Napa - Lokoya - Vice Versa - Memento Mori
Tasted Saturday, May 1, 2021 by bsumoba with 305 views
Introduction
On a Saturday morning, I woke up at 6am to the excitement of an alarm that I normally am not excited about. Today was different because we were on our way to what a couple of us would argue is our equivalent of Mecca. Napa is our happy place, a sort of religion that few will ever understand and we were about to make more memories and visit the thing that excites most of us, this fermented grape juice that can put some of us into an out of body experience. For me, I can often remember events, dates and parties best when wine is in the picture. My first date with my wife was with a 97’ Beaulieu Private Reserve. Our wedding was with a 1997 Laurent-Perrier Champagne Grand Siècle Cuvée Alexandra. For us wine junkies, this is common practice. I was thinking to myself that today would be the same and I would remember this day forever.
Our first tasting had us driving up Spring Mountain. This was a humbling journey as we passed all the dead, fire charred trees on this small, winding road to this cult winery. A small group of county workers slowly made their way up the mountain as they gathered and cleared debris from the edge of the road. How could such a small group handle all the work needed to make the area safe for any future fire? The short answer is they cannot and with another predicted drought season coming for 2021, it will be another challenging year that we hope mother nature decides to give the Napa area a break. The 17’ and 20’ fires were just devasting to say the least. I could not imagine owning a winery and going through what these people and businesses went through. Compound that with covid and you have a combination that should make any person drop to their knees and pray that they are spared and can somehow find a way to keep their business alive. Fortunately, many of them did. On Highway 29 we passed bustling small businesses and breakfast spots. We saw people walking around and BBQ pits putting oh so good aromatics into the air. It was a welcome site. This would be me and my wife’s first real trip since covid hit. After making our way further up to the hill, we finally reach the gate to the winery that would be our first of three for the day.
Flight 1 - Lokoya on the Mountain (4 Notes)
Lokoya is one of those luxury brands that few of us would ever taste and even fewer would ever visit. It was a good place to start with the amazing hospitality, the incredibly decadent and well-appointed tasting room and the jaw dropping views. It felt like a good place to start with the style being new world edging on old world. Chris Carpenter is a master of the dark, big mountain fruit and the 16’ vintage is phenomenal. Jose was our host for the tasting and did a great job explaining to us the wines, the sites and the brand. We made our way to the tasting table and in front of us, stood four glasses signifying the horizontal tasting we were about to partake in as well as a great plate of cheese, crackers, nuts and jelly. All four wines were decanted for 2 hours and in glass for ½ hour.
Flight 2 - Remember to Live! (4 Notes)
Memento Mori was the 2nd stop of the day and it was a long run from Spring Mountain but we got there. We were greeted by Genevieve and Riley, the dog. The tasting room was like coming to funky, down to earth, casual spot. It was a place you felt like you could hang out for the whole day, watch some movies, and drink some wine. Sam Kaplan, the winemaker has a style that is both approachable now but has the stuff to age it in bottle. The story of the owners of the label was quite inspiring and their sort of take on the phrase, Memento Mori is both morbid yet carpe diem-esque, “Remember to Live”. We were definitely living today! All four were very fragrant and were all singing in the glass. In the first hour, they all felt a bit similar but with some swirling and air, you could pick out the differences easily.
