Napa/Sonoma
Tasted Saturday, November 7, 2009 - Saturday, November 14, 2009 by Nutty08 with 1,465 views
I hadn't been back in Napa in several years, and Rachael had never been, so there was a lot of anticipation built up for this trip. Scouring the eRobertparker board for recommendations, we setup quite a lineup of tastings.
Wanted to get settled in Napa after a long day of travel.
Beautiful day. Given the number of recommendations on the eRP boar thought we would check this one out. had a very nice afternoon tasting with Don Gallagher, who is very excited to show off his wines--as he should be. Our first tasting of the trip and we probably underrated his wines a bit. These were overall outstanding, the Oakville being the favorite of the trip fo Rachael, and were our benchmarks for Cab for the rest of the trip. Greats wines at great prices (for Napa).
Beautiful facility and great views. Had a lot of fun with the tasting group from NY and NJ. Overall great quality wines for good prices. i was a little disappointed with the Cab signature but the Pritchard Hill made up for it.
Very nice dinner, though wasn't blow away. The Telegraphe went especially well with the skirt steak.
Admittedly, I was annoyed with DuMOL. The tasting was a pain to setup, and I was still annoyed they shipped my '07 so early to Texas. I was therefore looking for excuses to come off the list, but I just love the wines hadn't done it yet. We spent the morning tasting with winemaker Andy Smith at their phenomenal new facility outside Windsor. Andy was very gracious and wonderful host and the wines were simply stunning! I haven't tasted through the '07's yet, but the '08's look to blow the socks off '06, and I'm a huge fan of '06 from them. A great tasting overall. Thanks Andy.
Had a nice time at the warehouse for Siduri/Novy in Santa Rosa. Overall, we weren't as impressed as I expected, but this was probably context as we were getting tired from the travels of the day and the fact my expectations were high from previous experience. Still, the best QPR of the tasting and I'm happy that i got to taste a few wines that I had already purchased without tasting. Fantastic quality year in and year out.
Good dinner after a long day of tasting and hiking. Good BBQ.
Jeff was gracious enough to let us walk through the custom crush facility at Laird Family and taste what he was working on. This was setup last minute and definitely appreciate Jeff's hospitality, as I'm sure he's busy. Didn't take detailed notes on the barrel samples as I got mixed up of what was going where, but the '08 Tor barrel seemed to be bright and fresh with red fruits and quite complex. Jeff's '08 cab was slightly more rustic with darker fruit profile and a definite herbal/spicy character (the good kind) and I was quite impressed. Glad I've already picked up some '08 on futures. We were quite impressed with Jeff's mourvedre/grenache blend, just loaded with iron and beef blood notes and great acidity. Overall, we had a great time with Jeff, and definitely appreciate his time spent with us. Can't wait to see what else he is working on.
Definitely the highlight of the trip. We setup a tasting with winemaker Jean Hoefliger, who was gracious enough to spend time with us even after we moved the tasting time multiple times. (Thanks Jean!). Jean's wines were simply stunning, I can't say how impressed we were. Everyone on the eRP board was totally right, there are great things going on with this winery. I couldn't leave Napa w/o a bottle of the ERA, which I can say was the most expensive bottle I've ever purchased, and I wish I could have bought a case.
We had some of this bottle after hiking up the hill in Bothe-Napa state park. Great views and great weather. Wine was fantastic with smoked sausage and cheese.
Didn't take notes, but an interesting over-the-top tasting room, nice gardens, and some OK wines that weren't that memorable.
I wasn't that impressed with Travigne a few years ago, but with a free corkage fee and within walking distance to the hotel, we were sold. We enjoyed a couple of very nice pasta dishes that were better than my trip a few years ago. They actually came out so fast that we finished most of the wine with bread and cheese. Another fantastic bottle of Pegau.
We setup a private tasting of a few library wines. We had a nice time, wines were good, and our host was knowledgeable and pleasant. A good stop on your first trip to Napa.
This was maybe the tasting I was looking forward to most. I can trace most of my interest in wine back to a tasting here with the '02 HHS, which I guess you could describe as a wine epiphany. This time around while having good wines, I wasn't as impressed. Maybe I'm more experienced now and not as easily impressed, or maybe the '05 HHS just isn't close to the '02 or maybe our experience at Alpha and Omega just overshadowed this tasting. Good wines overall, but not worth the price to me (and I was planning on getting some HHS if I liked it more).
Was in walking distance from the hotel. Given the press in WS about this winery, I was curious. The wines tasted were very good, with bright acidity and red fruits. I can see how they would stand out in a blind tasting and were very good now, but I'm not sure how they'll age or if they will improve at all.
On the walk back to the hotel before dinner, we decided to try some entry level cab's. they were fine, but nothing special after the wines of the day. Generic Napa tasting experience.
I didn't know much about sparkling wines and this tour was quite informative. I haven't had much higher end champagne and I was quite impressed with the quality here. Will be looking for this in the future.
On the way to SF, we stopped here as we loved the '06 Two Sisters bottling. Overall, this was hit or miss. We found the wines overdone and hot. Still, there were a few very good ones in the bigger Cali style...but I find myself getting away from that style as time goes on.
A nice change compared to Martinelli. Great balanced wines and a most impressive Zin. A nice visit to wrap up our winery tastings.
Dinner at Boulevard to wrap up vacation. Fantastic dinner and highly recommended. The Kanzler did not disappoint.
Overall, a fantastic vacation with special thanks to the winemaker who took time out of their busy schedules to spend time with us.
2005 Waypoint Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena
(11/7/2009)
Had at the Bounty Hunter wine bar, not sure how long it had been open, but seemed smooth like it had been open for a while. Rather shy nose of spicy vanilla and cedar. Palate was smooth, with fine tannin and not terribly structured but balanced. Currants and a little cassis, but the palate was really dominated by chocolate, earth, and a very strong vanilla cream character. Despite having a heavy oak influence, I really enjoyed the dense layers of complexity on the palate, going into a lengthy finish of currants, cedar and vanilla cream. Complex, dense, full bodied cab that delivers now and show improve over the next 5 years.
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2008 Pursuit Pinot Noir Carneros 85 Points
USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros
(11/7/2009)
Rather disappointing. Thin acidic palate and shy nose, really only giving up sour cherry, barnyard, and animal character. Simple, thin, and short finish. Interesting style in a Cali cab(more in a Burgundian style), but lost in the crowd with other producers.
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