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| Ancient Orvieto - Umbria Wine Cave |
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| Wine Cave in Barcelona |
Caves
have been used to store and age wine for over 6,000 years. The underground
caverns were found to offer the best environment for wine aging, and that is still true today. Wine caves offer the perfect conditions: high humidity from 70 – 90%,
optimal temperatures between 55 °F and 60 °F, and as an added
bonus, a wine cave makes maximum use of the land, allowing for a vineyard on
top of the ground and a cellar below.
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| Napa Region |
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Wine caves can be found around the world. In
the U.S., wine caves are located in California, mainly in the Napa Valley region. In fact, there are over 200 known wine caves in Northern California.
Here are ten
caves not to be missed!
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| Buena Vista Wine Cave |
Buena
Vista Winery http://www.buenavistawinery.com
was probably the first winery that had a wine cave constructed. The cave for
Buena Vista was dug in 1861 with the aid of Chinese laborers. Things were
progressing quite nicely until founder Agoston Haraszhy died in an accident in 1869. Buena
Vista then began to experience financial problems and was sold off in 1878. It was
not until the 1940s that the winery began to rebound, but the caves were left
dormant. Then, in 2012, the wine caves were restored and are now, once again being used
for aging wine.
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| Jacob Schram |
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Wine
caves became popular in Napa Valley in the 1870s, thanks to Jacob Schram, a
German immigrant who hired Chinese laborers to build a network of caves under his
vineyard.
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| Shramsberg Wine Cave |
Schramsberg Vineyard http://www.schramsberg.com produces
sparkling wines using the Champagne method. The caves present the
perfect conditions in which to age the sparkles in order to "match the style and quality of the best
French Champagnes". At
any time, there can be over 2.7 million bottles aging in these caverns. Public tours are available.
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| Beringer Wine Cave |
Beringer
Vineyards http://www.beringer.com,
the oldest commercial winery in California, also put Chinese labor forces to
work constructing a labyrinth of caves during the
late 1870s and early 1880s. Over 12 caves were created by hand, measuring 1,200
feet long, 17 feet wide and 7 feet high. Today, the wine caves are again in use
and public tours and tastings are held there.
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| Inglenook Wine Cave |
It was 1883 when Inglenook Winery https://www.inglenook.com began
construction on a wine cave to test their theory of cellar temperatures. Founder
Gustave Niebaum worked to advance wine procedures; one way was by setting up one of the first bottling lines in the state in his wine
cellar. But the winery fell on hard times after Niebaum died, and his vision was lost. The building and grounds were sold and
resold several times. It
wasn’t until film director Francis Ford Coppola purchased part of the estate in
1975 that the winery began to rebound, and eventually flourish. It would be 120 years after
the first wine caves were completed that the Infinity Caves were built - specifically
to store the Niebaum-Coppola Estate wines.
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| Del Dotto Wine Cave |
In 1885, Chinese workers dug another
wine cave, this one measuring 350 feet, for another of the first wineries in Napa. This is one
of only six wine caves still in existence from that time. Now owned by Del Dotto Vineyards, http://www.deldottovineyards.com
the Napa Valley caves were restored in 1997 and are now used for the aging of
the red wines, along with public tours.
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| Abandoned Winery |
By the close of the 19th century, interest in wine caves
had dropped and none were built for almost 90 years. Because of Prohibition,
many wineries and vineyard were sold or simply abandoned, and left to fall into
disrepair. Wine caves and tunnels slowly eroded and become impassable. Interest
didn’t renew until 1972 when the old Beringer caves were restored.
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| Far Niente Wine Cave |
The first modern wine cave was
constructed for Far Niente Winery http://www.farniente.com in 1982. What
began as a 60-foot wine cave led to the first cave to be built in
the 20th century. The Far Niente caves now encompass over 40,000 square-feet of
underground terrain and are open for public tours.
