A Year to Savor
Batch of rare 2016 wines ready for collector look-see
A portfolio of rare, high-quality 2016 vintage Napa Valley wines is available for perusal by collectors at premierenapavalley.com. The same wines were featured at the Napa Valley Vintners’ Premiere Napa Valley barrel tasting an auction in late February.
Premiere Napa Valley wines are unique, one-time selections crafted by NVV member winemakers in quantities as small as 60 bottles and never more than 240. Upon release, every bottle is hand-numbered and signed by the respective winemaker, increasing the allure for top collectors.
“There was a common chorus (at the auction) that the 2016 vintage is one of the strongest in recent memory,” said Jeff Smith, founder and CEO of Hourglass and chair of the 2018 Premiere Napa Valley Steering Committee. “The descriptors we kept hearing were ‘purity of fruit,’ ‘silky tannins,’ ‘elegant balance’ and ‘quiet power.'”
Bidding at Premiere Napa Valley is open only to licensed members of the wine trade, including retailers, restaurateurs, hoteliers, private club managers and wholesalers. The online Premiere Napa Valley catalog helps wine consumers discover where to purchase rare selections for their own cellars. Although sold as futures, collectors are encouraged to contact the winning purveyors before the micro-production offerings sell out.
Wine purveyors from 32 states and eight countries were among the winning bidders at the auction, which generated $4.1 million for the NVV toward its mission to promote, protect and enhance the Napa Valley. Top selling lots in the live auction included offerings from Silver Oak, Alpha Omega, Rombauer Vineyards, VHR (Vine Hill Ranch), Staglin Family Vineyard, Chappellet Vineyard, Hourglass, Ovid Napa Valley, Shafer Vineyards, Quilt Wines and Duckhorn Vineyards.
Top wines sold during the online auction included newer Napa Valley producers like Brilliant Mistake Wines, Eleven Eleven, Nemerever Vineyards and Saint Helena Winery.
Every bottle of Premiere Napa Valley wine tells a unique story of Napa Valley winemaking, exploring nuances of particular vines, vineyard locations, specific soils, winemaking styles and collaborations, aging protocols and blending combinations. Each wine is required to be produced just once to be included in the live or online auctions.
The Napa Valley Vintners nonprofit trade association was founded in 1944 and inspires its 550 members to consistently produce wines of the highest quality, to provide environmental leadership and to care for the extraordinary place they call home. The association announced earlier this year an expansion to its Napa Valley Rocks appellation education suite, which now offers four ways for professionals and enthusiasts to learn about America’s leading wine region.
A 60-minute self-guided online course was created to help trade professionals who sell Napa Valley wine understand how the region’s diverse soils and ideal climate make it well-suited for producing consistent, high-quality wines. The association is making the course available to wine businesses — such as wholesalers, multi-unit retailers and large producers — interested in augmenting their internal education programs. Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits of America, Great Lakes Wine & Spirits, Total Wine & More, Constellation Brands and Trinchero Family Estates are a few of the companies who have added the course to their education portfolios.
Wine collectors and consumers can also take the course to expand their Napa Valley expertise. A Napa Valley Rocks certificate is awarded to everyone who completes the regimen course.
“The Napa Valley Rocks course is excellent and helps put the region into perspective,” said Eric Hemer, corporate director of wine education at Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits of America. “I’m suggesting it for any member of my team who educates about or sells Napa Valley wines.”
Other means for wine educators, sommeliers, retailers, distributor employees and winery employees to expand their Napa Valley knowledge include:
- The “Cultivating Excellence” tablet resource for iPad and Android, ideal for individual or small-group settings, such as a distributor sales call.
- “Napa Valley Rocks” slideshows, available in two lengths and five languages, including English, Spanish, French, Japanese and Mandarin. Best for wine educators or group presentations.
- Seven short or a single 20-minute “Napa Valley Rocks” video, featuring The Wine Bibleauthor and wine educator Karen MacNeil and numerous Napa Valley vintners. Can be watched independently or shown to groups.
Additionally, the association recently funded multi-million-dollar grants for children’s education and community health in Napa County, raising its county-wide non-profit investments to $180 million since 1981. The education funding will help children enter kindergarten ready to learn, support students in achieving academic goals and assist young people in developing healthy behaviors to thrive in class.
Organizations receiving the funding serve nearly 25,000 children ranging from infancy to high school and beyond. Nearly 8,000 affiliated educators and parents will also benefit. Agencies scheduled to receive funding include Aim High, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the North Bay, Boys & Girls Clubs of Napa Valley, Boys & Girls Clubs of St. Helena and Calistoga, Child Start, Community Resources for Children, Napa CASA, NapaLearns, On the Move and Summer Search.
The selected organizations provide services and programs to help build a solid foundation for academic and life success, including in-classroom and out-of-classroom academic enrichment, mentoring, access to technology and parental/family educational support.
This round of funding includes an investment of nearly $700,000 in the Napa Valley Early Learning Initiative, which was created in partnership with First 5 Napa County for English language-learning pre-school children and families with an aim toward having the children ready to enter kindergarten at the same level as English-fluent peers. After four years and nearly $5 million in NVV funding, English language learners who participated were three times more prepared to enter kindergarten than English language learning peers who did not participate.
The NVV raises the funds for its community investments at its annual charity event, Auction Napa Valley.
“The Napa Valley Early Learning Initiative provides a solid roadmap for helping ensure that all children in Napa County enter kindergarten eager to engage, curious and confident in their ability to learn,” said Camille Maben, executive director of First 5 California. “This level of academic and social parity at the very beginning of school raises the quality of education and increases the opportunities for success throughout children’s lives.”