G-L-O-R-I-A Gloooooooooria

With  a little help for the title from Van Morrison (I'm so cool!) , Day 2 found me at Gloria Ferrer in Carneros. Nestled on top of the hill, the view is spectacular. One thing the Napa Valley has in abundance is great spots where a glass of fizz is just the decent thing to do. If you were really doing it properly then a bottle of something shared and a chauffeur home would be the way to go! For Gloria Ferrer that would mean a bottle of the Blanc de Blancs, 2005 and a plate of serrana ham.

I discovered this combo of dreams when in Cava country a couple of years ago. The salty gorgeousness of the ham balances beautifully with the crisp breadiness of vintage cava or Blanc de blancs sparkling wine. There is no need for anything else apart from sunshine and a special someone who doesn't mind that you're eating ham with your fingers. Just for the record Prosecco does also work with parma ham, the sweetness works much the same way as with melon, only far more chic!

The lovely Cindy took some time to show me around and take me through the range which now includes a curious little sparkler that has 89% Pinot Noir, 8% Chardonnay and 3% Muscat called Va de Vi. It's a little treat as the Muscat gives a really rich, ripe fruitiness and the acidity is refreshing and zippy which lifts all that ripeness and stops it being cloying.

One thing that I would love to see become commonplace in the UK is to see English sparkling wines served at Royal occasions. Gloria Ferrer is one of many wineries I visited that had their wines used for White House dinners. If this does already happen in England then hurrah but I have a feeling it isn't a common occurrence. Pictures adorn the walls of the occasion and the menu with which the sparklers were served. I tried the Royal Cuvee which was first tasted by the King and Queen of Spain when it was released. the 2002 vintage wsa incredibly complex with concentrated flavours of citrus peel, apricot, mandarin, caramelised ginger and cinammon. Crisp apple and lemon flavours and refreshing acidity lighten those intense flavours to create an interesting and well put together wine.

If you get the chance to visit Gloria, make sure you look in the fridge and buy some cheese. I love America but the cheese generally sucks in its weird slightly over processed shiny way. They have real manchego and proper goats cheese amongst the shelves of joy and also very importantly you can buy actual Spanish Serrana ham there not some kind of bizarre interpretation of it. Genius and very tasty.

Sadly I had to tear myself away from Gloria and have lunch in Carneros before I drove up to Rutherford to visit Mumm. Getting hold of Mumm Napa has been a struggle over the last few years so I went to see them as much to please myself rather than for educational merit. Despite the enormous pumpkin (see below) there was something of the 80's about the tasting room. The shop is relatively modern but the tasting room has a whiff of British Home Stores cafe about it. Luckily the wine made up for it!

I chose the staff favourites as they were winery only exclusives and that is the point of visiting wine producing regions, no? Deveaux Ranch, 2005,  Brut Reserve NV and the Renouveau Anderson Valley 2001 were thankfully far superior to their surroundings. The first two are Pinot Noir driven  and the Renouveau has Chardonnay take the lead and fruit is sourced from all over the Napa Valley taking in grapes sourved south of Yountvile, Anderson Valley and Carneros. Well made and classy wines with no mistake but I would recommend if you visit to grab a glass of something and head out of the tasting room to the Photo gallery opposite.

When I visited there was a striking exhibition of black and white photographs showing families in the same positions years and sometimes decades apart which in itself was very moving and beautifully presented. The surroundings are sleek, the images beautiful and the light flattering a far better place to enjoy a cool, crisp and complex glass of fizz. The whole experience is set off by the windows showing the bottles in their warehousing capacity so the winery influence subtley peeks its head out every now and then.

Sparkly enjoyed, pictures studied and enormous pumpkin marvelled at I headed back through rush hour traffic to Napa for a freshen up before dinner at Oenotri as recommended to me by the folks at V Wine in Yountville. I'll be doing a foodie blog of the places I've enjoyed later down the line. I've had some tasty treats during my stay and they require a little attention all of their own.