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Thursday, 4 OcTOber 2012

7/29/2019 2012 NATAS Grape expectations.pdf

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travel66today thursday 4 october 2012 travel67

CHAN BRO1 5 0Sout h Br idge R oad # 04-0Mon- Fri 10am -7pm Sat 10am -

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On a recent road tript h r o u gh no r t h er nCalifornia, my travelbuddy and I th oughtwe would trea t our-

selves to a couple days at the world-renowned Napa Valley. After all, Napais famous for having produced sometop notch wines, and its just an easyhours drive away from downtown SanFrancisco. Its a charming valley too,hemmed in between the Mayacamasand Vaca mountains and encompass-ing 16 award-winning wine produc-

ing areas from Los Carneros in thesouth to Calistoga in the north.

Since neither my buddy nor I want-ed to be the designated d river, we de-cided to sign up for a bike tour. Whatcould be better, my buddy thought,than a day spent pedalling down Na-pas backcountry roads and hittinga few wineries on the way? Besides,there isnt a law against drunk cycling,is there?

Bike here, Bike now

It was a great idea in theory. Butperhaps not the best one when yourlast bike riding experience was over

ThewritersbiketourwasmadepossiblebytheNapaValleyBikeTourcompan y.

Formoredetails,visitnapavalleybiketours.com.

BOOz O TON V BNN

O T T TElisabEthlEE

features@mediacorp.com.sg

a decade ago. On the morning of thetour, I stood nervously in the park-ing lot of the Napa Valley Bike Tourcompany (napavalleybiketours.com)

as jersey-and-cycle-shorts-wearingtourists with thighs of steel busiedthemselves getting ready.

Our tour guide, Alan, was quick toreassure me, though. He adjusted myseat and helmet, made sure I was com-fortable, and set o down a quiet coun-try road so the group could familiarisethemselves with their bikes. It wasntbefore long that I forgot how terriedI was and started to relax.

W e s t ar t ed o u t in h is t o r icYountvi lle, firs t set tled in 1 831 byGeorge Calvert Yount, who plantedthe regions first vines. His grand-daughter married vintner ThomasRutherford and the rest, as they say,is history. By the end of the 19th centu-ry, there were more than 140 winerieslining the valley, all taking advantageof the regions incredible terroir.

From the seat of my bike, the rea-son behind the valleys superlativewines became apparent. The Na paRiver runs from Mount St Helena inthe north out to San Pablo Bay in the

south, slowly carving its way throughthe fertile volcanic soil of the valley.Its this rich earth, coupled with theNapa Valleys unique microclimates,that produce the regions butteryChardonnays and complex CabernetSauvignons and despite what PaulGiamatti and gang might have pro-claimed in the movie, Sideways, themerlots are pretty tasty, too.

We whizzed by the lush vineyards,ooh-ing and aah-ing as Alan pointedout little details, such as anti-frostwindmills s tanding g uard like some

sort of ultra hi-tech scarecrow, or cutelittle nesting boxes for owls that keepthe pests under control. And since Iwas doing so well on the bike, a glass

of wine would be just the reward.

A TASTe AnD A ToUr

After 8km, we pulled into Peju Prov-ince Winery for our rst tasting of theday. A few interesting Cabernet Sau-vignons and one very refreshing red-and-white blend later, and it was timeto move on.

By noon, wed tasted more than 10wines, tour ed a winer y and le arnedabout the ner points of winemaking.Wed also pedalled o enough caloriesto make us ravenous.

Lunch was a delicious picnic of ar-tisanal sandwiches and local olivesset on the gorgeous grounds of thefamily-owned Whitehall Lane win-ery. Fluy clouds scudded by undera bright cerulean sky, and a steadybreeze brought whis of eucalypt usand oleander. This was as perfect apicnic as Id ever had.

A typical bi ke tour takes i n threeor four wineries in a day, Alan told

us. We would eventually stop at twomore wineries, and would cover al-most 30km of Napas rolling hills.Alan al so thankf ully kept our groupgoing at a leisurely pace designedfor the tourist, not the cyclist is whattheir website says. Its perfect for theslightly scared, and the slightly less-than-sober.

As we savoured the last few mouth-fuls of a crisp and lemony bottle of sau-vignon blanc, any regrets I had aboutgetting back onto the saddle weregone. It was time to ride on.

Two wheels good: One way to not drink and drive go use a bicycle instead.

F ru it s o f t he Na pa ea rt h. Va st vi ne ya rd s d ot t he va ll ey .