Day 1 was a visit to the Trefethen Family Vineyards where we were lucky enough to meet the entire family.  Lunch was hosted by Hailey and we tasted our way through some older vintages of wines and some new labels.  We then had a tour of the winery and surrounding vineyards with head winemaker Bryan Kays.  His insight and knowledge was off the scale!

Following the tour or the vineyards we had a sit down tasting of the current wines on the market and this tasting was lead by Janet and John Trefethen themselves.  We were very lucky to have their time as they are both extremely busy people.  The finale to this tasting was a walk out into the single vineyard that overlooks their house and is responsible for the Halo labelled wine.  There we opened a bottle of 2019 to taste and it was mind blowing.  Janet commented that despite being good now, it probably had another ten years plus in it to improve.  I wouldn’t mind going back to find out if she was right!

Our evening was hosted by Lorenzo Trefethen, the son of the family, and Jo Cusimano, VP of Sales.  He has since become a good friend, not just because he is one of the nicest people on the planet but mainly because he took me to play golf on a course in the vineyards of Napa.  A bucket list dream come true.
The visit to Trefethen confirmed my belief that they produce some of the finest Napa wines available on the market and they do it whilst maintaining an amazing atmosphere to work in.  Their whole operation felt like one big family.

A trip further in land towards the Sierra Nevada Mountains and a region of California called Lodi.  Known for it’s amazing climate, gnarly old vines and ability to grow a wide range of varieties.  Here we would visit two wineries.  First up was Klinkerbrick Winery,  top quality producers of Zinfandel amongst other things.  Our tasting under the pergola in ever increasing heat was one to remember.  The stand out wines for me were the Brickmason (a blend of Zinfandel, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon), The Old Vine Zinfandel and a single vineyard Zinfandel called Marisa Vineyard.  Incredible intensity, sweet, ripe fruits with vanilla and cherry compote on the finish!

Sadly, we didn’t have a lot of time at Klinker Brick as it was on to a new winery for me called Bokisch.  Markus Bokisch is seen as one of the pioneers of Lodi.  He helped set up the seven AVA’s (American Viticulture Areas) and because of his deep connections with Spain he has been inspired to grow Spanish varietals in Lodi.  As a result we got to taste some amazing wines such as the Bokisch Graciano and their Garnacha Blanca which was possibly the biggest wine surprise of the trip (Just arrived in the UK).  This was a real eye opener as to what the region can offer and again it is a region that definitely warrants more exploration.