Our Favorite Napa Stories

From Wine Country in Shorts

De: Ralph DeAmicis

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

From the Back Cover
Napa is one of the world’s most famous wine regions, but how did it become that? Located at the top of the bay, a ferry ride away from foggy San Francisco, it is a place of abundant sunshine, fertile soil and hot mineral springs! Once the home of a massive population of grizzly bears, and an enterprising tribe known for their ferocity, it has attracted fortune hunters and winemakers from around the world. National and local events have raised it up and knocked it down, and then phoenix like, it has risen again. This digital version features all the photos in color.
These stories about how Napa evolved were selected from the book, Wine Country in Shorts, the Stories of Napa and Sonoma, by Ralph and Lahni DeAmicis, storytellers, speakers and filmmakers. The stories were collected over twenty years during their time as popular guides and tour book authors. They are the ultimate insiders who present a wonderfully revealing picture of how Napa became such a remarkable place.
From the Introduction
This book is a celebration of the unique storytelling style that goes well with wine: colorful, relaxed, thoughtful, a little rambling and segmented. That’s because the pace of the story allows time for the listeners to taste the wines and enjoy the illumination it bestows. That’s how the ancients described the experience of drinking alcohol, being illuminated by the wine.’ We hope that you enjoy these stories that are only as remarkable as the wonderful places and people they describe, and that are treasured by so many.
Where did we get these stories? We heard them while standing at the back of countless tasting rooms. For many years there were a couple of hundred wineries where customers could just walk in, stand at the bar and taste the wines. At other wineries the tastings happened sitting down, and of course there are cave and vineyard tours. In these tasting experiences, the hosts shared information about the wines, and many shared stories. In any given year we visited over three hundred tasting rooms, and we heard so many stories, and multiple versions of those stories! The overall feeling was very casual, relaxed and friendly.
We’ve told these stories countless times to groups and wine tour clients while driving around the North Bay Wine Country. It is easy to recall those tales when we visit those places where the events occurred. So, to pull together the stories for this book, while our clients were tasting at the wineries Ralph dictated them using his phone. A wine region’s personality is not just about the topography and climate, but also about how the people living there adapted to its unique qualities. Those experiences are shared in stories.
We wanted to record these stories for a while, but it was hard to find the time. And then a fortuitous thing happened. The local wine tasting fees escalated, and the wineries recognized that if they abandoned their quick tasting bars, in favor of longer seated experiences, their sales would improve. Honestly, any tour guide could have told them that! The big wines grown in the Napa vineyards taste better when you give them time to open up in the glass. However, as the tastings became more formal, exclusive and expensive, it was a rare time when we stayed with our clients during the sessions.
That scheduling change suddenly gave Ralph a predictable amount of precious, uninterrupted time to dictate the stories, and then later improve the drafts. It is amazing how many stories pop out of his mouth as he drives around with clients. Sometimes he remembers them because they relate to a friend at a winery who first shared it with him.