If 2023 is remembered as one of the cooler vintages in recent memory, then 2024 will certainly stand out as one of the warmest. Although these temperature differences are measured in fractions of a degree, their cumulative impact can shift the harvest by weeks.
With a dome of fluorescent lights shining on ever-changing computations displayed in different colors, the 110,000-square-foot cellar at Palmaz Vineyards looks more like the bridge in “Star Trek” than a winemaking facility.
VINTNER: Why did you enter the wine industry and what makes you love being a part of it and stay in it?
PALMAZ: Making wine is the ultimate pursuit of perfection. Through its process wine has infinite depth and dimension. After 25 years, I’m constantly humbled by the seemingly endless diversity of terroir this estate can offer our wine program. I’m not sure I will ever see the same vintage twice and that’s precisely why I’d spend lifetimes doing this if I could.
Family-owned and -operated Palmaz Vineyards in Napa Valley is regularly voted one of the best wineries in the region and is known for fusing the time-honored art of winemaking and cutting-edge technology. Scott Kerr sits down with Christian Palmaz, COO at Palmaz Vineyards, to discuss his father Dr. Julio Palmaz’s journey from inventor of the balloon-expandable heart stent to vineyard owner. Christian also talks about the engineering marvel of the vineyard’s 18-story subterranean winery “Cave”, the smart technologies and big data analytics used to improve the winemaking process, expanding into cattle operations and creating a Wagyu beef enterprise, why Millennials are their best wine customers, and navigating through climate change and extreme California weather. Plus: Is AI technology eliminating the romance in winemaking?
We love to grill flank steaks for tapas. They are quick to fire up and are very flavorful and tender. Flank steaks also have the added benefit of a lower risk of overcooking. When paired with fresh zucchini and Chimichurri salsa this dish is celebratory of a coming Spring.
Our 2019 Gaston Cabernet Sauvignon is a cornucopia of flavor, immediately transporting you to its harvest: dark fruit, tobacco, and wet granite captures the aroma of our caves during production. Chocolate covered tart cherries coupled with roasted espresso pop on the palate like a celebration. This is a full bodied wine with bold tannins that taper seamlessly into a silky and everlasting finish.
Three Napa Valley Vineyards; Abreu Vineyards, Palmaz Vineyards, and Rudd Estate; have properties and processes that are as distinctive as their wines.
This entree brings together two of our favorite foods: squab and morel mushrooms. When served together, they make a perfect pairing for big, opulent Cabernet Sauvignons. The day before, you can prep the squab breasts, braise the squab legs and make the garlic and morel cream. Then, when guests arrive, you need only to concentrate on the risotto and the squab breasts.
Family-run ranch raises grass-fed wagyu in the High Sierra: In the lush Genesee Valley at 3,500 feet elevation, black-horned cows graze in chest-high grass, with the granite peaks of the Sierra Nevada looming behind them. Surrounded by the Plumas National Forest, roughly 30 miles southeast of Lake Almanor, the historic Genesee Valley Ranch is a family-run operation with roots dating back to California’s Gold Rush. Today, the Palmaz family — known for its eponymous winery in Napa Valley — is taking the same fusion of tradition and technology used to create their estate cabernet to raise, harvest, and sell their grass-fed wagyu beef.
“Let’s make beef worthy of our wine,” says Florencia Palmaz, co-founder and partner of Palmaz Vineyards, about her family’s mission of revitalizing Genesee Valley Ranch. “Let’s take the same model of what we call estate growing in the wine industry — our wine doesn’t leave the property, not for a minute, until it’s fully finished and ready for consumers — and take on that task in the beef world. We call it ‘estate beef.’”
