Posted on February 18, 2010 - by Leslie Billera

Groom Your NVI (Napa Valley Intelligentsia)

Napa Valley conjures fields of lavender, sweeping vineyards and abundant olive trees.  But how much do you really know about Napa?

It’s time to ramp up on your Napa Valley dinner party parlance…

• Napa Valley is 30 miles long; its regions include American Canyon, Napa, Lake Berryessa, Yountville, Oakville/Rutherford, St. Helena, and Calistoga.

• In addition to its famous grapes, a wide variety of fruits and vegetables thrive in Napa including oranges, prunes, apples, olives and more.

• The Napa Valley is a name derived from the language of the area’s native Wappo Indians and has come to mean “land of plenty.”

• The Wappo Indians had no written language. They shared their ideas, stories, and feelings by speaking only. Stories and customs were passes down by parents to their children.

• 1823 marks the first written description of Napa. Word spread of the region’s abundance, and by the late 1840s, quicksilver mines and lumber mills had set up shop.

• Steamships ferried people from San Francisco, and the railroad carried tourists seeking the healing waters of Calistoga.

• Tough times did darken Napa’s sunny days:  Napa’s famous Silverado mine dried up in 1875, a grapevine disease in 1893 killed off most of the vines, and prohibition shut down most wineries altogether in 1920.

• In 1968, California’s first Agricultural Preserve was created. This zoning ordinance established agriculture and open space as the “best use” for the land within Napa County. Known as the “Ag Preserve,” it’s an agricultural model followed by many others today.

Now uncork one of Napa Valley’s hundreds of wines, start simmering the sauce, and over artisan bread dipped in the local extra virgin olive oil, enjoy a northern California-style dinner peppered with Napa Valley love and lore.