LMR sauvignon blanc
On the very first sunny Saturday after all of those months of torrential rain, my husband and I headed for the farm. Hello, Mother Nature!
Scottish Highland cattle at Long Meadow Ranch
Long Meadow Ranch Winery & Farmstead in St. Helena just introduced its new Napa Valley Food, Wine and Tour Program, with tours departing from the historic Gothic Revival Logan-Ives House on Main Street, built in the 1870s and fully restored as a classic farmhouse.
Logan-Ives House
We arrived in the morning to join a Napa Valley Dream tour, which started with some good coffee, pastries, and fresh strawberries, grown right in front of the house on a well-tended circular kitchen garden bed.
Long Meadow Ranch is a contemporary certified organic establishment, successfully growing vines, olives, and cattle, and producing wonderful cabernets, superb olive oils, and farm-to-table meats.
Proprietors Ted, Laddie, and Chris Hall, whose motto is “Excellence through Responsible Farming,” adhere to the full-circle method, which means food and wine are grown sustainably, with the estate-produced animal fertilizer and compost, enriched by unique nutrients found in olives and their byproducts.
As we learned on our tour of the 650-acre green pastures, located in the Mayacamas Mountains with gorgeous views of the valley, the owners believe in eating locally and seasonally, and are committed to providing the best food-and-wine destination experience, equally compelling for the local community and for visitors from near and far.
After a short drive uphill, we stopped among the yellow, red, and purple wildflowers by the combed vineyards, climbing upward with their pruned black vines, speckled with the first greenery.
Wine barrels at Long Meadow Ranch
Above them there was a solar-powered winemaking facility in a majestic building, literally pressed into the mountain behind it to create naturally protected coolness within its thick walls.
A high roof with openings for daylight created deep shade over the stainless steel wine storage vats in one of the spacious rooms. In another, French oak barrels formed rows upon rows under a low curved ceiling of the cave with year-round maintained 100-percent humidity.
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