Tasting Notes From Our Trip to Napa and Sonoma, June 2004
This trip we take little brother Carr.
We arrived on a Friday night at Oakland Airport and drove up into Santa Rosa. Dinner consisted of a rather poor meal at Piatti in Sonoma as a result of Syrah in Santa Rosa being unwilling to wait for us to arrive. With dinner we tried:
Rochioli
2002 Sauvignon Blanc
Russian River Valley
Good cut with sweet lemon lime fruit, a touch of grassiness. Deceptively acidic, peppery finish. Not bad. $24
Nicholson Ranch
2001 Pinot Noir
Sonoma County
Nice nose of cinnamon, toasted clove, oak, tin can Pinot funk. Medium-bodied with black cherry fruit. $30
Moon Mountain
2000 Cabernet Franc
Sonoma Valley
Nicely made wine for the vintage with toasty oak, pencil lead aromatics, slightly austere on the palate,
Saturday:
We started the morning at Amphora in Dry Creek Valley. Lana Mounts, part of the family that owns the property, tasted us on a few barrel samples and then on some wine from bottle.
Amphora
2002 Cabernet Sauvignon
Jacob's Ridge Dry Creek Valley
Barrel Sample - black currant, cedar nose. Rich, concentratd, cottony tannins. Chewey. Pretty nice. Looks like a 1-year old Demptos barrel I would guess. This is slated for March 2005 release.
Amphora
2002 Merlot
Mounts Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley
Barrel Sample - new oak, menthol, medium to full bodied with black fruit, mint. A bit short, but okay.
Amphora
2002 Zinfandel
Dry Creek Valley
Sweet nose of spices, blackberry fruit, crème, sorghum/maple. More sweet maple flavors and fruit on the palate with a finish that was a bit short and tight. Not bad. $22
Amphora
2001 Zinfandel
La Loma Block, Dry Creek Valley
Lighter appearance but a more complex nose. Mint, eucalyptus, spices on the nose, the palate is very citrusy, particularly in the finish. Eh, just okay. $28
Amphora
2000 Zinfandel
Mounts Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley
Slightly tawny nuance in the glass. Tea, chalky earth, menthol, sweet citrus. A bit acidic. Mona likes the complexity of this, I find it a bit past its prime. $25
Amphora
2002 Syrah
Mounts Vineyard
Grapey nose. Touch of white pepper underneath leather. Concentrated black fruit, a bit tannic and a bit high-toned. Okay. $30
Amphora
2003 Zinfandel
Dry Creek Valley
Barrel Sample - Closed. Syrup, fruit. Sweet red fruit - raspberries. Very fast across the palate with high-toned fruit finish. We'll see.
Amphora
2003 Syrah
Dry Creek Valley
Barrel Sample - Dense nose of grapey black fruit and white pepper. Sweet, concentrated black berry fruit on the palate. Toasty blackberry seeds on the finish. Nice potential.
Amphora
2003 Petite Sirah
Dry Creek Valley
Barrel Sample - Inky nose. Aromas of dirt, earth, anise. Chewey, monolithic, with herbal finish. A bit too earthy at this stage.
After leaving Amphora, we stopped by Nalle, where Doug Nalle happened to be open and welcoming visitors to an outdoor table while he waited for the new epoxy on this winery floor to dry.
Nalle
2002 Zinfandel
Dry Creek Valley
Big, maple sweet nose. Bright, electric purple and translucent in the glass. Touch of clove and cinnamon. Medium-bodied and rather flat and/or elegant on the palate. 13.8% alcohol. Mona noticed Candied yams.
Nalle
2002 Pinot Noir
Hopkins Vineyard, Russian River Valley
Bit stinky, bretty initially. Funky tin can with a touch of cola. Medium-bodied red lingonberry fruit. Decent concentration. With more swirling, some of the poop recedes. Pretty tasty. About 140 cases made. This might include as much as 2% Zinfandel from topping off. $36
While we were at Nalle, a few other people showed up, including a gent named John Haggar who just finished writing a book about Sonoma Pinot Noir. All told, I enjoyed chatting with Doug Nalle, but we had to get moving to our next appointment. I’m not really a fan of this style of Zinfandel. Nothing personal, but these just don’t make me smile.
We stopped in Healdsburg for a quick lunch at Ravenous and then headed South back to Santa Rosa to meet with Mike Officer of Carlisle.
Mike welcomed us and allowed us to taste through a number of his 2003 barrels. Everything we tasted was outstanding and Mike seems to have found room for improvement where I didn’t think much improvement was possible.
My younger brother Carr came along on this trip – this was his first vacation after three years of medical school – and our visit with Carlisle pretty much set the bar for him. Everything else was a bit anticlimactic. Thanks Mike and keep up the great work!
Carlisle
2003 Zinfandel
Riebli Ranch
Barrel Sampe - New oak (Nevers) includes some Petite Sirah. Slightly raw new oak, dominated by barrel scents. Rich black fruit with cottony tannins. Nice when the oak subsides.
Carlisle
2003 Zinfandel
Marcucci Ranch
Barrel Sample - This is an an east facing vineyard in a cooler area. 2/3 of the vines were planted in 1922 and the rest are four years old. First the Old Vine Component - yeasty nose, bit of baking spice. Sweet concentrated Zinberry fruit. Secondary aromas of rosemary and tropical foliage(?). Second, the new vine component - Big, peppery clove nose. Sweet, sappy red berry and raspberry fruit. Slightly more red fruit driven than the old vines sample but with better aromatics. Nice.
Carlisle
2003 Zinfandel
Barbieri Vineyard, Russian River Valley
Barrel Sample - High-toned nose of strawberry, wax, light eucalyptus. Mona noted fruit cocktail aromas. This wine is a field blend that includes several other varieties, like Grand Noir, Petite Sirah, Alicante Bouschet, Syrah, and Grenache.
Carlisle
2003 Zinfandel
Peppera Vineyard
Barrel Sample - Slightly spicy, clove, pepper nose. Mike thinks this one is more feminine and may ultimately become the base for his Sonoma County bottling. Pretty red berry fruit. I agree with Mike that this could use a bit more oomph from blending. Quality wine on its own, however.
Carlisle
2003 Zinfandel
Dry Creek Valley
Barrel Sample - Nice aromatics. Rich red berry fruit. Nicely concentrated. This has not been blended with any Petite Sirah yet, which is how Mikc usually prefers to finish it. Sampling the same wine with about 20% Petite Sirah, the wine gained richness and density on the palate, but the aromatics became muted. Our consensus at this stage is that we would like to see this wine get something in the 10% range of Petite Sirah blended in.
Carlisle
2003 Zinfandel
Tom Feeney Ranch
Barrel Sample - this was cropped to 0.8 tons per acre this year. Much darker in appearance compared to previous vintages of this wine. Beautiful crushed blackberry fruit nose. Sweet luscious gulpable stuff. Focused dark fruit. Num Nums. I'm looking forward to this wine again.
