What is a Madrigal

What is a Madrigal?  Growing up I thought our last name was odd, It was hard to pronounce and nobody else had the same name.  I remember thinking that a more common surname would be nice but fast forward to the present and I realize what a cool name it is.

Madrigal is a type of music from the Renaissance, a two to eight part story telling harmony.  It’s most famous composer was Claudio Monteverde and I’ve listened to recordings of his music.  Not something that I have playlists of but it is interesting.  Here is an example: 

The name eventually became two surnames, Madrigale in Italy and Madrigal in Spain.  Originally used as where you were from.  There are at least two towns named Madrigal in Spain.  Madrigal de la Vera and Madrigal de las altas Torres.  I have no proof but I choose to believe that we are descendants of the latter.  I have taken my family to visit Madrigal de las altas Torres and this pilgrimage is what inspired me to plant Tempranillo and Garnacha.

Evidence of the first entrance of a Madrigal into the Americas was on a ship's manifest of one of Hernan Cortes’s conquests in 1519.  Madrigals can be found wherever Spain conquered or explored.  There are Madrigals in Spain, North America, Central America, South America and the Philippines.  It actually turns out that a name I once thought was rare, is represented on our mailing list in over 300 different Madrigal families.

Today Madrigal is a famous Swiss Cheese, a flatware set, cigar brand, and funny man - Al Madrigal.  Last but not least, it’s a great winery with a real Napa Valley family behind it.

Try some Madrigal family wines with this great offer:  2011 Nuestra Sangre for $30.00 per bottle and 2011 Barberis Petite Sirah for $40.00 per bottle.  Enter discount code: madrigal for free shipping through February 15th.  

Basecamp Calistoga

Calistoga has always played second fiddle to the other towns of the Napa Valley.  But finally our town will move to the fore front, as the Basecamp of wine country.  Calistoga’s mayor, Chris Canning, without realizing, coined our town’s new title “Basecamp Calistoga”.  In a Santa Rosa Press Democrat article dated July 27, 2015, Chris Canning, mayor and executive director of the Calistoga Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Bureau said, “It’s a base camp to Napa, Sonoma and Lake counties...we are being equated to Healdsburg and Yountville.”

For many years Calistoga has seemed too far north and St. Helena, Yountville and Napa all had room to expand.  Fast forward to today, Calistoga seems to be the last remaining place to expand.  In recent years, resorts like Calistoga Ranch and Solage were built, bringing a more upscale feel to our town.  Restaurants like Jole, Solbar, Sam’s Social Club and Evangeline have also upped the ante in our town.  Two major resorts will break ground in 2016, a Four Seasons and Calistoga Hills Resort, owned by CTF Development International, a Hong Kong based company that also owns The Beverly Wilshire Hotel.  It is rumored that more than a couple of celebrity chefs are also looking for a spot in Calistoga.

If you think about Calistoga’s geographic location, with respect to the rest of wine country, is right in the middle.  Easy access to locations like Napa Valley, Napa’s mountain appellations, Sonoma Valley, Dry Creek, Russian River Valley and Lake County’s Red Hills.

Exciting times for a town that was supposed to be called the Saratoga of California, but on the day that Sam Brannon gave our town's inaugural speech, he had a little too much to drink.  In his inebriated speech, he proclaimed us the Calistoga of Sarafornia. True story!

From now until January 31, 2016 you can purchase our 2011 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for $25 per bottle and use discount code: Cabernet for free shipping.  This wine was rated 90 points in Wine Enthusiast Magazine