Once upon a 160 million years ago.

One hundred and sixty million years ago today the Napa Valley was underwater.  Not underwater as in the my-mortgage-has-a-higher-balance-than-the-market-value sense. No, the Napa Valley was literally underwater. Glug, glug.
I had the honour of spending yesterday evening in the rarefied company of a multitude of Oakville winegrowers and vintners: a veritable who's who of the Oakville AVA.  The Oakville Winegrowers were hosting geologist David G. Howell at the Robert Mondavi Winery and I was fortunate enough to be extended an invitation to attend.  Yay!  Once again, Mr. Howell's insight as to the geological history of the Napa Valley, specifically Oakville, and its influence on present-day grape-growing was riveting stuff. God bless vulcanism, plate tectonics and glaciation.
Aside from the 160 million year geological-education, I was given the opportunity to sample a plethora of Oakville wines, mainly from the 2012 vintage, prior to the presentation beginning. Really fascinating stuff, the presentation and the wine.  All of the attendees had contributed bottles of their own wines for the pre-presentation meet-and-greet.  I have to say, of all the wines represented, the TWWIAGE Cabernet sauvignon really stood out from the crowd.  That made me very happy.

Geology matters!

Yes it does, especially when it comes to explaining just why the Napa Valley is such a unique place to farm wine grapes.
Today, I had the pleasure of meeting one of the co-authors of my favourite book on the complex geological history of the Napa Valley: The Winemaker's Dance by David G. Howell.  Y'know, if plate tectonics and other such earth moving events are your thing, this is a great read.  Like some geeky rock (get it?) groupie, I could feel myself blushing the entire time that Mr. Howell chatted to me (about Coombsville) and signed my copy of his book.  Haven't been that excited since I met Johnny Thunders.
Let the good times (rock and) roll!