Somnium Wines Happy Hour Wine Tasting with Special Guest Danica Patrick

Thoughts on the matter: “I would like a wine. The purpose of the wine is to get me drunk. A bad wine will get me as drunk as a good wine. I would like the good wine. And since the result is the same no matter which wine I drink, I’d like to pay the bad wine price.”

Steve Martin

Comedian, writer, actor, banjo player

We never drink wine to get drunk, it’s more like a slow comfortable buzz. 

SOMNIUM WINES HAPPY HOUR WINE TASTING
WITH SPECIAL GUEST DANICA PATRICK
Thursday, May 4, 2023
5:30 PM

2021 SOMNIUM ROSE, NAPA VALLEY, USA
Price: $42.00     Your Price: $36.96

Vintage:
The 2021 Vintage Will Be Remembered For Low Yields With Intensely-Flavored, Small-Sized Berries And A Smooth And Uneventful Harvest Season. The Season Started Off With Very Little Rain, Leading To The 2nd Year Of Drought Conditions In Napa Valley, Harvest Began Early With White Wine Grapes Picked On July 30th And Red Wine Grapes Beginning On August 31st. Whil Concerning In The Long Term, The Drought Of 2021 Resulted In A More Natural Load On The Vines, Requiring Less Pruning And Dropping Of Fruit. The Resulting Grapes Are Packed Full Of Flavor. Winemakers Across The Valley Are Excited About The Prospects Of The 2021s And It Is Likely The Smaller Yields Per Vine And Smaller Berry Size Will Result In Another Amazing Vintage From Napa Valley. – Napa Valley Vintners
Tasting:
Simultaneously Bright And Luscious, This Rosé Has All The Charisma Of A Sunny Napa Valley Morning. A Brilliant Watermelon-Candy Color Hints At The Intense Melon And Wild  Strawberry Aromas On The Nose. The Wonderfully Soft, Full Palate Explodes With Ripe Red Cherries Strawberries, And Raspberries, Coiled Seamlessly Together By Energizing Layers Of Fresh Cranberry And Mandarin Orange Zest.

2020 SOMNIUM SAUVIGNON BLANC, NAPA VALLEY, USA
Price: $67.50     Your Price: $59.40

Vintage:
It Was A Warm, Dry Winter. We Didn't Begin To See Rain Or Cold Weather Until The End Of March. Summer Brought Very Cool Mornings And Very Warm Days. This Build-Up To Harvest Was Interrupted By Two Wildfires As We Turned To The Fall; The Lnu Complex Fire Started On August 17th And The Glass Fire Started On September 27th. The White Wine Harvest Started In Early August And The Wines Are Showing Excellent Development In Cellars, Reflecting The Fine Vintage Year. While The Red Wine Harvest Will Be Smaller Than Usual, Most Wineries Were Able To Move Forward With Red Wine Vinification.
McGah Family Vineyard:
The Mcgah Family Put Down Roots In The San Francisco Bay Area More Than A Centur Ago. Today, Their 65-Acre Vineyard Estate At The Eastern Edge Of The Esteemed Rutherford Ava Produces Some Of Napa Valley’s Most Sought-After Fruit. Warm Days And Cool Nights Produce Intense Fruit Flavors With Fresh Acidity At Full Ripeness. The Gravel And Loam Of These Benchland Soils Provide Vines With Optimal Drainage And Nutrients, Enabling Them To Perform At Their Peak. Somnium’s Sauvignon Blanc Grapes Come From The Oldest Portion Of This Family-Run Vineyard.
Tasting:
Bold, Bright And Fragrant With Round And Satisfying Textures. Aromas Of Tropical White Flowers, Pineapple And Guava Sing With Juicy Stone Fruit And Butterscotch, Balanced By A Mineral Baseline And Vibrant Acidity. Full And Smooth With A Lingerin Finish, This Elegant Wine Will Delight Now And Years Into The Future.

2019 SOMNIUM CABERNET SAUVIGNON NAPA VALLEY, USA
Price: $96.00     Your Price: $84.48

Vintage:
The Beginning Of The 2019 Growing Season Was Defined By Copious Rainfall And Late Soil Moisture. The Long, Warm Summer Saw Very Few Extreme Heat Events, With Foggy Mornings Setting The Stage For Vibrant And Expressive Wines. The Long, Relatively Mild Finish To The Season, Not Without Its Moments Of Unpredictability, Helped To Preserve Freshness And Finesse In The Fruit With Abundant Hang Time Teasing Out Great Color, Structure And Soft Tannins. Volume Is Looking To Be About Average To A Little Less Than Average. All In All, Exceptional Fruit With Bright Acidity And Ample Texture Promises An Amazing Vintage.
Vineyard:
The Somnium Estate Vineyard Sits On The Flanks Of Howell Mountain At 1300 Ft And Faces Directly West And Southwest, Benefiting From Maximum Sun Exposure. The High Elevation Keeps The Estate Vineyard, On Average, 5 Degrees Cooler Than The Valley Floor, Resulting In A Steady Growing Season. Blocks 3, 4, 6 And 7 Were Blended Together With Grapes From One Of The Oldest Merlot Vineyards In Coombsville (Napa Valley), Situated On A Rocky Hillside With Well-Drained Soil.
Tasting:
Bright And Dynamic, This Wine Blends Bordeaux Varieties Into A Napa Valley Sensation. Generous Red, Blue And Purple Fruits Dance Across The Palate With Supporting Notes Of Vanilla, Pepper, Spicy Cedar And Dried Wild Herbs. Well-Structured Tannins Support The Hightoned Fruit Though A Refreshing Finish Of Mint And Mixed Berry Compote.

