Landsman is appalled by the treatment she received at a cult Californian winery

I love Italy, I love France, I do not know Spain but I am sure I will love Spain. I love the vineyards there, the wines, the great food and the friendly people. But the United States of America – no, not for me.

I just returned from a visit to Napa Valley, California. Went to visit one of the top estates there, so I was told (by them). A cult wine and about six times more expensive than our most expensive wine in SA.

The vineyards at this estate were some of the best I have seen anywhere in the world. Immaculate and manicured. Vertical shoot positioning on narrow plantings (as well as some much wider) done better than described in the text books. Each and every block individually planned, trained and farmed. The grapes were just at veraison and the Mexican workers were green-harvesting – removing some of the bunches. Each grape looked at, assessed, and if found not perfect – down you go. Beautiful vineyards right into the mountains, planted straight down the slope (not trellised as we do). Perfect viticulture.

And?

Maybe it had to do with the fact that I had to wait three days at airports either in the US or Europe to get a flight back to South Africa (because of the strike affecting SAA). Maybe because the (male) winemaker from this estate made me wait twice on one day for two hours (after I confirmed with him that same morning) and then just never showed up (without any explanation). Maybe it was the (female) viticulturist who also never turned up for a confirmed appointment.

Maybe it was because I travelled half way around the world and spent a fortune to get there – after being invited by the owner of the estate – to be told on arrival that because they are who they are and so so so expensive I can not see their cellar or taste their wine or meet with their team because they are so so so busy. I was just not impressed. Not by this estate, anyway.

Lets learn from this. Even if you are a cult wine, even if you sell your wine for thousands of rands per bottle – arrogance makes other people sick.

Not long ago I had the privilege of being in a tasting with Angelo Gaja, probably Italy’s and one of the world’s most famous wine producers. I had not been invited and I was not an important customer. We had a scheduled tasting at his cellar and he came in to join us when he arrived back at the winery from business elsewhere. We had a wonderful discussion about his vines and wines for an hour.

I have also visited estates and tasted wines all over France and Italy. Some great and some just OK. But people were friendly, sharing and interested in what is happening in the rest of the world. Wine had character, and fresh bread and salami or cheese was shared. By people that have hundreds of years of winemaking history behind them. Ask them anything about the wine and they can answer you exactly. (Not some blonde poppie with a mini skirt behind the counter pouring wine knowing nothing about it.)