Napa-high above the valley floor

High above the valley floor, away from the hubbub of highway 29, there is a different world, a world of rustic tranquillity, narrow winding roads and steep slopes growing vines and grapes with character rarely seen in the corporate world down below. On the west side, there are the Mayacamas Mountains, Mount Veeder and Spring Mountain, on the east side Howell Mountain among others. Some of the most curmudgeonly, tough and determined pioneers such as Travers at Mayacamas and Togni on Spring Mountain have been scratching out a living from the soil and making exactly the wines they want regardless of the current trend toward in your face "fruitbombs" ready to drink the night you bring it home

Joining this group in making wine since 1990 is Larry Stricker and his son David at Godspeed Vineyards. These folks are the real thing. Heck they don't even have a marketing plan. David tends the vineyard under the watchful eye of their dog Sam. Larry makes wine in the style he likes - slightly tart Chardonnay, big structured Cabs that go well with food and need to age.

Godspeed is just up the road from Mount Veeder Winery which is still making fabulous mountain wine as witnessed by their 2000 Bordeaux style blend of Cab, Merlot, Cab Franc and Petite Verdot. Down below at the base of of the Oakville Grade Road, Far Niente is busily turning out "perfect" Chardonnay, Cabernet and Dolce( a Sauterne wannabe) which are quite good but lack the character of mountain wines made by mountain men in what is left of God's country.

Do you love wine? Did you love Sideways? Are you new to wine? Tired of tedious, tendentious wine writing? Tired of "lead pencil, cassis, and black fruit"? In my thirty years of wine experience, I have tasted lots of wine, written about wine, and travelled the wine country of the world. There are so many delicious wines, it is hard to keep track of them all and it is difficult to pick them out from the duds on the supermarket shelf. I hope this will be a forum where we can share our "finds" whether they are best buys(under $15), special buys($20-$30), or reserve wines to lay away in the cellar($30+).