Wine Cellar
Unique tasting experience
Bourassa is intimate Napa experience
Date Published: March 2006
[Courtesy Photo/]
Vic Bourassa got into the professional wine making business on the recommendation of Robert Mondavi.
[Courtesy Photo/]
Harmony3 was the first wine officially released by Bourassa Vineyards.
The turning point for Vic Bourassa, owner and proprietor of Bourassa Vineyards in the Napa Valley, really occurred over a lunch he had in 1999 with the godfather of California wine, Robert Mondavi. By that time Bourassa had moved to the Valley permanently three years before and had entered a second professional career in real estate development. He was also a committed home winemaker, and the chance to talk wine and the wine business with one of the most influential winery figures in the world was to be savored and appreciated.
At some point during that memorable lunch Bourassa uncorked a bottle of his own homemade Napa Valley Pinot Noir and after a few evidently pleasurable sips Mondavi began to encourage the novice winemaker to enter the winemaking field as a professional. It was at that very moment that Bourassa Vineyards was born, though it was not official from a business perspective until two years later, in 2001.
The first wine produced under the new official Bourassa Vineyards label was a traditional Bordeaux blend called Harmony3. It received tremendous attention from both consumers and the media and all of the 400 cases produced sold out very quickly. Bourassa Vineyards was on its way. A Napa Valley Zinfandel followed the Harmony3 bottling, and on it went, without pause.
Today, with a total production of a respectable 5,000 cases, Bourassa Vineyards is able to devote their attention to five carefully chosen varietals: Zinfandel, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and their one white wine, a wonderful Sauvignon Blanc. In addition to that there is a Port made from the Primitivo grape that is, as the proprietor says with obvious pride, "an absolute favorite of everyone that gets to try it." And that wonderful blend, the Harmony3, is still just as popular and still winning just as many awards and medals as ever.
It is the fact that the wines - no matter what the varietal - are so painstakingly hand-crafted in small lots that is such an important factor. The winery carefully creates rich, complex blends using fruit from premiere, self-maintained Napa Valley vineyards.
"This insures that our award-winning wines display the distinct varietal characteristics that are winning over critics and wine drinkers alike," Bourassa says.
A visit to Bourassa Vineyards is a unique experience as well. Set in a complex of offices and warehouses in the southern part of Napa County, a tasting here is unlike any other.
The tasting room itself could actually be far beneath ground, or on a hill in Bordeaux or in an ancient villa in Tuscany. Rust-colored walls, silver candelabra, dark wood, a wall of barrels and antique winemaking gear transform the space into an elegant den for sampling the wine.
"It's a wine room," Bourassa says, with obvious pride. "A warm, wonderful room ... And here you don't have crowds, and you get to sit and taste wine with the proprietor, which is a rarity."
Bourassa believes that his responsibility as vintner and winery owner is two-fold. First is to educate, then to promote, albeit he does both in a low-key, comfortable manner. Want to know about what toast means when it comes to oak barrels? He shows you a cross section of a barrel, each stave toasted to different degrees. Curious about the importance of cork? He brings out a section of cork tree and begins to talk about the importance and harvesting practices of cork. And so it goes, the educational experience and the tasting experience seamlessly and enjoyably commingled.
As they say at this unique Napa Valley winery, "We look forward to sharing with you our passion for wine, as well as the Bourassa Vineyard's commitment to quality, class and a celebration of life!"
The tasting room at Bourassa Vineyards is open by appointment only from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. every day. They are located at 190 Camino Oruga (Unit H) in Napa.
For information and directions, call (800) 499-2366 or visit www.bourassavineyards.com.
At some point during that memorable lunch Bourassa uncorked a bottle of his own homemade Napa Valley Pinot Noir and after a few evidently pleasurable sips Mondavi began to encourage the novice winemaker to enter the winemaking field as a professional. It was at that very moment that Bourassa Vineyards was born, though it was not official from a business perspective until two years later, in 2001.
The first wine produced under the new official Bourassa Vineyards label was a traditional Bordeaux blend called Harmony3. It received tremendous attention from both consumers and the media and all of the 400 cases produced sold out very quickly. Bourassa Vineyards was on its way. A Napa Valley Zinfandel followed the Harmony3 bottling, and on it went, without pause.
Today, with a total production of a respectable 5,000 cases, Bourassa Vineyards is able to devote their attention to five carefully chosen varietals: Zinfandel, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and their one white wine, a wonderful Sauvignon Blanc. In addition to that there is a Port made from the Primitivo grape that is, as the proprietor says with obvious pride, "an absolute favorite of everyone that gets to try it." And that wonderful blend, the Harmony3, is still just as popular and still winning just as many awards and medals as ever.
It is the fact that the wines - no matter what the varietal - are so painstakingly hand-crafted in small lots that is such an important factor. The winery carefully creates rich, complex blends using fruit from premiere, self-maintained Napa Valley vineyards.
"This insures that our award-winning wines display the distinct varietal characteristics that are winning over critics and wine drinkers alike," Bourassa says.
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Winemaking at Bourassa Vineyards means other things as well. The harvested fruit is handled delicately, and there are none of the pumpovers that are standard at most wineries. Here the juice is sprayed gently onto the cap to submerge it. It is time consuming and requires more work, but the proof is right there in the bottle.A visit to Bourassa Vineyards is a unique experience as well. Set in a complex of offices and warehouses in the southern part of Napa County, a tasting here is unlike any other.
The tasting room itself could actually be far beneath ground, or on a hill in Bordeaux or in an ancient villa in Tuscany. Rust-colored walls, silver candelabra, dark wood, a wall of barrels and antique winemaking gear transform the space into an elegant den for sampling the wine.
"It's a wine room," Bourassa says, with obvious pride. "A warm, wonderful room ... And here you don't have crowds, and you get to sit and taste wine with the proprietor, which is a rarity."
Bourassa believes that his responsibility as vintner and winery owner is two-fold. First is to educate, then to promote, albeit he does both in a low-key, comfortable manner. Want to know about what toast means when it comes to oak barrels? He shows you a cross section of a barrel, each stave toasted to different degrees. Curious about the importance of cork? He brings out a section of cork tree and begins to talk about the importance and harvesting practices of cork. And so it goes, the educational experience and the tasting experience seamlessly and enjoyably commingled.
As they say at this unique Napa Valley winery, "We look forward to sharing with you our passion for wine, as well as the Bourassa Vineyard's commitment to quality, class and a celebration of life!"
The tasting room at Bourassa Vineyards is open by appointment only from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. every day. They are located at 190 Camino Oruga (Unit H) in Napa.
For information and directions, call (800) 499-2366 or visit www.bourassavineyards.com.
Charles Neave is a reporter for Wine Country This Week, a Gold Country Media publication.
