Google Field Trip and Bach to Bacchus Partnership

Google Field Trip is a smartphone application that introduces users to places of interest in many parts of the world. Google Field Trip may be downloaded and used for free.  Users have the option of exploring wineries or other attractions from home or on the road by using the geocode features that announces a winery once the user is in the vicinity. There is one device that even narrates the review.  All photos are available and directions to the winery are provided along with information about whether the winery is open to the public or requires an appointment.  A phone number is listed so the user may contact the winery for an appointment or additional information.  The Field Trip application is available here: Google Field Trip Application

The first reviews for Bach to Bacchus were written in March of 2010. In May 2013 Bach to Bacchus was contacted by Google Field Trip inquiring about a partnership with them.  Some alterations to their proposed contract were requested, and this was approved by their legal department so that the contract was signed four months later in September 2013.  Field Trip asked to use most of the winery reviews written in the past two years and, of course, all new winery reviews.  Field Trip scans Bach to Bacchus daily for any new winery reviews and for  corrections or changes to older reviews. So far Bach to Bacchus has the only contract with Google Field Trip to write Napa Valley winery reviews.

Over a million people have downloaded Google Field Trip, but there are no statistics available on how often the application is used specifically for Napa Valley wineries.  The traffic, however, is undoubtedly much larger than the mere 5,000 visits or so that the the Bach to Bacchus blog receives each month.  Because there is no charge to the user or the winery, Google Field Trip appears to be a win-win for everybody. We welcome invitations from Napa Valley wineries that are open to the public, from those that are open only by appointment or even from those that have no tasting facilities but would like their wines reviewed.  We especially welcome visiting with winemakers or owners who like to share their enthusiasm and passion for wine. We also welcome media invitations to wine events such as ZAP, PS I Love You, Rhone Rangers, etc.

On the left hand side of the Bach to Bacchus blog are listed most of the wineries reviewed.  Those in ALL capital letters are also featured in Google Field Trip.  The others are only on the Bach to Bacchus blog.  None of the articles about wine in general, wine events, or individual wine reviews are included in Google Field Trip, because Field Trip is only about attractions or places of interest (such as wineries), not about events, essays or individual wine reviews.  They have suggested that Bach to Bacchus write articles about wineries in Sonoma and other areas, but there are still many excellent Napa Valley wineries that have not reviewed, and the amount of time required to prepare and write a good review precludes completing more than one a week.

If you are the owner or publicist for a Napa Valley winery and would like us to visit to write an article, please send an email to bachtobacchus (at) gmail (dot) com.  We need to take photos and sample the wines, and a tour can be very helpful.  Regular group tours or VIP tours are both welcome.  My friend (designated driver and wine collector) and I are both retired, long time Napa residents who have each been visiting Napa Valley wineries since the early 1970's.  Bach to Bacchus is not intended as a business but as a retirement hobby and a service to the many Napa Valley wineries we have enjoyed visiting over the years, especially those in the Napa Valley Vintners Napa Neighbor Program. Wineries are welcome to quote from Bach to Bacchus or from my writings on Google Field Trip. If you do not have a tasting room or physical location, we can still take tasting notes and write an article but we would not be able to include you in Google Field Trip.  Really small wineries that want to keep under the radar may also chose to have a blog article written but not to be included in Field Trip. Thanks.  TJ Jones, Napa, CA

Here are a few comments from the Internet about Google Field Trip:

Should You Go on Google's Field Trip?  "The new app is an ingenious way to learn about what’s around you and points to a potential gold mine in location-based advertising. Field Trip is a smart, serendipitous, and stylish tour guide." Rachel Metz MIT Technology Review, October 4, 2012

Google’s Awesome ‘Field Trip’ App "Google already has five of the six most popular apps in America... the company is now extending Field Trip, the Android-based guide to the cool, hidden, and unique things in the world around you." John Koetsier Venturebeat, March 8, 2013

Napa Valley Vineyards in Autumn Photos

Photos of Napa Valley Vineyards in Autumn.  Here are some photos I took last week in Napa Valley.  The first four are in Deer Park, just East of St. Helena.  The others are along Silverado Trail.  Most were taken just after a rain so the colors are especially vivid.

