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 Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Sauvignon, Cabernet, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel…… exotic names for exotic wines made from the finest grapes, fermented and aged to the right degree. When you think of wine, you think of France, Italy, Germany and some of the Balkan countries. But now California in the U S is very much in the reckoning and has come to be recognised the world over as a source of some excellent wines. So when in California, a trip to the wineries of Sonoma Valley and Napa Valley is a must.
It was a sunny Sunday morning when we got into the car with a picnic basket packed with puliyodharai, chips and thair sadam -- what would we Madrasis do without it? -- and drove to Napa Valley. Leaving San Francisco, we kept driving into a fog, which suddenly cleared and we were in Napa valley with rugged hills dotted with wineries and houses built of stone that take you back to an era before the turn of the century. Sonoma town is designed around a central plaza with a church, residential and commercial buildings. Many of the old buildings have been restored, giving the place a unique ambience.
 The area represents an amalgam of old cultures, with evidence of Spanish, Mexican, British, Amerindian and even Russian influences to be found. To this cultural mix came Col.Agoston Haraszthy of Hungary, who introduced scientific methods of planting and harvesting grapes and earned the title of the "Father of California Wines." Buena Vista Carneros was the estate he established. It has the state's premier winery and that was our destination that day.
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Wine making involves a series of steps from picking the right ones for a particular wine, crushing them and fermenting the juice. Processes vary for red and white wines. Aging is important -- the older the wine the better its taste. Sparkling wines are made with a second yeast fermentation process, when bubbles of carbon dioxide produced by the fermentation are trapped in the wine. Wine tasting, I learnt, is an art that takes a good deal of time and practice. It involves meticulous use of one's senses of sight, smell and taste.
 You first look at the wine and assess its colour. By this, you will be able, in time, to learn something about its age and origin. Next you sniff it gently. Give the glass a swirl to mix the wine with air and help release its aroma, which you smell this time with your nose deep in the glass.
Next comes the actual tasting, a delicate process. You take a sip, roll the wine to all parts of the mouth and swallow slowly. From this, you can draw conclusions about the flavour (often a personal matter), sweetness or dryness (a dry wine is one which is not sweet), acidity (low acidity usually means a flat taste), body (ranges from very light to full-bodied, depending on the depth of the extract and the alcoholic content), and tannin level (found only in r ed wines). If the tannin level is high, it leaves a furry feel on the tongue. So, there you are, wine tasting in a nutshell. Difficult? All you need is a whole lot of practice!!!!
After this heady experience, we are hungry. We sit under the eucalyptus trees and eat the puliyodharai and thair sadam. On the way back, we see that a car race at the Raceway and a Vintage Car parade are all set to start. With a son and husband crazy about cars and that too vintage ones, it is a safe bet to guess where we spent the next hour. We reach home at 8 p.m. But in California it is still bright.
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