Inside Napa Valley, Winter/Spring 2021

inside

napa valley Winter/Spring 2021

A new year

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Peaks Around Us: Howell Mountain Winery survival strategies Wine clubs thrive Artist Jessel Miller Cameo appearance Doing it yourself Food Trucks of Napa Valley Living the Life Looking up at night Getting to Know You: Scott Sedgley Crossword Puzzle Wings reign supreme Downtown gets artsy First 5 changes lives Mystery of oak gall Small businesses endure Fitness guru On the airwaves Building community through fitness Plant-based cooking

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A new year in the Napa Valley D AV I S TAY LO R President and Di re ctor of L ocal Ad ve r ti s i ng No question that 2020 was a tough year for everyone.

Producing a lifestyle magazine like Inside Napa Valley was a challenge when most of the the things that make the Valley’s lifestyle so great were limited DAVIS or shut down TAYLOR entirely.

But Napans are a hearty bunch and still managed to do the creative things they do, even in near isolation.

And we’re happy to report that the new year seems to have brought a new burst of energy and optimism. We’re a long way from back to normal, but we sense that people are starting to WINTER SPRING 2021

feel good again.

You’ll see that new energy and optimism in our lineup of stories for this issue of Inside Napa Valley.

We’ll look at ways that wineries are adjusting to the pandemic—and even thriving.

We’ll look at new restaurant ventures popping up despite the limited dining rules and we’ll visit an out-of-the-way food truck that’s well worth your time to find.

We’ll learn how to cook prolevel plant-based foods right at home, and ask how people are getting into do-it-yourself projects during social isolation.

We’ll tour the great outdoors with a guide to the night sky through the year and a look at those familiar yet mysterious oak galls that dot our iconic

local trees.

We’ll meet a pair of Napa County businesses trying to bring fitness and build community for their neighbors.

We’ll take a deep look at First Five Napa, a non-profit taking an innovative new approach to serving the county’s kids and families.

We’ll dive into the arts with a visit with artist Jessel Miller and a look at how the century-old Cameo Cinema is responding to the virus.

We’ll visit with Napa’s new Mayor Scott Sedgley and learn how new owners are bringing Napa County’s home-grown radio stations back to their roots.

And as always, we’ll bring you some of our favorite articles of the last few months from the

Napa Valley Publishing family of newspapers.

So grab a social-distanced glass of your favorite Napa Valley beverage and join us for the spring edition of Inside Napa Valley magazine.

On the Cover: Spring blooms in the Napa Valley, courtesy of Bob McClenahan, bobmcclenahan.com.

Editor’s note: Many of you will be receiving this edition by mail, the fourth time we have distributed our free quarterly magazine to postal customers in and around Napa. If you like what you see and want to be part of supporting local journalism, please consider becoming a member at napavalleyregister.com/members.

INSIDE NAPA VALLEY | 3

THE PEAKS AROUND US L AYNE RA NDO L PH

T

Layne Randolph

Above

the fog Conditions on Howell Mountain make for intense, collectable wines

A worker covers a grafted rootstock in a Howell Mountain vineyard.

Henry Lutz, Register

4 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

ucked away amongst pine, oak, and fir tree forests, the off-the-beaten-path Howell Mountain appellation is so humble that it feels like a secret. Northeast of St. Helena and the Silverado Trail, even its name is obscure – there is no mountain at all — the area sits on an elevated plateau. The Howell Mountain American Viticultural Association (AVA) took its name from a tiny town in the forest when it became the first official sub-appellation in Napa Valley in 1983.

Over a century before, French, Italian, and German immigrants brought their native winemaking traditions to the area and began cultivating vineyards. It did not take long for Howell Mountain wines to make an international splash.

In 1889, French vintners Jean Chaix and Jean Brun won a bronze medal at the Paris World Competition with their Nouveau Medoc wine. The W.S. Keyes Liparita Winery won the grand prize at the 1900 Paris Exposition with its Howell Mountain Claret, and La Jota Vineyard Co.’s Blanco wine won a bronze medal.

Those in the know revere Howell Mountain for the notable American wine history, the secluded and tranquil setting, the incredible soil and position above the fog line, and the world-renowned wines.

Howell Mountain deserves the acclaim. The most impactful influences contributing to the exceptional fruit grown in the appellation are location and elevation. The AVA peaks at 2,500 feet above sea level, and the higher elevation offers cool temperatures. Cooler temperatures

translate to a later-thanusual bud break, extended hang time, and a later harvest. These three factors allow the fruit to reach its maximum potential and help develop intense color and flavor in the grapes and resulting wines.

Another feature contributing to the fantastic fruit from Howell Mountain is the geological makeup of the area. Ages ago, volcanoes shaped Napa Valley.

Although not a volcano’s site, the lava flows left behind white volcanic ash adding to the geology that makes the soils unique today. Howell Mountain soil is a combination of white, crumbly volcanic ash known as “tufa” and iron-rich red clay soil.

Volcanic soil is distinct; it is nutrient-poor and quick-draining, two qualities that force vines to struggle and dig deep for nutrients. Vines that must work hard to survive yield smaller grapes with a higher skin-to-juice ratio. That ratio equates to dark, vibrant color and deep, concentrated flavor.

But enhanced flavor is not the only benefit; vineyards grown on a combination of volcanic and red clay soils produce wine with higher tannins and excellent age-ability – two hallmarks of excellent and collectible wine. With their position above the fog line, these soils help create the qualities synonymous with Howell Mountain wines.

The Howell Mountain AVA possesses optimal conditions for growing wine grapes. Perched above the fog line, blessed with California sunshine, and home to blissful (and lucky) little grapes, the Howell Mountain AVA stands above the rest.

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Napa Valley wineries share strategies to survive the COVID-19 pandemic Napa Valley wineries are drawing on their creativity to move cases during the COVID-19 pandemic. A wide range of tools have proved useful, including online sales, telesales, Zoom tastings, and videos with celebrities. Wineries are also gaining new audiences with different outdoor tasting spaces, shipping deals, social media, and limited releases.

Data collection and analysis has become an important method of understanding a guest’s tastes and budget.

Calling to check in has also proved valuable. Calls to regular customers give a winery an idea of their wine club members’ economic situations. They help the winery strengthen loyalty.

“We succeeded by asking ourselves and our customers what experiences and solutions we could offer that would ease concerns and deliver what was needed

6 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

most. We devised safe wine pick-up opportunities and utilized phone and email outreach to communicate with our audience. In addition, we started sharing a lot more digital content. This brought V. Sattui’s story to life through recorded and streaming video, photos, and Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter posts,” said Ali Paterson, vice president of marketing of V. Sattui Winery in St. Helena.

Ron Scharman, CEO of Astra Digital, a winery marketing agency in Napa, said online sales is now central to wineries’ survival.

“Ecommerce for wine grew slowly every year until 2020. Then we broke through that hurdle. Now all age groups are ordering wine online, particularly older adults. The market is forever changed,” said Scharman.

Scharman added wineries are determining what measures work best in the long run.

“You can’t keep offsetting the loss of tasting room sales with just offering free

shipping and trying to beat the competition. Napa wine is excellent. A local winery will be better served by showcasing what makes their wine stand out,” said Scharman.

Jeremy Abbott, partner of Napabased Winery Accounting and Compliance Company, said the pandemic’s changes have proved the most difficult for Napa Valley’s small wineries. The shifts have also negatively affected wineries that relied mostly on tasting room sales.

“As far as accounting strategies are concerned, we have handled many Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) applications for wineries. (These) have provided needed funds. Of the 60 wineries and vineyards we work for, most have tried to hold on to their employees,” said Abbott Abbott said wineries that did not rely on PPP loans have self-financed the shortfalls in their operations.

“Budgets are tighter and we have seen a seven percent reduction in our

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own sales. I imagine this belt tightening applies to most winery vendors,” said Abbott.

Steven Smith, general manager of Chatterbox Wine Marketing, a Napabased wine marketing agency, said local retailers, countrywide, are selling wines that would typically only go to restaurants.

“Some of the winery exclusivity value proposition is being cut short by current economic conditions. Live outreach has done much to counter that competition. Customers truly want to remain connected to their favorite brands,” said Smith.

Smith added retailers cannot provide the same experience as a call from an agent with information from the winery.

“Calls transport them back to the winery. Retailers provide purely transactional experiences,” said Smith.

Smith said telesales is providing double benefits for wineries.

“Unlike email marketing, telesales offers a heightened opportunity to capture the sale. Ultimately, we help maintain the customers romantic attachment to the brands. Therefore we extend the lifetime value of the customers,” said Smith.

Smith said an average sale for one of his agents is between $525 and $550 per person. An agent usually makes about 100 calls a day.

Tank Garage Winery

An employee at Tank Garage Winery pours a glass of “This Too Shall Pass,” a red wine blend.

Discipline and forward-thinking are critical Andrew Schweiger, winemaker at Schweiger Vineyards & Winery in St. Helena, said developing strategies for the spring and early summer cushioned their family business a tiny bit for the fire-related losses of the fall.

“When the pandemic hit, we took the time to get our website cleaned up. We took out all the bad links and “no results” pages. We got our social media fresh and updated regularly,” said Schweiger.

Schweiger then worked on creating a socially distanced area for outdoor tastings. The team instituted temperature checks, bought supplies for sanitization, and started offering live and recorded virtual discussions involving wine tastings.

“I am friends with a lot of musicians, so we brought in guests like jazz pianist Brian Culbertson, singer-songwriter Morgan James, and the blues-country band Striking Matches,” said Schweiger.

The shows developed a dedicated audience, interesting new customers and wine club members.

When the Glass Fire came to the family property at the end of September, Schweiger was fortunate to have people, equipment, experience, and luck on his side.

“We had a team of 10 fire engines and over 40 firefighters from Riverside, Hemet, and Cathedral City respond to our property. They saved all the buildings and our inventory,” said Schweiger.

Schweiger said there will not be a 2020 vintage.

“Yet we barrel age for three years.

I’m just now starting to sell bottles from 2015. It will be a struggle, but we’ll carry on despite the loss,” said Schweiger.

Linzi Gay, general manager of Clif Family Winery and Bruschetteria Food Truck, said keeping employees positive, increasing web sales and online orders, and offering help and outreach for wine holiday shopping proved beneficial.

“We took a big hit from our custom crush winery in Calistoga burning down.

The smoke and the fires that shut down outdoor tastings motivated us to focus elsewhere,” said Gay. Gay said Clif developed winetasting kits and started pairing wines with Clif’s food products like olive oil, nuts, chocolate, and honey. Clif Family Winery also

Sarah Anne Risk

Eleven Eleven Winery offered tastings on its back patio

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INSIDE NAPA VALLEY | 7

created a huge range of new virtual experiences.

“We now offer virtual wine tastings for corporate groups, friends, and family get-togethers, wine education classes, yoga sessions, and paint nights with Nimbus Arts in St. Helena. We have pulled back on discounting and shipping deals. Our new business model more concretely and regularly incorporates in person and virtual components,” said Gay. New attractions, from wines to gardens Creating limited-edition releases that give back to the community have become another way to build a brand. Ed Feuchuk, president of Tank Garage Winery in Calistoga, said the winery shifted to making a higher-thanusual number of small lots.

“We made runs with 25 to 48 cases, which would sell out within minutes online. We’d create buzz by sending out a notice online first,” said Feuchuk.

The new wines featured artistic, striking labels that represented Tank’s collaborations with artists.

Each wine donated proceeds to a distinct cause. “‘This Too Shall Pass’ features Marilyn Monroe wearing a mask, and raised money for the GlobalGiving Coronavirus Relief Fund. This nonprofit supports coronavirus relief and recovery efforts. The majority of proceeds of ‘Reborn’ (with a label featuring the back of a Black man holding red and white flowers) were split between Black Lives Matter and The Simple Good, a nonprofit that empowers at-risk youth,” said Feuchuk.

Feuchuk said bottles that celebrated “rebels, misfits, bootleggers, and risk takers” struck a note with customers interested in supporting charities.

“Another way we’ve attracted customers is by making new kinds of wines. Blending skin-fermented white wine with red wine like “Reborn” has really interested wine club members. Before the pandemic, release parties for these wines saw lines around the 8 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

Tank Garage Winery

Yanan Lu, summer 2020 harvest intern, displays experimental test blends.

Clif Family Winery

Clif Family Winery’s blind tasting kit of white wine flights

block,” said Feuchuk.

Feuchuk said in 2020, Tank Garage Winery’s ecommerce sales increased by 1,000 percent.

“It’s absolutely staggering.

Many times we’ve run out of wine. Although we’ve gotten more aggressive with online marketing, we haven’t had to do deep discounts,” said Feuchuk.

Ellie Anest, co-owner and founder of Eleven Eleven Winery in Napa, said opening up a large new space on the back patio in the summer helped her a great deal.

“We renovated the main tasting room during the spring shutdown, so opening this new outdoor space provided guests with a very different experience. We increased safety by pre-pouring tasting wines into small bottles and offering distanced seating,” said Anest.

Anest said Eleven Eleven also developed a special video series called “Make Your Moment.”

“This series featured chefs, nutritionists, sportscasters, musicians, actors, and other types of entertainers in live conversations

with wine club members. It was interesting and a fun way to connect with our consumers,” said Anest.

Anest said instituting virtual happy hours benefited the winery as well. The new tasting experience gave the winery a window to reach young adults alongside their parents.

“We observed that when young adults are visiting or living with their parents, they are more interested in learning about wine together. We’re exploring a ‘family education’ approach to reach out to the next generation,” said Anest.

Thinking ahead should help wineries in the long run, said Brian Baker, founder of Cultivar Marketing, a Napa-based wine industry sales and marketing agency.

“The pandemic has hurt on-premise sales for bars and restaurants. (It’s) shifted sales to retailers and winery’s ecommerce channels. Reaching millennials and members of Generation Z, only two legal years, who are of drinking age is a challenge. (Yet it’s) not impossible. You have to understand that they look at wines through a different lens than the previous generations,” said Baker.

Baker said understanding what younger consumers are looking for in a wine brand makes it easier for wineries to remain authentic.

“Customers of all ages feel more engaged when a winery tells a story that connects on an emotional level,” said Baker.

Paterson said V. Sattui Winery has learned much more about its core values during the pandemic.

“Given that we have a Marketplace and Deli, we were able to open much like a grocery store. We learned a lot from how grocery stores were handling the pandemic. We erected plastic shields, required all visitors to wear masks, and enforced social distancing rules,” said Paterson.

Paterson said V. Sattui learned how to communicate safety, not fear.

Paterson said V. Sattui also began serving meals from foods in its Marketplace to frontline workers, including firefighters, nurses, and healthcare professionals offering COVID-19 testing at the Yountville Veterans Home.

Paterson said the winery further decided to retain staff by paying them to volunteer with Meals on Wheels.

“Our hospitality staff delivered meals to seniors in Calistoga, Yountville, Pope Valley, and Napa. This was a great morale booster for our employees. They really enjoyed it and formed bonds with the seniors,” said Paterson.

Lastly, after hearing that some wine club members were experiencing losses of income due to the pandemic, V. Sattui lowered the threshold for online and phone order freight deals.

“We went from requiring full cases to six bottles for periods of time. This gave wine club members access to varietals and vintages storewide,” said Paterson.

Paterson said permitting smaller orders regenerated interest for members who had fallen off wine club rolls.

“It brought them back into the fold, where we could connect with them again and learn from them,” said Paterson.

Paterson said the most important thing she has taken away from the pandemic is to meet customers where they are.

“They are experiencing different things at different stages of this pandemic. When we truly listen before reaching out and presenting our services, we can do so much more to meet their needs,” said Paterson.

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M A RT Y O RG E L

W

ith many small valley vintners hurting or forced to close in the COVID-19 pandemic, larger winemakers found their wine club memberships provided a silver lining.

“We started getting people ordering wine like it was toilet paper,” said Trinchero Napa Valley Winery’s club coordinator John Mumford. The St. Helena winery found their wine club memberships definitely helped their bottom line in these tough times.

“People were stockpiling wine,” he said.

“We’re a top-five producer in the countr y,” added Mumford. Trinchero produces wine for itself as well as the Ménage à Trois and Sutter Home brands. Its large volume and its wine club memberships drove profits in the pandemic. “Who knew it would create an incredible increase in sales?

“We produce millions and millions of cases of wine a year,” he said. And those are heavily distributed throughout the country.

Wines are at “a price point where consumers can purchase them on sale at a grocery store for six or ten dollars, or two bottles for ten bucks,” he said.

Smaller winery’s that produced only a thousand cases a year, Mumford said, left them struggling to survive. “For us,” he said, “in states like Florida where things are open our retail sales are great. They are phenomenal.”

With the pandemic affecting everyone, Trinchero goes out if its way to help its members when needed. “We’re not holding our memberships over someone’s head. We wouldn’t do that,” said Mumford. “Someone might have just lost their job so we do the best we can to accommodate them if they cancel,” he said.

And added that he hopes members want to come back. “We hope they feel we treated them with respect and they know we did them well.”

“We lost tasting room sales,” said Misty Roudebush Cain, Director of Marketing and member

Direct to consumer Wine club memberships are lifelines for Napa Valley vintners

10 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

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services at St. Supéry Estate Vineyards & Winery in Rutherford, which has 1,531acres of land across Napa, with 500 planted to vine.

“We have seen an uptick in ecommerce wine sales,” she said, which helped blunt the financial blow hitting many smaller wineries.

In the pandemic, just like St. Supéry, many other large valley producers saw an increase in online memberships. “This helped the wine industry dramatically,” she said.

St. Supéry has three levels of wine club memberships, ranging between $140 to $500 or more dollars a year, depending on the quality and quantity of wine a customer wants.

“Some of our members share memberships with friends and family,” St. Supéry’s Roudebush Cain said. “We’ve seen an increase in virtual wine tastings, too, which are part of a membership.”

Jim Strouse in Wilmington, N.C., has been a St. Supéry wine club member for one year. He loves the virtual wine tastings. “The wine club is not only a time saver; it provides quality wine,” he said.

Plus, he pointed out; in North Carolina people can only buy beer and wine in grocery stores and have to buy liquor only at state-run liquor shops called ABC stores.

A Napa wine club, Strouse said, provides quality wine without the limitations North Carolina has seen with its fledgling wine producers. And, Strouse said, local wines don’t compare to Napa wines in quality, especially St. Supéry’s.

“I like bottles of wine from $40 to $60 a bottle. Their selection of wine is very good and you get different wines shipped at different times throughout the year.”

12 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

(The club) a l s o p r o vides an opportunity to try different things, he said.

Chappellet Winer y overlooking Lake Hennessey in St Helena is on lockdown at this writing just like everyone else. “We are not seeing anybody for tours and tastings. Only our employees are coming onto the property,” said Dominic Chappellet, the winery’s Vice President. They do still have curbside pickups, with advanced reservations.

Chappellet connects with consumers with direct sales, the phone, emails, and snail mail. And it has hosted virtual tastings for people in the club. Members typically get two cases a year in four different shipments. That’s 24 bottles a year. Memberships range from $300 to $1,200 a year.

Most wineries consider membership sales as a Holy Grail. “Absolutely,” said Chappellet, “There’s no doubt. It is a great business model.”

Membership gives wineries income

that is usually pretty stable which allows them to make better decisions knowing what their probable sales will be in advance. “They give people a great value,” Chappellet said.

“We’re not working through a middleman. It’s a direct sale and there’s a more personal connection.”

Members, he said, feel like they are part of something that others are not; “They’re part of our winery community.”

Customers also like wine clubs because they cannot find some of the wines that come with a membership in retail stores.

“It makes sense for us,” Chappellet said.

He added that it also makes sense for consumers since they feel they are getting something special. “Quality wine at a good price,” said Chappellet. “Not the leftovers or the dregs.”

