President’s Letter
Dear Members,
Founded in 1963 to provide information and guidance to those wishing to learn about the vineyards, wineries and wines of Napa Valley, our Napa Valley Wine Library Association maintains a collection of winerelated books, periodicals and other materials at the St Helena Public Library. In addition, members are provided with illustrated Wine Library reports that describe the grape growing and winemaking activities of viticulturalists and enologists who have established Napa Valley’s international reputation for quality. We are fortunate to have Diana Stockton working as our able editor and writer.
Photography: Jane Burger
The Third Books on Wine Festival in May at St. Helena Public Library, cosponsored by them with this organization and Napa Valley Vintners, included a raffle for a magnum of our Petite Syrah Library Vineyard (won by Julie Dickson for her granddaughter, Sarah), a wine reception, and presentations by three authors: Richard Baxter and the second edition of Age Gets Better with Wine: New Science for a Healthier, Better and Longer Life; local authority Richard Mendelson with From Demon to Darling: A Legal History of Wine in America; and Vivienne Sosnowski and When Rivers Ran Red: An Amazing Story of Courage and Triumph in America’s Wine Country, reviewed in this issue.
Napa Valley Vintners contributed the wines for the evening.
At our yearly Varietal Seminar and Annual Tasting in August we will have a chance to review, reflect on and celebrate fifty years of Cabernet in Napa Valley. For the Varietal Seminar, our 20th, Carole Meredith, Mark Oberschulte, Rosemary Cakebread, Dawnine Dyer, and Celia Welch have generously volunteered to examine and present the origins, wines, winemaking and growing techniques and current trends associated with this varietal family. The seminar is again at CIAGreystone, with sommelier Traci Dutton pairing wines at lunch. As we go to press we still have room for you or a guest. Our 48th Annual Tasting at Silverado Resort is the 26th in the Grove. We have returned to a tasting layout according to appellation of the wine poured in order for you to best compare and contrast the wines from ninety Napa Valley wineries. Visit www.napawinelibrary.com for details.
Work continues on our online wine encyclopedia, which should be up and running by year’s end. Currently, we are working to integrate Napa Valley Grape Growers Association’s mapping project. We envision having much of the history of Napa Valley’s wines, vineyards and personalities available online. Several individuals have asked about or made donations to the collections of the Wine Library this year. Materials are as diverse as winemaking books from a grandfather who made a red jug wine in his basement, to transcriptions of the reflections of André Tchelistcheff at the fiftieth anniversary of Beaulieu. We urge you to remember the Wine Library when disposing of winerelated books, photographs, catalogues, and other sources, particularly those with technical data, and especially relating to Napa Valley.
Thank you for your continued support. We always enjoy hearing from you, so do not neglect to send us your comments via email, info@napawinelibrary.com about our events and editor@napawinelibrary.com about the REPORT or additions to the library. We look forward to seeing you in the Grove of Silverado at the Annual Tasting in August.
Bob Long, President