Home for the Holidays at a Napa Valley Winery

十二月意味着在纳帕谷的塔马莱时间，至少在酿酒师罗兰多·埃雷拉（Rolando Herrera）的家中。亚搏电竞这个八口之家的每个人都参与准备工作。

他的妻子洛雷娜（Lorena）咨询了他们11岁的女儿佩拉（Perla）和瓦莱里亚（Valeria），“有了玉米粉蒸肉，面团必须湿润。”“这应该感觉像Play-Doh。”

The girls studiously form the masa into short cylinders around a filling of braised pork seasoned with an ancho, pasilla and guajillo chile salsa. Wrapped in softened corn husks,the tamales—eventually several dozen, as the afternoon progresses—are then ready for the steamer. They will be the centerpiece of the Herreras’ holiday dinner, featuring an array of dishes whose recipes have been passed down through Lorena’s family. The gathering is not only a celebration of the season but also of the Herreras’ life together in Napa, where for the past two decades they have been the owners of Mi Sueño Winery, with Rolando serving as winemaker, vineyard manager and overall person-in-charge.

Mi Sueño translates as我的梦想。Those words can have a funny ring when it comes to Napa Valley, especially when used in a press release announcing some tech-sector or hedge-fund hotshot’s decision to follow his dream and buy a winery and/or vineyard. Such aspirations are decidedly easier when you’ve got a spare $40 million or so. But Rolando Herrera’s dream was different. He first came to the US from Mexico in 1975, when his father got a job at a vine nursery in St. Helena, and lived in Napa Valley until the age of 13. Then, when his father decided to retire, the family moved back to El Llano in the state of Michoacán, population 980 or so. But after two years in Mexico, Herrera decided that whatever his future was, it sure as heck wasn’t in El Llano. So at age 15 he packed up his bags and returned to Napa Valley.

Living in a one-bedroom apartment with 17 relatives and acquaintances, he rose every day at 6:30 a.m. for school. When school let out at 2:30 p.m., he’d head over to his job as a dishwasher at Auberge du Soleil, the iconic Napa Valley luxury resort, and work until midnight. The next day he’d do it again. Weekends? Work, too. “But that was fine,” Herrera says, with his customary good humor. “I just needed to make sure no one was using my sleeping bag! And, you know, living like that is an adventure when you’re 15.”

After a few years of restaurant experience, Herrera shifted to vineyard work. His stroke of luck came one day when the foreman of the crew he was on said he needed a few volunteers to help out at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars.

“我当时想，终于！我可以看到一个酿酒厂的样子，”埃雷拉（H亚搏电竞errera）笑着说。“错误的！我们到达那里，工头说：‘好，你们，你看到那边的所有岩石吗？打破他们。我们需要与他们建造一堵墙。亚搏电竞Winiarski注意到了无限能量和强大的职业道德的少年摇滚乐手。埃雷拉（Herrera）说：“夏天结束时，我不得不回到学校，但沃伦（Warren）在酿酒厂给我工作。亚搏电竞我告诉他我很想这样做，但是我需要从下午3点开始工作。到午夜，所以我无法接受。 And Warren said, ‘Rolando, it’s收成。We’ve got people working here all night.’”

埃雷拉（Herrera）担任这份工作。“我只是一只地窖老鼠，但我喜欢它。第一天，我走进了酿酒厂，看到坦克，桶，我感到鸡皮ump。亚搏电竞就像走进另一个世界一样。那是32年前，仍然感觉像昨天。”

几年之内，埃雷拉（Herrera）被提升为斯塔格（Stag's Leap）的酒窖大师。从那里，他搬到了Chateau Potelle，Vine Clif亚搏电竞f和Paul Hobbs Winery的酿酒师，之后又跃升了全职在MiSueño上。如今，Herrera为他的出色赤霞珠，黑皮诺，西拉尔和霞多丽而农场40英亩的纳帕谷庄园葡萄园农场，并通过其Herrera葡萄园管理公司为客户监督其他葡萄园。他有60名全职员工（有退休计划和全部福利，对葡萄园工人来说是稀有的），并且是越来越多的酿酒师和酿酒厂所有者中最成功的成员之一，他们正在改变对墨西哥移民在墨西哥移民中扮演角色的看法亚搏电竞亚搏电竞葡萄酒业务和纳帕谷。

