No Zinfandel on Zinfandel Lane

I went for a run tonight down Zinfandel Lane in St. Helena. I passed the vineyards of Del Dotto Winery and breezed through the rows of vines at Flora Springs Winery. Each row is marked by the varietal (Cab, Sangiovese, Merlot). Although you won't find much Zinfandel planted on this street, you will find some great wine.

The Flora Springs Tasting Room is a whimsical and controversial building next door to Dean & Deluca, less than a mile north of the winery itself. The Tasting Room caters to the younger

generation, with iMacs encouraging visitors to twitter about their experience, a disco ball and techno music thumping in the background.

For a more serious and sophisticated experience, plan a visit to

Kelham Vineyards on Zinfandel Lane. The austere gate opens to a driveway that leads into the vineyards, with the winery and tasting room to the left. The property is beautiful and lush with clean lines; both orderly and cozy at the same time. Make sure to visit on a day when you can sit outside under the canopy overlooking the perfectly manicured grounds and the large water fountain (which serves as a bath for the winery dogs).

Depending on the size of the winery, it's not uncommon to have the winemaker lead tours and pour wines for guests. But as Kelham's winemaker, Ron Nicholsen, ushered me to a table with a crisp white floor-length table cloth and various stemware, I felt a little star struck. In some ways, the Napa Valley can be a bit like Hollywood.

The setting was so enchanting, I think it would have been impossible to have not enjoyed the wines. We started with an oaked Sauvignon Blanc that was rich, round, and still maintained a fruity core. I know you know how I feel about Chardonnay, but the use of neutral oak made the 2007 Kelham Chardonnay a tropical fruit cocktail--a Chard that I didn't have to spit or pour out.

The red wines have seen some age; we tried a 2002, 2003, and 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon if my memory serves me right. We also tried three different vintages of the Merlot. I preferred the Merlots; they were soft and supple, with velvety tannins. One thing was true for all of the Kelham wines--they are food wines.

My FWE and I recently dined at Cook, a tiny Italian restaurant in St. Helena. We had a bottle of the 2001 Kelham Cab with an order of the mussels served in a tomato broth. I wasn't sure how the wine would taste with seafood (or tomatoes), but I liked the wine much more after just a single bite of food. For my main course, I ordered the pasta carbonara, and the wine went down easily with that, too!