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L AY N E R A N D O L P H

Noble One Horse Lover, by Jessel Miller Jessel Miller

Giving back and paying it

forward 14 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

“What is charity? Charity is the act of giving help to those in need of it. It is a humanitarian act. It involves giving money, goods, or time and effort to those who need it.” – Jessel Miller The year 2020 is gone, and suffice it to say, no one is unhappy about that. Here in the Napa Valley, 2020 hit harder than in other places because not only did a pandemic require the closure and restriction of businesses, but two of the biggest and most destructive wildfires in Napa history ravaged the area. To say that the people of Napa Valley are resilient would be an understatement.

There were also cultural upheavals in 2020 that battered and bruised many communities adding to the chaos. We watched natural disasters threaten wildlife worldSubmitted photo wide; we witnessed millions of animals suffering and dying in the Australian outback, thousands of fish washing up on shores around the world, and birds falling from the sky. It was a year.

And the pandemic added an element that the world has not seen since World War II—a global crisis that indirectly pulled the planet together. One local woman, the iconic Jessel Miller of The Jessel Gallery, acutely felt the impact of these issues and did something about it.

“Throughout my history in the Napa Valley, I have celebrated the area’s exquisite beauty, painting images that spotlight the unique tapestry woven into the countryside,” Jessel explained. “This valley has supported me and my gallery and artists for years, and I want to give back to the community.”

Jessel started her career as a portrait artist, and in 1982, she had her first major exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. That exhibit focused on the faces of 25 well-known Bay Area personalities. She painted Maya Angelou, Herb Caen, and Dianne Feinstein, to name a few. Then she put portraiture away and opened the Jessel Gallery in 1984.

On top of running and maintaining the oldest gallery in the Napa Valley for over 35 years, Jessel has thrown herself into many charitable causes. Perhaps

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Jessel Miller

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best known as the artist behind “The Mustard Festival” artwork used on posters, brochures, and websites, Jessel worked with the festival for almost a decade and was instrumental in its success.

The festival organizers first commissioned and highlighted her artwork for its branding in 1998. Then Jessel was inspired to write and illustrate a coordinating children’s book, “Mustard: A Story About Soft Love and Strong Values.” Over the next two years, she remained the artist behind the festival, and she conjured two additional whimsical and spiritual stories illustrated with her colorful, imaginative custom artwork: “Mustard: A Journey to Love,” and “Mustard: Lessons from Old Souls.”

Later, she wrote three books on her own, including “Angels in the

16 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

Vineyards,” which won the 2002 American Book Award for Excellence in Literature from the Before Columbus Foundation.

Speaking specifically of “Angels in the Vineyards,” Jessel maintained, “It takes all the loving hands of our field workers to produce the crop we are famous for. We rarely take a moment to thank those who labor in the fields in hot and cold weather to bring us the fruit of the vines.”

Writing this book was the beginning of her deep affinity for the local Hispanic community, a cause she remains committed to today. Jessel then donated thousands of these books to nonprofit organizations like the Red Cross and Toys for Tots.

Over the years, Jessel’s artwork has

graced marketing materials for a litany of causes and nonprofit events: Hands Across the Valley, The V Foundation, The American Cancer Foundation, Napa Valley Land Trust, Relay for Life, The Humane Society, Napa Valley Library, and the Lincoln Theatre, to name an illustrious few.

And then 2020 turned her artistic direction upside down.

“Something came over me. I began painting scenes and people from cultures around the world,” she said. “The new direction I took was a culmination of all my styles throughout my years as an artist. Faces, forms, abstraction, and color overtook my soul. Although I worked exclusively in watercolor over my career, I felt called to work in acrylics, which opened the creative floodgates.

“I dove face-first into what has become the most productive year of my artistic life. I completed over 350 pieces of art in 2020. In past years, if I finished 10 pieces, I was thrilled.”

She was “being guided,” as she put it, “to paint current events with love, passion, hope, and truth.” She brought her artistic journey full circle and combined it with what was going on around us. And although she did not know it while painting, she created a series of

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works that align perfectly with the causes that need help right now.

Jessel painted several series focused on wildlife and the environment, including painting an abstract elephant with the phrase “PLEASE SAVE US.” She began a series of abstract portraits with a series called “Honored Souls,” with paintings of Kamala Harris, John McCain, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Kobe and Gianna Bryant, Chadwick Boseman, and Michelle Obama.

She drew inspiration from a nurse on the news pleading with viewers to please treat the virus seriously and wear a mask.

Jessel created a painting of a woman wearing a mask, titled “The Spirits Are Speaking,” dedicated to nurses and essential workers.

Jessel’s most recent collaboration supports The ALS CURE Project, founded by Mike Piscotty and his son, Stephen Piscotty, right fielder for the Oakland Athletics. The fatherson team established the organization following Jessel Miller the ALS-related passing The Spirits are Speaking, of the family’s matriarch, by Jessel Miller Gretchen Piscotty. The project raises funds to support vital cure research to determine the cause of ALS, and the group has tasked Jessel with creating an image to promote this mission.

But the Napa artist’s lightbulb moment occurred when she came across display frames that she had painted decades ago to exhibit the artwork from The Mustard Trilogy at an exhibition at the Culinary Institute of Arts.

“I had hand painted frames for 66 paintings that represented the pages of the three books. Clearing out the barn on my property, I discovered some of the frames we didn’t use and decided to rework them to fit my newest paintings. I hung them in the gallery filled with these new works, and it all came together—past and present,” Jessel explained.

She realized that the hundreds of inspired pieces she painted this past year had a purpose. She could offer them to nonprofits and charities to promote their causes. Her works had helped raise funds for The Mustard Festival and so many other organizations, and they could help other groups looking for a visual to support and enhance their causes today.

“I’ve been doing this work for 50 years, and who would have guessed that I would have an explosion of creativity at this point? But it has all come together, and it fills my heart to think that my work could help nonprofits raise funds for their needs. This is what my spirit is calling me to do now. This is the next phase of my creative journey.”

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More than a

movie theater St. Helena’s Cameo Cinema has withstood the test of time.

I S A B E L L E S C H M A LT Z

D

uring the theater’s 107-year history, the world has experienced wars, economic depressions, recessions, and global health crises. Through it all, the Cameo has survived and, thanks to the generosity of the Napa Valley community, it continues to endure despite COVID-19.

Movie theaters are among the businesses hardest hit by state-mandated closures.

Throughout all of 2020, the Cameo was open for only 13 weeks.

Despite limited operations, the theater continues to receive generous donations— indicating that the community wants the Cameo to stay.

Theater owner Cathy Buck said she is deeply appreciative of Napa Valley’s support of the arts and belief “in the power of story.”

“Without donations, there would not be a Cameo Cinema,” Buck said, adding that independent theaters in other parts of the country are far less fortunate.

“If we were anywhere else, this probably wouldn’t b e h a p p e n i n g ,” Buck said.

The Experience of the Cameo From its vintage marquee along Main Street in St. Helena, to the plush loveseats inside, the Cameo leaves a lasting impression.

“In terms of history and charm, (the Cameo) anchors the town,” said Chef Christopher Kostow, owner of The Charter Oak and executive chef of the 3-Michelin-star Restaurant at Meadowood.

Kostow began seeing movies at the Cameo in 2009, when he started dating his now-wife, Martina.

“I have always been drawn to the smalltown charm of the theater, the history, and the fact that you can often purchase tickets directly from Cathy at the ticketing window—who always has a welcoming smile,” he said.

St. Helena resident Stacey Bressler is one of the founding members of the Cameo Cinema Foundation, the non-profit arm of the theater, which provides funding for a wide range of films, speakers, workshops and live events When Bressler was around 7 years old, growing up in New Jersey, she and her best friend began a tradition of going to the movies every weekend for the Saturday matinee. The

Sept. 20,2020 — As the LNU fires subsided, residents enjoyed the Cameo Cinema’s drive-in films.

afternoon movie was typically attended by the same group of people—and that sense of belonging is also present at the Cameo.

The Cameo Cinema community is a “tight-knit group,” Bressler said.

“Even if I go to the movies by myself, I know I’m not going to feel alone,” she said.

The Closures Begin Bressler had plans to see the film “Emma” on March 16, 2020.

“I rarely skip a week without going to the movies,” she said.

But on March 15, the state initiated its first round of closures.

Initially, Buck anticipated the shutdown to last only a few weeks. Once the extent of the pandemic became clear, the Cameo had to pivot, quickly.

The theater launched “Cameo on Demand,” a streaming service where people could rent movies. But launching a new streaming platform is a considerable undertaking for a small, independent theater, and the service has struggled to find a regular audience.

Among the challenges are Cameo Cinema the older cusproprietor Cathy Buck, tomer base with a 30-by-20-foot inflatable screen in the background.

Tim Car Photography

18 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

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With the Cameo Cinema closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the theater’s marquee advertises its new streaming service in April 2020.

being unfamiliar with streaming, as well as the limited availability of films. Some film studios don’t allow streaming, and others already have agreements with other platforms—creating stiff competition for newcomers.

A slightly more successful venture was the Cameo’s creation of a drive-in theater, which debuted in June in a parking lot belonging to Gott’s Roadside. The lot could only fit about 40 cars at a time and, while the program was popular—especially among young families—it was not financially lucrative, Buck said.

Still, she was happy to offer the drive-in, which also allowed Gott’s to serve customers at their cars.

Buck described it as a “community-builder.”

“It was really a fun thing,” she said.

Buck credited Gott’s and the city of St. Helena for collaborating with the Cameo.

Most small theaters don’t have the option of creating a pop-up drive-in, she said.

One local mother, who was diagnosed with an autoimmune deficiency, posted her gratitude for the drive-in on Facebook.

The mother had been home for months with her two sons, and the Cameo’s drive-in was the first outing she felt comfortable with since the start of the pandemic.

Her post “brought tears to my eyes,” Buck said.

But the drive-in would meet an abrupt end when Napa Valley was struck by the devastating fires in September and the poor air quality that followed.

Despite the setbacks, Buck said giving up is not an option.

“I’m in it to win it,” she said.

“A Crazy Year” The Cameo reopened temporarily in September.

To abide by safety protocols, the theater marked off seats to keep safe distances, and all concessions were moved behind the counter— no more salting your own popcorn, adding your own fixings to hot dogs, or refilling drinks.

Extra staff members were brought in to stop people at the door, remind them to wear masks and follow safety measures. The normal 20 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

cleaning schedule was enhanced by hiring an outside service to sterilize the theater nightly.

Limited capacity meant the Cameo could only fill 30 out of its 140 seats.

“But we weren’t filling at 30,” Buck said.

“The community was not ready.”

Despite offering just one show per day at 5 p.m., the theater was only selling about 18-20 tickets daily.

As case counts in Napa County and throughout the state continued to rise, the Cameo and other businesses were forced into another shutdown.

“It’s been a crazy year,” Buck said. “Nobody expected it to be like this.”

More than a movie theater From programs like the national “Science on Screen” to the annual Oscar bash, the Cameo provides more to the local community than just entertainment.

Funded by the Cameo Cinema Foundation, educational programming and special events are typically offered year-round at the Cameo.

The annual holiday celebration is Bressler’s personal favorite. Each year, the Cameo presents a classic children’s Christmas movie and attendees get to enjoy candy canes, hot chocolate, and a free concert performance by the St. Helena Children’s Chorus.

“It was very sad not to have that this year,” Bressler said.

January and February are the top two months for movie-goers, Buck said. For local shops and restaurants, the crowds drawn to the theater provide much-needed foot traffic during the slow winter season.

“It’s a win-win for downtown,” Buck said.

Bressler estimated that about two-thirds of the Cameo’s films come from independent studios. Without the Cameo, therefore, these films would not be seen in the Napa Valley.

“The Cameo is a special place,” Board Member Tom McBroom said. “The community recognizes it.”

St. Helena’s only movie theater first opened in 1913 as the G&G Theater. The business would change hands several times over the century before becoming “The Cameo Cinema”

in 1997.

Today, the Cameo holds the distinction of being California’s oldest continuously operated single-screen theater.

It is also one of the most technologically-advanced in the country, being the only single-screen art house cinema in the U.S. to boast a state-of-the-art Barco 6k Cinema Laser Projector and Dolby Atmos Surround Sound.

The Cameo is such a state-of-the-art theater, Buck said, it has “ruined” her for other theaters. “My kids won’t go to movies with me anymore,” she said. “I’m just too critical.”

“We will open” Most independent theaters, like the Cameo, operate on a shoestring budget, McBroom said. The main reason for this is ticket sales are split with film distributors, who sometimes take 60 percent or more of the ticket fee, he said.

“It’s tough to operate normally,” McBroom said. “Movie theaters are one of the few businesses that’s had to shut down completely. A theater that doesn’t have the financial backing—I’m not sure how they’re going to survive.”

In addition to community donations, the Cameo was able to secure a loan through the Paycheck Protection Program, created as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES).

Art House Convergence, an association that supports independent theaters, also provided the Cameo with two small grants early in the pandemic.

Buck is confident the theater will reopen in 2021. Although it’s too soon to know an exact date, she believes it will likely be summer rather than spring.

“We will open,” Bressler said. “As soon as they tell us it’s safe, we’ll open our doors and comply with whatever restrictions we need to.”

In the meantime, they are continuing to search for a bigger lot to expand the drive-in theater to at least 60 cars. Buck said they hope to open the drive-in by April, weather permitting.

The drive-in was “our savior last summer,” Bressler said.

But the biggest impact, by far, will be the success of the vaccines, she said. “People will start relaxing and feel more willing to be in an enclosed space,” Bressler said.

Whether it’s spring, summer, or beyond, St. Helena’s theater intends to reopen. And the support from the Napa Valley community has ensured that it will.

“We’re not going to give up. This is not going to kill us,” Bressler said. “It’s going to take more than a virus to quell the spirit of the Cameo.”

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M A RT Y O RG E L

D

uring our era of sheltering in place due to COVID-19, many Napans found a modicum of happiness by tackling Do It Yourself projects (DIY) around their homes and offices.

Many through cultivating gardens. Often described as “victory gardens,” they are similar in all ways, shapes, and forms to gardens Americans tilled during both World Wars One and Two. “We are painting inside and planting outside,” Terese Edestam said as she and her daughter Tove were heading into Outdoor Supply Hardware in Napa’s Bel Aire Plaza recently to buy supplies. She and her family moved to Napa from Chicago just as the pandemic was heating up.

Home gardens have soared during this crisis. They are credited with providing a psychological boost to gardeners because they are both a source of fresh food and boost one’s mental well-being. They proved to be a source of comfort and pride.

With no disrespect to anyone suffering from virus-related deaths in the family or with financial loss during the pandemic, many professionals and businesses saw huge increases in sales and activity. For Demis Rueda what many might consider a mundane chore – seasoning cast iron skillets – became a task he loved. Rueda treated himself to a new set of cookware when business started to slow at his job as a metal fabricator. “I built an outdoor fire pit and I made a grill to lie over the top to use the ambers,” he said.

“I’m having a great fun seasoning my new pots and pans,” he said outside OSH. And instead of hosting a large, traditional family dinner this past Christmas, Rueda cooked a small, intimate meal for his immediate family. In the fire pit he built himself and using the cast iron cookware he seasoned himself.

“Coming from a large 22 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

Doing it

yourself Napans get creative sheltering in place

Photo courtesy Dominic Chappellet.

Jon-Mark Chappellet from Napa is reinventing himself to help wineries cut their carbon footprints.

Mexican family “our parties were usually 50 people,” Rueda said, “But not last year.”

“We sold a lot of Yeti’s,” said Steve Rosenthal, Napa OSH’s store manager referring to the popular storage containers, due to the fire season and power outages,” he said, “And generators.”

Rosenthal said because of Napa’s disastrous fire season, “A lot of winery owners purchased 75 hard top Yeti’s at once. He said overall OSH had a very good year.

Paint sales went up 30 percent at the Napa OSH location.

“Lawn and gardening supplies were even bigger sellers, up 55 percent from last year,” Rosenthal said, “It’s because people couldn’t really go anywhere, and as they look around their homes, they see lots of things that need to be fixed.”

Folks told similar tales down the road at the Home Depot on Soscol Avenue. Home Depot associate Pat Greer grew up in American Canyon and now commutes to Napa from Fairfield in the East Bay. “We saw a large uptick in DIY projects,” he said, standing outside the store greeting customers. “Gardening took off. It’s cheap and easy to do.”

Greer himself was deeply impacted by the virus. Not by catching it, but by the pandemic upending his regular work as a Volkswagen auto mechanic. His hours at the auto shop were first cut in half and then eliminated entirely as the repair shop lost business. He started working part-time as an associate at Home Depot to make ends meet and then went full-time.

Now he was helping customers who they told him they

wanted to turn any small plot of land they had into gardens.

“People were putting gardens in their front yards and others were planting above ground gardens.”

Then there is Jon-Mark Chappellet from Napa. When the pandemic started, Chappellet was president of Clos Du Val winery in the Stags Leap District.

“Sales went to hell,” he said.

The company laid him off last August..

Chappellet and his family have a large and successful history in the wine business. His two brothers run the family estate in St. Helena. He said not having a day job gave him room to figure out what was next for himself. He realized his passion was, “climate change and helping wineries reduce their carbon footprint.” He’s now working to turn this passion into a viable business.

Chappellet said his idea was ripe for development because more and more wineries in Wine Country and around the world are actively trying to reduce their carbon footprints.

“This has been germinating in my mind,” he said outside of the Home Depot on his way inside for supplies for several DIY home projects. Working out of a small home office, Chappellet is now figuring out how to turn his passion into a real job.

Others have found that the pandemic helped increase business. “I’m shocked by how much work is going on,” said Garrett Hale, owner of Pacific Electric in Napa, who was also heading into Home Depot for supplies.

Hale said people are spending so much of their lives at home during the pandemic that they are “seeing things they haven’t seen before.” That, in turn, motivates them to fix up their homes.”

Hale said lots of people are putting in home offices. And they needed better lighting.

“People who can afford it are spending lots of money to make their homes nicer.”

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EL TITI CARNITAS &

BARBECUE S A S H A PAU L S E N You have to go off main roads to find El Titi Barbecue & Carnitas but it’s well worth the search. Your reward will be some of the best barbecue in Napa.

What you’re eating: Generous portions of succulent St. Louis-style ribs, barbecue chicken, pulled pork and tri-tip, all prepared at the smoker on the site, along with traditional sides, coleslaw, baked beans, smoked macaroni and cheese, potato salad and fresh cornbread muffins. El Titi also offers tasty carnitas tacos, Caesar salads and huge sandwiches. For appetizers, they offer barbecued wings and bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers Who is making your food: The husband and wife team of

Joel and Xochilt Cazares had operated their thriving catering business in Napa for three years when the coronavirus shut down gatherings. They acquired a food truck and got permission from the owners of Napa Valley Distillery, Arthur and Lusine Hartunian, to set it up in their parking lot.

The name comes from Joel’s childhood nickname, when his cousins couldn’t say his name.

Joel, a Napa native who played football at Napa High, met Xochilt, who had come from Mexico, when they were both working at Buena Vista Winery.

He shared his dream of starting a barbecue catering business with her, and she helped make it happen.

Joel does the cooking and created the sauces they served with their meats, his own barbecue sauce and a spicy mango-habanero alternative. Xochilt (it’s an ancient Aztec name) manages the front of the business, taking orders and making up plates.

The favorite: A sampling of plates from El Titi includes, clockwise from top left, tri-tip with Caesar salad, ribs with mac and cheese, ribs with carnitas tacos, and a barbecued chicken sandwhich

24 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

This would be hard to choose, but those tender, meat-falling-off-thebone ribs are hard to resist.

C a n’t m a k e up your mind?

You can choose a combo plate with two or three different meats.

Pro Tip: Place your order at the truck, then walk over to the Napa Valley Distillery and pick up a cocktail to go. When establishments are open for service again, in doors or outside, the Distillery sets up tables and El Titi will deliver your order to you.

Also, El Titi is now offering family meals for four to go through Kitchens of the Valley. Dinners include carnitas, chicken mole and grilled salmon with side dishes. For more information and to order, go to kitchenofthevalley.com.