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| Rutherford Hill Wine Cave |
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Rutherford
Hill Winery http://www.rutherfordhill.com
was also a proponent of modern caves. Excavations began in 1984 and by
1986 the first wine cave was completed. Work on the second cave began immediately
and was finished in 1989. It included a series of connecting tunnels, a rear
cave and a grotto, which is used for events. Rutherford Hill has the largest
wine cave in Napa Valley; it can store over 8,000 barrels of wine.
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| Jarvis Wine Cave |
Jarvis
Estate
http://www.jarviswines.com was the
first winery to tunnel a cave large enough to move their complete winemaking
operation into. Started in 1991, the project was completed in three phases,
the final one being finished in 2001. There are now over 45,000 square feet of
parabolic shaped tunneled cellars which include a stream and waterfall.
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| Stag's Leap Wine Cave |
Stag’s
Leap Wine Cellars http://www.cask23.com
was founded in 1970 during Napa Valley’s renaissance, but it wasn’t until 1996
that excavation began for the wine caves. Completed in 2000, the caves
make up over 34,000 square feet of tunnels that can house up to 6,000 barrels
of red wine. Designed by Barcelona-based architect Javier Barba, the caves meet at a center room, known as the Round Room. It is one of only 50 such rooms in the world. The Round Room houses a
Foucault pendulum suspended from the ceiling, which marks the
aging of the wines, and the passage of time.
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| Hall/Rutherford Wine Cave |
Hall/Rutherford
Wines
http://www.hallwines.com/hall-rutherford
produces small lots of red wines that are stored in the 14,000 square feet
wine caves. The caves were designed and built by hand by the Austrian company
Friedrich Gruber Winecellar http://www.winecellar.at
using historical materials between 100 and 300 years old. A reception area is
also located in the wine caves, which boasts a chandelier dripping with
hundreds of Swarovski crystals. Completed in 2005, these modern caves are
available for events.
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| Digging a Wine Cave |
Although wine caves are far from
new, the methods used to build them, and the enhancements included are quite
different from those of 140 years ago. The current cost of constructing a
wine cave is over $100 per square foot, but the savings from energy costs, along with event rentals, assist in recouping the initial expenditure.
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| Rudd Oakville Estates |
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| Hall Rutherford |
And modern wine caves are no longer
used just for storing wine. Today they are the marketing backbone for many
wineries. Wine caves are constructed not only for housing
aging bottles, but for accommodating special events, libraries, exhibits and
artwork. Instead of the dark, dank caves of the 1800's, today there's something for everyone to enjoy - underground.
~ Joy
Today,
most restaurants have a wine list. I don’t care if it’s a five star restaurant
with a sommelier, or your local neighborhood Italian place. Knowing how a wine list is laid out will help demystify it, and that can make ordering less stressful, and your meal more enjoyable. 
1)
Decide what type of wine you want. Most wine lists are organized according to
color, style and price. For example you will find the headings for Red (Rouge)
Wines, White (Blanc) Wines, Rosé, Champagne/Sparkling, and Dessert with the driest
offerings usually located directly under the heading and the sweetest toward the end of the
list. If bin numbers are listed, refer to them when ordering to assist the
server in locating the correct bottle. Most listings will be by bin number, wine
name, winery or producers name, possibly country or region grown, and vintage
(year harvested), if applicable. 
2)
Will you be ordering a glass, a half-carafe, full carafe, or a bottle? To break
this down: a glass is usually about 5 ounces, a half-carafe and carafe are
determined by the size of glass container the restaurant uses, so ask your
sever how many glasses are in each. A bottle is made up of 750ml or roughly 4
generous glasses of wine (or 5 stingy pours). Check to see if the wine you
are interested in is available by the glass. Many are sold only by the carafe
or bottle.
3)
Have your price point in mind before perusing the wine list. Prices are usually
listed on the right side of the list. There may be “by the glass” prices and
“by the bottle” prices. Ordering wine that matches the cuisine is usually a good bet - if you are eating at an Italian
restaurant, the Italian wines will probably be the better values.
Bonus
Point:
