Stepping Off Was The Point
TASTING NOTES: “This red wine blend is produced from Suisun Valley, a remarkable AVA that has become the Wagner family’s second home. A 30-minute drive from Napa, Suisun has ideal soils and climate for a variety of grapes. The Walking Fool is named after a long-ago relative who was often seen traveling by foot – thus earning this affectionate moniker. Featuring Zinfandel and Petite Sirah, this wine is smooth and lively, with juicy raspberry, notes of espresso and softly fine tannins.
Suisun Valley shares a remarkably similar maritime climate, influenced by San Francisco and San Pablo Bays. Warm days and cool nights provide ideal conditions for a variety of grapes.
The region’s richer soils are especially conducive to farming top-quality Petite Sirah, but other varietals also thrive, including Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc. Many believe the soils of Suisun Valley impart special flavor characteristics in the fruits and vegetables grown here and the wines produced.” (AbV 14.5%)
VARIETALS: Zinfandel & Petite Sirah blend
BARRELS: Not specified.
PAIRS WITH: N/A
THAT REMINDS ME OF: The Walking Fool.
There’s a long and genuinely noble tradition of the Fool as a literary and cultural archetype — not the bumbling idiot, but the wandering wise man, the one who exists outside the normal rules of society and therefore gets to say true things. Shakespeare’s fools are the smartest people in the room. King Lear’s Fool tells the king exactly what’s happening to him while everyone else is lying through their teeth. The Fool in the Tarot deck — card zero, or sometimes unnumbered entirely — is depicted mid-stride, about to walk off a cliff, bindle over his shoulder, little dog nipping at his heels. And the thing is, he knows. He’s not oblivious. He’s just chosen to step off anyway, because standing still wasn’t an option worth considering.
The Walking Fool of Suisun Valley leans into this beautifully. A relative who was always on the move, always passing through, always somewhere between here and there — that’s not a criticism dressed up as a nickname. That’s recognition. The walkers and wanderers tend to know something the settlers don’t. They’ve seen more roads. They’ve noticed which valleys have the good air, where the fog rolls in just right, where the soil goes dark and deep and serious. The Wagners found Suisun Valley, after all. Somebody had to walk there first.