This is the firstt photo again in extra large size.
Formatting restricted the beginning photos to large size only.

100 Napa Valley Wineries Reviewed

Quintessa was the 100th winery we have reviewed on our blog since we created it in 2011.  We have visited many more wineries over the years, of course, and have recently visited wineries in other states and regions that we have not reviewed. We have also reviewed some wineries more than once but only counted them one time in terms of the number of wineries visited and reviewed.

Most people in the wine trade, with whom we have spoken, estimate that there are now about 420 actual physical wineries in Napa Valley. But there are actually around 904 wine producers in Napa Valley (perhaps as many as 1100), with around 420 having physical locations. Some simply round it off at around 600.  David Thompson at The Napa Wine Project represents the gold standard for information in this area. It is amazing that he has been able to visit so many Napa Valley wineries (700+) and to write such detailed, objective reports. Very few blogs have reviewed as many Napa Valley wineries as we have, but he has reviewed seven times as many! He started his project in 2006. These are not Yelp type reviews but objective documentary descriptions of Napa Valley wineries. The emphasis is not so much on reviewing the wine as on introducing us to the winery. If you own a winery and have not yet agreed to participate in this project, please reconsider. His blog is really more of a Wikpedia of information than a compendium of tasting notes or preferences. Many of us find interesting historical information on his blog that we don't even find on the winery's web page. I hope the value of his project will be better acknowledged by Napa Valley wineries and eventually published as a book. Please check it out:
Napa Wine Project

A significant advantage to living in Napa are the numerous wine festivals and tasting events plus having access to many incredibly high quality wineries and great wines, especially Cabs and Cab blends. Our access to great wines, however, is really comparatively limited, as is our ability to taste large numbers of wines. Well known wine critics, wine distributors, wine store owners, and commercial purchasers of wines for restaurants, etc. are able to sample many more wines than most of the rest of us, often hundreds a day.  (One of my favorite wine critics, Richard Jennings, recently stated that he tastes about 7,000 wines a year and wine tasting and writing is not even his full time job.) They also have access to expensive wines that the rest of us can't afford. This exposure to wines, plus their incredible expertise, really places these experts, not just in another league, but on another planet, if not in another universe. We can read and learn from them, but almost none of us could ever have as much access to and experience with wine. 

So, we have now reviewed 100 wineries.  We have no goal or specific number of wineries we plan to review but will simply continue doing so as long as it remains an enjoyable leisure activity for us. We are simply two guys who have loved wine for the past forty-five years or so and enjoy learning. We hope some of our enthusiasm and discoveries will be of interest to others.

Please see our list of favorite wines here: Favorite Wines from Napa Valley Wineries

Good night and good luck, TJ

Wine books

Most wine books I’ve read over the years are now outdated.  I remember a fun paperback I had in the early 1970s that described wines from all over the world and rated recent releases.  It was especially useful for California wines, and I carried it with me to wine stores and would check off wines I tried and then make notes.  It would be way out of date today, but I do wonder what was the name of this old friend.  (Any ideas?) Matt Kramer's Making Sense of California Wines is a well written, interesting book but it was published in 1992 and has lost most of its relevance.  For the past 40 years, I’ve tasted and purchased mostly California wines, especially Napa Valley.  Although I love wines from other areas, especially red and white Burgundies, I just haven’t studied them that much.  Here are some recommended, fairly recent, wine books that are either universal reference books or relate to Napa Valley wines.  I’d love to hear from others on recommendations, especially for the many wine growing regions I know less well.

A Companion to California Wine: An Encyclopedia of Wine and Winemaking from the Mission Period to the Present-Charles L. Sullivan, 1998, I read this front to cover but it is better used as a reference book. Getting to be outdated but still interesting.

A Moveable Thirst: Tales and Tastes from a Season in Napa Wine Country-Kushman and Beal, 2007.  Rather dated but a fun romp through Napa Valley as two wine lovers visit 141 Napa Valley wineries.

