b'2 sanfrancisconapavalleywinegeesetour11 23 4 5OCTOBER 2011 It was a classic Indian-summer morning in San Francisco as we crossed the Golden GateBridge into Marin and made our way north for A Day of Art & Wine in Napa. We arrived at Jarvis Winery where the wines are produced from estate vineyards, located high above Napa.Jarvis Winery is noted for its ultra-premium, estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc,6 Merlot, and Petit Verdot. Jarvis was the first in the United States to tunnel a cave so large that it could hold allthe winemaking operations. The facility is totally contained within 45,000 square feet of cave tunneled into the1 Marc Lhormer, Pepper &scenic Vacas Mountains four miles east of the town of Napa. It is not only a visual masterpiece, but a technicalMichael Jackson 2 The Jarvis cave ballroom masterpiece as well. We were treated to the Vintage Tasting Tour which included a tour of this unique Back Row: Jackunderground winery followed by a sit-down tasting with six Jarvis wines in the private tasting room beside theKavanaugh, John Ryan, Barbara & Cliff Miercort Crystal Ballroom. From there, we headed back towards Napa. On arrival at Pepper & Michael Jacksons beauti-Front Row: Ginny Kavanaugh, Pauline Ryan,ful home, we were greeted by a lively jazz band and breathtaking views from the terrace. Michael Jackson is theNola Masterson, MargaretWest Coast WineGeese Chair, as well as being a member of The American Ireland Fund Board of Directors. TheHayhurst, Bobbie Sue & Phill Williams, Marjorietable was festively decorated by Pepper. We sat down for lunch with special wines from Chappellet, Twomey andMuldowney3 Luncheon at the JacksonFlora Springs. Guest Speaker, Marc Lhormer (producer of the movie Bottleshock) of the inaugural 2011 NaparesidenceValley Film Festival, was there to give a presentation. We were also joined by winemaker David Mahaffey, cur-4 Barbara Miercort, Michael Jacksonrently working on his 31st harvest, who shared his exquisite Olivia Brion Pinot Noir. Guests included Joanne5 Bobbie Sue Williams, Pepper JacksonDePuy, Kerry Egan of The Villagio Hotel who was there with Jamie Hamm, Sheila Kelly, Pat Garvey of Flora6 John Ryan in tastingSprings, Tom Faherty of Valley Architects, Donal OBriain, and Courtney Santry. mode Our next stop was The Hess Collection, part of the Hess Winery. This was the art part of our day and wewent through the outstanding modern art collection in the winerys museum, one of the finest in the world Thewinery is best known for its flagship Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay wines, and single vine-yard designates from their estate vineyards in Napa Valley. Following our tour, we found ourselves in the bar-rel room and enjoyed an artisan cheese sampling, paired with several interesting wines. The day was a delightfor the senses. We had a wonderful group of WineGeese who enjoyed a superb day among friends during crushseason. It will be interesting to taste the 2011wines that are being produced during this challenging growingseason that we were there to witness. We returned to The Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, with much talk of thenext WineGeese trip to FranceBurgundy 2012.Marjorie MuldowneySan Francisco Regional Directorconnect 2012 63connect 2011 63'