Carlisle
2003 Three Birds
Sonoma County
Barrel Sample - this is a hypothetical blend with 3 parts Grenach, 1 part Mourvedre, and about 1/2 part Syrah. Citric nose, rather like orange juice. Lemon. Eyes closed, it smells a little like Sauvignon Blanc. Sweet red fruit on the palate, a bit tight in the finish. This could be interesting.
Carlisle
2003 Two Acres
Russian River Valley
Barrel Sample - black appearance in the glass. Lovely, classic Two Acres nose. Peppery, slightly animal, and wild with dense berry fruit. Nice complexity. Added flavors of mint and wax. A bit tannic. Good juice. This is sitting at about 16.2% alcohol this year, I think that is about 1% higher than years past.
Carlisle
2003 Syrah
"Bierbaum", Russian River Valley
Barrel Sample - This is from a new vineyard source that hasn't been named yet. It includes 5 different clones of Syrah that are all blended here. I don’t think there was sufficient quantity to vinify these separately. Roasted coffee, hidden high-toned qualities. Tree bark. Rich fruit. The palate is more open, fruity, and approachable than the nose suggested.
Carlisle
2003 Syrah
Knights Valley
Barrel Sample - this wine is technically from the Knights Valley appellation, but the vineyard is at about 1000 feet of elevation and doesn't really have the characteristics of most of the appellation. Mike said the fruit from this at harvest was littly tiny black berries, more like pebbles than grapes it sounded like. Very dense appearance. Violet, floral nose. Meat, blood, chalk. Rich violets and black raspberry fruit. Concentrated. Nice. Very interesting. This is an experiential wine. Mike's not sure what he will ultimately do with this, but I'm sure it will be interesting.
Carlisle
2003 Syrah
Dry Creek Valley
Barrel Sample - Dense, meaty, smoky nose. Black olive. Concentrated fruit. Rather tight. This needs some time to open and doesn't come across quite as lush as the others at ths stage. Ageworthy I would expect. This is about 15.3% alcohol.
Carlisle
2003 Syrah
Bennett Valley
Barrel Sample - this is from a brand-new appellation South East of Santa Rosa. High-toned, spicy almost Zinfandel-like aromatics of clove and pepper. Sappy, dense, sweet red and black fruit, black raspberries. Nice. This is from 3 year old vines and includes 3 clones of Syrah.
Carlisle
2002 Syrah
Sonoma County
Barrel Sample - Meaty, cheesy nose - this had been sulfited two days prior in preparation for bottling - smells a little hard. Sweet attack with lush black and red berry fruit. A bit high-toned. This should be tasty when the nose comes back.
After leaving Mike, we made an obligatory stop at Martinelli. Nothing we tasted here was much of note, with one Zinfandel that made me wonder if just how far the quality was slipping here.
Martinelli
2003 Sauvignon Blanc
Russian River Valley
Muted nose - some grass and blue cheese. Melon fruit. Medium-bodied. Okay. Served a bit too warm for me.
Martinelli
2001 Gewurztraminer
Russian River Valley
This is Martinelli's Dry Gewurztraminer. Spicy Gewurz nose with lychee nut fruit. Medium-bodied weet fruit cocktail with dry, slightly bitter flavors in the finish. Okay.
Martinelli
2002 Chardonnay
Woolsey Road, Russian River Valley
Heavy French oak nose with a touch of coffee and butterscotch. White fruit. Okay. Doesn't do much for me.
Martinelli
2000 Chardonnay
Martinelli Road Vineyard, Russian River Valley
Less oak on the nose than the Woolsey, but some obvious heavy handed oaking here. Green apple, crisp white fruit. Showing pretty well.
Marinelli
2000 Pinot Noir
Reserve, Russian River Valley
From about 30 year old vines. Black cherry, some cola and root beer. Black cherry fruit. A touch metallic. Okay.
Martinelli
2001 Pinot Noir
Bondi Home Ranch, Green Valley
Cola Cola Cola. Black cherry. Concentrated flavors. Decent.
Martinelli
2002 Pinot Noir
Seven Mules, Russian River Valley
Seems tight and more oak-driven. I don't have anything else in my notes.
Martinelli
2002 Zinfandel
Vigneto di EVO
Some residual sugar. 17% alcohol. Light appearance in the glass. Maple, cedar nose. Sweet, simple white fruits. Eh. How can they get $25 for this? Do you think the name comes from the fact that these grapes come from their Extra Virgin Olive Oil Vineyard or something?
Martinelli
2003 Palomino
Russian River Valley
Sweet, floral nose. Slightly dry peppery Gewurztraminer-like. Sweet fruit cocktail syrup.
Returning to the hotel, we dropped off Mona and Lindy and headed over to the Bottle Barn to pick up a few things, then rested up for dinner at Syrah.
With dinner we had a disappointing Rose and a very tasty Syrah.
Sinskey
2003 Rose of Pinot Noir
Napa Valley
Ethereal, dilute. Eh.
Radio Coteau
2002 Syah
Timbervine, Russian River Valley
15% alcohol. Masculine, meaty scents with concentrated black fruit. Nice wine.
Sunday:
The next morning we headed back to Dry Creek Valley to pay a visit to Unti. This time George Unti greeted us (along with his brother who was visiting for this birthday). Unti is currently making about 5000 cases per year, almost all of it in Rhone varieties with some Italian varieties thrown in as a result of George’s heritage.
Unti
2003 Grenache Rose
Dry Creek Valley
87% Grenache and 13% Mourvedre. Peach, strawberry nose. Pale, salmon color. Quick on the palate with dry herb finish. Pleasant enough, but not really what I look for in Rose.
Unti
2001 Zinfandel
Dry Creek Valley
90% Zinfandel and 10% Petite Sirah. Lovely nose of toasty, cedary oak, butter, American oak, vanilla, and blackberry liqueur. Medium-bodied, sweet attack with a touch of dry tar and rose petals late. Not bad. A bit metallic and flat.
Unti
2002 Sangiovese
Dry Creek Valley
Deeply colored for Sangiovese with sweet brown sugar and vanilla. Sweet black cherry fruit attack with a soft, rather low acid finish for Sangiovese. Pretty tasty - I kinda like this. I believe George said that this is produced mostly or entirely from the Sangiovese Grosso variety, such as is found in the Montalcino and Montelpuciano regions.
Unti
2002 Grenache
Dry Creek Valley
75% Grenache, 13% Syrah, 12% Mourvedre. Sweet kirsch liqueur and raspberry fruit nose. Cedar, garrigue. Bitter red fruit mid palate with a slightly tangy finish. This was produced from three different clones of Grenache from Tablas Creek.
Unti
2001 Syrah
Dry Creek Valley
Deeply colored. Sweet black fruit and white pepper nose. Chunky finish. Not bad - has this been open a day or two? 100% Syrah.
