Bron's trip so far..

From Auckland to San Fran airport, I jumped straight into a hire car ready to drive up to the Napa Valley and was sitting in the passenger seat.. ouch left hand drive, forgot about that!

An hour later I was sitting on Rob Mondavi's porch, in one piece sharing a bottle of Man o' War.

Had a wonderful few days touring the Napa Valley being chaperoned by one of the Napa's finest, visiting many fine wine stores, retail outlets and restaurants. There is a good presence of New Zealand wine in stores, the majority being Sauvignon Blanc, then Pinot Noir and small amount of Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Merlot. Lots of Napa Chardonnay, lots and lots!
Wholefoods was an amazing store, its a very high end organic food and wine store here in the US and has the most incredible collection of cheeses, meats and of course wine! I met Geoff, the fine wine manager who knew more fabulous facts about New Zealand than I did! He had me giggling for about 30 minutes.

Bouchon - Wow what a wonderful French restaurant, I wanted something light and ordered the french onion soup, Rob looked at me in surprise and muttered ' light..' and I realised soon why, it was incredible rich and full of cheese and bread and onions! Nothing a large glass of Napa Valley Chardonnay couldn't help digest!

Met up with the Folio team and it was interesting to hear their insight into where the market is at this time. Later I had the opportunity to meet Mary and Andy Lytle and their little bundle of joy Jasper. Andy has been in the wine industry most of his life so it was fascinating to hear his very reassuring thoughts on the state of the US wine industry.
We visited 'Mustards' an iconic restaurant here in the Napa and enjoyed ribs and a bottle of Jayson Woodbridges famous Napa Valley Cabernet Hundred Acre and a bottle of Mondavi's Spellbound Petit Syrah.

I loved my visit to the Napa Valley, it is very Grande, the wineries are very Grande, nothing like I have seen before - a stunning and beautiful place!
From the Napa to LA,
I was lucky enough to have the famous Jim (Hollywood) Malloy as my partner in crime in LA. We visited countless restaurants and fine wine stores including two stand outs.

- Wine House Fine Wine, an institution in LA. We met JIm Knight and tasted through the entire Man O' War range. This was by far the largest wine store I have encountered yet in the US, rows and rows of wine from all over the world.
- Wally's Fine Wine, this fine wine store perfectly rap each bottle of wine purchased and standing outside you see limo after limo pull up and take off.

LA to Montreal for the NZ Wine show.

Visited the SAQ to get a permit for our wine, as it was wrestled off me by customs!
Met the ever charming Jean-Charles Thiry and Jack Cohen from UVAS Fine Wine and was shown around Montreal visiting Le Gourmand an amazing restaurant in Pointe-Clair (Quebec) where i was lucky enough to have lunch with Jean-Charles and Micheal the owner/chef at Le Gourmand.

Montreal to Toronto - For the NZ Wine Show, a whirl wind trip where I met Lenny and the boys from BW Wines and Nick Hirons from The Merchant Vintner and later was lead astray by the likes of Sue and Paula and the rest of the crew from the NZ wine Show and missed my flight to New york in the morning! Phew I need to pick up my game. All in all the NZ Wine Shows were a hit, incredibly successful, so congratulations to Robert Ketchin (right).

New York, oh New York.. this City is just amazing..

I had the most incredible time meeting Pierre and Nicolas at Soho House, Craig and the sommelier team from Public, Ken from Sheree Lehmann and Diane from the famous Kiwi and Australian Nelson Blue Restaurant and Bar. I also caught up with the lovely Dana Johanson from New Zealand Trade and Enterprises for coffee and an insight into the NYC market and what was happening in the industry.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Anthony from Noble House Wine and Sheila from Martin Scott, a well renoun wine distributor in NYC.

I also had time to shop.. sight see.. shop... research the NY night scene... and did I mention shop?

NYC excites me and the markets response to Man o' War wines was incredible.. bring on August!

NYC to Vancouver - Just a day in Vancouver with a meeting with Darryl and Richard from Authentic Wine and Spirits, who walked the NZ Wine Show with me and gave me an insight into Vancouver and the BC Wine Market. Every Province in Canada has different Alcohol laws, its like dealing with a new country - a bit like the US and gets very confusing!

I also met some other great distributors Bob Guinn from TGIC Fine Wine Importers and Distributors (US and Canada) and Paul Martin (Peacock and Martin) a distributor based in BC, both lovely men of which I shared fish and chips with on the Vancouver water front.. just stunning!

And here I am in St Helena in the Napa Valley, the sun is shining and I am sitting on my bed typing this and having a glass of Napa Valley Chardonnay!

Bye for now..

Bronny