The Oakville Walkaround Seminar

Walkaround seminar $50 · Complimentary tasting for all guests 21+ Seven of Oakville’s most respected producers—Opus One, Groth, Morlet, Ghost Block, Paradigm, Patria, and Nickel & Nickel—are joining us at 270 Madison for an evening exploring one of Napa Valley’s most celebrated appellations. Meet the people behind the wines, including Suzanne Groth of Groth Vineyards & Winery, Claire Morlet of Morlet Family Vineyards, Mary Anne Turrentine of Paradigm, Tony Biagi of Patria, Morgaen Hoxsey of Ghost Block, Emily Cipollone representing Nickel & Nickel, and Scott Gould and Meghan Zobeck of Opus One. Each producer will be represented at an individual educational station, where you can learn directly from the people who know these vineyards best: where they sit, what’s underneath them, and how those differences show up in the finished wines. Oakville covers about 5,700 acres, roughly nine square miles, which makes it less than half the size of Manhattan. The valley floor is only about two miles across, about the walk from our door up Madison to 79th Street. Inside that footprint, the soils and sun change enough from west to east that neighboring vineyards produce noticeably different wines. The west side sits on broad alluvial fans of gravel and clay loam washed down from the Mayacamas Mountains, home to To Kalon and Martha’s Vineyard. Vines there get morning and midday sun before the mountains shade them in late afternoon, and the wines tend to be darker and more mineral. The Napa River runs through the middle, leaving deeper, more fertile soils that lean toward riper, rounder wines. On the east side, red, iron-rich volcanic soils come off the Vaca Range, and vines get no morning sun but full sun from midday into early evening, which tends to show up as dusty tannins and riper fruit. How it works Your $50 ticket provides admission to a two-hour walkaround educational seminar on Oakville, from 6 to 8 pm. Move between the seven producer stations at your own pace, speak directly with winery representatives, and explore how differences in vineyard location, geology, and growing conditions influence the wines. Complimentary wine tastings will also be available to attendees throughout the evening to all guests aged 21 and older. The fine print The $50 admission fee is exclusively for the educational seminar and does not constitute payment for wine or wine tasting. All tasting samples are complimentary and available to guests aged 21 and older. Valid government-issued photo identification confirming age 21 or older is required to taste. Wine samples will be served in accordance with applicable New York State Alcoholic Beverage Control Law requirements. All wines offered for retail purchase are sold by the bottle for off-premises consumption only.