Haute Highlights: Through the Grapevine

Haute Living has a plethora of editorial content from our four regional editions that may be passing under your radar, and we don’t want that. We have so many gems hidden in our archives, so in addition to my daily Haute 100 Updates, I will now be providing “Haute Highlights,” focusing on one article from a print edition that I think is worthy of your attention. To kick off this new program, let me direct your attention to our Haute Ambassador column from Genevieve Janssens, the director of winemaking for Robert Mondavi Vineyards.

If you aren’t familiar with the Haute Ambassador program, it works like this: we ask experts in various industries from each of our markets to write a bimonthly column dedicated to the topic of their choice. The program kicked off fall 2008, and our first Haute Ambassadors included Chef Daniel Boulud, who wrote about culinary trends, and interior designer Geoffrey Bradfield, who wrote about high-society events around the globe.

Genevieve has been an Haute Ambassador since the premiere issue of Haute Living San Francisco, and she has discussed everything from pairing wines with holiday treats to Auction Napa Valley to the terroir of Napa Valley. I found her most recent column to be one of her most compelling, as she gave tips on how to decide whether or not to cellar a wine or drink it now.

Some tidbits of her advice:

• If the wine was made to be fruity, exuberant, and bright, there is little chance you will find it interesting when it is old.
• The variety of wine and the location of the vineyards greatly impact a wine’s ability to age well.
• Late harvest Rieslings, ice wines, wines from the Tojak region in Hungary, and vintage ports all get better with time.

Check out her column to read all of her expert advice, and come back tomorrow for more insight about Haute Living‘s exclusive editorial content.