Every year, a group of friends and family ventures West to Napa Valley. Our plans always involve tastings/visits to favorite wineries and discovering new wineries. With more than 400 wineries in the “Valley”, it’s not hard to accomplish both.
On our most recent trip we revisited Palmaz Vineyards which is nothing short of spectacular. As you walk the grounds and tour the production facility, you get the sense money isn’t a big concern. Palmaz is fortunate their Founder (Julio Palmaz) invented the first balloon expandable intravascular heart stent. With more than 1 million people undergoing coronary artery stunting annually, you can understand why Palmaz doesn’t have some of the financial pressure other wineries experience.
The winery is an interesting blend of technology, architectural design and first class hospitality. As you stand in a rotunda area you can watch real time feeds of data representing various aspects of the winery. Whether it’s temperatures in the vineyard or sugar levels of wines aging in vats, the data is displayed for visitors to see. I would compare the experience to visiting Adler Planetarium in Chicago. The difference being it isn’t a show, it’s an incredible implementation of technology used to run the winery.
As if the tour isn’t impressive enough, the tasting is one of a kind. Over the course of an hour and a half you experience perfect pairings of wine and food:
- Riesling paired with Southwest Chicken Salad on an Endive Leaf with Micro Cilantro
- Chardonnay paired with a Chilled Diver Scallop with Maradol Papaya Mousseline
- Cabernet Sauvignon paired with Wild Mushroom Flan Bruschetta with Enokis and Truffle Chantilly Cream
- Cabernet Sauvignon paired with Flank Steak Roulade with French Mustard, Fried Capers and Baby Arugula
- Cabernet Sauvignon paired with Picanha French Dip Brioche with Horseradish Cream and Au Jus
- Muscat paired with Piave Vecchio Honey and Toasted Almonds
Three generations of the Palmaz Family live and work at the winery. They are extremely proud of how they have leveraged tradition and technology to craft great wines. A visit to Palmaz Vineyards is an unforgettable experience!