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WINERY FEATURE | WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEKT H E H E S S C O L L E C T I O Nby Michelle J. BakerA scant eight-minute ride hardly seemsout of the way or too far for all that awaitsvisitors to The Hess Collection, located in thehills just west of Napa. This scenic trip fromHighway 29 travels through the lushRedwood Valley and up into the MountVeeder appellation, and what you’ll find at thetop is a magical mountain estate where beautifulwine and world-class art are intricatelymeshed like fine silk.Hess Collection was founded by DonaldHess, a Swiss businessman who fell in lovewith Napa Valley on a business trip in the1980s to explore the possibility of expandinghis Swiss bottled water company to theUnited States. Mr. Hess leased the old ChristianBrothers winery on Mount Veeder, andafter two years of renovations opened thewinery to the public in 1989.The new space included an art museum todisplay Mr. Hess’ personal art collection, andtoday it is perhaps the finest assemblage ofcontemporary art available for public viewingin the entire North Bay. Since 1966, Mr. Hesshas collected art like a vertical of fine wine –rather than a piece here from one artist andthere from another, he gets to know eachartist personally and then collects many oftheir works over the course of time.The Hess Collection Contemporary ArtMuseum now displays less than one quarterof Mr. Hess’s total collection, much of whichis shown in other museums around theworld. This is staggering to consider giventhat the winery’s museum occupies 13,000square feet of space. Over the course of a yearapproximately 20% of the museum rotatesout and new pieces rotate in, so it’s alwaysworth a stop just to see what’s new.The other star at Hess Collection, ofcourse, is the wine, a vast selection from theMount Veeder estate and two other estateproperties, Allomi Vineyard on HowellMountain and Su’skol Vineyard nearCarneros. The Mount Veeder estate is a 900-acre parcel with more than 300 acres plantedto a smorgasbord of unique varietals (in additionto the predominant Cabernet Sauvignon)such as Gruner Vetliner, Petit Verdot, PetiteSirah and Malbec, all of which thrive in thecoolest climate in Napa Valley. The Carnerosvineyard, Su’skol is planted entirely toChardonnay, and the Howell Mountain vineyard,Allomi, primarily to Cabernet Sauvignon.The Hess Collection has been a leader inthe green winery movement for many years.Currently it is one of only six wineries withboth land and winery certification from theNapa Green Winery Program. In fact, over600 acres of the Mount Veeder estate are setaside as undeveloped land to support wild lifecorridors, fish friendly farming practices andbio-diversity. In the spring of 2008, the winerypurchased 24 goats (all of whom turned out tobe pregnant) for ground clearing and underbrushmanagement on the Mount Veederestate. Today, a herd of 100 goats controlweeds on the estate and are also stars on theweb at www.mountveederrocks.com.The winery offers tasting options for visitorswith lots of time or those who arekeeping a tight schedule. Just drop in for atasting of the “Small Block Series,” wines thatare made in small quantities from 60-700cases and only available at the winery. Thesewines offered at a very fair price in line withthe Hess philosophy that everyone has theright to drink fine wine every night. Drop-invisitors can also try a vertical of Hess CollectionMount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon fromthe library. This is a unique opportunity tosee how beautifully Cabernet Sauvignon candevelop over time in the bottle.With advanced reservations, visitors openPHOTOS COURTESY OF THE HESS COLLECTION20 www.WineCountryThisWeek.com