A Wine Journey Along the Russian River-Steve Heimoff, 2005, Well written and interesting.  A real labor of love. Reads almost like a travelogue and really gets in to what Russian River is about. Anything by Heimoff is worth reading.  His blog is also very interesting.  Another of my favorite wine writers.

California Wine Country: A Sunset Field Guide-2007, Another tourist or visitor guide that is somewhat similar to Frommer’s but not as out of date.

California Wine for Dummies-McCarthy and Ewing-Mulligan, 2009, Not that bad but more for beginners.

Dreamers of the Valley: A Portrait of the Napa Valley-Cheryll Aimee Barron, 1995, An interesting and very well written book about some of the history and key figures in the Valley. Still relevant.  Barron is an excellent writer.

Frommer’s Portable California Wine Country-Erika Lenkert, 2004, A simple, very basic guide for visitors but dated. There is a 2010 edition with a different title, but I have not read it.

Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book 2011-Surely everyone who is into wines is familiar with this guidebook.  I enjoy picking up new copies every few years.

Insiders’ Guide to California Wine Country-Doppenberg, 2009 edition, More along the lines of the Sunset Field Guide and Frommer’s  and okay as far as very simple visitor guide books go.

Matt Kramer On Wine: A Matchless Collection of Columns, Essays and Observations by America’s Most Original and Lucid Wine Writer, 2010.  A fascinating book that is hard to put down.  Matt Kramer is an exceptionally good writer. Excellent.  Matt Kramer is probably my favorite wine writer, and this is one of my all time favorite books.  A must read!

Matt Kramer’s New California Wine: Making Sense of Napa Valley, Sonoma, Central Coast and Beyond-2004. This is getting dated but is still worth reading and has interesting comments on many wineries that are still in operation and the significant changes that happened in the 1990s. Kramer is always interesting.

Napa Valley: The Land, the Wine, the People-Charles O’Rear, Mostly photos but enjoyable to look through.

New Classic Winemakers of California: Conversations with Steve Heimoff, 2008, I found this interesting because I like to hear what winemakers have to say.  Heimoff is an excellent interviewer and one of my favorite wine writers.

Oxford Companion to Wine-Jancis Robinson, 2006, I read this front to cover last year and will use it in the future as a reference encyclopedia. Essential reading. Buy it!

The 30 Second Wine Advisor-Robin Garr, 2007, For the beginner but okay if you want something very simple.

The Concise World Atlas of Wine-Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson, 2009 edition, Another one I read front to cover last year even though it is more of a reference book.  Fascinating maps and descriptions of wine regions around the world. Classic.  Buy it!

The Finest Wines of California-Stephen Brook, 2011, This highlights only certain wineries and many will wonder why their favorite is not described.  But it is a good guide to California wines and wineries with many photos and decent write ups.  Essential reading if you love California wines.

The New Connoisseurs’ Guidebook to California Wine and Wineries-Charles E. Olken and Joseph Furstenthal, 2010, A fairly up to date description of many significant California wineries, I usually enjoy anything by Olken.

Music and Wine: Pairing

Music and Wine

Most of us probably already think of specific wines going well with certain music.  The first time I became aware of music and wine complementing each other was in college back in 1968 when I was at a professor’s home and she had a recording of Bach transcriptions by the guitarist, Andre Segovia.  We were drinking a Portuguese rose with a very lovely nose.  I believe it was called Costa del Sol.  Back then, many of us drank Mateus, Lancers, etc. and thought Paul Masson was a premium wine. I remember thinking that the wine went well with the music. Because I was more interested in music than wine, I purchased the record and only recently found a CD replacement.  It is still one of my favorite recordings, and I’m certain the association with wine had some effect. This was my first experience of thinking that wine went well with the music. 

The next time I remember an experience of wine with music was in 1973 when I bought my first audio system.  I often came home after work, poured a glass of wine and put on some music.  I don’t remember what I was drinking, but it was some innocuous white wine like a Chenin Blanc.  I was playing some dramatic piano music, Liszt transcriptions of opera pieces, and remember that the wine did not seem to go well with the music. 