Price range: Plates are $14 for one meat and two sides; $18 for two meats and two sides, and $24 for three meats and three sides. Sandwiches (pulledpork, tri-tip and barbecued chicken) are $15 and come with coleslaw and a side. Everything comes with a cornbread muffin.

How to find them: El Titi is in the parking lot of Napa Valley Distillery at 2485

ABOVE TOP: Joel and Xochilt Cazares at their smoker, in the parking lot of Napa Valley Distillery.

Sasha Paulsen photo

ABOVE BOTTOM: El Titi owner Joel Cazares with a sample of dishes from the food truck.

Submitted photo

Stockton St., Napa. Take the First Street exit off Highway 29, and go through the roundabout to head south on California Boulevard. Stockton Street is a right turn off of California.

Go all the way to the end of Stockton and turn left into the Distillery parking lot.

El Titi’s hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday and Sunday, and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Go early, as sometimes they sell out before closing time. Call 707-3041457 for more information.

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LIVING THE LIFE

Colin Macphail

Wondering, but not lost C O L I N M AC P H A I L My son Campbell is nine, and he asked me on the way down Highway 29 the other day, “Dad, what’s the most interesting thing you’ve ever found at the side of the road or in a dumpster?”

My foot reflexively came off the gas pedal, and the truck slowed as the question inflated into my driving daydream like an airbag through the steering column. What a great question, and he does this all the time. A combination of an enquiring 26 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

mind and playing to my innate desire to pontificate has led him to become a questioner of many things. At dinner the other night, we had, “Dad, who were the Vandals?” Half the time, the intrigue and delight are in wondering how these questions form in his mind.

A few days later, I was outside the Calistoga Roastery on Lincoln Avenue in Calistoga in the chilly morning air. The much-diminished Table of Absent Mindedness, formerly

known as “The Table of Knowledge,” contributed thoughts on the topic. Are we less curious today because the answers to everything lie in the palm of our hands and only a whisper to Siri away?

You would think having such easy access to the world might make us more curious.

Yet, it somehow diminishes curiosity to fact-finding. A spiritual lady in our midst, who is closer to the earth than most, posed the idea that what was missing was the opportunity to wonder. “Sometimes we don’t need answers; we need wonderment.”

This immediately made me think of childhood days on the West Coast of Scotland.

My three brothers and I spent hours and hours on the beach outside our house just turning over rocks, not looking for anything in particular. It was the wonderment of seeing what crustacean or other small sea creature might be there. We didn’t carry a Compendium of Seashore Treasures with us. We simply poked things, picked them up and made observations, then put them back and moved on.

As I gathered more steam for my memories, the spiritual lady nodded her head encouragingly.

She made me consciously aware that the other curse of knowing and answering is that we stop listening and asking. In my work line, and maybe yours, we are encouraged to talk, educate, and explain rather than be curious and to listen in wonderment. We lose the chance to understand and empathize with something more profound about who the people around us are.

Even if you discard doing it for pure recreational joy, the business reasons for being curious and searching for wonderment are still compelling. I left the thoughtful lawyer, the lyrical salesman, and the spiritual mother to return to my office, vowing, yet again, to talk less

and ask more questions.

Some of you might be still wondering what the most interesting thing was that I ever found at the side of the road.

After some reflection, I told Campbell about a Sunday walk through the Georgian New Town of Edinburgh that came to mind.

It was the mid-1980s, and my business partner, Fat Boab, and I had founded a walking tour business but were woefully short of cash. His Heinz HP Sauce and cabbage soup that day was our lowest point.

Outside the front door of a very well to do, shiny brass plaque on sandstone insurance company, we saw a large, abandoned cardboard box and got curious. It contained a few thousand pre-stamped envelopes. They were all addressed to a department in the company’s HQ in London and must have been part of some mail marketing program. We carried them home, deciding we could easily put a label over the return address and use them for our own marketing efforts. One day in the middle of a slow rainy spell with no walking tours, we were feeling listless.

To alleviate our boredom, we decided it might be amusing to send these pre-paid envelopes one by one to the original London address. We entertained ourselves for many weeks dreaming up different messages to include. Small handwritten notes, bits of poetry, newspaper clippings, small objects, business advice, and anything else creatively we thought might cause consternation or amusement at the other end.

Over the next six months, the insurance company in London got hundreds and hundreds of these letters. Perhaps not wonderment, but they certainly must have wondered.

Colin MacPhail is a wine consultant and writer who lives in Calistoga.

WINTER SPRING 2021

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I D O

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LOOKINGinUP 2021 TIM CARL

Since time immemorial humans have looked up at the night sky in wonder and awe.

Tracking the sun’s shifting arc and the moon’s mysterious phases were the source of our ancestors’ earliest calendars. They informed the very concept of time itself. Stars have been thought of as pinpricks in the fabric of night or campfires of the deceased, with the brightest representing kings, queens and gods. The planets in our solar system — moving in their own strange patterns relative to the stars — were considered the harbingers of things to come.

Today we know that our own planet Earth is but a tiny oasis rotating on its axis at 1,000 miles per hour in a vast universe, while at the same time zooming around our sun at a rate of 67,000 mph. And if that doesn’t make even the most motion-sickness-prone

28 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

person a little bit queasy, our planet is just a speck in our own Milky Way galaxy, which itself is rocketing outward into deeper space at an average speed of 448,000 mph. Imagine such a ride at the county fair.

Beyond the numbers, the night sky remains a source of inspiration for those brave souls who step into the darkness and gaze upward.

As Annie Dillard wrote in her book, “Teaching a Stone to Talk”: “You do not have to sit outside in the dark. If, however, you want to look at the stars, you will find that darkness is necessary. But the stars neither require nor demand it.”

Others, however, have been more earnest in their desire for people to look up into the nighttime sky. One of those was the Victorian poet Gerard Manley Hopkins in his poem “The Starlight Night:”

WINTER SPRING 2021

TIM CARL PHOTOGRAPHY

WINTER SPRING 2021

INSIDE NAPA VALLEY | 29

Tim Carl Photography

Tim Carl, LLC

Close-up of a gibbous moon, meaning it is more than half lit but not yet full.

Look at the stars! look, look up at the skies!/O look at all the fire-folk sitting in the air!/The bright boroughs, the circle-citadels there!/Down in dim woods the diamond delves! the elves’-eyes!The grey lawns cold where gold, where quickgold lies!/Wind-beat whitebeam! airy abeles set on a flare!/Flake-doves sent floating forth at a farmyard scare!/Ah well! it is all a purchase, all is a prize.

Why did Hopkins feel compelled to include so many exclamation points?

Was he perplexed that more people are not rushing to stand outside on the coldest, darkest nights to stare upward (the best for star-viewing)?

I, too, have often found myself questioning the wisdom of leaving the warmth of my home at night and heading into the cold unknown. One problem is that looking up at the night sky can be disorientating. Of course the sun and moon are obvious, and although I knew from growing up about the Big Dipper and the Milky Way, until very recently that was the extent of my understanding.

However, after a few years of scanning the night sky with my camera and spending a little time using my preferred smartphone app, Sky Guide, I can now recognize more planets, stars and constellations. I now even find myself searching the web or my app’s calendar for interesting upcoming astronomical events.

That said, to make it a bit easier, following is a list of some highlights for 2021. There are many others, but these should prove worthy of your braving the cold and dark to catch a glimpse of what should be beautiful but fleeting reminders of our place in the universe.

One of the biggest events of the year

30 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

A long-exposure photo of the Milky Way’s core taken at Fort Ross.

will be a total eclipse of a “supermoon” that will be visible in Northern California in the wee-early hours of May 26.

This moon has been called the flower moon by Native Americans. This year is special in that it will turn a crimson hue as the Earth’s shadow passes across the moon’s surface.

On July 13 the planets Venus and Mars will appear close in the sky, which is referred to as a conjunction. Not as spectacular perhaps as The Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 2020, it will certainly be worth putting on a sweater and heading out for a few moments to peer upward.

The year also promises to be an excellent year for the Perseid meteor shower, which peaks on Aug. 12 and 13. This annual event is especially exciting because the peak coincides with a new moon, making skies dark enough to see a good show.

Other noteworthy events include: Aug. 22’s Blue Moon and a partial lunar eclipse on Nov. 19. The most active meteor shower of the year — the annual Geminid meteor shower — will peak with up to 120 meteors per hour on Dec. 14, although the activity will be somewhat obscured by light from a waxing gibbous moon.

For each event I use my phone’s app for orientation, but it also gives me a growing understanding that there are clues within the names. For example, the Perseid meteor shower emanates from very near the Perseid constellation in the northeastern summer night sky.

Beyond gazing in wonder at these highlights, learning more about the night sky in general is a part of the fun. Over the years our understanding of space and its objects has grown,

and it seems that every year access to the newest information is increasingly accessible.

Looking for a new hobby? Just look up, dig a little deeper and read. Books such as “The Secret Lives of Planets”

by Paul Murdin, “What We See in the Stars” by Kelsey Oseid, “A Brief History of Time,” by Stephen Hawking or “Cosmos” by Carl Sagan are just a tiny fraction of the excellent books on the topic. They will likely lead you on a path toward wanting to know more.

When I look up into the night sky, the blinking stars and non-flickering planets give me pause. Beyond the beauty and mystery, the glittering starlit canopy overhead has the power to remind us of our deep and ancient connection to everything in the universe.

Like us, stars are born, live for a time and then die. Once gone, the substance making up the star (atoms and energy) is eventually redistributed far and wide.

And because matter and energy can be neither created nor destroyed — only rearranged — each of the billions of atoms that make up our own bodies and the energy animating our lives today was very likely present in some ancient star and will be included in the making of some future star. Or, put more succinctly, nothing comes from nothing, or in Latin, ex nihilo nihil fit.

It’s a reassuring reminder that even though form will change, the very stuff of our existence will eventually find its way back into space. Will some future viewer gaze up at nighttime and remark on the wonder and awe of those skies?

Perhaps these beings in the millennium might remark how the sparkling specks of flickering light resemble reassuring campfires out there in the darkness.

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Napa Mayor Scott Sedgley Why firefighting? I was married with a young family and a mortgage. A steady well-paying job with a work schedule of 10 24-hour shifts per month was the attraction.

Why politics? I took leadership roles with my unions during my work career. The nine years I served on the school board was because my kids were there and I wanted to be aware and involved. After retiring from Napa Fire in 2011, I thought I was the best candidate for an open seat on Napa City Council.

Alfredo Pedroza and I were elected, defeating one incumbent. I received more votes than Alfredo. I never miss an opportunity to remind him of that.

Favorite day trip? San Francisco or along the Sonoma/Mendocino Coast.

Best book you read in 2020? “The Dream Bowl: where Goodman, Ellington and the Grateful Dead Convene” by Michael Amen.

Favorite recipe? Meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

Beach or Mountains? Beach for the winter, mountains in the summer.

Scariest fire you ever fought? I never looked at them as scary, more challenging. I was part of an initial attack response to the Oakland Hills Fire in 1991. The first 12 hours was all independent action and it was chaotic.

Old fire fighters can tell stories for hours so I won’t bore you.

A song you sing alone? I can’t sing. I wish I could. I like the lyrics of Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard and the Beatles.

If I were a Star Wars character I’d be? I was never big into Star Wars. But for a movie character anything James Stewart played.

I laugh loudest when? Reading email or when my wife Linda laughs.

Favorite food? Chicken fried steak or a good hot dog.

Least favorite food? Brussels sprouts or curry dishes.

What do I look forward to post COVID? Hiking followed by dinner with friends.

Napa Mayor Scott Sedgley Sean Scully, Inside Napa Valley

32 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

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Trios by Chase Dittrich

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ACROSS 1 “Mamma Mia” band 5 Skin opening 9 Two kings, perhaps 13 Become a member 14 Asian Risk territory that borders Europe 15 Senate staffers 17 Youngest Bronte sister 18 New England NFL team, informally 19 Male bee 20 Words before “tape,” “paper” & “ribbon,” respectively 23 Gopher’s opening 24 Author Rand 25 Tycoons

28 Add up 30 “Ali ___ and the Forty Thieves” 34 Wed on the sly, and on the fly 35 Exhilarating shopping outing 37 Canon model 38 Words before “show,” “piece” & “play,” respectively 41 Little devil 42 Part of LGBTQ+, informally 43 Bit of prevention, in a proverb 44 Prone to prying 46 Situp muscles

34 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

47 Successfully reach 48 Muffin morsel, maybe 50 Cookie that some twist 51 Words before “reading,” “language” & “music,” respectively 59 Like s’mores 60 Effortlessness 61 Darts, for a blowgun 62 Ponders, with “over” 63 Let off, like light 64 Some Amazon vehicles 65 Talk back to 66 Discreet attentiongetter

67 Greek god with a bow DOWN 1 Nearly closed 2 You might have one to pick 3 Tricky spot 4 Oldest “Star Wars” movie’s retroactive subtitle 5 They grow in the dark 6 Make a speech 7 Give one star, perhaps 8 “Frozen” queen 9 Rice source 10 Site for renters and hosts 11 Worshipped celebrity 12 Contact solution brand 16 “Get it now?”

21 Adjective in Lincoln’s

nickname 22 Titled 25 Word heard at the start of a test 26 Car rental choice 27 Lopsided wins 28 Extends over 29 Large containers with spigots 31 Big health insurer 32 One spelling for an Italian lawn game 33 Very pale 35 Pierce with a toothpick 36 Acted over-the-top?

39 Love poetry Muse 40 Video game function that preserves your progress 45 Alpine songs

47 Will of “Arrested Development” 49 Chasm 50 Desert mirage, maybe 51 ___ Grand Las Vegas 52 Notes promising banknotes 53 City SE of Baton Rouge 54 Profound 55 Vegetables in West African cuisine 56 Epps of “House” 57 “Er, don’t think so” 58 Defeat

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wing Napa restaurants specialize in the savory snack JESS LANDER

Winging It wings Submitted photos

For a small town, Napa has an impressively-diverse culinary landscape, but in an era where comfort food has been king, a pair of local restauranteurs realized something deliciously messy was missing: wings.

To fill that void, two new concepts, Winging It and Haven Napa, launched this past fall, jumping on the ghost kitchen trend that’s exploded across the U.S. since the pandemic hit. Essentially a virtual restaurant that doesn’t have a brick-and-mortar location and is sold exclusively online and through delivery apps, ghost kitchens capitalize on the push for more takeout and delivery options.

As we close in on the one-year mark of COVID19, there couldn’t be a better time for Napa to spice up — pun intended — their at-home dining options.

WINGING IT A new hustle from Napa Palisades Saloon, Winging It couldn’t be more appropriately named, for it’s what owner Chuck Meyer and most Napa restaurants have been doing daily since the pandemic hit. Exclusively available for delivery on DoorDash — though some selections are available on the Palisades happy hour takeout menu — Winging It launched in September, just in time for football season.

“When restaurants reopened [in late summer], everyone had to really concentrate on what they do very, very well, look at the best sellers and pair down their menu,” said Meyer. “We really had to get lean and mean. Looking back at DoorDash, we found that the number one seller was our wings.”

Meyer took that little insight and ran with it.

“It seemed like Napa and in particular, Napa’s DoorDash didn’t have a wing-specific shop. We have no Wing Stop. No Buffalo Wild Wings.

Most of the places doing them weren’t specializing in wings,” he said.

And this pandemic pivot would prove to be easier than others. “It was something we were already doing. We just had to ramp up. We didn’t have to work incredibly hard or reinvent the wheel.”

36 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

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SOFT & STRETCHY PLASTICS ARE TRASH

Most soft & stretchy plastic items are not recyclable and must be landfilled.

For ideas on how to reduce non-recyclable plastics, visit www.NapaRecycling.com/news for the article Fresh Start to 2021: Out with Plastic and In with Reuse

• Cleaning wipes • Face masks • Plastic gloves • Plastic storage bags • Plastic shopping bags • Film or stretch wrap • Bubble wrap/envelopes • Condiment packets • Food packaging – such as • foil bags • cereal /cracker box liners • chips /candy wrappers

Haven Napa wings Darren Brazil photos

Palisades also has a secret weapon: chef Tim Brown hails from New York, the birthplace of buffalo wings. “It was a natural fit,” said Meyer. “I think our buffalo recipe is as true a buffalo wing recipe as there is in Napa. The heat is there but it’s subtle. It builds and it goes right up to that point that’s too much and then it backs down. They have that perfect heat.”

Palisades uses Mary’s free-range and organic chicken for the wings, which they steam before frying to “really crisp the skin up, but keep them moist inside,” said Meyer.

Available in Snackin’ Size (eight pieces), Grubbin’ Size (16 pieces), and Full Coop (32 pieces), Winging It offers seven flavors of sauces. While Buffalo is their most popular, the Backyard BBQ and the Bangkok Kicker — Southeast Asian style with a little spice and peanuts — have also proven to be favorites.

Just a few months after launching, Napa restaurants were forced to close back down for several weeks, and Winging It has proved to be a lifeline for Meyer’s businesses, which also includes First & Franklin. “The second we put it on, we started getting orders that first night. Now it probably accounts for like 30-40 percent of our online sales. It’s like our firewall,” said Meyer. “It’s very helpful. It’s allowed us to keep more people working.”

HAVEN NAPA Just across town, Ben and Ali Koenig, owners of Heritage Eats, were

38 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

cooking up a similar concept. They launched Haven Wings in October, which is available for pick-up or delivery Thursday-Sunday.

“We felt like there were people that did wings in town as components of their core menus, but there wasn’t any place in town that just did wings,” said Ben Koenig. “We felt like we were in a good position to bring that to the market. It was a fun way to keep ourselves motivated and interested and wings are a COVID-friendly food in that they can travel well.”

Sold in sizes ranging from six to 60 (The Big Ol’ Bucket), chef Nico Pastor slow-roasts the wings for an hour before they’re fried to order, a technique that makes them juicier and more tender. The project has been a highly collaborative effort among the entire staff, especially when it comes to creating different sauces. In addition to naked wings, salt and pepper wings, and buttermilk fried, there’s a wide range of flavors that check the boxes of sweet, tangy, hot and crazy hot.

“It’s a methodical process, very collaborative with multiple iterations of testing for each sauce,” said Koenig.

“We ate a lot of chicken wings and we continue to eat a lot of chicken wings.

We’re trying to strike the right balance between traditional flavors and also putting our own spin and riff on those flavors.”

Patrons will find the classics, like buffalo, BBQ, and Nashville Hot, but

there’s also plenty of Haven originals, including Caribbean Jerk, Szechuan Orange, Cackalacky Bold Gold (a tangy honey mustard), and chef ’s signature Sweet & Spicy Korean.

Recently, Haven launched the HAF Challenge, which stands for “Hot As F***.” They created their own sauce blend of fiery peppers, including Ghost and Carolina Reaper, and are giving away prizes to anyone who can finish three wings in under a minute (with video proof posted to Instagram). The challenge is free with any order and they had 15 competitors on the very first night of launch. Koenig knows first-hand that it’s no easy feat.

“I couldn’t do it in a minute and I needed a lot of milk,” he said.

Few restauranteurs have been brave enough to start a new business during the pandemic, but like Winging It, Haven has turned into a true lifeboat during the incredibly difficult past year.

“One of the biggest challenges through COVID is staying top of mind when people are not out as frequently. New and fresh ideas generate excitement, so this Haven brand has been successful on all fronts — sales, branding, marketing, and keeping our staff employed, engaged, and feeling like there are still opportunities to be had with us,” said Koenig.

“Despite all the challenges, it’s about finding ways to keep positivity a part of our ethos and momentum in the face of really strong headwinds.”

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Wrapped in art Downtown utility boxes decorated by local artists

CRAIG SMITH

Walk down just about any sidewalk in a commercial area, and at many intersections, you’ll come across utility boxes.

Some house phone lines, others the controls for traffic lights and what not. All are usually grey or khaki green, terribly faded from the sun, and ugly. None of them are even close to appealing or interesting.