Unti
2002 Petite Sirah
Dry Creek Valley
100% Petite Sirah. Dense smelling. Yeasty crushed blackberry seeds. Ink. Concentrated, extracted flavors. Cottony tannins in the finish. Overall a velvety mouthfeel. This could stain your teeth and tan your tongue, but its nice, interesting. Could use a bit more depth.
Geyserville was our next stop. I had read that the Locals tasting room there was pouring some interesting wine from small producers. In the end, only a few things were particularly interesting. I had hoped to taste some of Kosta Browne’s wines here, but they apparently dropped out of the collective a few months ago.
Hawley
2002 Viognier
Placer County
Fermented in old French barrels. Sweet peachy apricot nose. Touch of soapiness and a hint of wood? Rich palate. Not bad.
Eric Ross
2001 Viognier
Catie's Corner, Russian River Valley
More herb and mineral driven on the nose. Streak of fennel. Medium-bodied and lemony. Eh. Not really my cup of Viognier.
Forth
2003 Rose of Syrah
Dry Creek Valley
Sour cherry nose. Cranberry, watermelon, gatorade. Cherry fruit with a dry herb and chalk finish. Pretty good. $15
Peterson
2003 Rose
This is a rose of Carignane. Obviously, pink in color. Underripe strawberry and dry herb nose. Sweet attack with strawberry fruit. Light. Pleasing. $12
Crane Canyon
2000 Zinfandel
Elsbree Vineyard, Russian River Valley
92% Zinfandel, 4% Mourvedre, 4% ? - Spicy nose, maple, a bit floral and spiced tea flavored. Meidum bodied, "brown" tasting. Nose is clearly the best feature here.
Eric Ross
2000 Zinfandel
Old Vines, Russian River Valley
Spicy, peppery nose with a touch of heat and cedary oak. Black raspberry. Sweet silky texture with zinberry fruit. A bit asttringent. 15.3% alcohol. What's with all these old Zins?
Martin
2002 Zinfandel
Rattlesnake Rock, Russian River Valley
Jammy nose - like raspberry preserves and some glue. Sweet strawberry fruit with some more glue and funky flavors late. Okay, but hardly worth the money. Apparently the previous vintage of this was a bit of a "cult" find. $33
Hawley
1999 Merlot
Bradford Mountain
Fragrant nose - sort of bottle sweet, with sweet tobacco, port, cassis aromas. Dry, currant fruit on the palate. Decent complexity. Mona liked this enough to purchase. $26
Hawley
2000 Merlot
Bradford Mountain, Dry Creek Valley
Herbal - Mona suggested melon fruits - and a bit earthier and greener than the 1999, though it has some of the similar sweet brown tobacco nose. Soft, bit of acetone. Okay.
Hawley
2001 Merlot
Bradford Mountain
Meatier nose than the previous vintages. Burnt sugar, grilled meat. More tannin, bitter chocolate. Okay. I was expecting more from the better vintage. Clearly vintage isn't everything.
Forth
2000 Cabernet Sauvignon
Dry Creek Valley
Classic Cab nose of cedar, black currant, barrel toast, mint. Similar black currant fruit on the palate, but rather austere in the finish. Okay.
Martin
2001 Cabernet Sauvignon
Dry Creek Valley
Nice nose - sweet oak, tart black currant and cedar. Medium-full bodied. Sour tannins in the finish. Okay.
Martin
2001 Merlot Port
Dry Creek Valley
Porty, oxidized nose. Glue. I've had better California ports, but this did go nicely with the chocolate chips they had out on the tasting bar.
The irreverent folks at Meeker were next door so we paid them a visit as well. Kelly Meeker, along with her mother Molly, and several very large, but friendly, dogs. Meeker tends to make pleasing, slightly rustic, fairly priced wines in my opinion. None are likely to get critical acclaim, but I don’t think that bothers the Meekers.
Meeker
2001 Pink Elephant
Sweet, cool, refreshing nose of pink lemonade, sweet strawberries. Similar fruit on the palate. Probably has some residual sugar, but I kind of like this. Made from Napa Valley Cabernet Franc and Gewurztraminer. $14
Meeker
2000 Zinfandel
10th Rack, Sonoma and Mendocino Counties
Spicy clove nose. Bit rustic. Nothing else in my notes.
Meeker
2002 Carignane
Forchini Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley
A bit austere with pepper and herb notes on the nose. Sweet strawberry fruit on the palate. Okay.
Meeker
2001 Zinfandel
Idle Home Ranch, Russian River Valley
Toast nose, some red kirsch liqueur aromas. Luch, plump and slurpable on the palate. Slightly hot. Not too bad. 15.8% alcohol.
Meeker
2002 Syrah
Dibble Vineyard, Sierra Foothills
Deeply colored. Slightly hard and olive-y smelling. Rich black fruit. Lush. 15.3% alc. I found this okay, Mona out-and-out hates this.
Meeker
2002 Petite Sirah
Dibble Vineyard, Sierra Foothills
Good nose - crushed blackberry fruit, yeasty-doughy. Sweet lush blackberry fruit. Medium-bodied with chewey, rustic texture. Good burger wine.
Meeker
1999 Four Kings
This is Meeker's Bordeaux blend with 84% Cabernet, 8% Merlot, and small percentages of Cabernet Franc and Petite Verdot. Nice aromatics from the Cabernet Franc and Petite Verdot - leafy, pencil lead, bitter chocolate. Lush, currant-flavored fruit. Pretty good, though I was not interested at this price $38
Meeker
2002 Barberian
Napa, Yuba, and Sonoma Counties
55% Zinfandel, the balance Barbera with a small addition of Petite Sirah, all cofermented. Flat aromatics. Does nothing for me.
Meeker
1999 Petite Verdot
Mendocino County
Warm, green leafy aromas. Carr summed it up well as "nitrogenous." Chocolate, cardboard. Eh.
Meeker
2002 FroZin
Mendocino County
Gardenia, watermelon rind nose. Sweet syrupy red berry fruit. Cherries, sweet, rich, and pleasant. Not bad. My brother purchased this in bulk to seduce the young ladies of San Antonio.
The gentleman pouring at Locals had recommended we visit Stryker before we head south again, so we drover further east into Alexander Valley. Stryker Sonoma has a new, modern tasting room and winery with architectural concrete, glass, and interesting horizontal, terracotta louvers acting as open walls around the facility. Unfortunately I found most of the wines to be pretty forgettable. The one I did like, a 2003 Semillon, required a membership in their wine club to purchase.
Stryker
2002 Rose
Alexander Valley
Dry rose petals, earth, light cranberry and cherry fruit. Fairly concentrated with a dry finish. Okay.
Stryker
2003 Semillon
Alexander Valley
Grassy white fruit, lemon, chalk. Well-made, somewhat reminds me more of Sauvignon Blanc than Semillon. Pleasant.
