(July 2, 2024; NAPA, Calif.) — With the 2024 Paris Olympic Games just around the corner, Chris Kajani, president and winemaker of Napa Carneros’ Bouchaine Vineyards, is thrilled to welcome groups of 10 or more to the winery’s tasting room this summer to engage in some celebratory, competitive wine tasting with Bouchaine’s signature “Sensory Olympics.”
“Here at Bouchaine, we love lighthearted competition,” says Kajani. “That inspired our Sensory Olympics tasting, which tests even the most sophisticated palates with a game of nuanced smell and taste identification. The official summer Olympics may be happening in Paris, but that spirit is alive and well here in Napa, too—with a viticultural twist!”
In 2020, owners Tatiana and Gerret Copeland opened a renovated garden tasting room and new architecturally stunning hospitality center designed by O’Malley Wilson Westphal. In addition to being known as a serious benchmark producer of Carneros Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, the duo’s mantra with hospitality is decidedly fun: “Wine makes you happy.” As such, Bouchaine has developed a reputation for offering unique and engaging experiential wine tastings, including the Sensory Olympics.
During each session of the Sensory Olympics, the Bouchaine hospitality team arranges an assortment of items whose aromas and flavors are found in the wines, such as blackberries, lemons, cinnamon, vanilla bean in covered jars. Guests are then challenged to correctly identify what’s inside using only their sense of smell. Blind wine tasting follows as guests are presented with a variety of Bouchaine bottlings to take their best guesses at determining the wine’s variety or clone. Winners might not get a gold medal, but they will go home with a special surprise gift from Bouchaine and, of course, bragging rights among their competitors.
The Bouchaine Vineyards Sensory Olympics tasting experience, which lasts about 90 minutes, is available with at least 48 hours advance reservation. The experience is $95 per person and can accommodate anywhere from 10 to 100 participants.
About Bouchaine Vineyards
Bouchaine was founded by Gerret and Tatiana Copeland and is today one of the leading producers of sustainably farmed Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the Carneros AVA. The estate is comprised of 104 acres, including a dramatic tasting room designed in the form of a welcoming embrace, complete with a state-of-the-art open kitchen. The vineyards at Bouchaine are greatly influenced by the adjacent San Pablo Bay, where cool breezes and the daily influx of fog allow cool climate varieties to shine. The location’s substantial daily temperature shifts also help develop beautiful acidity in the fruit, resulting in wines with vivid energy and texture. Noted as the first “Fish Friendly Farming” certified vineyard in Napa Valley, the winery is also Napa Green land and winery certified. If one sentence can encapsulate the energy of Bouchaine, it is the winery’s new trademarked slogan, “Wine Makes you Happy™.”
For more information about Bouchaine Vineyards, please visit https://bouchaine.com/
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