Napa in the City: Masterclass & Lunch
The Pool/Grill
Tasted Saturday, April 9, 2022 by MC2 Wines with 337 views
Introduction
The inaugural year of Napa in the City although I suspect it won't be the last one (and I look forward to participating again in the future). Sadly we had to miss the Friday night because of another commitment but we did make the masterclass and the lunch (sometimes I almost enjoy the lunch a bit better - it's a bit more intimate than the dinner). Lots of wonderful wines tasted and wonderful people met.
Flight 1 - MASTERCLASS (15 Notes)
Flight 2 - LUNCH (4 Notes)
In addition we had some of the VHR although as I'd already written a note I incorporated those thoughts as part of the Masterclass notes.
Closing
I almost feel inclined to take Brad's advice and recognize that each of the wines was special in its own unique way and you almost don't have to 'rate' them against each other. Similar to the speakers who each had their own charm. We spend a lot of time with Napa (well, we go every year) and so getting an opportunity to try some new places (Bryant, Vineyardist) and connect directly with places that we've always liked (Heitz) but never actually visited made it well worth the price of admission.
2017 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Trailside Vineyard
USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford
For as much as I really love the older versions of these you would think that I would be more connected to the current winery and yet I haven't (although the last time we were in Napa I did say I thought we needed to find our way here). This wine only cements that opinion. It's really nice. A bit more peppery in style. Very balanced, very fresh, very bright. Not a standard vinification (there's a lot of time in tanks at different points). The output really works though. Looking forward to getting to know more about these wines.
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2018 Blankiet Estate Rive Droite
USA, California, Napa Valley
We had this as the winery about a month ago when we did our most recent visit. Still a nice wine although of course quite young. Bright red fruits, white pepper, a bit more one-dimensional on this showing but that is perhaps a product of getting served at a cooler temp and being a very young wine. At this temperature the fruit comes across more muted and the pepper is more predominant. It doesn't surprise me that the other notetaker for the event said it had opened up quite a bit at lunch.
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2018 VHR Cabernet Sauvignon Vine Hill Ranch
USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
Darker and deeper and slightly brooding but fresh blackberries and again that spicy pepper note and a great freshness right in the mid-palate. Another wine that opened up well with lunch (this was the table we sat at). It continued to drink well. I look forward to seeing our bottles in 20-25 years.
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2018 Corison Cabernet Sauvignon Kronos Vineyard
USA, California, Napa Valley
One of the legends esp for female winemakers. I'm intrigued to see how this one ages and I think it probably will age well. Cathy talked about how she had spent a lot of time in mountain wines and when she was starting her own project she wanted to get at the intersection of elegance and powerful (if you read my notes those are the wines I always love). This is all pie filling - boysenberry and plum and originally I got some red currant but then it moved more into that style. The wine starts more on the juicy side. Dry tannins which yields a faster finish than I would have expected. More floral in nature. A wine to revisit with some time I think.
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2018 Abreu Madrona Ranch
USA, California, Napa Valley
I'm always impressed with Brad's wines and this was no exception. It's very elegant. Darker red fruits. Lighter on the tongue. Almost a surprise that this is cab and I believe hillside even. Lots of freshness. Just a hint of alcohol at the end, but it blew off and I expect it will soften with some time. A wine made for a pretty long lifetime. The glass I returned to at the end of the tasting. Really lovely if much too young.
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2018 Mayacamas Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon
USA, California, Napa Valley, Mt. Veeder
Another producer that I think I need to spend more time with because the last few times we've had the wines (at Wine Spectator in the fall and again here) I've been really impressed. Lots of freshness, almost a minty note. More herbal. Background of black fruits. Some spice. Well structured and I must say incredibly well priced for a Napa cab. On my radar now.
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2018 Promontory
USA, California, Napa Valley
This wine reminds me a little bit more of the old school intense style of napa. It's big and bold and more structured and more powerful (not all of which makes sense since a lot of the aging is big Austrian casks - perhaps just the power of the mountain fruit?). Not overly ripe though. Mouth coating. Slightly harder tannins. The kind that make me think this might be the most ageworthy of the group and interested to see how it is 30+ years.