Stryker
2001 Sangiovese
Alexander Valley
Rusty, earthy smelling. Cherry fruit. Medium-acidity. Eh. I guess it does have some Sangiovese character, but I still don't really care for it.
Stryker
2002 Zinfandel
Alexander Valley
Spicy clove nose, zinberry and rasperry fruit. Respectable. My notes are limited on this one.
Stryker
2001 Merlot
Sonoma County
Sweet red cherries, herbs, chocolate. Pleasant. Softer than the Cabernet that follows it, as you might expect.
Stryker
2001 Cabernet Sauvignon
Sonoma County
Cedar, red currants, cola. Medium-full bodied. Okay.
After leaving Styker, we drove south with the intention of finishing the day at Hartford and tasting whatever caught our fancy along the way. The first in the this latter category was Armida. This winery is built on a hillside overlooking Westside road. The building all appear to be the Geodesic domes that were popular in the 1960s. Like Stryker, most of these wines were not very inspiring, but I did prefer them slightly. Had a few of them been a bit lower priced they might have attracted more attention.
Armida
2003 Sauvignon Blanc
Russian River Valley
Very pale color. Light lemon and grassy nose with a bit of grain and cereal. Sweet-tart flavors of citrus fruit, lemon, lime. Pretty good.
Armida
2003 Gewurztraminer
Russian River Valley
Typical warm-climate Gewurztraminer nose - "spicy" and floral. Pleasant on the palate with a tangy finish. Not bad. I would probably buy a couple bottles of this for $12. $18
Armida
2002 Pinot Noir
Russian River Valley
Black cherry fruit nose with a touch of cola and tree bark. Medium-bodied, more black cherry on the palate. Soft and sort of missing in the middle. Respectable I suppose for the price. $22
Armida
2002 Zinfandel
The Torrente Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley
Clove, spicy zinberry nose. White pepper. Translucent ruby appearance. Pricey, and a bit lacking in verve. It's just not a Carlisle… $30
Armida
2000 Cabernet Sauvignon
Dry Creek Valley
Rather straightforward smelling, with the addition of a little clove. Slightly medicinal red fruit. Eh. $26
Armida
2001 Pinot Noir
Bacigalupi Vineyard
Bit funky nose. More tree bark and cinnamon cola. Rather earth driven. Touch of brett.
Armida
2002 Zinfandel
Maple Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley
Concentrated, serious tasting wine. Clove spice and zinberry. This is from 90+ year old vines and includes 10% Petite Sirah. Definitely a step up in quality.
Finally, we wound up at Hartford, just a few minutes before they closed. Rich Eliason kindly poured us through what they had on offer. All of the Zinfandels were already sold out except to club members.
Hartford
2002 Chardonnay
Sonoma Coast
Crisp green apple nose with some toasty, mineral-like oak. Well-made and not bad. Good Value. $20
Hartford
2001 Chardonnay
Laura's Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
Butterscotch, concentrated red apple and pear. Pleasant. Balanced, a bit of cereal. At first I thought this was $24 and was impressed. $54
Hartford
2001 Pinot Noir
Sonoma Coast
This is about 80% Russian River fruit. Nice, intense cola and black cherry nose. Sort of a gooseberry, zesty quality. Nice value Pinot. $25
Hartford
2000 Pinot Noir
Marin County
Velvety smelling, smoky earth. Concentrated dark fruit. Cinnamon. Very nice. This was cropped at less than 1 ton per acre. Tasty. $50
After Hartford, it was back to the hotel for a swim and a rest. Our best meal of the trip was to come that night.
For Father’s Day, we made reservations at The Farmhouse Inn on River Road just outside of Santa Rosa and just before the Forestville area. Mike Officer had recommended it and he was SPOT ON! The service and cooking was good to outstanding, the wine list was fairly interesting and reasonably priced, and the cheese cart redefined the experience for me. Some of the more interesting dishes were Rabbit! Rabbit! Rabbit!, a trio of rabbit preparations, and lobster-prawn sausage, which I’m guessing was roughly chopped, mixed with a few flavorings and some kind of binding agent, and then gently poached, before being sliced and grilled for serving. Yum. With dinner we enjoyed:
Renard
2002 Viognier
Sonoma County
Nose is very apricot, peach, honeysuckle driven while the palate is more lemony. Tasty. A bit more tart than my palate was craving at this particular moment. This was our first wine at the Farmhouse Inn.
Radio Coteau
2002 Pinot Noir
Hellenthal Vineyard, Russian River Valley
I didn't take notes on this as we were drinking it, but it made a very good impression with very concentrated, slightly masculine flavors. Lots of dark fruit. Nice. Our second wine at the Farmhouse Inn.
Radio Coteau
2002 Zinfandel
Von Weidlich Vineyard, Russian River Valley
Very raspberry driven. Leaner style of Zinfandel it seems, and finishes a bit hot. This was the least successful of the three Radio Coteau wines we tasted. Last wine at Farmhouse Inn.
The cheese cart is the most amazing part of the meal however. We didn’t really know what we were getting in to. The cheese monger/affineur wheeled the tray to our table, asked if we were interested in hearing about them, and the next thing we knew, there were about ten slices of cheese arrayed on a plate in front of us. They source these cheeses from a local woman, Soyoung Scanlan, who founded the Andante Dairy in Sonoma. She produces cheeses, as well as sourcing some from Europe. She names her cheeses after classical music terms. In all we tasted:
While we may have had favorites, all of these cheeses were exception in their own right. Amazing. I will be ordering some of these in the future. Incidentally, the cheese course set us back about $62 for the five of us, but that seems reasonable based on the quality of the cheeses.
Monday:
The next morning we drove over the mountains into Napa, stopping on the county line at Pride for a visit. Tim and Wendy were gracious hosts as always, but one of the newer staff members, Jason, kindly gave us our tour. This was my first time to see the completed caves, and as a treat, they allowed us to tasted the 2001 reserves out of barrel. Apparently these barrels had been set aside for tasting as part of the Napa Valley Wine Auction. Both were stellar, by the way, as I hope you will read in my notes.
Pride Mountain
2002 Chardonnay
Napa Valley
This is the last vintage in which this wine will be made in Virginia Oak. Apparently new vineyards are online and the fruit isn't expected to work as well with American oak. Cereal, grain nose. Charred oak. Butter. Cream. Okay. Never my favorite Pride wine.
Pride Mountain
2002 Chardonnay
Vineyard Select Napa Valley
This is all estate fruit. Apparently this bottle had been open a while, because everything seemed very flat tasting, but the raw materials were there.
