A Skull by Any Other Name. . .

. . .Would not taste as good as the Albarino wine we recently drank.  We traveled north recently and two sons and I ate at Cindy Pawlcyn's Wood Grill and Wine Bar on St. Helena.  We were there to taste the Albarino at a Vintner's Splash for Calavera Wines.  John Derr, the owner, and grower Steve Collum have put together this wine.

Albarino is a Spanish varietal grown in Calaveras County by Collumn.  It is a good alternative for those that want something new in a white wine.  I'm not a tasting expert, and my tastes tend towards big red wines, but I like this wine. It is light, but doesn't have the "green" taste some whites have.  Another example of the "green" is the hoppy taste of an IPA.  I steer away from those. This Albarino is a very good example of what I like in a white.

John also grows grapes on Mt. Veeder with his wife, Ashley, at Lampyridae Vineyards, the highest vineyard in Napa Valley.  You should notice that the Derrs choose unique names for their ventures.  Calavera is Spanish for skull.  Lampyridae is the scientific name for firefly, which is what the lights of San Francisco look like from the top of their Mt. Veeder property.  Lampyridae grapes have been made into wonderful wines by Beringer, Schulz, and others.  They also produce the Communication Block group of wines to help support Napa Valley Kids Connect which is a program in the Napa ValleyUnified School District schools to help students with communication and motor difficulties.

The Albarino was good and I look forward to drinking it again.