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2018 Joseph Phelps Insignia
USA, California, Napa Valley
Another wine that feels a bit closer to the standard Napa valley wine - it's all dark and intense fruit and then there's a bit of the floral and more aggressively so so that it reminds me of handsoap. Mouth coating tannin. Almost a bit spicy in style. Again I wonder how it will age and so I'm not 100% sure about it but it's not really over-ripe it's just big and bold and sometimes those at the wines with the ability to last for many many years.
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2018 Accendo Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon
USA, California, Napa Valley
In a group that included a lot of the who's who of Napa Bart gave perhaps one of the best speeches about his journey from Eisele through to Accendo. In wine I think it's probably not bad to be a bit countercultural and go against the trends of the day and one of the trends of today is definitely that single vineyard and all about time and place. And yet I find there's a lot of wines that I truly love (Grange, Unico) which take a different approach and go for the best wine that can be made in a year. Blending lets you do that. And thus the idea of Accendo came about. It is very silky in style. Darker fruits. Peppery. A bit bigger but not overpowering. Made to last many years - 40+. A Nigel Kinsmann project (whom we've heard a lot about and yet I'm not sure we've drunk that much of his wine). I tend to disagree with the other note that says this is one of the most approachable - I didn't quite get that (although maybe it was because of the silkiness?) but I do think it's a well structured and interesting wine and I'd love to come back in 20-30 years and see how these go and esp how they go in some years that are perhaps less ideal.
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2018 Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain
USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain
A favorite of the tasting for me. The best word I have is just the wine is compelling. I found myself going back over and over again. It was a warm year and yet there was 2 inches of rain going into harvest which kept the wine a bit more balanced and allowed it to stay at that more reasonable alcohol level that I do appreciate. Very approachable, very elegant. Just the combination of the red fruits and maybe a more herbal note. Too young of course, but very enjoyable.
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2018 Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
USA, California, Napa Valley
One of the few Cali cults that we have very little experience with and most of it has been from the 90's so before KK's time. So I was definitely interested and I'd say this turned out to be a nice one to try. Blackberry and darker fruits. More big and bold and definitely from a mountain. There's a good balance to it though - perhaps more powerful than elegant but there is elegance here too. Thinking it could be worth a visit next time we're in Napa.
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2018 Colgin IX Estate
USA, California, Napa Valley
A favorite of mine which is interesting because I wouldn't say this is a wine that is really about subtlety except maybe somehow it is? Lots and lots of floral - perhaps more than the others. More tannins that linger in the mouth and keep the wine going. Black fruits. Touch of spice. Lots of that herbal and sage notes. It's a wine that is again quite young and needs lots of time. Interesting because the vineyard faces NE - an different decision back in the 90's when they were planting it and climate change was less discussed. Overall a nice wine and fun to try.
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2019 Di Costanzo Cabernet Sauvignon Farella Vineyard
USA, California, Napa Valley, Coombsville
We had one of the early vintages of this many years ago with some friends. Former winemaker at Screagle who is doing his own thing now. Coombsville fruit before it was a sub-AVA. This is the first vineyard site that they sourced from. Was looking for cooler weather with the volcanic soils and managed to get both. This is bigger red fruits, soft tannins, some herbal. It again is a bit more one dimensional although you can see the verticality in it. I like to think with age it would grow a bit broader and be a bit more interesting.
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2019 The Vineyardist Cabernet Sauvignon Calarcadia Vineyard
USA, California, Napa Valley, Diamond Mountain
A surprise of the tasting for us since we both found ourselves quite enjoying this wine although I think maybe we've heard of it once. Diamond Mountain. Very fresh in style. Very young. Fruity. Lighter tannin at the end that kindof abruptly stops the fruit. Interested to see how it develops.
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2019 Realm Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Hartwell XX
USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District
Bigger and bolder and definitely intense. I wondered how the line-up was decided and I think it was because this is a wine that is hard to go back to some of the earlier ones in the line-up and still be able to fully taste them. Very powerful and dark while still in that silky-style tannin. I think the intensity is being driven more from the body of the wine.
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