Pride Mountain
2002 Viognier
Sonoma County
The first bottle tastes like it had been open since yesterday, so Jason opened us a new one. Second bottle - light peach, apricot flavors. Some mineral and cereal aromas. Rich, nice length and concentration. Does this see a little bit of new oak? Might detract a bit from the wine in my opinion. Showing better than a bottle we opened recently at home. $40
Pride Mountain
2002 Merlot
Napa and Sonoma Counties
100% Merlot again in this vintage. Sweet nose with a touch of brown sugar and chocolate. Rich, concentrated flavors. Sweet black and red fruit. Nicely made. Not as deeply colored in the glass as some Pride wines, but the flavors are there. $48
Pride Mountain
2002 Cabernet Franc
Napa Valley
includes 25% Merlot. Lovely nose of violets, chocolate, brown sugar. Fairly soft and lush with boysenberry fruit. Pretty good. I need to retaste this another time. Something about it doesn't seem quite right. $56
Pride Mountain
2002 Reserve Claret
Napa Valley
Barrel Sample - Rich, smoky anise, fennel nose. Rich, concentrated with amazing layers of flavor on the palate. Delicious. 60% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petite Verdot. Yum! Chocolate. Nice complexity. Mona and Carr are totally floored by this. $110
Pride Mountain
2002 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Concentrated smelling. Chocolatey. Dense and rich black fruit. Outstanding length. Polished. Very nnice. Delicious too, but Not as complex or hedonistic yet as the Claret. $115
Does anyone know off-hand what Pride’s policy is on the reserve list? I’ve been purchasing since the 1997 vintage and haven’t really been offered anything other than the usual wines. I think Mona was willing to trade her first born for the Claret.
Next we paid a visit to Schweiger down the street. Sally Schweiger showed us around, even as a mobile bottling truck was busy spitting out cases of wine.
Schweiger
2003 Sauvignon Blanc
Uboldi Vineyards, Sonoma Valley
Tangy melon, touch of cat's pee. Tangy, on the palate, but with sweet lemon lime fruit. Nice. This is the only wine Schweiger uses purchased grapes for, we were told. $20
Schweiger
2002 Chardonnay
Spring Mountain District, Napa Valley
Aromas of lees, wheat, pear fruit. Light toasty French oak. Sweet, rich white fruit on the palate. Not bad.
Schweiger
1999 Cabernet Sauvignon
Spring Mountain District, Napa Valley
Deeply colored with some translucency. Distinctive nose, sort of tobacco, cassis, a suggestion of port. The nose on this wine, and all the Schweiger reds to some extent, smells like the 1999 Hawley Merlot tasted at the Locals tasting room, among other wines. I'm trying to pin down what that flavor is and accurately transcribe it into words. Anyway, back to the wine - aromas of tannin and ink. Softish on the entry with currant fruit, then rather tannic in the finish. Hmm?
Schweiger
2000 Merlot
Spring Mountain District, Napa Valley
Sweet, bit port-like nose, tobacco, mocha. Chambord. Deeply colored, dark, with no clearing. Concentrated, with some velvety tannins in the finish. Rather inky, large-scaled Merlot. Good.
Schweiger
2000 Cabernet Sauvignon
Spring Mountain District, Napa Valley
Smoky nose, black fruit. Intense and rather tannic red currant fruit. Tobacco. Pretty nice. I should have spent longer with this wine. My notes are pretty limited. The Schweiger Cabernets see a little bit of American and Hungarian oak, while the Merlot, and the white wines are all produced with French oak.
Schweiger
NV Port IV
Spring Mountain District, Napa Valley
Sweet on the nose, much less oxidized than a typical port, to which Sally mentioned this was done in a ruby style. Sweet attack with lovely blackberry and black cherry fruit. Chocolate. Very tasty. $45
We headed down Spring Mountain and south after leaving the Schweigers. Lunch was a quick stop at Taylor’s Refresher, then we were off to Darioush on Silverado Trail. Darioush still hasn’t finished their new facilities, so the tasting room is a very warm trailer that on this particular day was swarming with small children. I generally like the direction this winery is headed, but I think their prices are two high for their top reds. The Viognier is stunning for a second vintage in a row.
Darioush
2003 Viognier
Napa Valley
Light lemon, cereal nose. Subtle apricot and orange zest. The palate is more of an explosion of rich, peachy fruit. Lovely concentration and intensity with a sense of sweetness. Late acidity. This is 14.8% alcohol this vintage. I think it was 15%+ in 2002. Delicious stuff, and maybe my favorite California Viognier at the moment. $33
Darioush
2002 Chardonnay
Napa Valley, Signature
Wheat, oak, butter nose along with some citrus scents, French oak. Green apple fruit on the palate. Drinking nicely, and a very well made wine. $38
Darioush
2000 Red Table Wine
Napa Valley
60% Cabernet, 25% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petite Verdot. Lovely aromatics of leafy, dry earth, cherry and plum fruit. Soft and plummy on the palate. Dark fruit. Not bad, though a bit pricey I think. $38
Darioush
2001 Merlot
Napa Valley, Signature
This, we were told, is intended to be in a Pomerol style and includes 2% Cabernet Sauvignon. Sweet red berry and cocoa nose. Bits of herb and toast. Pretty good. $44
Darioush
2001 Shiraz
Napa Valley, Signature
100% Shiraz/Syrah. Smoky undergrowth nose. Black fruit, maybe some game and olive. Leather. Sweet attack with black fruit, but a bit austere in the finish. Just okay, I was expecting a whole lot more from this wine. Pricey. $64
Darioush
2001 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley, Signature
84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 2% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petite Verdot. Sweet oak nose with black currant and black berry fruit. Cedar, berry liqueur. Soft, rich attack with pleasant black berry fruit and some nice herbal complexity in the finish. Good to very good. This was made with Mt. Veeder fruit, along with small amounts of Atlas Peak and Oakville. I like it, though balk at the price. $64
Now to the most touristy part of our trip. Traci in Dallas recommended we visit her friend Frank at Del Dotto. Frank actually runs the wine shop there, but agreed to give us the cave tour at Del Dotto as well as to make some introductions for us at two other small wineries. Those wineries, Elan and Fleury Estate turned out to be pretty good finds, so thanks again Frank.
Del Dotto’s wines are made by Nils Venge, but the style seems to be driven by the owners as well. All the wines are lavishly (excessively?) oaked, and the tour is basically a study in how oak affects wine. In an unusual twist, I generally preferred the barrel samples to the wines they poured us from bottle.
On a sidenote, Del Dotto is a bit of a slurp-fest, and the couple on the tour with us was new to wine and looking a little piqued toward the end. Actually, I was spitting, but Carr,
Larry, and Mona, all got a little tipsy here. The stop afterwards made the situation even worse.
Del Dotto
1999 Giovanni's Tuscan Reserve
Napa Valley
Coffee, cedar, vinous. Red cherry. A bit corked?
