GETTING AROUND

Since Napa’s cabernet sauvignon wowed Paris in 1976, the region has gained a big reputation, says Guy Woodward

Less than an hour’s drive north from San Francisco, with one end opening on to San Pablo Bay and the other running up into the Mayacamas Mountains, is a magic valley. At least it is if you are a winemaker. The climate here is perfect for growing grapes, and it is where some of America’s greatest wines are produced. Just how great they could be was established in the famous Judgment of Paris in 1976, a blind tasting in which French judges rated a Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon – Stag’s Leap 1973 – above the best of Bordeaux’s wines. From then on, the only way for Napa was up. The number of wineries has increased nearly tenfold since 1976, turning a sleepy farming community of walnut and prune orchards into arguably the world’s most glamorous wine region.

At 30 miles (48km) long and a maximum of five miles across, Napa is relatively small by comparison with Bordeaux, Burgundy and Tuscany, with which it rubs shoulders. But while it produces just four per cent of Californian wine, it is responsible for 25 per cent of the state’s sales – and 90 per cent of its reputation.

The estates that have risen to the top over the past five decades have established themselves as legends of the wine world: Mondavi, Stag’s Leap, Colgin, Harlan. All of them have made their reputation with cabernet sauvignon, which is by some distance the dominant grape variety here.

A full, ripe, heavily oaked style of cabernet, driven by the reliably hot climate and long ripening practised in the vineyard, has led to a rich, hedonistic style favoured by critics. (Unfortunately last year the heat was such that Napa was hit by wildfires that damaged several vineyards and wineries. Tragically, more than 40 people were killed, but otherwise most of the valley escaped lasting damage).

Success, of course, has also had an impact on prices: $50 (£37) and upwards is a benchmark for a bottle of a winery’s signature cabernet; wines in excess of $100 a bottle are by no means considered extravagant, though there are, of course, many cuvées at lower prices.

Most of the big-name wineries are down on the pastoral valley floor, navigated by two main thoroughfares that run parallel to each other along the valley. Highway 29 runs through all of Napa’s cutesy towns – Yountville,

As in most places in the States, the car is king, and certainly the easiest way of touring wineries is to have a designated driver. Alternatively, if you can concentrate your visits around a particular town or AVA (American Viticultural Area), renting bikes for the day is a viable option (there are lots of places to rent) – provided you stick to wineries on the valley floor, rather than up in the mountains. Below, a room in the Carneros Inn and spa, near Napa town. Above right, the spectacular landscape of Long Meadow Ranch in St Helena