Of Course Napa Stag’s Leap Cab Pairs Best with Pot!

PwineI experienced "pot wine" some years ago and as Crane Carter, Napa's pot evangelist tells the Daily Beast, it does produce "an interesting little buzz.”

However, as trends go and as stories about trends go, the recent story about pot-laced wine growing in popularity comes without a sniff or whiff of confirmation. Who knows if more folks are making pot wine, let alone drinking it. The author of this story and its sources don't know, despite the headline claim. This story, that has made the rounds on the Internet over the past couple of days, is really not much more than one more llinking of wine to pot.

Still, a couple of claims caught my eye about this story beyond the claim that more folks are making and drinking pot wine:

1. "Napa’s main grape, is the variety of choice for marijuana-seasoned wine, and that fruit from the Stag’s Leap district is thought to pair particularly well with pot."

Really? Stag's Leap District Cabernet pairs well with pot? Really? I'm sure the folk over at the Stag's Leap District Winegrowers Association are thrilled to see this kind of nonsensical assertion made in the media. On the other hand, I'm betting a few folks in the Calistoga and Howell Mountain appellations would dispute that Stag's Leap Cab pairs better with pot than their own Cabernet.

2. Crane Carter, president of the "Napa Valley Marijuana Growers", believes "that cannabis wine has a bright future in Napa."

We need a better definition of "bright" here, don't we?

Associating pot with wine in order to bolster and polish the image of pot via association with wine is hardly new. The folks at "Regulate Marijuana Like Wine", who are attempting but likely set to fail to get this initiative on the California ballot, understand the value of putting pot on the pedestal next to wine.

 


9 Responses

  1. Mike Smith - April 17, 2012

    more like a dull, unmotivated and cotton-mouthed future lol 🙂

  2. Wilf Krutzmann - April 17, 2012

    If you are drinking pot laced wine, can you really tell the difference between one cab and the next?

  3. Aaron B. - April 17, 2012

    Thank you Tom for laying out some commentary on this topic. My co-workers and I caught this (on the top page at MSN!) yesterday and were appalled (but i guess not surprised) that such lame, unsupported puffery (pun?) reached such a wide circulation.
    In my 28 years in the industry i have never heard of anyone using pot in wine as this article reported.
    I am shaking my head.

  4. Lee - April 17, 2012

    No winemaker I know would adulterate either fine wine or fine pot in this manner.
    I know plenty of people use pot in the wine country, (I don’t, and I think I’m in the minority) and I’ve never heard this combination mentioned ever.

  5. Tom Wark - April 17, 2012

    I wouldn’t call it puffery. Pot wine is definitely out there and made by a variety of winemakers. I know this for a fact. I’m not sure it is a growing trend, though dope has never been easier to get. And I think there are a variety of appellations and growers that would take exception to Crane’s determination that Stags Leap district can is the best pairing. There’s a lot of pride out there.

  6. Marc Hinton - April 17, 2012

    I’m wondering how most Oregon winemakers feel about this topic not to mention the folks from the Okanagan in BC. I must lead a pretty sheltered life though because I have been visiting Napa regularly for 40 years and have never been offered pot wine. I think my sentiments lean towards Lee’s comments. Not that I doubt its out there. I have seen chef’s add cream to risotto and also wondered WHY !

  7. Mike Meisner - April 19, 2012

    I do think it’s interesting that in an area so rooted in agriculture and farming, that pot is not more openly accepted in the Napa area. The townsfolk do not like the notion of their city’s reputation being tarnished by the evil plant, but it’s pretty ironic.
    Pot and wine share a lot of similarities – very different flavor profiles and strengths, odors, etc. I think a citrusy sativa would pair well with a Sauvignon Blanc, and a woody/earthy kush with a big Rutherford Cab…just sayin

  8. Lillian - May 11, 2012

    I am surprised, we are allowed to post things related to pot? That’s a pretty stunning and creative way of pairing.
    My name is Lillian from Hong Kong, also a wine blogger: http://www.par-lor.com
    Now thinking of experimenting wine pairing with exotic food, e.g. Durian, seems this is no less easy one.

  9. Beth - November 20, 2012

    no no bitch don’t worry and drives deep into the fsroet to a secluded site, gets out of the car, shakes his belly and out plops a 3-room tent, a lantern, three double-wide sleeping bags, a fully-stocked ice chest, a rifle, a burning campfire, three lawn chairs, a grizzly bear, a mountain lion, a natural spring, hiking heels, and Nick. Amazed and elated, the three of us had the best weekend of our lives.


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