May 12th, 2012 - Returning to Napa Valley

Sometimes I go to Napa Valley on a whim, other times with a purpose.  Having multiple purposes gives me that much more motivation to make the trip.  The primary motivation for today’s trip was to attend the annual Hewitt Release party for the 2009 vintage.  I have often said that Hewitt makes my favorite Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon when factoring in the price, so I am always eager to attend one of their events.  Being eager doesn’t seem to have been enough, since this was my first time attending the Hewitt release function.  To further motivate me, I had a wine-club pickup at Provenance Vineyards where the Hewitt release party was being held.   Of course, I’ve had wine-club pickups before and still I hadn’t attended the big event.  Finally, a close friend of mine was longing to visit the valley, so I decided to combine all of this into one trip.  It also allowed me to visit two of the places on my favorites list which I had neglected for a few years.  (I often struggle with selecting a new winery over visiting an old favorite.)  And, I could not have asked for better weather.

Fermenting tanks at Hess Collection Winery