Napa with a connection in Houston
Tasted Sunday, February 5, 2023 - Thursday, February 9, 2023 by Geaux Tigers with 366 views
Things I thought I might be thinking
After all the devil’s lettuce floating in the air in Vegas, it was nice to get some fresh air in Napa.
Age is catching up with us. 11 tastings in 2.5 days was brutal but worth it. This self described spring chicken is extending his visit by a day next time and will do fewer visits over more days.
It was colder in June 2021 than February 2023.
2021 will be a good year but yields are way down almost across the board.
2022 will be difficult across the board, I’m curious to see the menagerie of wines that will result. My two favorite WTF stories were rumors of blocks being picked at 38 Brix or even higher and another of grapes found to be fermenting on vine. A discriminating buyer would do well to look close at 2022.
Money, money money. A lot of money is rolling around buying up land and grapes. Does not bode well for a pause in inflationary pricing in the coming years.
I’m glad we missed the Pineapple Express, but water was everywhere after days of rain. I always wanted to see Napa in the yellow winter bloom, but I think prefer the leaves on the vines and in the trees. Next time we’ll visit in April or May before the summer warming.
Torc had the best duck breast entree I have ever eaten. Otherworldly!
My favorite wine of the trip was one I brought with us from HTX for a special meal—a 2013 Cresta Velia cabernet from Howell Mountain. Go figure!
Had to fly in/out SFO. Ugh! United—get your act together and put reasonably timed Sacramento flights back on the schedule.
If you’re heading out soon, note there is a lot of road construction in the southern part of the valley.
People make the visit, not the wines.
Beautiful property in St. Helena, Tyler was a gracious host who poured us through some great wines and gave us a tour of the property. Two other wines we tried below in addition to the formal notes.
21 Rose of Grenache-nice opener, but neither a rose nor a Grenache fan
2021 Pinot - Young and in need of time to calm down. Black cherries and smoky notes. Unfair to score, PN is not our thing.
First time for us to hit bubbles in Napa. Great visit and very informative, Lisa was a great host. Biggest takeaway—we don’t like aged bubbles. YMMV. Blanc de Blancs and extra brut are our wheelhouse, but Blanc de Noirs are delicious too. No notes. Bought Blanc de Noirs Extra Brut and Cremant Demi-sec.
John Anthony-dropped in before dinner at Cole’s for a quick visit and forgot about time.
Also tasted 2 Chardonnays and a Syrah.
Roy was kind enough to meet us at Brix for lunch and bring two wines and share a wealth of knowledge on his wines, happenings in the valley and the craziness of what is the wine business in general. In the end, he even joined us at Colgin after Brix.
Beautiful property, gorgeous tasting scene overlooking Lake Hennessy. Danielle was a very accommodating host, and a shout out to her for an awesome visit. A plethora of sports memorabilia from prior visitors, more basketballs than anything else. It was neat sharing this tasting with Roy and getting his insights on the wines as we drank.
Chris hosted us in the cellar for our last tasting of the day. Again another winemaker with HTX connections and a great story of how Texans end up going great things in Napa. Such a down to earth and humble guy. This was one of our favorite visits, and the collection of wines Chris is making now rival the stable of anyone in the valley.
We also tasted through separate blocks of a new wine the 2021 Game Farm in barrel, both old and young vines. As individual components, the old and young vines were delicious on their own, and I can’t wait to see what the blend will look like. This is a buy when released.
A visit with Will should be on everyone’s bucket list during a trip to Napa. Will was gracious enough to host us up at the 810 Foothill facility next to Rivers Marie and was kind enough to give us a quick walkabout through the RM facility before tasting the ‘21 goodies. Spent our time bs’ing about wine, business and most importantly college football! Before we knew it our time was over and off we went.
Michael Ploetz was kind enough to host us for a great tasting with a mix of great wines, young and aged. Great and exciting things happening at Arrow & Branch—if you’re not on this list, you’re missing out. A big thank you to Michael.
We had an awesome chill, relaxed visit with Jason Court at his new downtown Napa tasting salon near Mark Herold’s tasting room. The salon has a great antique Texas vibe that we loved.
Last visit of our trip in the famous Caldwell cave, ornate and beautiful. A place we’ve been wanting to visit for many trips and finally managed to make it work. We started with a sparkling which was good and a Sauvignon Blanc that had a flavor profile unlike any other SB I’ve ever had. Different, but didn’t fit our palates. Four wines stood out for us, which we bought, along with some stemware for good measure.
Also tasted a 2020 Dessert Wine, a mix of brandy with Syrah port, this was delicious. Will likely be better as a dessert accompaniment than alone.
A chance bump into Stu Lerner at baggage claim in Houston led to dinner the following night with a lovely stable of awesome Lerner wines. Great dinner, better wines, and even better group of people to share dinner.
Time to dry out
2021 Sinegal Sauvignon Blanc 91 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
(2/5/2023)
Somewhat unique in its profile, pears, hint of red apple, grapefruit, crisp without being bitter and overly acidic. Mrs Geaux loved it. Bought. 91 pts
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2018 Sinegal Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 95 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
(2/5/2023)
Belle of the Ball. Red and black fruit is nice harmony, though young and somewhat tannic, this has potential as it ages and unfurls further. Most expressive nose of the wines we tasted today. Already bought. 95 today.
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2019 Sinegal Cabernet Sauvignon 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
(2/5/2023)
Good not great, still very young with GIII fruit being overt at the moment. Needs time to integrate the oak. 92 at this infant phase with upside into mid 90s.
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2019 Sinegal Cabernet Franc 94 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena
(2/5/2023)
Lots of stuffing here. Still primary, but somewhat restrained. Earthy notes dominate the fruit on the palate, but there is a lovely floral component that shines on the nose and compliments the earthy notes on the nose. Bought one and would have bought more if they let me! JD and AG both gave this a Benjamin and I can see why, but lest these rest for 5-7 years minimum for maximum reward. 94 today, still plenty of upside. Time will tell if the 100 pt award is earned, but killer value for the juice at 225ish.
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