That’s no longer the case in downtown Napa. This year, thirteen of those boxes have been covered with artwork from local artists. For their artwork to be considered for this project, artists submitted copies of their proposed art work. That was reviewed by two panels, one made up of city staff and community based artists, and another by the “PBID” committee, which is funding the effort.

“PBID” is the Napa Property Based Improvement District. PBID membership is comprised of all property owners in the downtown and Oxbow areas. That 42 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

board, sort of the property owners’ counterpart to the Downtown Napa Association, is always looking for ways to help downtown businesses. When the city rolled out its parklet program, the PBID Committee set aside $190,000 to provide grants for businesses to build them. PBID introduced the hanging flower basket program downtown five years ago and is also responsible for rooftop lighting, Christmas decorations and the Christmas tree in Veterans Park.

“PBID members are committed to making downtown an interesting and aesthetically pleasing experience for Napa residents and visitors,” said Ryan Gregory, PBID Committee Chair. “The utility boxes provided an opportunity to turn the ordinary into something special that people could enjoy. The artwork that we selected is varied – some of it whimsical, some thought provoking while others are

simply beautiful art. It’s the proverbial turning lemons into lemonade.”

Michael Holcomb Jr., a member of both the PBID committee and of the Napa Rail Arts District (also known as “RAD”) brought the idea of wrapping utility boxes to PBID. For him, it began personally. “My son was born prematurely, and spent his first five months in Walnut Creek. We were there constantly.”

Holcomb noticed that many boxes in Walnut Creek were wrapped in art. “It’s a big deal down there.” Bringing that to Napa was a natural for him. “The art in Napa is already fantastic.”

“PBID is the perfect vehicle to provide this,” said Holcomb.”It’s an improvement to downtown that locals can appreciate and enjoy, and visitors will like it as well.”

Craig Smith is Executive Director at Downtown Napa Association.

WINTER SPRING 2021

Submitted photos

WINTER SPRING 2021

INSIDE NAPA VALLEY | 43

HUMAN-

CENTERED First 5 Napa brings its untraditional new approach to pandemic relief and racial justice T R AC Y S K E LTO N What are the needs and inequities emerging from the pandemic that are affecting Napa County’s young children and their families? What do our community’s children need right now? These were the questions circling at First 5 Napa County as life-as-we-knew-it came quickly to a halt in the spring of 2020.

Within weeks of shelter in place orders, the nonprofit child advocacy organization pivoted to 44 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

leverage its county-wide First 5 Napa Network in order to begin a community-wide dialogue that has continued ever since.

Although it was tempting to go straight to what was perceived as “the problems” created by the pandemic and offer “solutions,” First 5 Napa Executive Director Joelle Gallagher and her staff of three were prepared to take a different approach. They went directly to families with young children and conducted a survey

to find out how the pandemic was affecting their lives. Over 300 families participated.

“We wanted to hear from parents and to hear people’s stories,” Gallagher explained.

“The goal was to understand the community’s real needs, not just needs based on assumptions.”

The survey revealed that priorities and needs differed in Napa County based on race.

It also revealed inequities, such as information access issues.

Gallagher described entire families relying on one cellphone, making it difficult to manage schooling and other information needs. Childcare for families was also a worry.

Concerned about such inequities going overlooked, First 5 Napa drafted a report summarizing its findings and distributed it directly to local elected representatives — including the Board of Supervisors and City Council members — as well as many other diverse members of the community. Consequently, when local leaders decided how to spend pandemic-related resources and funding, the survey results were available to help inform the process.

“I read the survey and attended the virtual meeting going over the results, and I found it to be very informative,” said Mary Luros, Napa City Councilmember. “Their survey showed that childcare continues to be a struggle for families, and many providers are concerned about their ability to remain in businesses and support working families.”

First 5 Napa’s response to the pandemic was a reflection of the organization’s radical new way of approaching its work in the community. Although First 5 Napa has been a fixture in the county for over two decades — created following the passage of Proposition 10 in 1998 — there was recognition that it was not seeing big changes from its efforts.

“We were doing it in the traditional way, funding programs and work being done in the community,” explained Elba Gonzalez-Mares, chair of the First 5 Napa County Children and Families Commission, which oversees the work of First 5 Napa, “but the needle was not moving very much.”

Gonzalez-Mares recalled that First 5 Napa’s founding director was retiring in early 2017, just as the Commission was ready to enter a new phase focused on systems-level change.

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First 5 Napa’s suggested

READING FOR KIDS ON RACE T R AC Y S K E LTO N During the summer of 2020, First 5 Napa prototyped anti-racist parenting kits aimed at helping parents of young children talk about race and bias.

Included in the kits were books celebrating diversity. Below are three favorite books to find at your local Napa County bookstore or library.

“The Day You Begin,”

by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by Rafael López Rafael López’s colorful illustrations beautifully c o m p l i m e n t Ja c q u e line Woodson’s flowing words in this New York Times bestselling book.

Inspired by a poem Woodson wrote for her book “Brown Girl Dreaming,” “The Day You Begin” acknowledges how hard it is to be different than others but demonstrates that differences can be bridged when we share our stories. Woodson is a National Book Award Winner and former Young People’s Poet Laureate.

“Whoever You Are,” by Mem Fox and illustrated

by Leslie Staub Written by best-selling Australian author Mem Fox, “Whoever You Are” celebrates diversity with vibrant illustrations from New Orleans artist Leslie Staub. Fox’s message focuses on peace and equality, reminding readers that although a person’s skin color, home, language or lands may look or sound different, inside all humans are the same.

“All the Colors We Are,” by Katie Kissinger and photography by Chris Bohnhoff Katie Kissinger explains in simple terms why skin tone is different from person to person in this wonderful book. Kissinger writes very accessibly about the role of ancestry, melanin in our skin, and how exposure to the sun can alter skin tone.

The photographs by Chris Bohnhoff provide beautiful examples of a wide variety of skin tones. It is a book guaranteed to start important conversations.

46 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

Tracy Skelton

Napa Strong Enough digital yard sign

“We knew we wanted to go in that direction,” said Gonzalez-Mares, but the Commission was unsure about implementing the change: “What does that involve?

How do you do that work? And what is the role of First 5 in doing that work?”

The Commission then hired Joelle Gallagher as Executive Director. “Joelle brought us the tools to define the issues and areas we want to tackle. She put us at the forefront of the work, because of her leadership.”

To make the big, system-level changes the commission sought, First 5 Napa started with itself.

Shortly after her arrival as Executive Director, Gallagher attended a one-week immersion course at Stanford to learn an emerging technique for understanding and improving social systems known as “human-centered design.” It is a process that enables organizations to

intentionally connect with community members in order to hear people’s stories and allow the information gathered to guide social system changes.

“It is about really being curious: what is it about your story that can tell us something about our system that needs to be addressed?” explained Gonzalez-Mares. After returning from the workshop, Gallagher presented human-centered design to the Commission. “She came back to the Commission saying: ‘This is how we have to do this.

This is how to do the work.’” Gonzalez-Mares recalled. “I was sold.”

“Human-centered design is reverberating throughout the state.

Napa County First 5 is working in parallel with First 5 California, which is taking a similar approach,” explained Gallagher. Central to First 5 Napa’s human-centered design approach is equity. Equity for children and families is described in First 5 California’s Strategic Plan, 2019-2024, as a touchstone value from which all other values emanate. By teaching and applying human-centered design on a broad scale, Gallagher seeks to identify the inequities embedded in the community in order to directly address them. “We seek to call out the inequities in our community and do the work to repair them.”

Gallagher soon had her staff trained in human-centered design, WINTER SPRING 2021

then set her sights on the Napa County community to begin the First 5 Napa Network.

“We are not just working within the childcare or preschool community,” said Gallagher.

“We all have a stake in our children’s wellbeing.” The concepts of inclusion, equity, and community interconnectedness run deep at First 5 Napa and informs all of the work that it does. Recruiting community members for the first cohort of the Network was no exception. Diversity — of gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation — was a key goal in order to achieve representation from an authentic cross-section of the county. Once recruited, the group — named Cohort 1 — was brought together and taught the framework of human-centered design through a series of meetings and workshops. Gallagher described this as “embedding the human-design process into the community,” akin to planting seeds, so that human-centered and equity-centered work can enter into the processes of other local, community-based organizations.

Next, Cohort 1 was presented with a set of challenges that had emerged from community data sets and experts in the early childhood realm.

Cohort 1 members then began a months-long dialogue — among themselves and with the community — to seek authentic, creative solutions to the identified challenges.

“It was a radical experiment in approaching the work from a very different lens,” reflected Gallagher. No one knew what they would find or what solutions would emerge. “The work is very organic and very intentional at the same time.”

As Cohort 1 began collaborating in early 2019, the equity work began to take shape.

Rainbow Action Network (“RAN”) emerged as a design project from Cohort 1, with the intention of addressing the experiences of LGBTQ parents WINTER SPRING 2021

and parents of LGBTQ youth in the community who were reporting that they did not feel connected, heard or understood when accessing services. Conversations with LGBTQ families sought strategies for helping to build connection and empowerment. What emerged was a Rainbow Play Date in June of 2019, celebrating Pride Month and building connection among LGBTQ families and the greater community. The event was so well received that RAN playdates continue — now virtually — with funding from First 5 Napa, as a platform for diverse family gatherings.

Leading up to June of 2019, RAN also lobbied the city of Napa to fly the rainbow flag in celebration of Pride Month. The intention was to build visibility and support for the LGBTQ community and their families, as well as to show inclusion for all marginalized groups in the county.

“The movement that occurred behind raising the rainbow flag brought in members from other marginalized communities; people who also want a sense of belonging and respect in the community,” reflected Gonzalez-Mares. “I’m glad we had that moment. The rainbow flag belongs to all of us.”

In total, seven rainbow flags flew at City Halls and county office locations and four ordinances were passed to fly the flag every June.

Today, RAN is developing and distributing Rainbow Kits for Early Childhood Education to provide preschools with gender-inclusive materials.

“The kits contain ‘everything a classroom needs to be LGBTQ and gender inclusive,’” said Anne Sutkowi-Hemstreet, Community Programs Manager at First 5 Napa and Director of RAN. Training is also available for teachers through the program.

“Feeling that you belong in a community protects from the sense of isolation that can lead to serious health problems, for kids

and adults,” said Sutkowi-Hemstreet. “The Rainbow Action Network is about inclusion and celebrating diversity.”

After the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, RAN was used as a prototype for supporting social and racial justice initiatives, including Black Lives Matter.

RAN used its platform to send out “calls to action” across its expanding community network.

For eight consecutive weeks, RAN hosted Chalk for Justice as a kid-friendly, peaceful protest opportunity to chalk walkways around the county in artistic and creative ways to promote inclusivity.

In June of 2020, RAN, with the backing of First 5 Napa Network, successfully pushed the city of Napa to support a resolution identifying systemic racism and discrimination as a public health crisis. First 5 Napa views the resolution as a concrete way to hold the city accountable

for future funding and spending. Discussions continue with the city and civic leaders about how to convert the resolution into action.

“First 5 is willing to have uncomfortable conversations to make change,” said SutkowiHemstreet. “All of our work is committed to early childhood, even if solutions benefit other groups, such as older children or adults.”

Building on the success of Cohort 1, a new group of diverse community leaders were recruited to launch Cohort 2 in early 2020. The pandemic quickly halted in-person meetings, but the Network switched gears to move online and continue on, aware of emerging, pressing inequities revealed by the pandemic.

“With the pandemic, equity is just staring everyone in the face,” said Gallagher, adding, “of course, inequity is highlighted by the pandemic and racism.” The

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decision was also made to integrate Cohort 1 members into Cohort 2 in order to collaborate on two emerging initiatives: community mental health and anti-racist parenting.

“Cohort 2 decided to do short projects that are pandemic-related, involving members of both cohorts,” said be the lead on the mental health initiative, as a representative of Mentis and Cohort 1 member.

In order to center the work, the cohort began with open-ended “empathy interviews” with local parents of young children.

Therapists who work with young families were also interviewed. Olsen and her team used the information from the interviews to direct their work, resulting in the launch of virtual “Wellness Cafes.” The cafes provided space for parents to connect with one another and talk with a child development expert who shared advice and answered questions. The facilitators also provided parents with information about community resources, should anyone wish to receive formal mental health support.

Although some Wellness Cafes had to be postponed due to the 2020 fires, two were successfully held in late fall of 2020, one in English and one in Spanish. Olsen anticipates the work shifting again after cohort members have the opportunity to convene and reflect on what was learned from the community through the Wellness Cafes.

“The goal of the work is really to create support within the community for parents with young children, so they don’t feel so alone. Supporting parents results in supporting their children and results in better outcomes for the children throughout their lives,” Olsen explained.

She cited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Study which 48 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

shows that as a child’s number of “adverse childhood experiences” go up (for example, experiencing violence, abuse or neglect), so does that child’s risk of negative, long-term health impacts.

“If we can step in as community leaders and help our children get a head start early in life, the better health outcomes they will have and the stronger community we will have,” said Olsen.

The anti-racist parenting initiative was routed through RAN and, after interviews with a diverse group of parents, manifested as parenting kits prototyped over the summer of 2020. The anti-racist parenting kits included books and directed materials aimed at providing families with young children the tools to talk about race and bias.

James Thompson, known by his initials JT, joined the First 5 Napa Network as a mental health professional and member of Cohort 2. Thompson knows from personal experience that children as early as four years old can compare skin color with judgment.

Thompson believes that the work of First 5 can help motivate families to talk about race and how to be anti-racist.

“It is super important that this gets out into the community,” he said. “Education has to start when kids are young — the younger the better.”

With the first round of prototypes completed, Sutkowi-Hemstreet described an evolving project based on ongoing dialogue between cohort members and the community about how best to present the materials and support parents. “It’s a hard conversation no matter what,” she said. “Almost everyone was excited to have directed materials.”

In addition to assisting fellow cohort members with the anti-racist parenting kits,

Thompson, in collaboration with First 5 Napa, spearheaded the Napa Strong Enough campaign in response to George Floyd’s death in May of 2020. The campaign produces yard signs stating: “Napa Strong Enough to stand up to racism, homophobia, sexism, xenophobia, ableism, transphobia.”

Thompson is optimistic that the message will have a ripple effect.

“I had this idea,” reflected Thompson, “After the fires in 2017 there were ‘Napa’s Strong Enough’ signs; if Napa is strong enough to handle the fires, then Napa is strong enough to fight these other things — race and gender equality — as well. I feel like, through personal experience, I can see the micro-aggressions, the soft racism. We need to intervene at a macro-level.”

The Napa Strong Enough campaign communicates: “this is what we stand for and what we stand against.” Most recently Thompson and First 5 Napa unveiled “We Welcome” business signs for local Napa County businesses and organizations to place in windows to show they are anti-racist and inclusive. Commitment cards are provided with the window sign, providing businesses with recommendations for embodying the message.

With two cohorts now trained in human-centered design and a third in the recruitment stage, First 5 Napa and the Commission are seeing its vision for system-level change take hold. Each member of the cohort is now part of Napa’s First 5 Network, linking community leaders together as collaborators and allies to advocate for a diverse, equitable and inclusive Napa County.

Thompson describes it as a spider web effect.

“First 5 has offered the experience of gathering with folks who have the same dreams and visions for the Napa community. Relationships are key to this whole thing. We have a network to work within as things come up in the community.”

Thompson added, “There’s going to be a lot to come from First 5 that will have a major influence on the community.”

Gonzalez-Mares agrees. “This is where the answers are — with the people.”

More information about First 5 Napa is available at www.first5napa.org. For more information about any of the programs mentioned in this article – including signing up for RAN newsletters, ordering a Napa Strong Enough sign, or expressing interest in joining a future First 5 Napa Network cohort – email Anne Sutkowi-Hemstreet at anne@first5napa.org.

WINTER SPRING 2021

ELIZABETH SMITH California’s brandy history dates to the Spanish missions and their vineyards, which would one day pave the way for winegrowing in regions like the Napa Valley.

Now, E. & J. Gallo’s California Brandy House, which opened in November in Napa’s First Street Complex, offers tastings and bottle purchases of premium California brandies, Argonaut and Germain-Robin.

“California brandy is California’s native spirit made from California grapes, and we could think of no better locale than this premiere grape-growing region,” said Britt West, vice president and general manager of Gallo Spirits.

“Napa Valley receives 3.85 million visitors per year and there’s a real renaissance in downtown Napa, with a thriving hub of restaurants, hotels and shopping, especially along First Street. We are excited to offer visitors something new to explore.”

California Brandy House has three tasting flights of two brands: Argonaut ($15), Germain-Robin ($20), or a combination of both ($15).

For those new to brandy, the latter gives one an overview of the two brands’ varied brandy styles, production methods, and grape varieties. It includes three Argonaut and two Germain-Robin brandies.

West said, “We consider Argonaut and Germain-Robin to be a geographically differentiated subset of American Brandy, incorporating old-world brandy making practices while employing innovations like varietal selection, still type, and aging vessels to optimize for quality. A key differentiator is the use of California’s world-renown wine grapes as its base ingredients.”

Launched in 2017, the Argonaut brand has its origins in the 1970s.

“Julio Gallo realized there was an opportunity for California wine grapes to be used for brandy making. We have been laying down these precious stocks in barrel for over 40 years,” said West.

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CALIFORNIA

BRANDY HOUSE The state’s ‘native spirit’ now has its own tasting room

Names like Fat Thumb, Saloon Strength, Speculator and The Claim recall California’s gold rush history, as brandy was “the spirit of choice” for gold prospectors.

It is in this spirit (pun intended) that E. & J. Gallo created this brand. Argonaut showcases a wide variety of California grapes like Barbera, Carignan, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Colombard, Grenache, Merlot, Monbadon, Muscat, Pinot Grigio, Sémillon, St. Émilion, Sultana, and Tokay that are distilled in either a continuous column or an alembic pot still, then aged in a blend of French and American oak barrels.

While these brandies are lovely on their own, they are quintessential cocktail brandies. “Argonaut offers the additional versatility of cocktail usage and mixability – it shows really well in classic cocktails like the Old Fashioned and the Gold Rush,” West said.

A favorite of the Argonaut tasting is the Fat Thumb ($50), with its dessert-like, cooked fruit and caramel flavors reminiscent of bananas foster, apple pie, and pear tarte Tatin, accompanied by fragrant baking spices like clove and nutmeg.

Germain-Robin is a line of brandies founded in 1982 in Mendocino County by professor Ansley J. Coale, Jr. and Cognac distiller Hubert Germain-Robin.

After a chance meeting, they united to create Californian brandies with Mendocino County grapes like Colombard, Pinot Noir, Riesling, Sémillon, and Viognier, but incorporating traditional Prulho Charentais alembic

pot stills and a Limousin oak barrel aging regime.

“With Germain-Robin specifically, we have a great sipping brandy that honors the experience developed through the generations of distillers in Cognac, but also with the fruit expressiveness that you can only find in California,” said West.

The Germain-Robin ($75) is a more traditional expression of brandy made primarily with older-vintage Colombard (19972001), plus Viognier (2001-2007) and Riesling (1998).

It reveals fresh tree fruit aromatics combined with sweet and spicy stone fruits on the palate.

Germain-Robin XO ($125) is Californian through and through, crafted in the traditional method of distillation and aging but with older vintage Pinot Noir (19941998 and 2005-2009) and Sémillon (1995).

This is an exquisite example of brandy with Sémillon’s stone and tree fruit aromas giving way to the Pinot Noir’s sweet black cherry flavor profile and ample, luscious mouthfeel – imagine Black Cherry Clafoutis in a glass.

In partnership with other downtown businesses, one may enjoy both Argonaut and Germain-Robin at several hotels and restaurants. The Archer Hotel, Celadon, Cole’s Chop House, and La Toque offer both. Argonaut is also available at Bounty Hunter and Morimoto, and Germain-Robin at the Andaz Hotel, AVOW, and Carpe Diem.

California Brandy House sells brandies by the bottle, including

in-house, personalized bottle engraving for $10 per bottle, just in time for the holidays and other celebratory moments.

