We started with a tour of Krupp Brothers
and the magnificent Stagecoach
Vineyard. Rising to 1850 feet atop
Pritchard Hill, Stagecoach is the largest
contiguous vineyard in the Napa Valley
AVA. Dr. Jan Krupp, a San Franciscoarea physician, and his brother Bart, a
businessman, purchased and developed
the vineyard, now one of the most
acclaimed vineyards in Napa. Over 50
top wineries source grapes from
Stagecoach, including Caymus, Paul
Hobbs,
Quintessa,
Pahlmeyer,
Spotteswoode, Duckhorn and Miner
Family. In 1999, the brothers began
keeping their favorite grape blocks for
themselves and began Krupp Brothers
winery.
But it really wasn’t that easy. The mountain property surprisingly came up for
sale and prospective buyers lined up with
their checkbooks. Until, that is, they
determined that there was no dependable water supply on the property. The
buyer list dwindled as dry hole after dry
hole was drilled. Dr. Krupp hired a geologist but still no water. He persisted and
brought in a water witch to tell him
exactly where to drill. After the hole
reached 250 feet deep with no sign of
water, the water witch told him to keep
drilling. They did so and at a
depth of 400 feet they discovered an underground
river that would provide
enough water for the entire
mountain. With the water
problem solved, they began
to negotiate easements with
26 surrounding property
owners so they could build a
road to access the property.
The mountain was rugged
and almost a million tons of
rock was removed to plant
the vineyard.
As we drove up the mountain our tour
guide pointed out the varied terrain with
diverse micro-climates and soil conditions distinctively suited to the 17 different grape varietals grown there. As we
turned a corner she informed us we were
approaching Tasting Room #1, which
turned out to be a wrought iron table for
eight perched at the edge of the mountain with an incredible view of the Napa
Valley floor. We tasted Krupp Brothers’
2009 Veraison, 2012 The Doctor, 2011
M5 Cabernet and their 2012 Synchrony,
all red wines made from the vineyards
surrounding the table where we were sitting. Not a bad way to start the trip…
More to come.
Lighten your IT load
August 6–8
Southwest Dental Conference
Booth #707
Free network PCI and HIPPA assessment
IRUTXDOLÀHGGHQWDORIÀFHV 9DOXH
&DOOXV
www.integratedaxisgroup.com/dental
www.northtexasdentistry.com
|
NORTH TEXAS DENTISTRY
45