What wine blends and NASCAR wins taught me about engine oil

I am attending my second NASCAR race ever, and I find myself in Victory Lane. To be honest, all I had to do was climb over a few barriers, flashing my laminate. I spent most of the 110 laps comfortably seated, overlooking the Sonoma Raceway, which is about an hour north of San Francisco. The most challenging part was steering snacks to my face.

It’s June 9, 2024, at the Toyota/Save Mart 350, and I am a guest of Hendrick Motorsports, celebrating the organization’s 40th anniversary and the victory of Kyle Larson in their No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Larson and his team expertly navigated left and right turns, along with strategic pit stops, to secure his third victory of the season and his second career win on this challenging 2.52-mile road course.

This hilly terrain is intertwined with the vineyards that cover these iconic valleys. In Northern California, I have spent time in a festival-like atmosphere, invited by Valvoline to learn about two fluids that keep the region running: engine oil and wine. The educational journey begins two days earlier with a very different kind of victory.

Pole position

The story starts, as many Californian tales do, at a winery. Specifically, Judd’s Hill, a second-generation family winery on Napa’s Silverado Trail. The winery was established 35 years ago out of the owner’s garage, a location familiar to mechanics and winemakers alike. However, our workshop does not contain socket wrenches or fermentation tanks but rather a sunny courtyard filled with wine bottles and empty graduated cylinders.

We are here to learn about blending varietals and to experience how a few milliliters of Cabernet, Merlot, Malbec, or Petit Verdot can alter the acidity, levity, and complexity of a wine. Additionally, we are here to understand how this relates to Valvoline’s latest premium synthetic product, Restore & Protect (spoiler alert: it’s still not drinkable).