2018 SOMNIUM CABERNET SAUVIGNON ESTATE NAPA VALLEY, USA
Price: $204.00   Your Price: $179.52

Vintage:
Seamless Season Marked By Optimal Hangtimes & Exemplary Phenolic Development. Februar Brought Bountiful Rains, Followed By A Abundance Of Filtered Light In Spring And Early Summer. Bud Break And Flowering Occurred Slightly Later This Year, But Under Ideal Weather Conditions, Creating Plentiful & Even Fruit Set. Summer Brought Generous Sun During The Day And Cooler Marine Influences, Virtually Uninterrupted By Major Heat Spikes. A Relatively Mild Summer Followed By Extended Fall Sunshine And Moderate Heat Created Near-Ideal Conditions For Winemakers To Allow Fruit To Accumulate Flavor Complexity With Gradual Increases In Sugar Levels.
Vineyard:
The Organically Farmed Cabernet Sauvignon Vineyard Sits On The Flanks Of Howell Mountain At 1300 Ft And Faces Directly Towards The Southwest And West, Which Benefits From Maximum Sun Exposure. The High Elevation Keeps Our Vineyard 5 Degrees Cooler Than The Valley Floor Resulting In A Steady Growing Season And The Added Benefit Of Late Afternoon Sun Exposure. This Slope Consists Of Extremely Rocky Soils And Complex Micro-Climates Allowing Us To Make A Velvety Soft, Ye Complex Cabernet Sauvignon.
Tasting:
With A Swirl Of The Glass, Aromatics Of Fresh, Rich And Juicy Notes Of Pomegranate, Mocha, Licorice, And Ripe Red Fruits Fil Your Senses. Structured Tannins With A Hint Of Black Pepper And Dark Chocolate Offer A Rich And Elegant Finish.

Menu
Sea Scallop Ceviche with Strawberry and Lavender
Wahoo Tacos with Sweet Pepper Relish and Melon Mayo
All American Beef Sliders
Short Rib Empanadas with Mole Sauce

The fee for this tasting is $125 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com. 

A bit about Somnium Winery

Danica Patrick •
Proprietor
Somnium proprietor Danica Patrick is admired by millions as a trailblazer and especially as a role model for young people, women and men alike, aiming to rise to challenges and pursue their own passions.

As a serial entrepreneur, she has launched successful ventures from apparel to wine. A magical visit to Napa Valley in 2006 inspired her to establish her own fine wine estate on the flanks of Howell Mountain. Today, her Somnium brand crafts a portfolio of exclusive wines from that estate and select Napa Valley vineyards, while her French label Danica Rosé offers an elegant taste of the Provence region. Recently she debuted her new lifestyle brand VOYANT by Danica, a home scent collection utilizing the functional power of fragrance through essential oils and other natural ingredients.

Danica Patrick continues to prove her multimedia appeal: as a television sports analyst and commentator, as author of the self-help book Pretty Intense, and as host of her weekly Pretty Intense podcast, interviewing top athletes and celebrities. From her racing days to the present, she remains a popular personality who’s appeared in music videos and commercials, including a record-setting 14 Super Bowl commercials, and has lent her voice to videogames and cartoons such as “The Simpsons” and “South Park.” Equally recognized as a savvy businesswoman as well as a pop culture icon, Danica has landed on numerous “Favorite Female Athlete” and “Most Powerful Women” lists, including Time’s “100 Most Influential People.”

Danica Patrick began her singular journey at a young age. As an IndyCar then NASCAR driver, she broke barriers and set records as a fierce competitor in the traditionally male-dominated world of motorsports before retiring in 2018. Danica garnered international acclaim by finishing fourth in her very first Indianapolis 500, going on to achieve another first as a female racer with her victory in the IndyCar Series Indy Japan 300 race.

Her unique experience, perspective and charisma makes Danica Patrick a coveted speaker for a breadth of corporate, lifestyle, entertainment and sports-related events, from motivational engagements to entrepreneur gatherings.

Julien Fayard •
Winemaker
Growing up in the South of France afforded Julien the opportunity to develop a love for both the land and the sea. He was immersed in the vineyard at a young age, and also fell in love with surfing.

Although he spent his childhood running through the vineyards of Provence with his cousins, shooting grapes at each other with a slingshot, his time cleaning the cellar as a young boy convinced him to follow a different course in school.  Yet as he studied agri-business in the Loire Valley, he always returned to winemaking each year to assist with harvest. It was this continuous connection to the craft that eventually persuaded him to pursue a career as a winemaker.

Dedicated to achieving excellence in his craft, Julien garnered winemaking positions at some of Bordeaux’s most noble wineries, including Lafite Rothschild and Smith Haut Lafitte. In 2003, Julien had the opportunity to intern in the US and he embraced it to the fullest. He then returned to his family’s fast-growing winery in Provence, where his experiences helped them re-work operations, logistics, and engineering. In 2006, Julien moved to Napa and worked with Philippe Melka as his director of winemaking for eight years before launching his own projects, which include Fayard Winemaking and Covert Estate in Coombsville.

Now with more than two decades of winemaking expertise, Julien Fayard is one of Napa Valley’s most respected winemakers, producing California varietals with French finesse. He believes in producing wines with an identity, exploiting what makes each one unique. Julien’s wines are a pure expression of their terroir, highlighting the specificities and characteristics of the fruit, vineyard management, soil and climate. He has a track record of building brands both in terms of quality and market presence.

Julien earned his Master in Agri-Business from ESA France and his Master in Winemaking from Toulouse France. In 2011, he received his MBA from UC Davis. Today, Julien lives in Napa with his three children Emeline, Kian and Maelle. He continues to surf weekly.