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WINE COUNTRY NEWS | WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEKPRAGER WINERY & PORT WORKSopen by appointment only, daily from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.1281 lewelling lane St. helena, cA 94574(707) 963-7678 | www.pragerport.comPhil M.Visited the Prager Winery today. Came all the way fromPennsylvania. All the wines we tasted were outstanding and ourhost was extremely gracious. We’ll definitely be back.28WINEMAKER PROFILE: PRAGER WINERY & PORT WORKSPETER PRAGERMaking Wines Few Winemakers Dare AttemptBY JoSh SteinImagine being a teenager and being told your father’s “midlife crisis” was relocating thefamily from Orange County to the Napa Valley, where through perseverance and effort bythe whole family, the creation of some of the finest New World ports was the result?Sounds like the makings of a movie, right? Well, actually, welcome to just the start of thestory that is Peter Prager’s thirty-five years in the wine business. Napa is world-known forits winemakers’ dry wines; however, almost no one has turned those techniques toproducing the same kind of range of sweet wines – except for Jim and now Peter Prager,that is, who have used that same fine winemakers’ eye for detail but applied in a differentfashion, honoring the tradition of long-lived, long-aging, always-representative-of-thevintageport wines. And not just with one or two. How about six, ranging from dry tooff-dry to sweet, displaying the ability of port wines to pair with a wide range of cuisines.Jim Prager’s first crush took place in an 1865-built carriage house on their property insouth St. Helena. Their first releases were Cabernet, Chardonnay, Zinfandel, and theNoble Companion Cabernet Port – all 120 cases of it – in 1979. To this day, everyone atthe winery is a Prager by birth or marriage, and while Generation One is nowcomfortably retired, Generations Two run all aspects with Three – all twenty-two ofthem – quickly growing in the wings. The General Manager is brother Jeff; brother Johnmanages the tasting room and the winery’s distribution. Sister Mary coordinates the wineclub, and her husband, Richard, is Cellar Master. Sister Katie is CFO, and brother Peteris winemaker.Peter himself went to Frenso State for his degree in enology, finishing just as Jim wasstepping back from his responsibilities in 1995. Peter makes a range of wines beyond thenorm, not just for Napa wine but for North American wine. Now available are three tablewines and six ports, presenting the full array of what’s possible with this winemakingphilosophy, though each is no more than about eight hundred cases of production. Thelong-aging Royal Escort Port (and the only released in special years Royal Escort VintagePort) is made from Petite Sirah, and the Noble Companion Tawny Port, aged for morethan a decade in oak, is ready for drinking right away. The Tomas Port is made from thePortuguese varietals Tinto Cao, Touriga and Tinta Roriz, which are almost never seen inCalifornia. Going even further into rare production territory, the Aria White Port is madefrom Chardonnay, and the Alyssa Golden Dry Port – you read that right – is made fromthe white Verdelho grape. The still wines are equally out of the ordinary: Petite Sirah andtwo late-harvest Rieslings, the fruity and crisp “Sweet Claire” and the lightly fortified“Madeline.”As I’m sure you can tell, the Prager wines are unlike anything in the Valley, and thePrager tasting experience is beyond the norm, too. I don’t want to give everything away,but several totally unique tasting room displays await visitors, as does explanation of thefortification process and how and why the Pragers produce “the least sweet ports inCalifornia.” Believe it or not, it’s possible to produce dry and off-dry ports, but you haveto visit the winery to find out the secrets of this process from the makers themselves. Iwill say this: bring a bill or two of local currency with you; it will add to the ambianceand the experience of talking to the family about their wines. Do yourself a favor and“step off the beaten path” just south of St. Helena – you’ll be glad you did. Enjoy!Follow us on Twitter @WineCountryTW