Jay James

What's it like to tour California wine country with a bona fide wine expert? When Bellagio's Master Sommelier, Jay James, takes the hotel's Executive Chef, Wolfgang von Wieser, and the Director of Food and Beverage, Win Person, on a three-day tour of Napa and Sonoma Counties, the Las Vegas trio gets upclose and personal with the winemakers who have made California the epicenter of New World wine.

"California is about more than great wine," Jay says. "It's about the people who live here. Everywhere I go, I've got friends."

That's no surprise. Since he came on board to create Bellagio's award-winning wine program in 1998, Jay has been visiting wine country on a regular basis.

The 37-year-old member of the prestigious British Court of Master Sommeliers needs to keep his wine list fresh, fun and eclectic. He's got to satisfy customers ranging from wine novices to hardcore collectors. As a result, the ever-changing Bellagio master list offers 1,200 wines. It keeps the professional wine taster busy.

Left to right: Win Person and Wolfgang von Wieser

"I come here regularly to stay plugged in. For this trip, it's really great to bring along friends and colleagues like Win and Wolfgang," Jay notes.

With some 600 wineries in Napa and Sonoma Counties alone, how does a wine traveler know where to start? "It's a tough job," Jay says with a mischievous grin, "but someone's got to do it. I usually visit as many new wineries as possible. But this time, I've picked 11 wineries that are among my favorites."

The first stop is Napa Valley's revered temple of wine, the Robert Mondavi winery. "If you come to Napa Valley, you've got to make a pilgrimage to Mondavi," Jay explains. "More than anyone else, Robert Mondavi has revived the California wine industry."

	Robert Mondavi

It's hard to believe that when Robert Mondavi founded his eponymous winery in 1966, only 18 wineries graced the Napa Valley landscape. The wine business had not yet recovered from America's 13-year experiment with Prohibition, ending in 1933.

Jay and his companions are greeted at the Mondavi cellar door by winemaker Geneviève Janssens, a native of France and longtime Mondavi employee. She offers her guests a refreshing glass of Fumé Blanc, which is another way of saying Sauvignon Blanc. Mondavi coined the term as a marketing device some 30 years ago to increase sluggish sales of the now popular white wine.

Walking deeper inside the elegant winery cellar, Geneviève draws a rare sample of newly fermented Cabernet Sauvignon from an oak barrel. Even in its early stages, the wine is richly textured and packed with complex flavors. Jay nods his approval. "This is already great wine," he says to his friends. "And it gets even better with age."

Opus One

The trio then crosses Route 29 to visit Mondavi's second winery, Opus One. The futuristic, sculpted façade strikes a proud contrast to the Spanish-inspired 61 architecture at the original Mondavi winery. Conceived in the late 1970s, Opus One was a collaboration between Robert Mondavi and the late Baron Phillipe de Rothschild of Chateau Mouton-Rothschild in Bordeaux. Only one wine is made here. Not surprisingly, it's made in a Bordeaux style by blending grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. "The architecture and the wine are equally exceptional," says Win. Bellagio's director of food and beverage is a native of Switzerland and has traveled extensively throughout the world. "For a visitor, it's so tranquil inside. There's a European serenity that somehow blends seamlessly with the ultra-modern design. Like the wine, the winery is a blend of old and new."

After tasting a few hidden jewels at Opus One, it's time to head a half-mile down the road to Far Niente winery, owned by Vintner and Veteran Car Racer, Gil Nickel. When the Oklahoma native purchased his property in 1979, it was home to a century-old abandoned ghost winery that served mainly as a roost for local pigeons. "Back then, I didn't know the difference between Sonoma and Napa," Gil remembers. But he knew he wanted to make great Cabernet and Chardonnay. The old stone winery was a link to the past and an inspiration for the future. He found the words, Far Niente, chiseled into the massive stone walls, and the historical inscription has remained the winery's moniker. "Who was I to change it?" the vintner asks. Translated from Italian, it means, "do nothing" and relates to an old Italian proverb, "Dolce far niente"-it's sweet to do nothing. Dolce has since become the name for Gil's distinctive white dessert wine.