The Taste of Howell Mountain 2018
The Taste of Howell Mountain was created to raise money for the elementary school on Howell Mountain. The vintners and winemakers gather to donate their wine to support the educational needs of the kids who go to school on the mountain. The funds that are raised will provide needed resources, and the kids are the biggest winners of the day.
This event remains one of my favorites. There are several reasons for this, starting with the wines of the AVA (American Viticultural Area – a designation within the United States that denotes shared characteristics for the growing area). The altitude of Howell Mountain provides warm days and cool nights that afford the grapes an opportunity to develop fine phenolics (chemical compounds that affect taste, color and mouthfeel of the wine) and produce deep, rich red wines with bright acidity. They are lush on the palate with tannins that are sometimes big and yet refined. When you start with this quality of wine, you have set an excellent day in motion.
The event is held every year at Charles Krug winery. The winery tables are set up in a circle in a tree-lined meadow, providing shade and an open air place for attendees to mingle, taste wine, place bets on their desired lots and chat with winemakers and vintners. There is a band that provides rocking music, along with food trucks and unique wine experiences for the bidding. For someone who enjoys wine, nothing could be better on a Saturday afternoon.
This year, the weather was in the 80s and provided a gorgeous background for the event. The first sets of auction lots are a combination of wines, special wine tasting experiences, unique merchandise and even a wine barrel dog house. (That’s the kind of “dog house” I wouldn’t mind being in.) There are also aged bottles from some of the wineries’ libraries in the offering as well. All are available to bid on in an effort to secure your favorite item. This year, I was top bidder on a special tasting at Corison Winery. Most of these offerings are a step beyond the normal visit to the winery. I am excited to set the date and invite a couple of friends to join.
There are over 40 wineries in attendance, sharing their wine to taste and explore. The open tasting starts at noon and lasts until 3 pm. This gives you over 3 hours to explore many different wineries and place bids on silent auction items. This year there were several food trucks offering their wares with great bites to keep the flavors rolling along as you monitor your bids on silent auction lots.
The culmination of the day is the live auction under the big tent. It starts at 3 pm and folks are welcomed into the seating area with sparkling wine. Each table is set with light snacks, desserts, oh and yes, wine from the vintners attending the event. This is my favorite part of the day, the live bidding. These are very cool lots that many times involve weeklong stays in the valley and multiple bottles of wines for your collection. It could include special dinners with winery owners and winemakers. There are a multitude of combinations and offerings. These are lots that are one of a kind such as a vertical of Dunn Howell Mountain Cabernet Magnums, one from each year from 1990-1999.
Ultimately though, the winners are the kids. We all know how much a good education costs today, and the needs exceed what the systems provide. This is a community donating resources to benefit the kids. In this sense, we all win. Look for the opportunity to attend next year. It always takes place the Saturday of Father’s day weekend. It always sells out. This event can be the making of a wonderful weekend in the Napa Valley.
Enjoy!