埃雷拉说：“看，试图在这里成为酿酒师，有很多竞争，有很多才华亚搏电竞，就像试图赢得印第安纳波利斯500冠军。”“我看不到它变得更加容易，但是我认为多年来您会看到更多的拉丁裔酿酒师，更多的拉丁裔葡萄酒商，尤其是现在，这里的第二代能够利用父母的技能和联系。亚搏电竞”他抛出了一些当前名称，包括萨弗（Shafer）的埃里亚斯·费尔南德斯（Elias Fernandez），乌利斯·瓦尔迪兹（“我在2002年在MiSueño上为他粉碎了他的第一个葡萄”），Renteria家族，Robledos（他的公婆），CEJA家族和CEJA家族和赫雷拉（Herrera）将雨果·马尔多纳多（Hugo Maldonado）描述为“一个非常好的年轻酿酒师”。亚搏电竞但是他还指出，无论您的背景如何，闯入纳帕的葡萄酒业务都是非常艰难的。亚搏电竞正如埃雷拉（Herrera）所说：“您必须非常好，非常聪明，非常幸运，真的hardworking.”

Herrera就是所有的事情，也许是最后的最后。但是，无论他有多努力，他总是保留时间比葡萄酒更热衷的一件事。亚搏电竞因此，随着阳光明媚的12月一天慢慢转向晚上，孩子们 - 佩拉（Perla）和瓦莱里亚（Valeria），丽贝卡（Rebecca），埃斯梅拉达（Esmeralda），维多利亚（Victoria）和小罗兰多（Rolando），占领自己扮演纳帕葡萄酒世界的事实上的官方运动Bocce。亚搏电竞同时，洛雷娜（Lorena）准备好了剩下的晚餐：脆脆的辣椒里勒诺斯（Crisp Chiles Rellenos），里面装满了米饭和科蒂亚奶酪（“我的母亲提出了这些，”她说）；五颜六色，松脆的萝卜和鳄梨的沙拉；蓬松的Spanish rice; and creamy cranberry beans topped with chopped fresh cilantro.

很快，在户外的桌子上，洛雷娜（Lorena）和罗兰多（Rolando）享受着米苏尼奥（Miunit）的天鹅绒般的2013年纳帕谷赤霞珠（Napa Valley Cabernet）的眼镜，因为空的玉米壳堆积在盘子上，自制莎莎（Salsa）散发出来。每个人都在谈论 - 大约是家庭和未来，葡萄酒和美食，体育，假期计划和学校（小罗兰多（Ro亚搏电竞lando），他们亚搏电竞18岁，计划获得绿植物学学位，而最古老的丽贝卡（Rebecca）已经在大学里）。盘子通过了，笑了，随着最后一口肉桂的叮咬，享受着肉桂蛋糕的叮咬，在埃雷拉斯周围满足的气氛。他们可能已经走了一条更艰难的道路来实现自己的梦想，但这也是一个非常有益的梦想。

2014 MiSueñoLosCarneros Chardonnay（$ 42）

埃雷拉（Herrera）于1997年的这款葡萄酒（1997年）发行了MiSueño。亚搏电竞他仍然使用同一称呼的果实，生产出一种柔软的霞多丽，充满了成熟的树木果味。

2013 MiSueñoNapaValley Syrah（$ 55）

洛雷娜（Lorena）并不是家庭中唯一的厨师。当Rolando在温暖的月份烤羊排时，他喜欢将客人倒入这款墨水，辣的Syrah。

2013 MiSueño俄罗斯河谷Pinot Noir($55)

Herrera’s focus is on Napa Valley, but for this fragrant, black cherry–rich red, he uses grapes from the Russian River Valley, Sonoma County’s most famous Pinot Noir region.

2013 Mi Sueño Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($75)

The flagship wine of the estate, this structured, blackberry-inflected Cabernet comes from a blend of Coombsville and Oak Knoll vineyard sites.

2013 Herrera Rebecca Cabernet Sauvignon ($140)

他的高级葡萄酒这一复杂Herrera名称亚搏电竞, ageworthy Cabernet Sauvignon—after his children (Rebecca, 19, is his oldest daughter). Quantities of these wines are small, and they can only be purchased directly from the winery.