Photo by: Tracy Ellen Kamens

I had the pleasure of visiting Trefethen Family Vineyards a few years ago when I participated in the Napa Valley Vintners’ Wine Educators Academy. On the first evening, we were given a tour of the winery by Janet Trefethen herself and were then treated to a wonderful welcome dinner under the stars in their courtyard. Trefethen wines, were, of course, served with the meal, as were several others from the region. The common theme was wines that are less associated with Napa Valley, but were of equally high quality. Namely, we tasted rosés, Rieslings, Pinot Grigios and other white wines that were ABC — Anything but Chardonnay. All in all it was a perfect night. 

Given my positive experience with the winery, I was excited when I received a package from Trefethen a few weeks ago. It was addressed to my other personna (NY Wine Shopping Examiner), so I presumed it was a sample intended for my column. Accordingly, I looked forward to tasting it. In fact, I was so eager to open the package, that I broke my usual patten of attending to junk mail and bills ahead of personal correspondence, cards and packages (a habit based upon the adage of eating dinner before dessert). 

I ripped open the box (okay, for those who know me, I carefully undid the packaging) and was thrilled to see a very small wine bottle nestled inside. What a brilliant idea I thought! Writers don’t necessary need to taste an entire bottle to take notes and write about a wine — a tiny bottle, just a taste, would be perfect. Although, with less to spare and share with my colleague/husband, I became a bit possessive of the bottle and began to inspect my newfound treasure. 

Reading the label, I noted that the wine was called Fallow and was from the 2009 vintage. I turned to read the back label, looking for information on the grape varieties contained therein, then burst out laughing. My precious wine bottle was empty — filled not with wine, but air (78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, 1% Argon and Trace elements, according to the enclosed Tech Sheet). The back label stated, “This is pure Trefethen Fallow, bottled to capture the very essence of the Napa Valley; light, delicate and ethereal. The perfect match with April Fool’s dinner.”  

The Tech Sheet also spoke about the time-honored, but less-used, practice of leaving a portion of farm land fallow — empty — to “naturally recover and come back into balance after harvest.” As proponents of sustainable farming practices, Trefethen still maintains the practice of leaving vineyard land fallow when replanting, the results of which can be found in my tiny bottle. 

I was disappointed not to be able to enjoy a taste of a Trefethen wine, but admired their sense of creativity and humor. All joking aside, if you do get a chance to taste a bottle of Trefethen wine, I highly recommend it.