The third experience was the most educational and actually involved an attempt to pair wine with the music.  In 1978, when in graduate school, I often took a Saturday night break by going to a French restaurant that became a nightclub after dinner with live jazz.  The music was played by The Gabe Baltazar Quartet.  I went there frequently and often shared a bottle of wine with a friend.  I distinctly remember trying to find a wine that went well with the music.  Although I drank mostly red wines at home, I would order white wines, dry, lively wines similar to Alsatian Pinot Blancs.  That is what went well for me with the music.  Since then, whenever I’ve been at a jazz nightclub, I’ve tried to chose a wine to complement the music.  At most classical concerts, wine is not available.  But in Napa that sometimes happens.

For nearly 30 years, we have lived in Napa where the wineries often have concerts and where music is almost as much of wine drinking as food is.  There are music concerts at Mondavi, Domain Chandon and other wineries. Then there are Music in the Vineyards and various wine cave concerts.  Napa Valley Opera House  offers wine before the performances and at intermission. Silo's , a local jazz club serving premium wines, is noted for "Pairing great wine with great music." I’m still waiting to learn of a winery that offers a wine, food and music pairing at their tastings.  It is so obvious; it must be happening somewhere.

At home, I listen to many hours of classical music and jazz and sometimes have a glass of wine while listening, especially if a friend is over.  Many people probably do the same thing.  How many of us would listen to Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde while drinking a rose?  Would we listen to Ravel’s Jeux D’eau and open a big Napa Cab?  Obviously not.  I once thought of composers in terms of being varietal wines, but the music of composers is too diverse and varietals can have quite a range of styles also.  But individual pieces of music do seem to pair better with certain wines.  I’ve never compiled a list of wines that complement musical works, but one could easily do so. Wine and music go so well together.  I’d love to hear from others regarding your thoughts and experiences of music and wine complementing each other.

Wine Pairing with Music

We pair wine with food, events, weather, seasons, company, etc., so why not pair wine with music? There is actually a fair amount of information about this on the Internet, and there is even an annual convention of wine and music pairing. Here are a some links if you are interested:

Wine paired with music at a winery:

http://www.notavivavineyards.com/component/content/article/38-fp-rokstories/67-winepairedwithmusic.html

4^th Annual Wine and Music Pairing:

http://leesburg.patch.com/events/4th-annual-wine-and-music-pairing

Music alters the taste of wine:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16372623

Music to drink wine by:

http://www.sfgate.com/wine/article/Music-to-drink-wine-by-Vintner-insists-music-can-3235602.php

Blog article:

http://cheapwineratings.com/2009/06/10/pairing-wine-with-music-for-wine-blogging-wednesday/

Comment on Chateau Montelena webpage “Music Pairing with Wines?”

http://www.montelena.com/news/winerynews/music-pairing-with-wines/

Wine and music pairings:

http://www.letastevinva.com/2011/11/wine-and-music-pairings/

Wine and classical composers:

http://www.hitnerwine.com/wineandmusic.htm

Wine Spectator article Pairing Wine and Music:

http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/46773

Matching music and wine: What Music Makes Your Wine Taste Better?

http://winestars.wordpress.com/2009/06/26/matching-music-wine-%E2%80%93-what-music-makes-your-wine-taste-better/

Music and Wine: Why Critics are Helpful

Why Bach in “Bach to Bacchus”?

Back in the late 1990s, because of my passion for classical music, I created and monitored several classical music lists, meeting many classical musicians and composers while learning more about music. Eventually I either closed the lists or passed them on to others to manage.  When creating a blog to document our winery visits, “Bach to Bacchus” was the name that occurred because I had gone from classical music lists to a wine blog. I also inserted in the blog introduction, “Possible musings about wine and classical music.”  Here is the first “musing.” I’m not sure if it will be the only one.

