It's Always Festival Season

Excerpt from NorthBay Biz magazine
Napa Insider Column
By: Christina Julian

Welcome to the first new “Napa Insider” column in quite some time. As I take the helm, let me tell you a bit about myself. Before Napa Valley became my favorite pick among the places I’ve previously perched, my writing took other forms. First, working in publishing in New York City, later in advertising out of Los Angeles. To the surprise of many of my former city-dwelling cohorts, none of that compares to the Wine Country way of life. Here, you plant roots, watch them grow, enjoy them while they last, then move on to the next bunch when the fruit dries up. With so many wineries to pluck from, I suspect my life’s work is ahead of me.

Let’s move into this month’s topic: festivals. Is it me, or do festivals seem to be cropping up as feverishly as wineries? Not even I, an avid festival goer, could begin to take a bite out of the feast of fests that are sprouting up all over Napa County. Intriguing, considering some of the area’s long-standing renditions, like the Mustard Festival and Art in the Park, have gone on hiatus. I can’t help feeling guilty every time I attend one of the newbies, as if by doing so, I’m sealing the fate of a predecessor, each fest leeching off the attendance pool of another. Click here for the full column.

Terra Valentine - a storybook setting

Excerpt from NorthBay Biz magazine
By: Christina Julian

“Storybook” is the only way to describe the view that unfolds as you haul up Spring Mountain and through the gates of Terra Valentine’s castle-like fortress. It’s indeed the stuff fairytales are made of: medieval stone walls, a tower fit for a queen and a grandiose villa to house her highness. A bounty of mountain wines that straddle the moat between subtle tannins, elegant texture and bold fruit flavors—the crown jewels.

When owners Angus and Margaret Wurtele purchased the Wurtele Vineyard in 1995 (followed by the Terra Valentine Estate and vineyard in 1999), a wine-fortress-in-the-making wasn’t evident. “The property had been let go by the previous owner. You could just barely see the view through the trees,” says Angus. Despite the “into the wild” nature of the land, the Wurteles saw its potential. Not even the lack of a reliable water source (aside from a spring) would stop this duo from making their fairytale a reality.

The cowboy heydays

Original owner Fred J. Aves purchased the estate in 1965, leaving behind a legacy of crafty inventions (including old-school car curb feelers and chrome license plate covers) in favor of his dream of owning a winery. Aves built the winery from the ground up, including one-of-a-kind architectural accents, stained glass and wood paneling originally brought over for use in Hearst Castle. But his reclusive nature led him to pull out the bulk of the vineyard plantings in the 1980s, right as they were on the brink of flourishing. Click here and scroll down to continue reading.