I can trace almost my whole career by the bottles in Press cellar, he said.
And he isnt alone.
You get to try wines from decades ago that show what Napa is capable of.
Credit:Eric Wolfinger
My dad traveled all over, says Samantha Rudd, his daughter, who now owns the restaurant.
When he was in France, restaurants served French wine.
In Spain, it was Spanish wines.
Eric Wolfinger
In America, theyd sell a chardonnay by saying its like a Burgundy.
He said, Why arent we putting our own wines on a pedestal?
Thats what drove the wine list.
John Troxell
Rudd remembers dinners with local luminaries like Robert Mondavis widow, Margrit Mondavi, and Warren Winiarski ofStags Leap.
But after her fathers prolonged illness, Press declined.
He was following the lead of his former French Laundry colleague, Press' new executive chef/partner Phillip Tessier.
John Troxell
Tessiers menu overhaul rankled the old regulars, but it was time, Rudd says.
Napa cab and steaks always go together, but theres a way to elevate Napa wines with finer food.
John Troxell
We change the menu based on whats growing in Napa, Tessier says.
Mushrooms are in swing with all the rain, so well put black trumpets on."
And when mustards will be flowering, he’ll plan a fish dish with a mustard blossom condiment.
Unlike at his former gigs, Press is playful you might feel relaxed.
Thats a reflection of Napa, too, a region Tessier calls the wild west.
You go to one winery here, and theres a Frenchman who grew up in Bordeaux.
You go to another, and its a self-made guy from Montana.
Thats fascinating, he says.
At the French Laundry, I never felt a connection to the region.
Here, winemakers are sitting at the bar.
These are people that most wine drinkers would kill to meet, and theyre regulars.
But not every wine is an old cab.
Im a cheerleader for the history, but I dont drink Napa cabernet daily," Morrow says.
Take the 2019 Gravels, a rare Rhone blend byNewfound Winesusing carignane and grenache grapes.
For every seven new Napa cabernets launched each year, theres something different and exciting like that.
Its important to support them.
Those are the ones vinifying their wines in their off-hours and scraping together the money necessary to bottle them.
Press reflects that reality as well.
We have to be on the forefront of the trends in Napa, taking risks.
Theres so much cache here that the restaurant industry rests on its laurels.
It was time, at least at Press, to not do that anymore.