Audiophiles and Oenophiles

I love classical music so have had to endure reading audiophile magazines and shopping for audio equipment.  (Of course, there is no replacing live concerts.)  When I need an audio component I read various magazines and reviews by audio critics, prepare a list of what sounds interesting to listen to and venture out to audio stores to examine or hear the equipment I might want to purchase.  Audio speakers sound different depending on when you hear them, where you hear them, the size of the room, how you feel at the time, the associated equipment, the music being played, plus many other physical and subjective variables. I weed out the components I don't like and listen at more length or audition at home the equipment I like best.  Wine tasting for me is somewhat similar to shopping for audio speakers, except that my list is either of wineries to visit or wines to try.

Tasting wine is even more complicated, though, because of the complex chemistry of the wine and the taster.  There can be variability from bottle to bottle, especially if it is an older wine.  The temperature of the wine is a major factor.  What you pair with the wine or what you had to eat in the past hour or two can make a significant difference.  Another very important factor is how long the wine has been exposed to air.  Even if everyone is drinking the same wine at the same time and has previously eaten the same food, every person’s sense of smell and taste is different. 

Listening or Tasting: Why Experience Matters

One extremely important factor with tasting wine is the number of years, the frequency and the variability in the types of wines and varietals a person has tasted.  Some people have been drinking wine for many years but mostly the same varietal or only wines from a specific region or in a limited price range.  How a wines tastes to a person will vary depending on the amount and diversity of the person’s past experience and exposure to wines. Reading about wine, taking aroma classes or tasting classes and other educational components will add to the experience.

The more you have been exposed to music or wine, the more you will notice differences and the more these differences will matter to you.  I once loaned five different recordings of a Beethoven piano concerto to a friend, per his request, and he could not tell them apart.  He simply had not listened to enough classical music and was not familiar enough with this concerto.  For others, these five performances sound extremely different from each other even if we don’t agree on which is our favorite.

In a similar way, one cannot expect a person who has had little exposure to wines to be able to discriminate as well between certain wines. There are some persons who have incredible senses of smell and taste and can notice things that most others cannot.  But the main factor in wine tasting is the experience of the taster.  Without sufficient exposure to wines, a person really cannot recognize some of the differences between certain wines anymore than a person who has been rarely exposed to opera could have strong preferences between different performances of the opera.  The more you are exposed to something, the more you will be able to discern differences and have preferences.  It is not magic, just experience and effort.

Music Critics and Wine Critics

Another comparison can be made between music critics and wine critics.  In classical music, for example, critics generally agree on the sound quality of a recording or the acoustic properties of a certain concert hall.  There is usually agreement on the tempii, the amount of deviation from the score, the dynamic range and other variables in a performance.  Whether one likes a performance is much more subjective.

I have favorite classical music critics, with whom I often agree, and also have favorite wine critics with whom I have a similar taste and preference in wines.  I will still read other wine critics, but I do so knowing his or her preferences.  But agreeing with a critic is only a small part of the picture.

As with all types of criticism, there are critics who are such good writers and so knowledgeable, that reading them is informative and pleasurable even if one does not share the same taste. Steve Heimoff and Matt Kramer, for example, are wine writers/critics that many of us enjoy reading even if our tastes are dissimilar. These talented writers offer us a great opportunity to learn more and to think more clearly and critically regardless of their personal preferences.

In every field, it seems that critics are often criticized. (Look at the letters to the editor in the classical music magazine Fanfare.)  Sometimes it is an informed disagreement.  Sometimes critics are maligned or even dismissed as a group, however.  This is usually done by those who have very limited knowledge of the subject or those who do not expend sufficient effort to familiarize themselves with the preferences and views of individual critics.  Ratings and reviews are more helpful if the person reading them has some understanding of the subject and the writer. This applies whether we are discussing movies, art, music, literature, wine, food, consumer goods or any other subject. I personally find many critics to be very helpful toward learning more about a subject and for assisting  in making better informed decisions about what to purchase, listen to, drink, watch, read, etc.   I love to read critics who write well and share information, even if I don’t agree with their personal preferences.  I find wine critics to be just as useful as music or film critics and sometimes enjoy reading well-written and informative books or articles almost as much as I love to taste great wine or listen to Bach.