Regarding brandy food pairings, Michael Williams, executive chef at AVOW recommends Germain-Robin with the restaurant’s cheese and charcuterie plates. “The salty, fatty nature of both would lend themselves to the mouthfeel of the brandy,” he said.

West said, “When pairing with brandy, we strive to highlight the elegance of the liquid and complement the savory or sweet elements in the food. The savory character of washed-rind cheeses such as Époisses and Muenster, as well as hard cheeses like Comté and Manchego, are wonderful accompaniments to brandy. Smoked ham, salami, and walnuts also work well.

On the sweet side, dried fruits, dark chocolate, or nut-based desserts are a good match.”

CALIFORNIA BRANDY HOUSE’S CALIFORNIA OLD FASHIONED • 2 oz. of Argonaut Fat Thumb • ¼ oz. of simple syrup • 2-3 dashes of aromatic bitters • Stir to serve • Garnish: expressed orange peel with a brandied cherry Serve in a rocks glass. For more cocktail recipes, visit argonautbrandy. com/cocktails.

California Brandy House is at 1300 First St., Suite 309, Napa. For more information, call 707-732-1200, info@ californiabrandyhouse.com or visit www.californiabrandyhouse.com/.

For reservations, visit www.cellarpass. com/profile/california-brandy-house.

Elizabeth Smith is a freelance contributing writer for the Napa Valley Register and Napa Valley Life Magazine as well as a communications and social media specialist. Reach her at elizabeth@elizabethsmithconsulting. com or visit her website at elizabethsmithconsulting.com.

INSIDE NAPA VALLEY | 49

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The cycle of

nature

Oak gall ecosystem includes tales from the crypt T I M C A RL Oak apples, sometimes called oak potatoes, are actually galls. Galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissue — brown, smooth-skinned balls about the size of a small apple — that are caused by parasitic insects, mites or fungi. In the Napa Valley most of the visible galls are found on or around California’s Valley Oaks, which are grand trees that might live for up to 600 years or more.

Since I was a child I have been fascinated by oak galls. Back then I would often use my fingernail to carve out a face on the smooth globes, perhaps placing a small stick into a perfectly round hole that always seemed present. I had no idea what these strange airy spheres were, but I assumed they might 52 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

be oak seed pods. In fact, what they are is a fascinating and complex ecosystem for the benefit of a small wasp. Oak galls are also an important source of tannin.

So before we get to the wasps, first a word about tannins. Tannins, also called tannic acid, are hydrolyzable chemicals (those that break down in water) that are pale yellow to light brown amorphous substances in the form of powder, flakes or a spongy mass. They are widely distributed in plants and used chiefly in tanning leather, dyeing fabric, making ink and various medical applications. Tannin solutions are acidic and have an astringent taste, making them responsible for the astringency, color, and some of the flavor and texture in tea and

wine. Tannins occur normally in the roots, wood, bark, leaves and fruit of many plants, particularly in oak species.

Now on to the wasps. In North America there are more than 800 species of gall wasps (often called gallflies), each of which can cause different types of galls to form on trees and plants. Worldwide there are over 1,600 different gall-wasp species.

A female gall wasp injects her egg into the base of a developing oak leaf in early spring. The injection brings with it a hormone that causes a blister to form and then grow into a visible oak gall. Early on these are green and elastic, but within one to two years they dry into the hard, surprisingly lightweight brown balls with which we are WINTER SPRING 2021

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most familiar. Galls created by other insects or different plants and trees can come in a vast array of shapes and sizes — from spiky to fuzzy, with some even appearing as tiny red cones on the undersides of leaves.

Inside each oak gall is a single egg that will develop into a wasp. The embryo pupates into a juvenile wasp, eating the nutritious pulp from inside and carving out a center as it grows. Eventually the young wasp will bore a tunnel out of the gall so that it might start the process all over again.

Oak gall wasps are characterized by complex cyclically parthenogenetic life cycles.

That is, there are times when these insects reproduce asexually (without a male). At other times or in subsequent generations the gall wasps might reproduce sexually (male/ female).

Partheno comes from the Greek parthénos, meaning “maiden” or “virgin.”

The rarely used adjective parthenic, meaning “virginal” or “pure,” also derives from this root. The Parthenon, located at the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, is the temple of Athena — the virgin goddess who is associated with wisdom, handicraft and warfare.

Gall wasps are parasitic in that they manipulate the oak tree into raising, protecting and nurturing their young; however, oak galls are not believed to injure the oak trees in any meaningful way.

The word “gall” can mean brazen or refer to boldness coupled with impudence and insolence. It can also mean bitter or suggest a bitterness of spirit or bile (e.g., the 54 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

gallbladder’s fluid). As a verb, gall signifies irritation, vexation or being worn away by friction — as in, “The loose saddle galled the horse’s back.” As a noun it means an abnormal outgrowth of a plant induced by a parasite or a sore on the skin or exasperation. Its origins are from Middle English galle and Old English gealla, galla, which goes back to Germanic gallōn, Galla — each a derivation of Greek, chlōros (greenish yellow) and Sanskrit, hari (yellowish).

Bile is a yellow-green fluid made and released by the liver and stored in the gallbladder. Bile helps with digestion by breaking down fats into fatty acids, which can be taken into the body by the digestive tract.

If you vomit for a long time you may see bitter bile coming up.

Euderus set is a parasite to the parasitic gall wasp. As you might know, scientists use the genus and then species for taxonomical ranking of organisms. Therefore, in this case, for this wasp, Euderus is the genus and ‘set’ is the species. As for some foreshadowing, Set was the Egyptian god of chaos and war and often infected those he touched with pain and death. His partner was the goddess Tawaret, a hippo-headed deity who presided over fertility and childbirth. In one story Set locked his brother Osiris in a crypt so that he might perish.

The female E. set uses a tubelike ovipositor to place her egg into the developing oak gall. There a tiny juvenile E. set excretes an unknown chemical that causes the juvenile gall wasp to start drilling a hole up and out from the center. The problem is that the hole this mind-controlled gall wasp creates has a taper, so that what was supposed to be an escape route ends up being a trap that is too small for the gall wasp to fit through and fly away. Just as the gall wasp sees light, the hole becomes too small.

As it pushes farther, it only becomes more entrapped. Instead of building an escape tunnel, the gall wasp has been manipulated

into building its own grave.

Deeper inside, in the heart of the oak gall, the little E. set takes its time. Eventually, after it has grown to its full size, the slightly smaller intruder begins to ascend the predrilled tunnel, eating its way up through the body of its host before emerging into daylight. These findings were first documented in a 2017 study published by the Royal Society titled, “Tales from the crypt: a parasitoid manipulates the behavior of its parasite host.”

Next time you see an oak gall lying on the ground, have a look and see if you might notice a small round hole in its exterior. If you peer more closely, you might just see the remnants of a gall wasp’s body ringing the diameter. At the very least, you will be observing a fascinating world that scientists are just beginning to understand.

When I drill down into nearly any subject I normally find many more topics of interest and unanswered questions. The very fact that the world remains full of mysteries fills me with an intense hunger to look more closely and mindfully at what is around me.

When I do I experience equal parts of wonder and awe.

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Jean Macomber of Napa buys a book for her book club at Napa Bookmine. The shop is located on Pearl Street.

RESILIENCE AND ENDURANCE E L AY N A T RU C K E R

Pandemic-proofing our small businesses

O

n March 20th, Napa County instituted a Shelter at Home order in response to the growing threat of COVD-19. I’m sure you all remember it, as I do, as a day of uncertainty, fear, and apprehension.

For those of us who own or run small local businesses, it was also a day that threw our operations into great

56 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

upset. With our physical locations closed, how were we to continue to conduct business, if at all? Would we have to lay off our staff? Would we even be able to work in our shops?

How would we pay our rent, our utilities bills, our vendors?

I am the operations manager and lead buyer at Napa Bookmine, with two shops in downtown Napa and one in St. Helena, and I can tell you that it was (and continues to be) an extremely unsettled and stressful time for our business.

I asked two other small local business owners – Ryan Harris of Contimo Provisions and Jaime Giorgi of The Monkey Flower Group – how they have been able to stay afloat during this extremely tough time. Our three little businesses, when you put it all together, tell a story of great creativity and resilience.

I’ll start with my bookstore, Napa Bookmine. My first thought upon hearing of the Shelter at Home order was, “what about all the books that are already on their way here?” Most

WINTER SPRING 2021

publishers ship from the East Coast, which means there would be boxes arriving at our doorstep for at least a week after I could tell them to halt shipments. Was it safe to open our door even to our delivery person? What about the cardboard box that had passed through several hands on its way to Napa, or even the books inside?

Quickly it became clear that until we knew more, we could not ask any of our employees to risk their health, nor could we afford to pay them without any money coming in. Naomi Chamblin, co-owner of Napa Bookmine, and I were able to be at the shop to accept shipments until there was better information about whether COVID-19 could be contracted from porous surfaces.

Luckily, we already had a website through which customers could purchase new books for shipment and delivery. Like many bookstores, the traffic and conversion rate on our website went through the roof almost immediately, and suddenly we became a warehouse. Instead of welcoming people into our shop for browsing, we had to start acting like a fulfillment center. It’s an entirely different business model that took several weeks for us to get a handle on.

Thankfully, our customers were patient with us as we worked out the kinks to make it as easy as possible for folks to get books and puzzles, which, as movie theaters, concert venues, and restaurants shut down, came into high demand.

We always wanted more customers to utilize our website, but never expected this kind of immediate surge at the same time that we had to drastically cut back on the hours we could pay people to work. “Work smarter, not harder,” quickly became the name of the game. Even now, months down the road, we are refining our website and the ways we reach customers and get them their books. In a way, Shelter at Home has forced us to fix problems we’d always had but had never gotten around to dealing with: issues with our website checkout process, work flow at the shops, and creative ways to generate income.

We added a donation link to our homepage so we could donate books to schoolchildren in Napa Valley. We started a monthly book budget program to support Main Street Bookmine in St. Helena, which we opened the day after Thanksgiving last year and which has seen practically as many months closed due to COVID19 and wildfires as it has been open.

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We started a monthly greeting card subscription so people can stay in touch via pen and paper. We moved all our events to Zoom and once again host a robust events program, now with authors and attendees from around the world (really, one author called in from England at 4 in the morning). For those customers comfortable visiting us in person, all three

delivery service.

“We felt grocery delivery would allow us to feed our community (that was being directed to avoid crowded places like grocery stores) and keep our farmers and purveyors in business,” Harris explains.

Within 11 hours of the Shelter at Home announcement, Contimo had pivoted from sandwich shop to online delivery

Jennifer Huffman, Register

Bookmine in Napa sells used and new books.

of our shops are now open to masked customers with limited capacity, and we continue to update our website to make it feel more like browsing our bookstore from the safety and comfort of your own home.

Let’s turn to another local business, Contimo Provisions, that had to pivot quickly when Shelter at Home was put into effect. Contimo Provisions is owned

by Ryan Harris and Kevin Folan, two chefs who combined forces to create a one-ofa-kind eatery specializing in sandwiches, sides, prepared meals, and provisions from local purveyors. For several years, the business didn’t have a storefront, then last year operated out of the box office window at CIA Copia.

When Shelter at Home started, Contimo was “forced into [their] new location [950 Randolph St.] out of desperation,” but it has turned out to be a great move.

In conjunction with that move, Contimo also immediately instituted a grocery

service.

Contimo was in a good space to be able to offer the service; they already had relationships with purveyors, so getting those goods from them directly to customers was a no brainer. They had to refine things as they went, requiring a $40 minimum to deliver but resisting raising their prices even as their costs rose. And Harris says that with earthquakes and wildfires these last six years, they’ve gotten used to having to pivot at the drop of a hat.

One unexpected boon has been getting Contimo’s customers used to the idea of a grocery service, not just the sandwiches they are known for. Both Harris and Folan have lots of experience in quality restaurants nationally, such as Harris’s stint at the Restaurant at Meadowood and Folan’s at Beacon Hill Bistro, and their fridge was always stocked with provisions such as pickles, pâté, and charcuterie.

Joining those treats now are grocery items like eggs and milk, and you can

INSIDE NAPA VALLEY | 57

Jennifer Huffman, Register

Patrick Band of the Napa County Bicycle Coalition talks with Naomi Chamblin about a kid’s bike display at the downtown bookstore.

order staples such as rice, flour, and seasonal vegetables for pick up at their shop on Randolph Street. Contimo shut down their grocery delivery after seven months of operation, at one point delivering to up to 42 families a day, but the groceries remain available for online order and store pick up.

When asked how their customers responded to Contimo’s shift in operations, Harris said, “The vast majority of customers have been exceptionally thankful for our efforts. Having us and our staff risk our health to keep our community fed is a big ask, and doing that only to break even if we’re lucky is even more of a sacrifice.”

With the growing interest in sourcing one’s food as close to home as possible for health and safety reasons, Harris is optimistic about what the future in the food industry will bring: “We hope … that the consumer is no longer looking for the cheapest place to eat, but placing a higher value on what they eat and who grows, cooks, and serves their food.

Without this realization the restaurant industry will not be long for the world.”

Another industry hit hard by the shutdown has been flower shops. After all, most of their business comes from events like weddings, which have almost completely halted since March.

Jaime Giorgi co-owns The Monkey Flower Group with her husband Benjamin King. The Monkey Flower Group is a small-scale flower grower and full-service florist that specializes in pieces featuring locally grown, environmentally and socially responsible plants.

58 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

“When income from event, restaurant, and winery tasting room flowers stopped coming in overnight,” she explains, “we focused our attention on our delivery flowers.”

Like Napa Bookmine, they made adjustments to their online store and added more options, such as flower crowns and subscription services. Their own gardens were in a good place for utilization, since they usually grow from Thanksgiving to Mother’s Day, a time when most of the other growers they source from aren’t as productive.

Being able to sell the product they already had growing allowed them to keep their costs down, so that as they regained their footing, they could start buying from other local growers again.

Switching over to contactless delivery was a snap: “Just like normal flower delivery but with sanitizer, a mask, and the most well-intentioned doorbell ditch ever,” Giorgi said.

And since their business quieted down so quickly, they were able to start offering a less expensive option for delivery that hadn’t been economical for The Monkey Flower Group previously, one that used smaller bud vases that can accommodate shorter stemmed-flowers.

The extra time Shelter at Home created for the business allowed them to grow two sections of their website: “a collection of tips on how to plan a low waste, low stress, beautiful Napa event

when things are back to normal, and more detailed information about the amazing local growers we are privileged to be able to buy our flowers from.”

And whereas before the pandemic, their Coombsville Road studio was always filled to the brim and unable to be open to the public, they’ve added some regular outside studio hours so customers can come pick up flowers and “see ‘where the magic happens’ without endangering anyone’s safety.”

These open studios have been successful, and Giorgi plans to keep them going even when the pandemic dies down. She and King also look forward to being able to host a real party to celebrate the business’s 10-year anniversary, which occurred in June.

These three businesses in three very different industries show us how creative our local business owners have been in order to stay open, keep their staff employed, and continue to serve the Napa Valley community. In the grand tradition of “what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger,” I think Harris and Giorgi would agree with me that while the pandemic and its accompanying challenges have been unwelcome, the ability to see our businesses through this tough time and prove our resilience has been surprisingly invigorating. Our small local businesses are adaptable and up to the challenge, and I hope you’ll join me in continuing to support these important members of our community.

Sasha Paulsen/Register

Adam Padilla and Ryan Harris serve a customer at the new location for Contimo Provisions.

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A pulled pork sandwich with cole slaw, from Legit Provisions.

Jesse Duarte, Star

Kiersten Firquain and Bill Hoffman are the proprietors of Legit Provisions.

LEGIT PROVISIONS Grab-and-go micromarket in St. Helena specializes in KC-style BBQ

J E S S E D UA RT E j du ar te@sthel enastar. com A global pandemic seems like the worst possible time to launch a business, but judging by its strong opening weekend, Legit Provisions might be exactly what Upvalley foodies have been craving.

“We’ve gotten amazing support from the community,” said chef Kiersten Firquain, who started the business in the former Cook Tavern space in St. Helena with partner Bill Hoffman.

“We blew away our expectations this weekend,” said Hoffman, who was especially encouraged by the number of return customers who liked what they ate and came back for more.

Legit Provisions is a farm-to-table micromarket with a COVID-proof “grab-and-go” model.

“We source everything locally we can, and we prepare everything fresh in house,” Firquain said. “We offer different phases of grab-and-go, from things you can pick up for lunch that are already ready to eat, to things you would take home and heat up in the microwave or oven but are already prepared, to meal kits, which are boxes with everything you need to prepare a meal at 60 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

home, all chopped, prepped and ready to go.”

Legit Provisions also features graband-go drinks, self-serve taps featuring six wines and six beers, and Kansas City-style barbecue, “which has been really popular, especially with the different types of sauces we’ve brought in,” Firquain said.

Indoor soft seating will be installed once COVID-19 protocols permit, but everything will remain grab-and-go except the made-to-order barbecue. Firquain said she hopes to expand the offerings eventually to include fresh produce.

“We want to be a cool, casual, fun place to hang out, maybe come watch a game and grab some barbecue,” Firquain said. “Our purpose is to help people feel authentically good through food and space. We like to say we’re good food for real people.”

Firquain’s previous company in Kansas City distributed its products through retailers, primarily grocery stores.

“We knew there had to be a better way to reduce delivery, labor and other costs,” she said. “We did that by going direct-toconsumer and expanding the offerings.”

Statistics show that by 4 p.m. most people still don’t know what they’re going to have for dinner, Firquain said.

“We want to be another option besides going to a restaurant, ordering takeout, or going to the grocery store,” she said.

Does Firquain feel crazy to be starting a business in a pandemic-ravaged economy that’s basically in hibernation?

“Nope, I don’t feel crazy,” she said with a laugh. “Bill might disagree.”

“No, this is absolutely the right thing,” Hoffman, who previously worked down the street at The Saint. “I overheard one couple; the wife was ready to walk out and the husband said, ‘No, we’re going to support them. Anybody who opens during this time deserves our support.’”

“That’s why we’re doing this,” he added.

“If there’s a need in the community and we can fulfill it, then we’re going to do it, COVID or no COVID.” You can reach Jesse Duarte at 967-6803 or jduarte@sthelenastar.com.

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Napan Darick Robertson co-created superheroes featured in Amazon series

D

arick Robertson can’t pick a single favorite superhero.

“It’s hard to choose just one,” said Robertson. “My first was Batman, but Superman is likely the best, because he has all the powers and only does good with the power that he has.”

Robertson should know.

This Napan is a comic book creator, illustrator and writer.

He’s drawn Spider-Man comic books, Wolverine, Justice League, Transmetropolitan and other favorites. He’s worked for Marvel, DC Comics, Valiant Comics, Dark Horse Comics and other publishers.

More recently, characters he co-created have been adapted into an Amazon series called “The Boys.”

The whole experience, and his career as a working artist, is “pretty incredible,” the Napan said.

Watching a comic book and characters that he co-created come to life and become a hit, is “a dream come true in many ways,” he said. “To see it all fully realized, and even more so, so well received by the public ... that’s been very validating (and) unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.”

Robertson, who has lived in Napa with his family since 2004, said he’s been drawing since he was a little boy.

According to Robertson’s blog, the shower doors of his childhood home in San Mateo bore his youthful but unusually adept paintings of Bugs Bunny 62 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

Jan Thijs photo; Amazon Studios

Napan Darick Robertson co-created characters that have been turned into an Amazon TV show called “The Boys.” Robertson is pictured on the set of “The Boys” with actor Jessie T. Usher who plays a character named A-Train.

Jan Thijs photo; Amazon studios

Napan Darick Robertson, left, on the set of “The Boys.” He’s pictured with series star Karl Urban.

and Porky Pig from the time he drew them at the age of 7 until they sold the house when he was an adult.

Around the same time, Robertson entered Post cereal drawing contests and won two 10-speed bicycles in separate contests. The subjects of his drawings were probably an indication of his future career — Green Lantern and his own

creations of supervillains.

