Napa
(ˈnæpə)
Also nappa.
The name of a county, town, and valley in California, U.S.A., used attrib. and ellipt. to designate (a) leather prepared from sheep- or goat-skin by a special tawing process; (b) wine grown in the valley.
| 1883 R. L. Stevenson Silverado Squatters 34 (heading) Napa wine. 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. 289/3 Men's Smoke Napa Gauntlet. 1897 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather (ed. 2) 275 The staking machine..can be adjusted to any kind of leather, including napa. 1903 L. A. Flemming Pract. Tanning 51 Coloring black Napa. Black Napa leather is generally colored blue on the flesh side. 1921 B. E. Ellis Gloves & Glove Trade 58 ‘Nappa’ gloves are made from tawed leathers. 1961 Housewife Apr. 59/1 Fawn nappa leather handbag. 1971 M. McCarthy Birds of America 157 Several glasses of Napa Valley wine. 1974 Country Life 21 Mar. 688/1 Slip-on mules in coloured nappa leather for {pstlg}7. |