Del Dotto
2002 Sangiovese
Napa Valley
Barrel Sample - Cherry nose. Translucent ruby in the glass. Dry earth, dust. Sweet soft cherry fruit on the palate. Not bad. This is from the Antinori clone of Sangiovese, though I don't know enough to know what difference that might make, or even what other clones are out there, save for the Sangiovese Grosso tasted at Unti.
Del Dotto
2001 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Barrel Sample - Lot C - from a Demptos American (Missouri) Oak barrel, medium toast, toasted heads, 27-mo. Staves. The staff has nick-named this the "Crème Brulee Barrel" for its distinctive nose. Sweet anise, carmelized sugar nose. Deeply colored wine. Sweet-tart fruit, then lush red fruit. Pretty good. A bit short if I can find a fault.
Del Dotto
2001 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Barrel Sample, again Lot C - French barrel - "Kober" (sp.) - Subdued nose, more elegant smelling. Sweet red berry fruit. Soft. Okay. This was a slow heavy toast barrel.
Del Dotto
2001 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Barrel Sample - Lot C - A barrel with staves from five different French forests - caramel, toasted oak nose. Rich smelling with a leafy note. A bit sweet tart, then tannic, red currant fruit. Eh. Not exactly sure what went wrong with this wine, and my tasting notes are no help.
Del Dotto
2002 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Barrel Sample - Back to the Crème Brulee style barrel - carmelized sugar, anise, red fruit, berries. Concentrated flavors in a fairly balanced package. Some complexity late that I attribute to the oak, not the fruit.
Del Dotto
2002 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Barrel Sample - U-Stave barrel. If you haven't seen one of these, Del Dotto has one sawed in half. Interesting to see how they routed the staves to increase the suface area. Lighter, less obvious carmelized sugar on the nose. Smells somehow more balanced. Concentrated. That's all I have in my notes. Incidentally, I was spitting, but I think I just got tired of writing repetitive comments…
Del Dotto
2002 Cabernet Franc
Napa Valley
Barrel Sample - Violets, toasted sugar, sweet raspberry fruit. A bit firm in the finish. This was a French oak barrel. I would have liked to explore their lots of Cabernet Franc more, but time was limited.
Del Dotto
2002 Merlot
Napa Valley
Barrel Sample - Allier barrel - Interesting aromatics - glue. Raspberry fruit. Is this corked? Something is not right. Eh.
Del Dotto
2002 The David
Napa Valley
Barrel Sample - 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc, 25% Merlot. - All I noted was more glue. Something got into my palate, or the wine. We left the cave to taste a few wines from bottle.
Del Dotto
1998 Cabernet Sauvignon
Rutherford
leafy, green nose. A bit rusty smelling. Decently made on the palate, though a bit astringent in the finish.
Del Dotto
2000 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Black currant, cedar, tannin. Eh.
Del Dotto
2001 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Toasty caramel, cedar. Tart berry fruit. Rich and concentrated with red fruit and cottony tannins. Not bad.
Del Dotto
2001 Cabernet Sauvignon
Estate, Napa Valley
Deeply colored. Restrained nose. Softer entry with black fruit. A bit tart, with moderate, astringent tannins in the finish.
Del Dotto
2002 The David
Napa Valley
Tannic, astringent nose. Mint and anise. Supple entry with currant and cherry fruit. Then I wrote, "eh. Not exciting to me." whatever that means.
Del Dotto
2001 Zinfandel
Rutherford
Clove spice nose. Zingy, high alcohol (16.6%). Sweet zinberry fruit. Fairly concentrated, but monolithic.
Del Dotto
2002 Port
Napa Valley
We tasted four barrel samples of port-style wines, one from Carignane, two from Cabernet Sauvignon, and one from a blend of Zinfandel and Syrah. None did anything for me. All smelled a bit like glue. All had plenty of sweetness though, if a bit too much alchol in the finish.
After Del Dotto, I dragged everyone to the Vintner’s Collective in Napa. Amy, along with Garret Murphy, the managing partner, were generous hosts and poured us about 18 different wines from small producers.
Ancien
2002 Chardonnay
Carneros
Smells well made with cereal and French oak aromas. Green apple fruit. Pretty good. $32
Mi Sueno
2001 Chardonnay
Los Carneros
Buttery nose, Creamy white fruit. Not bad. $35
Patz and Hall
2002 Chardonnay
Hyde Vineyard
Sour, toasty oaky. Not a great nose. The palate is quite lush and rich with fruit though. $48
Gregory Graham
2001 Viognier
Napa Valley
Light apricot and bittor orange peel flavors. Sweet apricot fruit. Nicely made. Good. $25
Gregory Graham
2001 Viognier
Knight's Valley
Similar nose to the Napa bottling, perhaps more honey and less apricot. Sweet attack with honey and melon fruit. Not bad. I think I have a slight preference for the Napa Viognier, although this may have a nicer finish. In the end we ended up with a couple of both. $29
Strata
2001 Merlot
Napa Valley
Sweet chocolate and tobacco nose. Well made. 50% French, balance American oak. $32
Judd
2000 Petite Sirah
California
Slightly funky. Dusty, astringent. Softish. Eh. $26
Patz and Hall
2002 Pinot Noir
Sonoma Coast
Rather deeply colored. Red fruit, zesty herb-like aromas. Medium-bodied with sweet red fruit. Nice. A pretty good value. $33
Mi Sueno
2001 Pinot Noir
Los Carneros
Densery, more earthy style of Pinot, at least on the nose. The palate is somewhat sweet and lush with the impression of low acidity on the attack and a rather tight, acidic finish. Not bad. $38
D Cubed
2001 Zinfandel
Napa Valley
Bit of tea, black fruit. Seems a more claret style of Zinfandel. Not doing much for me now. $25
Showket
2000 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Mocha and coffee, earth, a bit or poop/brett. Concentrated, dense, rather tannic. Tight and not saying much to me. I have some trouble imagining it will. Garett seemed pretty enamored of their wines though. Ouch on the price. $75
Phelan Vineyard
2001 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
This is reputedly made by Bob Egelhoff (sp.) of David Arthur fame. Dry smelling with mocha, cedar, black currant notes. Rich sort of dry/sweet raspberry and currant fruit with velvety tannins in the finish. Good. Expensive. $75
Longfellow
2001 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Sweet oak nose - carmelized sugar, lush, soft black currant fruit. Drinking well now. $50
Mi Sueno
2001 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Sudued nose compared to the Longfellow. Earth. Sweet attack with some late Anise. A bit more austere, but nice. $60
Caldwell
2001 Red
Napa Valley
Smoky, black currant nose. Meaty. Late anise, sweet oak notes. Sweet attack with black fruit and thick tannins. Pretty good. Carr really liked this one. Interesting bottle shape $83
Vinoce
2003 Sauvignon Blanc
Napa Valley
Waxy, lemony nose with sweet and sour lemon fruit. Not bad, though it tastes rather tart after all these reds…tasty. Picked up a bottle or two to try later. $18
Vinoce
2001 Red
Mt. Veeder, Napa Valley
50% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon (I think that is the blend). Tight smelling with leafy Bordeaux-like qualities. Mona wanted me to note butter. Sweet attack. Violets. Not bad. A bit austere right now. Probably one of the better values in this selection of Cabs and Red blends. $50
We dined that night in Martini House. We were in pretty rare form after all the tastes, in fact our server probably contemplated calling the police, but I was sober and still wanted to taste a few things.