He had his first comic published at age 17 and subsequently started working in the industry.

Robertson, 52, didn’t go to college. “I couldn’t afford it,” he said with a laugh.

Yet he’s managed to earn a living working full time as an artist and support his family along the way.

“I’m so blessed,” he said.

“Every day I get up, and I draw comics.”

The project most people will be aware of right now is “The Boys.”

Written for mature readers, “‘The Boys’ is an irreverent take on what happens when superheroes, who are as popular as celebrities, as influential as politicians and as revered as Gods, abuse their superhero powers, rather than use them for good,” according to Amazon TV. Robertson is listed as a co-executive producer of the show, but he’s not involved in the day-to-day operations.

“I’ve been to set a couple times,” he said. “I contribute artwork, but I don’t sit in the writer’s room.”

“It’s been very gratifying and fun. I’m amazed to see how the show has taken off and how popular it is.” One highlight was seeing a promotion for the series on the side of a building and in Times Square in New York City. “That was pretty amazing.”

He’s getting paid for that role, said Robertson. “I’m not retiring any time soon, but it’s certainly a benefit,” he said modestly.

Just because he’s hit it big with “The Boys” doesn’t mean Robertson isn’t already working on other projects. In his home studio, he’s currently writing and drawing a story for one of DC Comic’s major mainstream characters.

He sells original artwork at his website (darickrobertson. com). He’s writing more scripts for new comics that he’ll be illustrating “and coming up with new ideas and new characters to bring out in the world while the iron’s hot.”

His career as an artist hasn’t been easy, he said.

“There’s been a lot of valleys and struggle” to make a living as an artist. “There are no guarantees,” he said. When it comes down to it, “I’m not necessary” in the grand scheme of things, he said with a laugh. “But at the same time, I made this. I have been fortunate. I have it better than a lot of people.”

And yes, he still draws pretty much all day.

“I’m grateful I get to do what I do for a living,” he said.

You can reach reporter Jennifer Huffman at 256-2218 or jhuffman@napanews.com WINTER SPRING 2021

‘Ghost kitchens’ arrive in Napa

Darren Brazil photo

Charles Whittaker and Ben Koenig alongside Maria Diaz and Isbal Guerrero, part of the Heritage Eats crew. Koenig, wife Ali and Whittaker together opened up Haven Wings that operates separately from Heritage Eats out of a commercial kitchen in south Napa, following the “ghost kitchen” model.

T WINTER SPRING 2021

SARAH KLEARMAN skl ea r man@nap ane w s . com he premise is this: no pristine white tablecloths. No impeccably mannered waitstaff. In fact, no indoor or outdoor

dining options whatsoever, pandemic or not.

That’s the business model behind ghost kitchens, delivery-only pop-up restaurants becoming increasingly popular in the United States. And in Napa

Valley, a region famous worldwide for its sit-down, full-service restaurants, a handful of business owners are hedging their bets and foregoing the brick and mortar model.

Among that group are Ben and Ali

INSIDE NAPA VALLEY | 63

iPOKEshack photo

IRAMENshack, one of Mazotti’s ghost kitchen brands, prepares noodle dishes, including Deluxe Saimin (Hawaiian) with char siu pork, bok Choy, shrimp wontons and ramen egg over noodles. Guests order food exclusively for pick up from the kitchen in south Napa where Mazotti prepares his food.

Koenig, who alongside their general manager and business partner Charles Whittaker opened up Haven Wings, a ghost kitchen, this fall. The husband and wife pair and Whittaker are also behind Heritage Eats, a local restaurant with — yes — physical premises.

In an effort to grow their business, the trio in 2018 opened up a Walnut Creek Heritage Eats location, Ben Koenig said, but extended lockdowns forced its closure.

Still, the desire to expand remained, he said, and opening a ghost kitchen was a less capital-heavy way to do so.

Haven Wings currently rents commercial kitchen space from Spork Kitchens in north Napa, paying a fraction of the rent it otherwise would have for use of its own retail space.

“It’s a rough market right now when it comes to opening a business,” General Manager Whittaker said. “Being able to run an operation that doesn’t have a brick and mortar location at this time means we have more flexibility, and we don’t have this huge overhead going into it, which makes it more versatile for us.”

The United States was home to more than 1,500 ghost kitchens in 2020, according to the market research analytics firm Euromonitor, which found the business model “could create a $1 trillion global opportunity by 2030.” The pandemic, which in California has now twice forced 64 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

even brick and mortar restaurants to operate on a to-go basis only, has only accelerated the appeal of ghost kitchen model, the market research company The NPD Group found: even as restaurant traffic declined 22% year over year in March of 2020, the volume of digital and delivery orders rose 63% and 67%, respectively, through the course of the month.

Swaths of restaurants closed in 2020, leaving behind vacant commercial kitchens. Real estate operators might “repurpose” those properties in order to retain their profitability, Euromonitor’s Global Food and Beverage Lead Michael Schaefer told the industry publication Restaurant Dive in July.

“Likewise, we’re going to see a lot of new operators looking to fill the void with … more delivery-friendly concepts that require less capital upfront,” he told Restaurant Dive.

Ghost kitchen operations — Haven Wings included — often use existing, app-based delivery infrastructure to reach customers. Eager customers can purchase directly from Haven Wings’ website, Koenig said, or utilize any one of the delivery platform apps they might already have, including DoorDash and Uber Eats.

Haven Wings shares the premises at Spork with iPOKEshack, the Hawaiian-inspired brainchild of Napa resident Mark Mazotti, who originally intended to launch the brand as a brick and mortar restaurant.

“COVID, with its restrictions, caused us to rethink that. I thought of the consumer-direct model used by technology startups,” Mazotti said. “I am not a restaurateur using technology for my business — I am a tech person who has a restaurant background, using technology to move us into an arena I feel has enormous growth potential.”

He has since added dim sum (iDIMSUMshack) and ramen (iRAMENshack) to his offerings. Because he only operates for pick-up two nights a week, Mazotti is not on app-based delivery platforms, most of which require vendors to be open a minimum of four days a week for service. Customers can order ahead and select a pick-up time on Mazotti’s website, he explained.

It’s a model Mazotti and his small team are still working out: the website doesn’t currently let them limit the number of orders scheduled for any given time, which resulted last weekend in a hectic order back up and long wait times for customers.

Though Spork Kitchens opened with the ghost kitchen business in mind, it had up until this year served mostly as an outlet for commercial caterers, according to Sandy Sauter, who co-owns Spork with husband Brad Gates. Their greatest concern upon Spork’s opening in January of 2019 was how long it would take for the ghost kitchen trend to catch on in Napa Valley.

“It’s a dine out environment — that’s what we’re all about here — but I knew it would come someday,” she said. “With COVID, it’s come on like gangbusters, and I don’t think it’s going to go away.”

Spork is currently host to Haven Wings, iPOKEshack and Hal Yamashita Napa, which Sauter said is currently seeking out a new brick and mortar location after moving out of its Napa premises. In the interim, though, the Japanese restaurant is cooking up orders for pickup and delivery out of their south Napa space.

One of the largest obstacles facing ghost kitchens, Haven’s Whittaker and Koenig think, is unfamiliarity. Consumers on appbased delivery platforms are likely to lean toward restaurants and community brands that they know, the pair said, and so even though Haven Wings is entirely separate from Heritage Eats, they’ve used Heritage’s social media to promote Haven’s products in an effort to alert consumers in Napa.

So far the response has been encouraging, Koenig added.

Sauter, reflecting on the two true ghost kitchens that have popped up in the last few months, said she hoped the business model would encourage some diversification of the culinary landscape in Napa.

The restaurant industry here is a crowded one, she said, and the lessened overhead involved with the ghost kitchen model could make room for chefs and restaurants that would never have otherwise been able to set down roots in Napa.

“The restaurant model is a very tight margin, and a very tough business to be in (even normally),” Sauter said, adding she believes more such ghost kitchens could very well emerge over coming months and years.

“With this, though, people (could) flood in a little bit better, and maybe see they can diversify their offerings without turning away tourists. The lower overhead, the lower risk and creativity is going to be attractive to a lot of people,” she added.

You can reach Sarah Klearman at (707) 256-2213 or sklearman@napanews.com.

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SHIFT

Jeni Schluter brings whole-body living to her exercise business VA L E R I E OW E N S In an age where self-care has been thrust into the spotlight, fitness has been redefined, calling for an alternative approach. With an emphasis on both the mental and physical relationship, health and wellness professionals such as Jeni Schluter advocate for a healthier lifestyle strengthening the mind, body and soul.

“The mental health aspect is what drives my business more than anything,” said Schluter, owner of Shift

by Jeni. “We all need to put on our own oxygen masks and take care of ourselves so we can be the best version of ourselves. To get started, there are things we can do every day.

Moving your body is the catalyst.

Starting a habit, paying closer attention is a gift of health to your body

long term.”

A health, wellness and empowerment advocate, Schluter promotes whole living, a concept that incorporates physicality, nutrition and mindset. Shifting the paradigm over time.

Getting her start as a promising ballet student, Schluter traveled the world in her youth, gaining inspiration from her ballet instructor along the way.

“I learned the importance of movement at a young age,” explained Schluter. “Working out should not be a punishment. Our bodies were meant to move. It is a gift to have an able body. Exercise gives you that gift.”

Through disciplined training, the framework had been established,

paving a pathway to a lifetime devoted to fitness. Schluter ultimately achieved a degree in psychology, a minor in dance and two fitness certificates — one in Australia and another in the United States. Calling Australia home, Schluter worked in gyms while she started the process of developing her own business.

In 2015, Schluter, her husband Andrew and son Archie moved to Napa to be closer to family. With an entrepreneurial spirit guiding the way, Schluter resumed her business and founded Shift by Jeni at the end of 2015. Then, in 2017, the Schluter family welcomed another son, Rex. Building her business while

Submitted photo

© Kassie Borreson | kassieborreson.com

66 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

WINTER SPRING 2021

WINTER SPRING 2021

© Kassie Borreson | kassieborreson.com

Submitted photo

© Kassie Borreson | kassieborreson.com

Submitted photo

raising two young sons, Schluter’s work began to take shape. Understanding the role of a mother — beautiful, yet mentally and physically demanding — Jeni’s focus shifted. Though happy to assist both men and women, Schluter’s primary work is with women and mothers.

Offering customized health and wellness programs, Shift by Schluter has helped women look at life through a new lens, capturing their beauty through a healthy mindset.

“We all need purpose in life.

Always,” said Schluter. “You need to have something that helps you grow and move forward … I love functional fitness and connecting with other women. Right now, I can only zoom but it’s great to be able to connect no matter where they are.

Everyone feels better.”

Offering positivity, support and guidance each step of the way, Schluter has diversified during the pandemic. Building an online platform, Schluter is able to offer on demand workouts, small group sessions and one on one training.

Though her business has been altered, Schluter’s commitment to her clients has intensified.

“I like the direction my business is going as a result of the pandemic,” Schluter said. “I can go on vacation and still be there. My clients can have access no matter where they are.”

Specializing in functional fitness training, mindset, and nutrition, Schluter’s workouts mimic real-life movements with minimal equipment required. “I love high intensity interval training. We work on balance, mobility, strength and cardio intervals,” said Schluter.

In 2020, Jeni became a CBD advocate. Coming full circle, the health and wellness professional provides clients with an integrated fitness program, designed to shift the body, mind, diet and quality of life.

Empowering women of all ages, Schluter’s outlook on fitness revolutionizes the traditional approach showcasing that whole-body living is the foundation for vitality.

INSIDE NAPA VALLEY | 67

The Invisible Voice Wine Down Media builds community over the airwaves VA L E R I E OW E N S Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan once once said, “Radio affects most intimately, person-to-person, offering a world of unspoken communication between writer-speaker and the listener.

In a valley known for its artistry, the true beauty lies within the community. A community filled with passion, kindness and roots that run deep.

Beneath the surface, a voice speaks, sharing news, music and content dedicated to the Napa Valley community and worldwide visitors. The voice is Wine Down Media, the parent company of Napa Valley’s radio stations, KVON, 1440 AM; KVYN 99.3 FM, “The Vine;” and this year, 96.9 FM. Originally owned by Thomas L. Young, KVON was founded on Nov.17, 1947. In 1975, Young launched a sister station, KVYN. Then in 2017, entrepreneurs Will and Julissa Marcencia purchased the stations after successful careers with Univision Communications.

“We both had an entrepreneurial upbringing and an opportunity presented itself to 68 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

Submitted photo

Will and Julissa Marcencia

purchase the two small stations.

We had only been to Napa for BottleRock but loved it. We knew it was a great opportunity to start our own journey and that’s how Wine Down Media was born,” said Will Marcencia.

After vying for the same position with Univision in their budding careers, Will and Julissa met after Julissa was offered the job. “When I met Julissa, I was blown away by her beauty. I always joke that I did not get the job, but I got the girl,” he said.

Together, Will and Julissa’s experience, education and passion for media made them the perfect fit to rejuvenate the two local stations.

“We really believe in local journalism,” Julissa Marcencia said. “We were excited to come in and make a difference.

We purchased the licenses and retained the same team. We had a vision to upgrade the studios and are now located on Gasser Drive. When we started, the stations were disconnected from

Submitted photo

The Marcencias at Action Napa Valley WINTER SPRING 2021

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Submitted photo

The Marcencias attend Hands Across the Valley.

Submitted photo

The Marcencias at the new studios.

70 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

the community at the time. We did a survey on the streets to get a feel. Based on our survey, we reshifted the programming in the first 100 days and brought in Barry Martin and removed Fox programming to highlight local content.”

Unfortunately, within their first 100 days into ownership, a natural disaster cast a shadow. A shadow that called the two new owners into action. The community needed a voice. A voice to speak, provide information and to shed a hint of light amongst the clouds.

“People lost all access from the fires. We cut commercials, we had 24/7 live broadcasting and provided wall-to-wall coverage,” explained Will Marcencia.

Recognized for their service to the community during the fires, Wine Down Media was named Senate District Three business of the year in 2018 for Napa County by State Sen. Bill Dodd. Their dedication and commitment shined through during Napa’s darkest hours, yet their biggest challenge was yet to come.

“We used to think that the fires were the biggest challenge we had faced,” said Will Marcencia. “Nothing compares to the pandemic. Cancellation after cancellation happened. We were not breaking even. All I could think was, I know we are struggling but so is everyone else. So, we decided to offer a heavily discounted package for local businesses to market themselves during a time they needed it most. Locals supporting locals.”

Local content includes shows such as, “Wine Country Live” with Barry Martin airing 6-10 a.m., including Taylor Bartolucci on KVON; “What’s ‘Kool’ With The Kids,” a segment that featuring today’s young leaders, “10@10,” 10 great songs from 1 great year with corresponding soundbites; “Napa Brunch Vibes,” Sundays from 8 a.m.-3 p.m.: specialty music show that plays a mix of smooth jazz, R&B, World, and a little bit of Reggae and on-air talent with Gabriela Fernandez, Bob St. Laurent, Robin Bright, and Claudette Shatto on KVYN. The heart of the valley still beats each and every day. Businesses have adapted and supported one another, residents and visitors have advocated for the local community.

Families and education have fused together redefining the parent teacher relationship and a common respect for health and safety has permeated the streets. Faced with adversity, Napa still stands.

Behind the scenes, a familiar voice has filled the airwaves, providing content and programming centered around the Napa Valley community.

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A

taste OF

Hawaii

Weekly Napa pop-up serves poke, ramen and dim sum ELIZABETH SMITH

D

uring an anniversary trip to Carmel, Napa realtor Mark Mazotti and his wife stopped for gas and lunch at a poke shop.

“Although it was good, it wasn’t great, but there was a long line nonetheless and it was extremely popular,” he said. “I have been making poke for almost 40 years now. It started when I lived in Hawaii in the early 1980s, and my family and friends have been the recipients of my poke making ever since.”

Upon his return to Napa, Mazotti began his research for a to-go restaurant where he could offer underrepresented cuisine like poke, ramen and dim sum. His family pushed him to pursue this possibility. He said his children told him, “Dad, you make the best poke and soups. You need to do this,” and friends chimed in, “Napa

72 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

iPOKEshack photo

Platter of the Kona Grind, ahi, salmon and spicy ahi from iPOKEshack.

needs a full poke shop badly.”

Mazotti originally planned to open a brick-andmortar location for takeout.

“The original concept was three order windows under one roof with outdoor picnic tables for casual dining until COVID-19 arrived,” he said.

“However, using the technology expertise that

I gained from 18 years of selling real estate, I noticed a new restaurant trend gaining momentum, a virtual or ghost restaurant. My restaurant had to be driven by the technology and the Internet.

The result is iPOKEshack.”

Regarding the name, the letter I is a reference to the Internet, while shack fondly

recalls Mazotti’s former life in Hawaii.

After doing some market research, Mazotti created iPOKEshack in late August, then its sister brands, iRAMENshack in October and iDIMSUMshack in November, to fill culinary voids.

“I opened to find a new way for everyone to order great food, not widely available in Napa, in a popup concept,” he said. “We have some of the greatest restaurants here in Napa and yet, we had no poke, ramen or dim sum, until now. I am a huge fan of those cuisines and had to travel to get it.

If that was my journey, how many others felt the same way?”

A HISTORY IN FOOD AND WINE Mazotti is no stranger to the food and wine industries.

As an Italian American born

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MARK MAZOTTI’S POKE SALAD RECIPE

teenager. He studied viticulture in college as well as the Master of Wine and • ½ lb AAA Grade ahi tuna Master Sommelier programs. In 1976, • ½ lb AAA Grade salmon he asked a family friend for a job in the (Fresh versus frozen. Under FDA law, only tuna can be wine industry and launched his career as served without ever having been frozen. Salmon is a a wholesale representative in Texas. He different story. In Japan, one may use raw salmon, but returned to California and worked for they have issues with parasites. Therefore, it is not a variety of wine companies, including recommended in the U.S. If you buy fresh salmon, put magazine and book publishers, where it in your freezer overnight or buy frozen sashimi-grade salmon.) he worked alongside wine critic Robert Parker and importer Michael Broadbent.

• 1 bag of spring mix Wine Spectator recruited him to manage • 1 sweet onion their publishing division.

• 1 bunch green onion • 1 teaspoon sesame seeds In 1992, he moved to Napa where he • 1 small ball of prepared wasabi, from powder or tube opened 891 Restaurant at 891 Silverado • 1 large avocado Trail (now El Rancho Grande Mexican • 1 large mango Restaurant). Upon its closure, he became • 1 tablespoon soy sauce the manager at Brix where he was also • 1 tablespoon sesame oil the wine buyer for five years.

• 1 tablespoon Japanese or Korean pepper flakes. (If you He returned to the wholesale wine use Spanish peppers, remove the seeds) business where he worked as a territory • 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar manager for Paterno Imports. After 25 • 1 teaspoon white pepper years, he left the wine trade because • 1 teaspoon salt • 1 teaspoon sugar he felt like it was “no longer about the wine,” but about making quotas and Prepare the salmon and tuna. (One may use all or either) moving boxes. “For most of my life up Cut into ½ inch cubes and mix. to that point I lived and breathed food Add the soy sauce, wasabi ball, sesame oil, white pepper, and wine,” Mazotti said. and red pepper flakes. Mix and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

He took his longtime sales experience and founded his real estate business, In a separate bowl, add the spring mix Metro Homes and Hometown and the poke mixture. Stir, then add the seasoning ingredients. Stir Realty. During this time, Hawaiian again well. You may wish to add Mazotti learned to used Yellowtail Sashsimi spice to the dish and season it technology and the InteriPOKEshack photo to taste. Enjoy! net to build his business.

After 18 years, he found himself drawn once again to the restaurant business.

He wanted to return but in a nontraditional way.

Teahouse Fried Rice with Chinese sausage from iPOKEshack iPOKEshack photo

and raised in San Francisco, he grew up surrounded by all things culinary. His sister owned her own catering company, and his brother was a corporate cruise ship executive chef for more than 50 years.

