential. It'll be a few years before I can taste the wine that Biale will produce from these grapevines, but I'm going to try to remember to look out for it in the future.
