I have a confession. I like port before dinner. I like port at different times. This dirty little secret is out and I felt shame because everyone knows port is only for dessert right? LIKE HELL IT IS. I was at a meeting of winery owners at the Oakland Colliseum a few weeks back and I walked into a room just like all the other winery owners had. This one was different. John and Peter Prager were offering glasses of their Aria Port. I took it to my nose and something like a spicy orchid tickled my nose. It was wonderful. John looked at me as I fumbled for words. He had seen this look before. He smiled as I went uhh, uh, ummm…wow!

I should tell you to stop reading now. Right now. Get in your car and start driving. Head north past Napa, past Yountville. Your boss will understand. Your spouse will too. Heck, take them with you. Leave now. Go. Stop reading. They are located at 1281 Lewelling Ln, St Helena, Ca. They are just off hwy 29, across from Martini Winery. Their phone number is 707-963-7678 You won’t regret it.

If you are still here, fear not. You will be going soon as thousands of others have before you. Once inside, you will be among the chosen ones. I like to focus on smaller wineries as it feels real. If I have to wade through crowds, I leave. I like feeling like I am seeing the next Beatles in a small club. I need to back track, I’m getting way ahead of myself. (Deep breath)

I am traveling north on Highway 29 and hundreds of large wineries vie for my attention. Each tries hard not to look like the others. Restaurants too struggle for a unique quality which make them stand out. It’s beautiful all right but I can only take so much brickwork and transplanted olive trees. I want edgy. I want to see the stains on the barrels, the spent grapes piled high and composting after giving their all.

I like seeing how wine was made. Marble counters and faux mediterranean architecture bore me. I like old wooden buildings that smell like wine. I remember the tobacco sheds in South Carolina and the smell of tobacco flowers. Rustic is good. It’s genuine. It means tourism hasn’t loved it to death. That said, Prager Winery and Port Works is clearly becoming huge even though they have a small winery and tasting room, once inside, you will see how popular they are.

I park the car and walk up. I see old wooden buildings from the early part of the last century. Prager was founded by Jim Prager in 1979. I open the door and then it hits me. I am wearing my glasses and I have to adjust them. It looks like someone took a rake to the wallpaper. I wonder if I have the wrong place. I squint as I enter the tasting room.

I see money. Dollar bills everywhere. Everywhere! Money is stapled to the walls. Read it again. The walls ceiling and covered with one dollar bills that people have written on and stapled to the wall. I love it. I feel as I did when I breathed in the Aria Port. I love it at once.

This place is part frat house, part coolest bar in town and part famous roadside attraction. I read the bills. “Womens weekend” written with a fast hand. “We love this place!!!!” On another. Money from every country you can imagine is there too. I can’t begin to photograph all the ribbons, medals and awards. These guys have arrived and their fans know it.

There are a number of people there. newcomers walk around looking up at the ceiling, regulars look relaxed and get right to the tasting. I ask where most of their fans come from and they both say in unison, New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Texas, Canada, the list goes on and on. They have about 40,000 tourists a year and sell out consistantly. They have just under 4,000 cases a year so get in line now. Internet sales are the easiest way to reserve yours.

Look at the selection. Where do I start?

Then there’s the “Web Site.” If you have ever been around fermenting grapes, there is a small fruit fly which can reproduce at an astonishing rate. I’ve seen swarms float above tanks of crushed grapes. What to do? Spiders. There is a window full of spiderwebs at the winery which has been allowed to go untouched for almost thirty years. It looks like a prop from Disney’s Haunted Mansion. I love this place. It rejects pretention and keeps it real. If this isn’t funny to you it’s because you have never seen fruit flies during crush. They can be inhaled, and I have done it. They make spiders look downright beautiful. Like I said, you either get it or you dont.

Peter takes me out back to show me the old 1800’s carriage house next to the modern stainless steel tank. I ask where the brandy comes from. Peter stops and says,”That’s a secret. It’s our secret sauce. ” He then continues to tell me it’s a 170 proof California grape brandy. When finished, the alcohol content is 19%. By law, the Pragers keep meticulous notes and have to account for the alcohol. John adds, when you have one crop a year, you have to work hard to make sure it is consistant with the previous year. Because the weather is different each year, adjustments must be made. It is one part science, one part art.

Before I leave I pick up a bottle of the Prager Royal Escort Vintage Port.

I open this even as I cringe because it’s like ripping open a beautifully wrapped gift. I hold it to my nose and I’m swept away in a fruit and cedar bouquet. As I sip it, I can taste cherries, but it’s not overly sweet. I re-cork the bottle and hide it because it will keep well for up to six months. There is no way it will be around that long, that’s for sure.

I should mention, the Prager brothers make two different Riesling wines and a Petite Sirah in addition to their six port styles. John and Peter Prager are those people who five minutes after you have met them, you feel like they are old friends.

They clearly love their work and it is work. As I left they went right back to helping folks with their purchases and making sense of their internet sales.

For more information, go to http://www.pragerport.com/ You will be glad you did.

http://www.mendocinowineco.com/

http://www.mendocinowinecompany.com/Parducci.html

Great wine deserves great cheese.

Is this really shopping?

Has anyone ever had this much fun shopping?

Two by two, they kept coming.

I think the lady on the end was supposed to be at work.

I’ve heard wine growers say again and again, “Grapes don’t lend themselves to organic farming.” I tell this to Scott Stowe and Steve Sclavos, managers of Mendocino Wine Company and they say “Not true” Scott pours a glass of Parducci Chardonnay as he explains. I try to listen but the crisp, refreshing taste of the wine is distracing. As I tune back in I hear him explain that Mendocino Wine Company is the first Carbon Neutral Winery in the U.S. They are certified Organic and “Fish Friendly.”

I try to ask more questions but there is a flood of wine tasters milling about the bar. I make way out of the crowd so the men can talk to the customers. After a few minutes, the crowd has had its taste and they begin to leave, I get to try my second taste, the 2006 Parducci Pinot Noir.It has a spicy, strawberry taste with a bit of rasberry and plum. I hold it up to the light and see the beautiful rose color. I pulled a bottle aside to bring home to my wife.

The third wine I tasted is from Paul Dolan Vineyards 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon. It is another organic wine that is so exceptional that I wonder why other farmers fight this trend. One of the methods used is burying cow horns packed with manure in the ground for six months.

Farm animals are part of biodynamic farming.

When dug up, they are completely composted and are ready for the next step. The contents of the horn is removed, added to water, and used to fertilize the crop. This “Bio-Dynamic” method is clearly a sucess. The label of Paul Dolan Wine has three horns on the label.

Paul Dolan signs a bottle.

Is it food or art? Both perhaps?

As I move away from the bar, I see some Safeway managers finishing a cheese display that is so beautiful, I stop and take a picture. I meet Kim Colley, the Catagory Manager for the Specialty Cheese. She agrees to pose with her creation.