Whetstone
2002 Viognier
Catie's Corner, Russian River Valley
Pretty floral, honeysuckle, apricot nose. I suppose everything a Viognier should be. Medium-bodied with supple, balanced fruit like the nose. Crisp enough in the finish. Nice. This was at Martini House for dinner.
Arietta
2001 H-Block
Hudson Vineyard
Cellared and Bottled by Kongsgaard and Hatton. Beautiful aromatics - violets, leaf, pencil lead, cocoa powder. Sweet, but not too sweet, black fruit. Perfectly integrated wood, gorgeous length. Chocolate. Outstanding. Yum! This was one of my favorites from the trip. Also with dinner at Martini House. $90
Tuesday:
Crawling out of bed the next morning was tricky, but we managed to make it to our appointment at Shafer on time. Shafer’s facilities are impressive, especially the new barrel room with about 30 foot ceilings and heavy duty stainless steel barrel racks.
Shafer
2002 Chardonnay
Red Shoulder Ranch, Carneros, Napa Valley
Green apply fruit and charred, toasted barriques. Concentrated, lengthy pear and apple fruit on the palate. Decent acidity. Nice. This, I was told, had malolactic prevented (would it be appropriate to say non-malolactic?) and was aged in 2/3 French oak and 1/3 American oak. Pretty good, and not nearly as woody as a sample of this I tasted a few years ago.
Shafer
2001 Firebreak
Napa Valley
93% Sangiovese, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon. Sweet new oak and cherry nose. Vanilla. Medium-bodied, the palate is a little more in keeping with the variety, with sweet-tart cranberry and cherry flavors. More black cherry late. Moderate acidity. Not bad.
Shafer
2001 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Mostly Stag's Leap fruit, aged in 50% American and 50% French oak. Includes a small amount of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Sweet red currant nose. Cedar. Smells like a polished wine - also smells a little tannic.Softish on the attack with more red fruit, then the finish grows more structured. Nicely made. This seems like a reliable wine, though the price is creeping up there and for my money I think there might be more interesting wines available. I guess I must find it a little formulaic or monolithic. $55
Shafer
2000 Port
Stag's Leap
18% alcohol. Sweet nose - concentrated black berry fruit, toast, jam. A bit hot, but nice/not bad.
In addition to these wines, they also had a few older vintages for sale and they agreed to open them for us to taste.
Shafer
1992 Cabernet Sauvignon
Stag's Leap
7% Cabernet Franc and 4% Merlot. Slightly mature tasting, but still retains dry herb and strawberry fruit. Soft red fruit. A bit thin. Earth and tobacco. Pretty tasty, bit intellectual. $60
Shafer
1992 Merlot
Stag's Leap
9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Cabernet Franc. Good color - slightly more translucent than the cabernet with a swirl of tawny. Herbs, light creosote, tobacco, weeds. Weedy complexity in the midpalate. Dry herbs. Nice red fruit. Pretty interesting and showing better complexity than the Cabernet of the same vintage. $46
We stopped at Napa Wine Company on a whim as our next stop. This custom crush facility had “ritzed up” their tasting room considerably since my last visit.
Crocker and Starr
2003 Sauvignon Blanc
Napa Valley
Pungent green pea nose. Lemony citrus. Wax. Creamy, softish midpalate with minerals late. Not bad. A very complete wine. Nice.
Napa Wine Company
2002 Pinot Blanc
Napa Valley
Creamy, with a sweet attack. Not much in the way of identifiable fruit, but this is tasty, and would be a hit at a party for its sense of sweetness. Might have a bit of residual sugar. $18
Mason
2003 Sauvignon Blanc
Napa Valley
NWC only had the 2002 of this wine for sale, but they happened to have the 2003 open and offered a taste. Cat's pee, zippy, zesty grapefruit. Light bodied. Yum. Mason seems like it's back in top form. Really like this. $15
Laraine
2000 Chardonnay
Gerter Vineyard, Sierra Foothills
Green apples and minerals on the nose. Light oaking. Sweet pear fruit. Fine.
Uvada
2000 Merlot
Oakville, Napa Valley
90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. I think this wine is made by the same people who make the Marylin Merlot series (Nova Wines) but this is there more respectable stuff. Sweet, port-like quality to the nose. Black plum fruit, chocolate. Soft mouthful of chocolate. Red berry fruit. Pretty good. Mona wanted a bottle. $20
June-04
Downing Family
2000 Cabernet Sauvignon
Rutherford, Napa Valley
Sweet toasty oaky, raspberry fruit. Rather soft for a Cabernet. Smooth. Some late mocha and tannin. Not bad.
Lamborn Family
2001 Zinfandel
Howell Mountain
Oxidation? Tea, asian spice box, earth, pepper, mountain fruit. Tight. Okay.
Napa Wine Company
2000 Cabernet Sauvignon
Oakville, Napa Valley
New oak, touch of greeness and bell pepper. Soft. Green. Eh. $30
Madrigal
2001 Petite Sirah
Napa Valley
Inky appearance. Bit spicy on the nose, with some toasted blackberry seeds. Rich, chewey mouthfeel. Perhaps slightly austere. Fairly chunky but interesting. Late sharp textured tannins.
Lunch at Brix followed. Leaving Brix, we met Brian Fleury at his winery at the end of Galleron lane in Rutherford. Brian was a self-proclaimed collector of wine until a few years ago when he sold some software businesses and he and his wife decided to move their kids to Napa to start over. Brian’s fascination is with big Cabernets, so that is the direction he is headed. His first vintage was 2000, made from purchased grapes and he bottled them under the name Lauren Bryce, a combination of his children’s names.
Lauren Bryce
2000 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Deeply colored with a touch of browning tawny at the edges. Cedar, French oak, dark fruit. Full-bodied though a bit thin and overoaked. Tannic later. Seems underripe to me. This is 100% Cabernet that saw all new wood. It was cropped at less than 2 tons per acre, but Brian said the vines were in bad shape. $35
Lauren Bryce
2000 Meritage
Napa Valley
Polished nose, lifted by some Cabernet Franc, I think. Then Brian confirmed, this is 45% Cabernet Franc, 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Syrah. Sweet black fruit. A fairly pretty wine with some nice dried leaf complexity. Maybe some cocoa. Nicely done. This fruit came from John Caldwell's vineyard. $45
Then we went on to taste some barrel samples, starting with 2003 and working backwards.
