Tasted Sunday, July 14, 2019 - Thursday, July 18, 2019 by Geaux Tigers with 404 views
Another great visit in 2019. Met a lot of great people and tasted a lot of new wines for us. In no particular order, here are general observations—
Tasting fees continue to piss me off for places that I have a history of buying. A very reputable long standing winery charged us for a tasting fee. I knew about it in advance. The visit itself was so so and the wines served a bit warm. They didn’t ask for payment at the end. Two days later I get an email asking for payment. Made my decision NOT to buy really, really easy. The guilty will not be named and I doubt they will miss my purchase.
Speaking of which, we paid a fee at only one other place, again unnamed, but the visit was awesome and I felt I got value from the deal.
In most cases, hosts and the personal interactions to tasting are a far bigger influence in buying than the wine itself.
Shout out to Bruce Phillips, Will Segui, Jnani Matson, Russell Bevan, Pumpkin, and the Kinsman’s for being being such fantastic hosts, and frankly some of the best people you will meet.
Tie for wine of the trip - 2016 VHR and 2018 Bevan Saunders
Tie for best new and upcoming projects - Kinsman and William & Mary
The Vintage House in Yountville is a great property but they need better pillows.
Cole’s Chop House has the best bone-in ribeye in Napa.
St Helena traffic is awful. Southbound traffic on 29 at the end of the day is worse.
Whataburger beats In & Out Burger hands down. Sorry, California peeps.
Napa summer is like Texas winter.
The macerated berries with meringue puff at Bouchon is a top 5 dessert.
We saw no effect in the wines themselves from the fires. Some places simply lost fruit. We will buy the 17 vintage with confidence.
Headed up to Calistoga for a quick visit with Amici. With the addition of Tony Biagi, keep an eye on Amici, the wines from 2015 are really a step up from prior years. New fruit sources coming on and the winemaking is producing results.
Boich - Another place to keep an eye on. We met with Jnani Matson and had an absolute blast talking about everything, including some really great wines. New sources coming online, suggest folks check this one out. The Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper was the clear winner here.
Dunn is a bucket list visit. Worth doing at least once.
Aonair was a new project for us. Great visit!
Amizetta was also a new place. This views on the patio are gorgeous and this was a perfect way to end the day. Suggest folks consider the trek up and finish here. Under the radar Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, at great prices.
VHR - put a visit here on your bucket list. Bruce Phillips is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Great and educational time walking the vines and learning out the history and layout of the blocks. Oh, the 2016 wine is everything you’ve heard and more.
Ovid - put this on your bucket list too. Best views and most scenic tasting room in all of the Valley. We love Cab Franc so the Hexameter was the highlight of our visit. The folks are are customer savvy and deserve a shout out for being great hosts and accommodating a last minute shift.
Bevan - tasted at Tench, where to begin? Visiting with Pumpkin is always a hoot. Managed to travel vineyard and get a look at both Tench and a driveby of both Harbison and Screaming Eagle vines. But for the path, hard to tell where one started and the other ended. Even had a guest appearance from Russell who tasted through a couple of 2018 barrel samples with us. The 2018s from Bevan are out of this world, but the 2018 Saunders knocked our socks off. Nothing was disjointed and everything was already beautiful. Exploding fruit on the palate, no hard edges, nice complimentary earth components that come from the vineyard. A must buy.
We also tried a barrel sample of the 2018 Lerner Project Armstrong Vineyard. Keep an eye out for this one folks, this one turned heads too.
Cornell - a beautiful property that is actually on the Sonoma side of Spring Mountain. Beautiful wines, but these will need 10+ years to fully show the potential.
William & Mary - Tasted at Mending Wall. A lot of great things going on for William & Mary. Will Segui is such a great host and genuinely great guy. Get on board! The 2017 Cab stood out for us but the 2018s from barrel were a clear step up. Be on the lookout for something new from W&M and don’t pass it up. Oh, the Rivers Marie wines were good too.
Kinsman - finished our Trek @ Wheeler Farms and tasted both 2016s. Shea and Nigel showed us a great time and, quit rightly are very excited about this new venture. Such down to earth great people! These are monstrous beautiful wines that will need cellar time. I haven’t been this optimistic about a tannic monster since the 2013 MacDonald. The Anjea will drink earlier than the Rhadamanthus but I think the latter can age for many years. Jump on these while you can. Be on the lookout for a neat addition starting with the 2018 vintage.
Our best trip so far. Bodies and palates are toast. Time to go home and relax.
2015 Amici Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard 93 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
(7/14/2019)
A really good effort here that had lots of air. Red fruit, tobacco and an earthy mineral streak. This was slightly muted compared to the Missouri Hopper, but I think this will age much better and win a marathon when comparing the two. The Hopper is for now and the next few years, the To Kalon is for later—definitely 98-99 potential with 7-9 years on it—if I can wait that long.
Post a Comment / 3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2015 Amici Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper Vineyard Oakville 94 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
(7/14/2019)
Red fruit, floral notes, faint bubble gum and a touch of brandy with a slight oak note on the nose. Oak in play on the palate, but tannins are in the background. More red fruit, bing cherries, faintish raspberry on the palate. We preferred this over the ‘14.
Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2016 Amici Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 90 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
(7/14/2019)
A blend of, I believe, 12 vineyards. Seems to suffer from an identity crisis. This was good and I would definitely buy at a steakhouse. Nice fruit profile, but chalky tannins still a bit in the way. Made for drinking early. Our least favorite cab at the tasting.
Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2014 Amici Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper Vineyard Oakville 91 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
(7/14/2019)
On its own this is a good wine. Compared to its younger sibling the ‘15, it suffered and was outmatched. Good fruit and nice structure, but seemed disjointed. Red fruited palate without the bubble gum; floral note and bing cherries made this a pleasure to drink. However, the ‘15 seemed much more lively and integrated. This was a good comparison of vintage effect.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue