Invited to Jefferson Hayman’s photography exhibition at Stags’ Leap Winery, I didn’t think twice about attending. The opening, aptly named The Artistry of Wine, promised to bring together Napa Valley wines, gourmet cuisine, and contemporary art in a historic 1890s Manor House, admirably maintained and lavishly decorated. What I underestimated was a road to the promised land. While hopelessly-city, I adore weekend visits to the sunny Wine Country, but the elegant wine and art party was scheduled to start after dark. Napa’s nighttime rural routes with invisible signs turned out to be pitch dark, winding, and never ending.
After my husband and I missed our freeway exit, and then an entrance onto a side road, and performed a series of screeching U-turns, we spotted a shady figure, or rather a normal-looking young man enshrouded in deep shadows, and with a flashlight.
He directed us toward another winding road deeper into the forest. There was another young man out there, also with a flashlight. After some more driving in the dark and fearing some unknown creatures of the night that might hit our car or be hit by it, we finally reached the oasis of warmth, hospitality and conviviality, which is Stags’ Leap.
I knew that the pioneering estate put California on the world wine map with its 1972 Cabernet Sauvignon during the first blind judging in Paris back in 1976, but I didn’t know that art patronage was a time-honored tradition at the winery. As if in some sort of revelation, the earthy delights and inspired art joined together in harmony in one enchanted evening.
The festivities started with a taste of 2009 Napa Valley Viognier, paired with creative bites, like crab salad with walnuts on endive leaves, and goat cheese topped with red pepper caps, or wrapped in grilled eggplant slices.
On the second floor of the gorgeous stone building, filled with antique furnishings and vintage photographs, the guests were offered 2009 Napa Valley Chardonnay, and a view of Patrick McFarlin’s portraiture, with the artist present to talk about his Napa Valley: Portrait of a Community project.
2007 Napa Valley Petit Syrah was served in the dining room, perfectly matched with succulent lamb chops and salsa verde.
Then the star estate cab – 2007 “The Leap” was offered on porch, as a great prelude to welcome speeches, poetry reading and historical introduction by Theresa Whitehill, and a Q&A with winemaker Christophe Paubert and photographer Jefferson Hayman.
The photography exhibition was presented in the new grandiose cave of the estate, lined with barrels, and enhanced by 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon barrel sampling. M. Paubert, the winemaker, commented on the new wine while standing in front of his own photographic image that was a part of Hayman’s body of work.
A self-taught photographer, in his Stags’ Leap show, Hayman concentrates on vine- and wine-related details, winemakers’ portraits, and vineyard landscapes presented in a series of black and white photographs with soft lighting and receding shadows. Each silver gelatin photograph is produced in 25 prints and framed in antique or artist-made frame.
More information at: www.stagsleap.com
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