His interest in wine began as a

74 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

DESIGNED FOR LOCALS Mazotti’s target market is locals, his friend and neighbors. “We launched for those who live here, and I doubt that many tourists will order ahead. I wanted to make sure that the locals were offered food you cannot get anywhere else, large portions, great quality, all at a fair price. Kind of a food or insiders club,” he added.

To prepare for his weekly pop-up pickups, Mazotti rents commercial kitchen space at Spork Kitchens in Napa, where he and his team, Anthony Hughley, Lance Rood and Matthew Posert, create fresh, delicious, aesthetically pleasing, and large portions of poke and ramen on Fridays and dim sum on Sundays. “Because we do not have

a formal dining room and we rent our commercial space as needed, I am able to pass those savings onto our clients. By having two weekly pop-ups, my staff can still earn some money. It’s about both, a balance. Virtual restaurants may be only a few years old, but I believe they are here to stay for good, and we are on the ground floor,” said Mazotti.

Popular dishes include the signature Ahi Shoyu Poke (shoyu, ogo and nori seaweeds, sweet onions, green onions, sesame seeds, vinegar, wasabi, sesame oil, avocado, and mangos), Saimin Deluxe (a Hawaiian, ramen-style soup with egg noodles, wontons, char siu, and ramen egg in a light chicken/shrimp broth), pork siu mai (pork with bamboo shoots and mushrooms in a thin siu mai wrap), and steamed barbecue pork buns.

When asked why he opened during the pandemic, Mazotti replied, “Although it was a gamble, I wanted to find a way to feed people. In the past, I have volunteered and fed first responders during the Napa wildfires, so with COVID-19 and its challenges, I wanted to find a way to offer to our neighbors and friends a ‘food lifeline.’ I was willing to think outside the box and we felt we could survive COVID-19 and keep going.”

Place orders at the iPOKEshack.com website. All dishes are picked up cooked and chilled. Containers are microwavable for soups and dim sum.

For poke and ramen, pick-up is between 5 and 7 p.m. every Friday night. One may order up to one week ahead for the pickup. Ordering ends at 6:30 p.m. Friday and reopens at noon Saturdays for the following Friday.

Dim sum pick-up is on Sunday morning between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Ordering ends at noon on Saturday or when it is sold out.

The pick-up location is Spork Kitchens, 1758 Industrial Way Ste. 107, Napa. Call 707-815-0125 or email mypokeshack@gmail.com for more information.

Elizabeth Smith is a freelance contributing writer for the Napa Valley Register and Napa Valley Life Magazine as well as a communications and social media specialist. Reach her at elizabeth@elizabethsmithconsulting. com or visit her website at elizabethsmithconsulting.com.

WINTER SPRING 2021

RETAILING

Anthropologie

coming to Napa FOR THE REGISTER

To open in Gordon Building in 2021 Popular lifestyles retailer Anthropologie is coming to downtown Napa in the middle of next year, developer Todd Zapolski says.

The store will occupy a 7,000-square foot space in the historic, and newly renovated, Gordon Building.

“Anthropologie brings a dynamic new presence popular among locals and visitors alike, and speaks volumes about Downtown Napa’s appeal to retailers, especially during these trying times,” Zapolski said in a news release. “Interest

for leasing at First Street Napa remains strong, and we are excited to welcome this stellar retailer to the iconic Gordon Building, an award-winning, distinctive historic venue within our First Street Napa development property.”

The Gordon Building is a twostory, 20,000-square-foot building originally constructed in 1929, with an addition in 1935. The building is a handsome example of Spanish Colonial Revival styling with Spanish Renaissance details.

It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Zapolski Real Estate and Trademark Property Company bought the aging building in 2013 and

undertook an extensive renovation of its façade, lobby, interior and structural elements, completed earlier this year.

Anthropologie is an American clothing retailer operating more than 200 stores worldwide that offer an assortment of clothing, jewelry, home furniture, decoration, beauty, and gifts. Anthropologie is part of URBN brands, which includes Urban Outfitters, Free People, BHLDN, and Terrain.

Other local Anthropologie stores can be found in Walnut Creek, Corte Madera, Berkeley.

First Street Napa has opened more than 37 retail and restaurant spaces since October 2017, including 15 new brands in 2020 that feature multiple first-to-market, smaller independent specialty merchants and local multi-generational natives offering unique new retail concepts and experiences.

The boutiques offer a wide-ranging mix of artisanal products, gift items, children’s

clothing, premium denim, home and garden furnishings, and local designer pieces that complement an internationally known lifestyle banner like Anthropologie.

“During a year of unprecedented challenges, First Street Napa has continued to move forward with exciting growth and change,” said Zapolski. “Our community has grown together and significantly over the past few months. We’ve had 15 new tenants sign in 2020, and 10 retailers and tasting rooms have opened since August. We are thrilled to take this momentum into 2021 with the addition of Anthropologie mid-year.”

Anthropologie will be located at 1146 First St.. Building plans are underway for review and approval by city authorities, targeting approvals and construction to support a Summer 2021 opening.

You can reach reporter Jennifer Huffman at 256-2218 or jhuffman@napanews.com

DON’T FORGET TO RECYCLE YOUR USED MOTOR OIL AND FILTERS LET’S RECYCLE — EVERY DROP COUNTS! Motor oil doesn’t wear out—it just gets dirty Improperly disposed oil from just one oil change

Thank You For Recycli n g!

HOW AND WHERE Curbside Recycling is Available. Call your service provider to request.

can contaminate one million gallons of fresh water in our community It’s easy, free and convenient to recycle wherever

Visit www.countyofnapa.org/recycling for more info

you live in Napa County

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INSIDE NAPA VALLEY | 75

Calistoga

FIT

Donavan and Jacqi Almond build muscle, community TIM CARL

I

f you thought your life was complicated, meet the Almonds — Donavan and Jacqi — who own and operate two Napa Valley-based businesses, have four children (one with special needs) and still find time to be active participants in the local community.

Since moving to the area from Atlanta, Georgia, in 2007, Donavan has become one of the valley’s most sought-after and popular fitness and wellness gurus, while Jacqi — a popular fitness instructor in her own right — is also a volunteer firefighter who spent much of the last two summers helping extinguish the region’s numerous infernos.

“We are busy but happy.

We’ve found our home,” Donavan said. “The community is 76 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

welcoming and supportive, and we believe that the future is bright for the valley — growing into more than a wine and food destination but increasingly becoming a fitness and wellness destination, too.”

WHAT’S YOUR SUPERPOWER? The couple met while attending James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Jacqui studied sports marketing and Donavan focused on kinesiology — the study of human movement and how it impacts health and well-being. Both intended to work within the world of sports, although their exact paths were not yet clear.

Growing up, each had played sports and grown to appreciate the discipline, skill and dedication that were needed to reach

Tim Carl LLC

the highest levels. They each had also developed a better understanding of their own strengths.

“Everyone has their own superpower,” Donavan said.

“Mine is awareness and Jacqi’s is tenacity. The combination has come in handy as we’ve built our family and our businesses together.”

Do n a va n w a s b o r n i n Atlanta, where his mother worked in the life-insurance business and his father worked as an engineer for BellSouth, the local telecommunication company. By the time he was 4 years old he was showing signs of his superpower, providing driving directions to his mother on the way home during family outings and having a keen awareness of the movement of people around him.

“It was something that just came naturally to me,” he said, “but it has allowed me to help my clients over the years by focusing on and helping define, refine and strengthen their natural movements.”

Jacqi gre w up outside

Washington, D.C., where her mother worked in the postal service’s engineering department and her father was a physicist at a company she found out after his death was actually a secret division within the government.

PERFECT TIMING After college the couple moved back to Atlanta to attend Georgia State University and obtain their masters degrees. Jacqi also worked with the Atlanta Falcons’ marketing team while Donavan took a personal-trainer position at a downtown athletics club.

In what seemed like perfect timing, as their programs were wrapping up, a representative — Richard Hill — from a newly built Auberge-owned resort in Calistoga, Solage, came into the Atlanta gym for a workout.

“Richard was in Atlanta for a meeting and we started talking,” Donavan said. “A few months later I moved to California and started working at Solage, and a few months after that Jacqi and I got married and moved here.”

WINTER SPRING 2021

The whirlwind few months followed by a change from bigcity life to rural living was a bit of a shock for Jacqi when she arrived.

“I’m a big-city girl, and for a while I felt a bit disorientated,” she said. “It took a few years to find my footing, but now it would be hard for me to think about living anywhere else.”

CALISTOGA FIT Fast forward from 2007, and although the Almonds no longer work at Solage they do provide personal-fitness services to many other local resorts — the Meritage, Carneros Resort and Spa and Auberge du Soleil.

“We value [their] company’s expertise in all things fitness and health,” said George Goeggel, managing partner of Auberge du Soleil, “as well as their friendly, well-trained staff and their close ties to the Napa Valley community,” Like many young entrepreneurs, the Almonds have their hands in more than just one single type of activity. They own and operate Donavan’s Wellness Solutions, which assists local resorts, spas and gyms, and they also have their own smartphone app, the Calistoga Fit app that provides unlimited access to more than 100 fitness, yoga, meditation and other classes online.

Beyond their work with local resorts and managing their virtual classes, the couple also operates a studio and gym in Calistoga where they provide personal training and live fitness classes. It is also becoming a common occurrence lately — when conditions allow — to see them leading dozens of people in socially distanced group-training sessions in Calistoga’s Pioneer Park just off the town’s main street.

BUILDING BODIES The client list for the Almonds is extensive and includes those looking to improve or maintain their WINTER SPRING 2021

health, rehab patients and assist both semi-professional and professional athletes. Hundreds of Napa Valley residents have hired and learned to value the Almonds — and their growing team of trainers — to help heal, improve overall health, strengthen, or prepare for triathlons, marathons and bodybuilding competitions.

“I’ve trained with Donavan nearly 14 years, and we strength train six days a week in the outdoor gym he helped me design,”

said Susan Hoff, co-proprietor with her husband, Duane, of St. Helena’s Fantesca Estate and Winery. “He helped me win a World Bodybuilding Fitness and Fashion Federation Pro Card at the World Bodybuilding Fitness and Fashion International Worlds Competition in Las Vegas in 2015, when I turned 50.”

Hoff still competes in the competition’s 35+ division. She is the oldest competitor onstage in the division and often places

Tim Carl LLC

in the top 10 among international competitors.

BUILDING COMMUNITY Pat and Anne Stotesbery are proprietors of St. Helena’s Ladera Vineyards. The couple has been training with the Almonds since 2016, with two sessions each week at their home.

“It feels like we’ve known them for more than four years because we’ve formed a really great bond/relationship, which I doubt is unique to us since they are both the sort of people you just have to like,” Pat wrote in an email. “The really cool thing is that they’ve done all this — made all these relationships and managed to also run a profitable business — which is the definition of bootstrapping your way to the American dream!”

FIGHTING FIRE Like many locals, the Almonds were forced to evacuate during the 2017 Tubbs Fire.

As they drove out of town, Jacqi couldn’t stop thinking about how she might help.

Within weeks she asked friend and gym client Jeff

Jennifer Bagwell Photography

Donavan and Jacqi Almond and their four children, Caleb, Isabella, Elijah and Dominic.

INSIDE NAPA VALLEY | 77

Tim Carl LLC

Tim Carl LLC photos

Lemelin, a volunteer battalion chief for Sonoma County, what it takes to become a volunteer firefighter. One year later she was one.

“Jacqi Almond has been with the Sonoma County Fire District since 2018, when she enrolled into the Volunteer Fire Academy at the Santa Rosa Junior College,” Lemelin wrote.

“Since she joined she’s been on numerous [major] fires in a short amount of time — the Kincade Fire, the Glass Fire and the LNU Complex Fire, to name a few.”

Since becoming a volunteer, Jacqi has become one of Lemelin’s “go-to firefighters.”

According to both Jacqi and Lemelin, firefighting is a physically demanding job that requires quick thinking, while improvising and adapting to overcome dynamic situations.

“Jacqi is always professional, eager to learn, quick on her feet and flexible,” Lemelin wrote. “I think being a mom to four kids has prepared her to multitask and always have an eye out for the safety of others.”

LEARNING TO SEE FROM OTHER POINTS OF VIEW Parents with children are always learning to adapt and remain flexible. Having four children — Caleb, 12; Isabella, 10; Elijah, 8; and Dominic, 4 — allows the Almonds ample opportunity to practice such skills and gain new insights.

“Our oldest, Caleb, is autistic and we are constantly in awe at how he provides us a new way to see things from a different 78 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

Jacqi and Donavan Almond at their Calistoga Fit gym in Calistoga.

Americans at every level of the economic scale there. This, I believe, created an environment of confidence and helped lay a foundation for real positive lasting change.”

perspective,” Donavan said.

“He is the biggest teacher. He doesn’t judge others, and he sees each person as who they are. He teaches us patience and empathy and teaches us ways to connect to others that we’d never considered. It’s not always easy, but we treasure all our children for who they are and where they are and what they teach us.”

BEING PARENTS IN A TIME OF BLACK LIVES MATTER “I didn’t grow up thinking much about race, but today I have to,” Jacqi said. “I never thought I’d need to tell my 8-year-old that he shouldn’t wear a hoodie sweatshirt outside

at night, but that’s something we talk about. The community is warm and welcoming here, but there are those out there that make such conversations necessary.”

Growing up in Atlanta provided Donavan with a certain point of view about race in America.

“As we are seeing from the recent election results in Georgia, Atlanta is not shy about talking about or dealing with race in America,” Donavan said.

“I think that comes from the fact that many African American leaders came from Atlanta — Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, Stacey Abrams and others. There are also African

THE FUTURE OF FITNESS IN THE NAPA VALLEY The Almonds envision Napa Valley becoming a health and wellness destination but also a region that has the makings of becoming a place on the globe known for living longer, healthier lives. This idea, termed, “Blue Zones” in a 2005 National Geographic story, “The Secrets of a Long Life,” is not so much the end goal but more of a long-term vision for living in a healthy community.

“Blue Zones create living and working habits that encompass a wellness/preventive mentality,” Stotesbery wrote. “In fact, Donavan and I were part of an early study group discussing the possibility of a Blue Zone application here in the Napa Valley.

This is ongoing, and I am certain that if we ever get it really going, he’ll want to be a part of it. He talks this stuff because he believes in it and wants to contribute to it.”

What the future of the Napa Valley becomes remains undetermined, but what is clear is that having innovative, entrepreneurial, community-centered families that live lives of service such as the Almonds is the lifeblood of any vibrant community.

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A new way to

COOK An entire day of plant-based meals TIM CARL

A

lthough plant-based meals have become more popular over the last few years, misconceptions remain. When I was growing up I was told that to be healthy I needed to eat meat, drink cow’s milk and eat chickens’ eggs on a daily basis.

Now we know that is just plain wrong.

In fact, consuming these items too frequently leads to an increased risk of diabetes, excessive inflammation, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers, according to the National Institutes of Health.

On the other hand, a diet full of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and nuts has been proven to provide so many positive health benefits that it doesn’t make sense not to include them in our diets.

Eating a plant-based diet doesn’t have to mean throwing out animal products altogether. For the last five years my wife and I (encouraged initially by our children) have been eating a diet primarily based on plants. Today my wife’s diet is 100% plant-based, whereas I eat animal products on occasion. To start, we ate one plant-based meal each day, but over time that grew to two.

Eventually we came to the conclusion that eating animal products was unnecessary, and we didn’t even want them anymore. Eating plants made us feel better, have more energy and reduced our grocery bills by more than 30%.

One of the other myths I was taught as I grew up was that without animal products meals were bland and devoid of hearty, savory and complex flavors and textures. This is absolutely not true.

As a former professional chef — I worked under Gary Danko, John Ash and Master French Chef Masataka (Masa) Kobayashi, to name a few — though experimentation I have found a new level of complexity through plant-based ingredients and have learned a greater range of textures, flavors and aromatics 80 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

by incorporating mushrooms, seaweeds and fermented products into my dishes.

Yes, Julia Child might cringe at the suggestion, but replacing butter with coconut oil or braised ribs with a robust collection of dried fungi can have wondrous results.

A note about salt: In our home we use many different kinds of salts — Himalayan pink, Celtic, Kala namak, Hawaiian red Alaea lava, Cyprus black, Maldon, Fleur de Sel and more. Each one imparts a different flavor and texture to food. Below I use kosher salt as the bare minimum, but I often use Maldon in the burrito recipe, Kala namak in the ramen and Fleur de Sel to finish off the polenta and mushroom dish.

A note about olive oil: In the recipe below I call for generic olive oil because it’s likely you have your own favorite. If not, I suggest using olive oil from one of the many local producers. This supports the local economy but is also often a superior product.

A note about gluten: We don’t have a grudge against gluten in our home, but we have found that limiting our intake has opened us up to alternative grains and pushed us to consider new means of bringing in our carbohydrates. That said, there are times when a crusty, chewy loaf of fresh bread is absolutely what is called for.

Below are three recipes that would feed a family over the course of a very culinarily adventurous day. If my experience is any indication, most people eating these meals wouldn’t spend much time lamenting the loss of animal products. They would spend their time commenting about how delicious and satisfied they were instead.

BREAKFAST To start out the day, try my family’s favorite breakfast burrito recipe. These are

Tofu Scramble Wraps With Spinach, Roasted Peppers and Tender Yukon Gold Potatoes Tim Carl LLC photos

both satisfying and easy to transport for on-the-go people.

TOFU SCRAMBLE WRAPS WITH SPINACH, ROASTED PEPPERS AND TENDER YUKON GOLD POTATOES Start to finish: 30 minutes Servings: 4 • 16-ounce block firm tofu • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast • 1 tablespoon soy sauce • Salt and pepper to taste • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder • 1 tablespoon olive oil • Gluten-free tortillas (corn or flour tortillas work just as well) • 16 ounces cleaned baby Yukon Gold potatoes • 1 red bell pepper, rinsed, seeded and diced • 1 tablespoon olive oil • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar • 1/3 cup cilantro leaves • Thinly sliced avocado and red onion to taste • Your favorite salsa or hot sauce to taste Preheat the oven to 375 F. In a bowl add tofu, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, turmeric, garlic powder and olive oil and mash together using a potato masher or fork. Spread out tofu mash on a sheet pan that has been lined with parchment paper. Cover and set aside.

Cut small potatoes in half. Place in a bowl with red WINTER SPRING 2021

peppers, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Toss to cover.

Place mixture on a parchment lined sheet pan and place into the oven. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes until potatoes are nearly tender. Place tofu sheet pan in oven on a different shelf and allow both the potatoes and tofu mash to cook for 7 to 10 minutes, just until the tofu is beginning to brown around its edges and potatoes are tender.

While the tofu and potatoes finish cooking, toast tortillas in a nonstick pan and keep warm by wrapping them in aluminum foil.

To serve, fill each tortilla with cooked tofu mash and roasted potatoes. Garnish with cilantro, avocado, red onion and salsa.

LUNCH For lunch, I love a quick but complex ramen noodle dish that incorporates sweet corn, crunchy water chestnuts and a rich, savory broth.

RAMEN WITH CORN AND BOK CHOI IN RICH BROTH Start to finish: 20 minutes Servings: 4 • 1/3 cup tahini paste • 1 tablespoon sesame oil • 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar • 1 tablespoon chili-crisp sauce (Sriracha is a good substitute) • 3 tablespoons tamari • 1 cup coconut milk • 1 tablespoon olive oil • 1/3 cup canned water chestnuts, diced • 1 cup corn • 1/2 cup dried shitaki mushrooms (rehydrated and diced) • Pinch of kosher salt • 4 small bok choi, cut lengthwise into quarters • 4 bundles of dried gluten-free ramen noodles • 8 cups vegetable stock • 20 grams (or about 12 inches) of kombu seaweed (used to thicken and flavor the broth) • 4 tablespoons Korean dried chili pepper threads • 3 chopped green onion stalks In a pot, boil water for the noodles. In a heatproof mixing bowl, mix tahini paste, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, chili-crisp sauce, tamari and coconut milk.

