Napa de Oro bottles the finest Napa Valley vintage with an infused Filipino sentimentality.
Just in time for the holiday season, Napa de Oro launches their new line of wines that range from bubbly Chardonnay to a rich Cabernet Sauvignon to their exclusive Caroline’s Red Blend—a hearty and spicy Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc named after one of the founding partners.
These wines were produced in the Coombsville region of Napa Valley as Napa de Oro’s continuing collaboration with renowned winemaker, Rudy Zuidema. This partnership was borne out of the ambition of Napa de Oro to build a Philippine global wine brand through the fine intricacies of Zuidema’s masterful process for vino. With over 30 years of experience on winemaking in Napa Valley, Rudy describes his process as “natural, respectful, and non-manipulative approach.” Emphasizing on the slower and less-invasive methods, “I believe that every wine should speak its own story of its grapes, in connection to its region, vineyard, and the vintage year of its origins. Rather than forcing the flavors to be what I want it to be, we let the wine develop its characteristics. We ‘listen’ to the wine as it tells us to help it move towards the right direction. If you push the wine before it is ready, you could be pushing it in the wrong direction.” This dedication has helped produce Napa de Oros’s new line which includes classics such as Rosé, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Grenache, Merlot, and Cabernet.
Zuidema expresses his excitement in the new ground that Napa de Oro is breaking, not only as a Filipino wine brand, but as a new and refreshing player in the industry. “Older wine drinkers always purchase the same chateaus and same domains, but newer customers are more adventurous and these are our customers who will follow us for years and years. One of our exciting offerings is the Grenache, which is very rare for California. The Caroline Red Blanc is named after one of our partners, and it personifies her unique combination of qualities. I believe that as the wine market changes, Napa de Oro is ready to adapt and move along with the new wine drinkers, meeting new demands and new needs. This is the market share that we can capture.”
Aside from their classic vintage bottles, Napa de Oro boasts two exclusive bottles: the aforementioned Caroline’s Red Blend and the Au79 Estate Reserve—described as “the highpoint of the all the wines produced by Napa de Oro,” this wine begins with an organic manicure style farming of their premiere estate Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard, which is then aged in 100% new French Oak barrels for three years, and another year in bottle before its release.
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When asked about the wines to pair with holiday feasts for Filipinos, Zuidema advices that local climate should also guide in picking which bottle to pour aside from just the kind of food it’s served with. “A heavy wine would not be comfortable in this environment. What the [Filipino] market will appreciate is something more acidic, fresher, brighter, and more refreshing in the mouth. A good wine with a juicy, wet, and refreshing quality will go well with Filipino dishes, whether it is fish or pork. This is how we guided our wines a little bit.”
For order inquiries and more information, visit their website at https://napadeoro.com/
