Impressions from a weekend in Napa Valley Day 2
Napa Valley
Tasted Tuesday, April 8, 2014 by clayfu with 582 views
Introduction
Bright and early start as our first appointment was at 11am in Rutherford. We rushed over to Bouchon Bakery to get some carbs in the system and headed over to our first appointment.
We had Alpha Omega, Mondavi and Silver Oak on the list for visits this day. My intention on the second day was to give a more general napa tour to my friends, show them the pretty wineries, bigger production and more extravagant set ups. A different feel from the day before, where we're hanging out with friends and drinking their wines. Both are good experiences and I felt doing something more traditional would be a great learning experience.
Flight 1 - Alpha Omega (6 Notes)
Jean always puts together quite the tasting at Alpha Omega. My friends typically buy the riper style cabernets in Napa so I wanted to show them what I think is the most "bordeaux" style winery on Highway 29. The tasting was conducted in their beautiful loft space. The tasting was hosted by Rick, former silicon valley - ite and he led a great tasting full of laughter and great wine.
Everytime I visit Alpha Omega I feel like it takes another step up. The flavors become more classic and restrained and I believe they'll last and grow as any of the classic wineries in Napa. The wines we tried were no exception.
We also tasted from barrel the
2012 Cabernet Sauv To-Kalon: A dense dark brooding wine stuffed with tannins and dark fruit with plenty of broad structure
2012 Cabernet Sauv SunShine Valley Vineyard: A much brighter wine than the to-kalon, more acidity, less tannin, bright fruit, but still with a firm structure that will allow it to flesh out
2012 Cabernet Suav Missouri Hopper Vineyard (Beckstoffer): This wine was a balance between the to-kalon and the sunshine. It had a strong tannic structure but at the same time had juicier fruit than the to-kalon and a decent amount of acidity. There was also a note of graphite on the nose mixed in with berries that I really enjoyed.
Flight 2 - Robert Mondavi Winery (7 Notes)
I wanted to take my friends to one classic historical winery. A touch of my own personal history is involved with this winery as it was my very first visit to Napa Valley and the wines were the wines that pushed me into wine collecting, so I was pretty excited to take my friends there. We had a good connection to the winery so we reached out and they accomodated us with a really fantastic tasting. The head of the To-Kalon club, Anton Pestun led our tasting and tour. Really vibrant and enthusiastic employee of Mondavi, he's been there for almost 20 years but his enthusiam was off the charts. We walked the to-kalon vineyards, went through the barrel room and settled into one of two glass enclosed areas within the Cabernet Reserve barrel room.
My biggest take away from this tasting is just how important storage is. Wines that never left the winery and were poured for us tasted so much more youthful than bottles of older Mondavi CSR I've sourced myself. When Anton popped the 92 CSR i was worried it'd be faded due to the vintage, but man the nose was incredible. Just every older wine we had at Mondavi just tasted so damn good.
We tasted through the 92 Reserve, the To - Kalon, Sauv blanc, pinot noir, moscato and oakville cab in the barrel room. Afterwards we went up to the To Kalon tasting room and he popped a 97 CSR, 96 Fume Blanc I block and 2010 Fume Blanc I block. There was also a finished bottle of 94 CSR that someone had finished right before we got there =(.
Wonderful tasting and visit and just reminded me how much I love Mondavi wines.
Flight 3 - Silver Oak (4 Notes)
Where else would you take a bunch of attorneys but Silver Oak? All of them have had their fair share of SO at steakhouses and client dinners, so I thought it'd be a fun visit. Matt Harris contacted his buddy Scott that runs the wine club for SO and we set up a tasting.
The use of American oak by SO is very prominent in almost every young wine they have. It adds that textured sweet vanilla that I guess is their signature. It was still a very good visit as Scott was an awesome host. He carried around bottles of wine tucked under his arm as we toured the facility, refilling everyone that was low. Smart sales tactic ;D.
Flight 4 - Oenotri Restaurant (3 Notes)
We had dinner at Oenotri Restaurant. A lot of people raved about the restaurant when I asked so we did a late dinner there after everyone was refreshed from a day of tasting. I thought the food was fine.. but a little bit bland. All the pastas/pizzas needed one extra ingredient to make it pop. The below wines were opened with dinner.
Closing
After dinner we all headed back and took down that last 2l of Pliny :).
An incredible trip with super generous people. Thank you Will Segui, Thomas Brown, Mike Smith, jean hoefliger, Rick (sorry didn't get the last name), Scott (same no last name), Anton Pestun, Genevieve Janssens for the great visits!! We checked in almost 3 full cases of wine and everyone had a great time.
2010 Alpha Omega Proprietary Red
USA, California, Napa Valley
I've always been a fan of this wine as everytime I have it, I feel like AO is doing something very few wineries are doing in Napa.. they are asking for patience. Out of the newer wineries, I think AO's prop red is about as "bordeaux" in style as it gets. The wine throws off a beautiful nose of cigar, leather, dark rustic berries and on the palate the flavors are deep and compelling but brooding and structured. There is an ample backbone of tannin and acidity that washes over the mouth. But compared to other lush Napa cabs, you'll need patience to have the wine flesh out and grow, but I strongly believe this wine will have a longer shelf life than most Napa reds in the price point.
I strongly recommend buying the wine and just letting it sit. I grabbed a few for myself at the winery and will do just that!
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2011 Alpha Omega Era
USA, California, Napa Valley
The palate on this wine is so deep and concentrated with a spiraling core of brutish dark fruit but propped up by a big dose of acid. There's a richness in the fruit that keeps the flavors focused and compelling, but there's still enough structure on the wine that you know it's going to need time to fill out. At the time we tried it, the wine was still a bit shy and it did open up more as the morning went by, but I think it'll really blossom with air.
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2012 Alpha Omega Era
USA, California, Napa Valley
Barrel sample
Take all that burly structure from the 2011, reduce the tannins, enhance the richness of the dark fruit and make it even more precise and concentrated, make the earthy undertones a little more pronounced and you have the 2012 Era. A fantastic step up from the 2011 and a very compelling wine as almost every 2012 I've tried this trip has been.
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2010 Alpha Omega Cabernet Sauvignon
USA, California, Napa Valley
Powerful cabernet, doesn't have the same earthy tones on the nose as the Prop red, but has a riper nose of mocha and sweet cherry. Far more tannic and more masculine than the prop red. Like the prop red, I wouldn't recommend opening one now, but give it some time to settle in. I think once the tannin settles it'll be very rewarding.
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2011 Alpha Omega Chardonnay
USA, California, Napa Valley
Round ripe pear and apple on the palate, with enough minerality to cut through some of the fat. The 100% malo is more evident as the wine has a fatness to it, but I think with time it'll resolve and benefit the wine.
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2012 Alpha Omega Sauvignon Blanc
USA, California, Napa Valley
I'm a really big fan of the sauv blanc here. The nose is bright and alive filled with citrus, straw/hay and has a freshness to it that really brightens up the senses. The palate is a soft mouthfeel yet still crisp and fresh with lots of delicious grapefruit rind and flavors of lemon grass with very high acidity.
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