Heat a sauté pan to medium-high heat and add olive oil.

Sauté the water chestnuts and corn WINTER SPRING 2021

Ramen With Corn, Bok Choi in Rich Broth

for 2 minutes and set aside. In the same pan, sauté the mushrooms with a pinch of kosher salt for 2 minute. Add the bok choi and continue to cook for additional minute.

Remove from heat and set aside.

Cook the noodles in boiling water for 6 minutes or until al dente. As the noodles cook, in a separate pot bring the stock and kombu to a boil and then remove kombu (can be used up to three times). Pour stock into mixing bowl and mix with a whisk forming a broth. Pour equal amounts of broth into individual serving bowls along with portioned amounts of the strained cooked noodles. Top the ramen with the water chestnuts, corn, wild mushrooms and bok choi. Garnish with Korean dried chili pepper threads and green onions.

DINNER For an evening meal that might be paired with a nice Napa Valley red wine, try this rich, lusciously flavored polenta with mushrooms and spinach. Polenta is simply coarsely ground cornmeal, and you may prefer to use quick-cooking versions or even grits, but I prefer the larger granules of a brand like Golden Pheasant.

Normally a recipe for polenta brings the stock to a boil and then adds in the polenta — however, try this instead.

add salt and saffron and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes and adding in 1/3 cup of water at a time if mixture is too thick to mix smooth. The polenta is done when the texture is creamy and the individual grains are tender. Turn off heat and mix in nutritional yeast, olive oil and cashew milk. Taste for salt.

While polenta is cooking, in a sauté pan with a drizzle of olive oil sauté shallots, garlic and mushrooms at medium-high heat. Cook until the mushrooms are brown and tender (7 to 10 minutes). Add wine, remaining stock, tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, oregano, olives and beans and simmer on low heat as the polenta finishes. Five minutes before the polenta is done, fold the spinach leaves into the mushroom sauce.

Divide warm polenta onto individual plates or a serving dish, place mushroom sauce in center, sprinkle with nutritional yeast to taste and enjoy with thick hunks of your favorite French bread.

Polenta With Sautéed Cannelloni Beans, Mushrooms and Spinach

POLENTA WITH SAUTEED CANNELLONI BEANS, MUSHROOMS AND SPINACH Start to finish: 1 hour and 30 minutes Servings: 4 • 1 cup polenta • 4 ½ cups vegetable stock (divided use) • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt • 8 threads saffron • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast • 2 tablespoons olive oil (divided use) • 1/2 cup unsweetened cashew milk • 2 shallots, chopped • 2 cloves garlic, minced • 1 pound mixed thinly sliced mushrooms (any can be used, but equal parts cremini, portobello and rehydrated porcini — also called ceps — make a great mix) • 1 cup dry red wine • 12-ounce can of crushed or petitedice tomatoes • 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar • 1 tablespoon dried oregano • 3 tablespoons minced Kalamata olives • 2 cups cannellini beans, drained and rinsed • 2 cups cleaned baby spinach In a large heated saucepan, toast the polenta over medium-high heat until you smell a wonderful roasted corn aroma. Then add 4 cups of the stock. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Immediately reduce the heat to low,

These three meals provide a window into plant-based cooking that is both healthy and also satisfyingly hearty.

The dishes are tasty and relatively straightforward to prepare, but my real hope is that they provide you a base from which to explore.

Could you include roast delicata squash instead of potatoes in the tofu scramble?

Absolutely. Might you include a cashewcheese egg, bean sprouts and mint in the ramen By all means! How about adding in 16 ounces of Beyond Meat “plant-based ground beef” to replace the mushrooms to make a Bolognese-style sauce for the polenta?

Why not!

Eat well. Live well. Be well.

INSIDE NAPA VALLEY | 81

The swords have metal tips at the end to prevent injury.

JENNIFER HUFFMAN jhuffman@napanews.com wishing swords and wearing white suits, w h i t e g l ove s a n d white masks, a troupe of Napa youths took over the Oxbow Commons on one winter Wednesday night.

But this was no cosplay meet-up or theatrical performance. It was Napa Valley Fencing Academy practice.

Coached by Angwin resident Jana Wick, the group offers fencing classes and camps, primarily through the Napa Parks and Recreation department.

To meet COVID-19 safety measures, the academy recently started practicing outdoors, at the paved park on McKinstry Street. In normal times, they’d meet in the Las Flores Community Center.

“Fencing is the perfect COVID sport,” said Wick.

“You already wear a mask, and you stab anyone who gets closer than 6 feet,” she said with a laugh.

Wick started the academy in the mid-2000s after studying and competing in fencing herself for many years.

Fencing is like playing chess “at 100 miles per hour,” Wick said. “There’s definitely a cerebral aspect, it’s a huge strategy game, you’re using your body but also your mind. You can spend a lifetime learning it and mastering it.”

“I loved the teaching experience and introducing students to something I care very much about,” she said.

“I’ve been coaching kids close to 20 years, it’s been a joy to interact with them and get to know them. It’s really rewarding. We promote leadership development. With junior coaching, older students help youngest students.

Her students come from all over Napa Valley, she said.

Currently, they range from

S

82 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

Napa Valley Fencing Academy students at practice.

Jennifer Huffman, Register photos

En-garde!

Napa Valley Fencing Academy teaches kids how to wield a sword age 7 to 16, but adults are welcome to learn as well.

Napa Valley Fencing Academy students pay $125 a month and train twice a week. “ We provide dedicated gear for their students, and they fence their first day,” said Wick. “They like that.”

What kind of kid gets into fencing? Her students are “very bright, intellectual,” and some with no previous connection to team sports, she said. Some students “might not have thought of themselves as athletes,” before taking up fencing, said Wick.

Many fencing students are drawn to the sport because of its historical, science fiction or fantasy aspects. Think “Princess Bride,” “Star Wars,” and old-fashioned duels.

Wick explained that there are three weapons in fencing: Foil, Épée and Saber.

The weapons look different (mostly in the shape of the hand guard) and the rules are different but essentially, “they are all cousins to each other,” she said.

Napa Valley Fencing Academy teaches all three weapons, but “we’re primarily a Foil and Saber club.”

To answer a common question – the swords don’t have

sharp edges like a real sword would, said Wick. The blade is cut in a rectangle or square or triangle shape. At the end of the sword tip is a plastic or metal button.

About 20 students are currently enrolled including a new group of students that just started this past week.

They train in separate pods.

Parent Heather Hagerman has two sons enrolled in the academy, Levi and Indigo.

“They love it,” she said.

“My kids have been playing swords ever since they could hold sticks so obviously playing with real swords; it’s really exciting.”

Levi agreed with his mom.

Yes, “you’re playing with swords but you’re actually learning about fencing and foot work,” said Levi. Plus, you’re using a real sword and can have a sword fight which is way more fun than playing with a foam sword, he said.

Kelli Stuart brought her son and a friend to his first class with the academy this past Wednesday. “It’s something new they’re never done before,” Stuart said. Fencing teaches structure and self-control, she noted. “I think it’s going to be good for them.”

Kelly Greenwood, another

new fencing mom, said that her son Charlie has a light saber and got a wooden sword for Christmas. “He loves ‘Star Wars’ and I think the idea of being in that world is exciting,” to him, she said.

Isabella Clary, 14, has been fencing for about four years.

“I saw it on the Olympics and thought it was really cool,” she said. “It’s interesting because it’s a very respectful sport,” with etiquette and rules, “but it can be aggressive, which is really beautiful in my opinion.”

Jacob Briggs, 13, said he got into fencing while a student at Browns Valley elementary school, “and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

Using set moves and logic, fencing “is a lot like a physical form of chess and outsmarting your opponent,” said Briggs.

Liliya Patterson, 10, has been fencing for more than two years.

What does she like about the sport?

“It’s really fast-paced and you have to make quick decisions really fast and train hard,” Liliya said.

“It’s also a very competitive sport,” she said. “You get hit a lot of course,” but it usually doesn’t hurt.

Fencing is safer than basketball or baseball, “because we are wearing a lot of gear,” Liliya said. Of course “on hot days, you die,” but only because of all the layers of protection.

You can reach reporter Jennifer Huffman at 256-2218 or jhuffman@napanews.com WINTER SPRING 2021

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beginnings on Pritchard Hill

Adam Potts photo

Brand Napa Valley on Pritchard Hill is now owned by Christine O’Sullivan and Jim Bean.

JESS LANDER

Brand Napa Valley gets a makeover On paper, Christine O’Sullivan and Jim Bean may look like another Silicon Valley couple that retired and decided to start a winery in Napa, but their personal investment in Napa Valley goes back more than 20 years before they took over at Brand Napa Valley on Pritchard Hill.

“The place we both connected with equally and felt really relaxed was Napa,” said Bean. “It was convenient and we really enjoyed coming and getting away here.”

In 2001, they got married at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone and after having children, rented a small farmhouse in Calistoga for holidays. In 2008, they made Napa a more permanent part of their lives, purchasing a house — along with a small vineyard that came up for sale next door.

For 10 years, they learned about grape growing first-hand and made their own wine. As their children inched closer to 84 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

Tubay Yabut photo

Interior designer Erin Martin gave the tasting room a make-over with the direction from the owners that every chair had to be equally comfortable.

college, they were finally ready to go all in, but not necessarily start from scratch.

Eventually, they found Brand and acquired it in early 2019.

“We thought, if we could find the right winery, it would be great to acquire the

right project and take it to the next level,” said Bean. “We looked for a long time and found these 110 acres largely undisturbed.

There’s a lot of opportunities for us to put our fingerprints and stamp on it, but also everything the previous owners have done, we wouldn’t have done much differently. It was a really great starting point to springboard from.”

Both O’Sullivan and Bean are former Apple executives and they’re not only taking lessons from their former careers to the wine business — which have been especially helpful during the coronavirus pandemic — but also applying the same level of attention to detail and commitment.

“We’re used to working with nimble teams and pivoting,” said O’Sullivan. “The beauty is everybody here doesn’t have one particular job. If there’s a need and we need all hands on deck, we’re quite happy to put capsules on bottles.

“We felt, based on our background, that if you want to create one of the best products, you have to control everything,” added Bean. “Farming is one of the most important pieces. You have to own your WINTER SPRING 2021

own vineyards and walk them every day; you have to be there physically, know what your winemakers are doing, and be a part of those decisions. We are by no means retired.

I think we’re working harder now.”

NEW BEGINNINGS One of the biggest shifts the couple has made in the last two years is to farm organically and employ many biodynamic practices. They hired Silverado Farming Company and the Brand vineyards are managed by Miguel Luna, who was recently named the Viticulturist of the Year by Wine Enthusiast.

“It just seems like the right thing to do in this era of where we are at from an environmental perspective,” said Bean. “We’re looking at the whole picture — challenges with fire, with energy, with creating balance in the ecosystem that we want to take on.”

Yet the most noticeable change to the eye is in the tasting room. Both Bean and O’Sullivan said that the original hospitality space at Brand was “too traditional,” so they brought in local designer Erin Martin to transform the visitor experience.

“When I visited the first time, I thought it was amazing, but it was sparsely decorated. The entire center of the room was empty and it felt like the space was not being utilized well. It wasn’t speaking to who we are and it wasn’t optimizing the beauty of the structure itself,” said O’Sullivan. “We wanted it to be a very personal touch, for people to really get a sense of place and really feel special. The interior needed to reflect that” A big part of that was sourcing furnishings that were personal to them, like a 19th-century Parisian mirror from a dance studio that’s a nod to their daughter, a dancer, to a custom sofa headrest composed of leather disks stacked on a bronze rod that mimics the spokes and wheels of a bicycle and alludes to Bean’s passion for cycling.

There’s a mix of antiques and modern pieces crafted by local artisans, like a pair of mesmerizing, crystallized typewriters made by Guy Pederson from Calistoga.

On the whole, the room feels expertly cozy with a fireplace and multiple spaces for tasting, including a banquette for a couple, a long farm table for groups, and a lounge area by the fire. Brand hosts just one party at a time but wanted their guests to have options, choosing the best seat for the occasion.

“We move people around to different spots to have an appreciation of what they feel while they’re here,” said O’Sullivan.

WINTER SPRING 2021

Adam Potts photos

Outside at Brand Napa Valley.

“There’s a sense of change for people if they come multiple times and it gives them a different perspective.”

She had just one rule when working with Martin: “No chair is different in a sense of comfort. Every chair is the best chair.

Regardless of where you sit, you feel as comfortable in one place as you do another.”

Unfortunately, the timing of this redesign, which was completed in February, couldn’t have been worse. Due to COVID19, they haven’t fully had the chance to host guests indoors.

Brand has a naturally-beautiful outdoor space with vineyards views and a waterfall feature, but now that it looks like they’ll need to continue to host outside for the foreseeable future, they’ve brought Martin back in to add her touch to the patio.

“We want it to be beautiful. We want it to fit in where people come and it doesn’t feel like an add-on,” said O’Sullivan.

Winter tastings will also feature space heaters, blankets warmed by the fireplace, seasonal charcuterie boxes, and a sweet treat for the road.

A UNICORN ON PRITCHARD HILL Few somms would guess what’s in their glass when tasting Brand’s White Wine, a blend of Italian varietals Ribolla Gialla, Fiano and Greco di Tufo.

Not only is a white wine from Pritchard Hill practically unheard of, but this blend almost certainly doesn’t exist anywhere else in Napa Valley. What’s more, each grape is fermented separately in a different vessel; the Ribolla Gialla in clay amphora; the Fiano in a stainless steel drum; the Greco di Tufo in neutral oak barrels.

With Philippe Melka as their consultant, Brand produces a signature Pritchard Hill 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, but the white wine isn’t the only way in which the

winery’s portfolio separates itself from its high-profile neighbors, which include Colgin and David Arthur Vineyards. The Brio, a Cabernet Sauvignon with some Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, is a fairly approachable red priced at $150, which is a steal for the hill. Moreover, Brand’s Proprietary Blend is a blend of Cabernet Franc (65 percent) and Cabernet Sauvignon (35 percent).

“We’re blessed with perfect growing conditions for Cabernet Franc and we’re one of the only wineries in Pritchard Hill, and even Napa, that sells as much Cabernet Franc as Cabernet Sauvignon,” said Bean.

Each red wine is produced from a different block and elevation on the property, representing a distinct terroir. Vines are planted at 1,200, 1,300, and 1,400 feet.

The Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from the highest point from which you can see the Bay Bridge on a clear day.

ONE FOOT IN THE CORPORATE WORLD Brand is small and family-owned, but O’Sullivan and Bean find themselves still connected to Silicon Valley, thanks to an idea inspired by COVID-19. They’ve launched corporate virtual tastings with a twist; most corporate virtual offerings that launched this year have been utilized as a nice team-building and bonding opportunity for employees, but Brand uses them to help companies close major deals and bring in revenue.

“We learned at Apple that you can’t differentiate yourself if you’re doing the same thing everyone is doing,” said Bean. “Most of our customers were working harder than they were before and they weren’t sitting around with time to do a virtual tasting on a consumer level, but they had professional needs.”

One customer, who is a senior executive at a software company, told O’Sullivan that he was missing the opportunity to do presentations in a boardroom setting, which then often moved to something less formal, like discussing over cocktails, to ultimately close the deal. Other clients expressed similar struggles and so Brand stepped in to help facilitate these situations virtually with an expertly-curated combination of work and wine.

The offerings were an immediate success, said Bean. “After the first one we did, the company closed one of the largest deals they’d been working on for months.”

For more information, visit brandnapavalley.com, emailinfo@brandnapavalley.com or call 707-9631-199.

INSIDE NAPA VALLEY | 85

PARTICIPATING LOCAL BUSINESSES

Courtesy of Sean Dempsey

Sean Dempsey, center, flanked by two COVID testing site volunteers, unloads lunches from Stone Brewing. Dempsey, a Napa Valley-based event planner, has been coordinating lunches from local restaurants for the Expo site volunteers each day for the last eight months.

Feeding the testing volunteers Dempsey recruited dozens of Napa Valley restaurants SARAH KLEARMAN skl ea r man@na pa news. com Napa Valley Expo was Napa County’s major COVID testing center during 2020, administering many thousands of tests. It couldn’t have happened without volunteers of all stripes, including Napa resident Sean Dempsey and a band of almost 40 local businesses that ensured those volunteers were well fed.

When Napa City Councilmember Liz Alessio got in touch to offer her help, she learned of the need to feed the volunteers. Site staff were at that time on call six days a week, six hours a day, and had been eating Taco Bell for lunch every day, Alessio recounted.

Alessio’s mind went to Sean Dempsey, a well-established event planner with deep roots in Napa’s hospitality industry who had previously worked on some of her campaign events. Maybe he could ask a favor of some of his business partners or clients in the restaurant industry, she thought.

“He didn’t hesitate,” Alessio said of Dempsey. “We discussed the concept of maybe providing a lunch this or that day during a week (of testing), and he took it from there.”

In the beginning, Dempsey said, he thought it might be a good project for the first 86 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY

two or three months of lockdown. It was the middle of the spring, and most of his events for the year had been postponed until 2021 — a handful had been cancelled altogether — and he had extra time on his hands. He began reaching out to restaurants he’d previously worked with, but as time stretched on Dempsey began making cold calls.

“Almost all of the people I reached out to said, ‘Yes, sign me up,’” he said. “It was so selfless of them to provide this food when they’re not making the money they typically do. It made (the volunteers’) day.”

To feed the site’s volunteer staff “seemed like a no-brainer” for Filippi’s Pizza Grotto, according to owner Tom Finch.

“Amid the closures and everything else, it was really important to help get as many people tested as possible,” he said. “My philosophy has always been: if you continue to help the community, and be involved in the community, the community will support you through down times.”

It’d been a difficult year, Finch said, but his restaurant had been “very blessed” by the way the community had responded to the pandemic.

ABC Baking Company The Archer Hotel Napa AVOW Bistro don Giovanni Browns Valley Market C Casa Celadon CIA Copia Downtown Joe’s Foodshed Take Away Gott’s Roadside Napa Grace’s Table Hop Creek Pub Il Posto Trattoria Filippi’s Pizza Grotto The Forge Handcrafted Pizza Heritage Eats Kitchen Door

La Cheve La Morenita Restaurant Napa Noodles Napa Palisades Saloon NapaSport Napa Valley Bistro Nob Hill Foods Phat Salads The Q Restaurant & Bar Ristorante Allegria Small World Restaurant Southside Cafe Stone Brewing Napa Tarla Bar & Grill Taqueria Maria Taqueria Rosita Villa Corona Napa Zuzu

As the pandemic surged on through the spring and fall, the need for testing in Napa only grew, and Dempsey’s initial two-or-threemonth timeline quickly went out the window.

In the end, he coordinated lunches from 36 restaurants and businesses, including Stone Brewing Napa, Kitchen Door, the Archer Hotel, Browns Valley Market and NapaSport Steakhouse.

Dempsey’s last day delivering lunches was Dec. 28 when OptumServe, a health services company, took over the testing infrastructure and began feeding its own staff.

Dempsey said he was proud of the effort put forth by the community, especially when participating businesses, facing their own obstacles, “could have easily said no.”

“It meant so much,” Alessio said of the community effort to the support the site’s staff.

“The volunteers really put themselves out there at a time that was very scary, potentially exposing themselves to people who were COVID positive to serve our residents. The meals just raised morale.”

Tim Seberson, general manager and managing partner at Kitchen Door, said Dempsey “made it easy.” He would arrive each day to pick up and deliver the meals, often taking photographs of front or back of house staff holding prepared meals and then posting them on social media, he said.

Alessio commended the spirit of Napa’s restaurants, acknowledging the hardship each have faced over the last year.

“As the months went on, and the shelterin-place orders and closures did, too, they continued on,” she said of the restaurants. “They never hesitated.”

You can reach Sarah Klearman at (707) 256-2213 or sklearman@napanews.com.

WINTER SPRING 2021

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