Flight 3 - Vice Versa in the Cave (4 Notes)
Can it get any better than this? Um…yes! Vice Versa was the last stop and to be honest, was the tasting I look forward to the most of the three. We made our way back up 29 and made the left across Whitehall Lane. Pulling up to the gate, we punched in the code and crept up the winding road to a spot that wasn’t as jaw dropping a view as we saw at Lokoya, but easily merits a stop to appreciate the view and the beautiful day we had. Ilse greeted us at the fork of the gravel road and we made our way to the barn. As we looked around us, young vines and falcons soared above us, riding the updrafts from this hillside oasis. I asked earlier, can it get any better than this? The answer is again, yes! We entered the cave and was greeted with a beautiful spread of cheese, crackers and meats. 4 large glasses sat in front of each of us as Ilse began to explain what lay in front of us. I was ready…
Closing
There were zero bad or even good wines today. These were all very good to great to excellent. I’ve had great tastings at places like Peter Michael, Ridge, Insignia, and Quintessa. It felt like a bit of the passing of the guard today where a set of relatively new wines (to me) are starting to enter my cellar in large numbers. Vice Versa clearly is the front runner along with Vine Hill Ranch Estate (not in this tasting, but represented through MM), although Vine Hill Ranch is sort of straddling the middle in terms of style and FP’s style is just my kind of wine when I want something that is Bordeaux like but unmistakably Napa. There is also this move towards 100% varietal which as Ilse at VV explained perfectly, leaves these wine naked and cannot hide behind dallops of Merlot, CF or PV. Again, I love that style and will probably never quit loving them, but there is something about 100% CS and SVD that seems to attract many of us here on CT. If we all wanted recipe wine that tastes the same year in and year out (and does tase good), we would still be drinking our grocery store wines. But, we are looking for nuance and complexity and this new generation of winemakers are giving it to us in spades!
Final ranking for the day:
19’ Vice Versa Dr. Crane – 99
18’ Memento Mori VHR – 97
18’ Vice Versa Las Piedras – 97
16’ Lokoya Mount Veeder – 97
18’ Vice Versa Steltzner – 97
18’ Memento Mori Las Piedras – 96
19’ Vice Versa Mysterons – 96
16’ Lokoya Spring Mountain – 96
16’ Memento Mori – 95
16’ Lokoya Diamond Mountain – 95
18’ Memento Mori – 95
16’ Lokoya Howell Mountain – 94
2016 Lokoya Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain 95 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Diamond Mountain
The Diamond mountain was probably the most approachable now. Even at this point in its life, I can see this wine being a crowd pleaser with a good decant. Dark red fruits, fine tannins and good mouthfeel was the name of the game for this wine and it is very clear why this is the first wine we start off with. For me, this was #3 of the tasting but if I were to bring all these to a party today, I can imagine this being #1 for most. It is so accessible now that it will be interesting to taste this in another 5-15 years to see how it has evolved and changed.
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2016 Lokoya Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain District 96 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District
Spring Mountain was the standout for the group of 4, placing #1 or #2. Initially, this was my #1, but with time in the glass the Veeder just had more stuffing that pleased my taste buds. Dark mountain fruit, a minerality that seem to be more evident in this wine and more of a floral note dominated the nose and palate. Tannins were fine and smooth, almost silky on the palate. I came back to this quite often in the beginning until the Veeder started strutting its stuff towards the end of the tasting.
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2016 Lokoya Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain 94 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain
BIG! This needs time but it was still good to taste young to see where it is at. Dark chocolate, some forest floor and dark cherries filled the nose and palate. Quite tannic at this stage, but it was not punch you in the face tannic. I had a bottle from another Howell mountain winery a few months ago and that was not approachable for me. This was #4 of 4, but can easily see this jumping the line in 5-15 years. This is a wine I would put down for maybe 10 years or more and would reward the patient person. 94 today but there is huge upside in this wine. I wished I could visit this in 24 hours to see how it is and I bet the score would change a good amount.
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2016 Lokoya Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder 97 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Mt. Veeder
This was #1 after the 2 hours tasting, but it was #2 in the beginning. This wine was changing in the glass and it was fun to watch it do so. Red and dark blue berries, blackberries and a hint of spice dominated the nose and palate here. There was a slight floral component that was coming out in the wine too. I’ve had a number of Mt. Veeder wines in the past and this was clearly smoking all the wines I’ve had. There was a tannin structure that you can tell was going to allow this to age very well. I would give this a good 6 hour decant if you want to try it now. Pour it in the glass and watch it evolve but it seemed to be best with at least 4 hours. But for me, this is a cellar lurker and will need some age in bottle to really strut its stuff. Is it 100 pt as a couple critics pointed out? Not for me. But, clearly it is 96+ with upside.
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