For the 2003 vintage, Brian had acquired some of his own land, but most of the vintage was made with grapes he basically inherited from the property he bought. The Merlot on the property was cropped at about 8 tons per acre and was pretty light. He is planning to sell it under his “second label”
Fleury Estate
2003 Merlot
Napa Valley
Barrel Sample - a neutral oak barrel (well, one year old). The fruit was cropped at 8 tons per acre, but Brian said he inherited it that way when he bought the property. Vague nose. On the palate it has sweet red and black fruits, some boysenberry. Lightish vanilla scent. I suppose not bad if it is inexpensive. Brian hasn't quite decided what to do with it. It will likely be bottled under the Lauren Bryce label.
Fleury Estate
2003 Cabernet Sauvignon
Meteor Vineyard, Napa Valley
Barrel Sample - Light carmelized sugar nose. Anise. Rich, sweet currant fruit. Not bad, though I think it wants for something. We attemped a theoretical blend of 50/50 using the Merlot and the nose disappeared and the wine was quite soft and vapid. Next we tried 75/25, and more of the Cab's nose came out. Along with some dry weeds, light French oak aromas. The attack became a little sweet-tart. This sample of Merlot would be okay for softening the wine, but it won’t do much for adding complexity, I don't think.
Lauren Bryce
2002 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Barrel Sample - This is 2/3 Rutherford fruit and 1/3 Oakville. Bit of glue on the nose. Crushed boysenberries with seeds. Inky. Sweet carmelized sugar on the attack with decent concentration and richness. Pretty nice. This may wind up as a nice wine. Brian is currently selling this as futures. $40
Fleury Estate
2001 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Barrel Sample from a Calistoga vineyard. This has spent 30+ months in oak. Deeply colored, opaque. The aromatics are a bit muted - light pencil lead, carmlelized sugar, vanilla. A bit oaky midpalate and astringent in the finish. Hmm
Fleury Estate
2002 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Barrel Sample - This is from Stagecoach vineyard. Muted aromatics again. Light glue, touch of floral and leafy notes. Luch blackberry fruit on the palate with excellent length. Slightly chewey tannin. Brian is selling this (once bottled) for $75 with a case purchase minimum. $75
Fleury Estate
2001 Petite Verdot
Napa Valley
Barrel Sample - Lovely nose - leafy, vanilla, ink. Rich, concentrated. Boysenberry fruit, somewhat obscured by structure. This is likely a nice addition to one of these Cabs. We then did some samples blending this with the Cabs. The first Hypothetical blend was 85% Cabernet (of which 25% was the Calistoga sample) and 15% of the Petite. I thought it was nicely layered and concentrated, but I thought some of the good qualities of the Petite Verdot were lost. But I was in the minority and we next tried a 5% blend with the Petite. This time, the wine seemed to sing, with sweet carmelized sugar, crushed black fruit, layers of flavor and sweetness. Pretty nice. I think I may have been wrong.
Leaving Brian, we scrambled to get to our next appointment with Patrick Elliot-Smith of Elan. Elan is 10 miles up Atlas Peak road. Leaving behind Napa Valley, we passed more ranch scrub and rough terrain than vineyards. In fact, by the time we reached our destination, it had been about 5 miles of winding road since we had seen another vineyard.
Despite the fact that we were two hours late, Patrick welcomed us into his home, which is an impressive rammed-earth construction with a beautiful view down the backside of Atlas Peak. Elan’s barrel room is built beneath the house. Apparently their home is often used by catalogues and magazines for photo shoots.
Until 1992, Patrick sold all the grapes from his oldest vineyard (planted in 1986) to Caymus. In that year he began producing his own wine, Elan. The remaining grapes on his property go to Stag’s Leap Winery. In all, they have about 13 acres at an elevation of 1800 feet. The only varieties they grow are Cabernet Sauvignon, with small amounts of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
Patrick laid out some Petite Basque cheese and a baguette, and poured us his 1999 Cabernet. Patrick feels that the 2000 will be a much bigger wine, but he felt it was too young to pour us today, though it is in bottle. I thought that was a little strange, and a bit disconcerting, but we picked up some to find out for ourselves.
Elan
1999 Cabernet Sauvignon
Atlas Peak, Napa Valley
Polished sweet oak nose. Some tobacco leaf and cedar. Deeply colored with a bit of tawny in the hue. Seems to have a little bit of excess alcohol in the finish. Cocoa powder. Rather tight still. Smells a little rusty? This could probably go a few more years. Right now it is good, but somewhat austere. The blend includes about 1% Cabernet Franc and 2% Merlot. A total of 880 cases made. 100% French oak, 70% new. The fruit was cropped at 2-2.5 tons per acre. I got the sense this was opening when I came back to it about 20 minutes later. Patrick said the 2000 is an even bigger wine. A little puzzled that we wouldn't let us taste it. $45
After a stroll through the vineyard to talk about vine growing, we left Patrick and headed back into the valley. Patrick was a wonderful host and gave us a parting bottle of his 1998 vintage to try. He feels it was a successful wine, but more Bordeaux-like in weight and flavor.
So, dinner that night was at Langley’s in Windsor. Langley’s food seems to be very successful, but their wine list was pretty uninspiring, so we opted to BYOB some of the wine from the car. The Elan 1998 did turn out to be a pleasant surprise with herb and pencil lead nuances. Less fruit driven, but still retaining fruit. Soft and drinkable, it paired well with the food. The 2000 Lauren Bryce Meritage was about how it tasted earlier that day.
Wednesday:
Finally, on the way out of town the next morning, we stopped by Nicholson Ranch in southern Sonoma Valley and tasted a few things.
Nicholson Ranch
2001 Chardonnay
Sonoma Valley
Leesy pear fruit. Tropical. Creamy. Full Malolactic. Not bad. $24
Nicholson Ranch
2002 Chardonnay
Sonoma Valley
This time the Chardonnay was unfiltered. Pear and apple fruit. Rich concentration. White fruit on the palate. Not bad.
Nicholson Ranch
2001 Chardonnay
Cuvee Natalie, Sonoma Valley
This is from a special block within the vineyard. Dense fruit, light French oak in the finish. Not much complexity, but admirable focus.
Nicholson Ranch
2001 Pinot Noir
Sonoma Valley
Cinnamon, clove, tin can nose. Strawberry zest. Pleasant nose. Velvety mouthfeel, though the wine could use more fruit on the palate, now it seem to be all texture. $30
Nicholson Ranch
2002 Pinot Noir
Sonoma Valley
Deeper color than the 2001, and a deeper, more serious nose too. Light earth, plums, cherries. Medium-full bodied with late citrus fruit. Pretty good. $32
Nicholson Ranch
2001 Pinot Noir
Cactus Hill Vineyard
Strawberry and zest on the nose. Layered citrus and red fruit. Late the acidity rises. Nice mouthfeel.
Some Final Comments:
Cheers!
James
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