Road trip to Napa and Sonoma

In the 1980s, wine-producing California was a discovery for WINELIFE. How does the region look today? - TEXT + IMAGE MARJOLEIN SCHUMAN

There must still be a photo somewhere. As an eighteen-year-old with far too large shoulder pads in my blazer, I pose with a large glass of Chardonnay at the wine estate from the soap opera Falcon Crest. That series is set in the Californian wine industry and revolves around the feuding rich families Channing and Gioberti. My image of America was defined by Falcon Crest, Dallas and Dynasty. In real life, everything turned out to be even bigger, more luxurious and impressive than how I had fantasised it in front of the television. With WINELIFE, 35 years later, I take another road trip along the North Coast, starting from San Francisco. Because of the corona situation, it is not live, but fortunately, imagination does not prevent us from hopping from winery to winery in a Jeep Cherokee, along the coast and across the mountain range that lies between Napa and Sonoma.

Road trip to Napa and Sonoma

Hospitality to the max

At the time, the glasses here were more generous, the wine creamier and the entourage richer than at the stuffy French wineries my parents and I plunged into the cellar with. The people were warm and welcoming. No wonder Napa and Sonoma have become two of the most beloved wine destinations in the world! At Spring Mountain Vineyard, for that is the name of the winery where Falcon Crest was recorded, you can still attend daily tastings at the beautiful 19th-century castle. On 5 December, for instance, was the release of their 2017 Cabernet.

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Want to know more about the road trip to Napa and Sonoma? You can read about it in WINELIFE Magazine 74. You can order this one here!

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