Spring 2022 Dream Napa Trip
Tasted April 11, 2022 - April 12, 2022 by bsumoba with 487 views
Introduction
Big thanks to LiteItOnFire for setting up this dream of a trip. I was just honored to be asked to join in the festivities. The group of guys were incredible, funny, and all around just great company and lovers of wine. What more can you ask for?
Flight 1 - Tynan in the Caves of Cliff Lede (7 notes)
Tasting with winemaker Christopher Tynan in the caves at Cliff Lede. Christopher’s passion for his craft and his generosity for opening some great wines for us to try just shows what kind of a person he is. It also helps that he just flat out makes a killer wine that one, is incredibly difficult to get and two, is going to bring such pleasure to anyone who is patient enough and lucky enough to get an allocation.
Red
2021 Christopher Tynan Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Old Vines Meleagris Gallopavo
USA, California, Napa Valley
Barrel Sample - Very little of this juice due to a chunk of the vineyard being lost to the 2020 fires. Good backbone and the fruit is there to go long haul, as with all his other wines. This was a real treat and there will be some serious jockeying for this vintage once it releases since there is so little of it.
Red
2018 Christopher Tynan Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Old Vines Meleagris Gallopavo
USA, California, Napa Valley
Great wine in the making. Forest floor, red fruits, great acidity and structure. Built for the long haul which I love. Long finish. I was surprised by how high the alcohol was on the bottle, but you would never know when tasting it, which in my opinion, is indicative of how good Tynan is at making his wine. Hold and be rewarded later.
Red
2011 Christopher Tynan Wines Syrah Judge Family Vineyard
USA, California, Sonoma County, Bennett Valley
Another treat to taste some of Tynan's earlier bottlings. Although Syrah is not my go-to varietal, the wine was fun to taste and easily some of the best Syrah I have tasted coming out of Napa. White pepper, goose jerky sticks, farm funk, plums, cherries, and spices were a common thread amongst all his Syrahs.
Red
2013 Christopher Tynan Wines Syrah Judge Family Vineyard
USA, California, Sonoma County, Bennett Valley
Although Syrah is not my go-to varietal, the wine was fun to taste and easily some of the best Syrah I have tasted coming out of Napa. White pepper, goose jerky sticks, farm funk, plums, cherries, and spices were a common thread amongst all his Syrahs. Tasted alongside the 11 and 21 in barrel
Red
2018 Cliff Lede Cabernet Sauvignon Poetry
USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District
I agree with most of the TNs on this wine. Needs time. I now understand Cliff Lede wines more, knowing that Tynan is part of the program. I will have to seek these out a bit more now.
Flight 2 - Hey There Bella! (3 notes)
Tasting at Wheeler Farms with Martin. Now in its second release, we were able to taste the first two vintages side by side. Bella Oaks is a historic vineyard in Rutherford with its grapes going to iconic producers like Heitz and Staglin. When the vineyard came up for sale, Suzanne Deal Booth revived the property and hired an all star group to bring this site back to greatness. Vineyard manager David Abreu, winemaker Nigel Kinsman and oenologist Michel Rolland teamed up together and have created a great wine that is worthy of carrying the Bella Oaks name.
White
2020 Accendo Cellars Sauvignon Blanc
USA, California, Napa Valley
probably one of the better SBs from CA that I have tasted. I could be just partial to the NZ SB offerings, but this one was better than the Eisele SB I had a few weeks ago.
Red
2018 Bella Oaks Vineyard Proprietary Red
USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford
Similar notes to my last tasting. Needs some air today but is going to be a stunner in 5-10 years. First tasting was slightly more impressive than the tasting here as the 19' in my opinion was showing better today. Hold for now and try in a couple more years.
Red
2019 Bella Oaks Vineyard Proprietary Red
USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford
Showing better than the 18 for me. Very good expression of the 19’ vintage as it felt more approachable now. Softer, more elegant. Great fruit, structure and mouthfeel. I am excited to see how these wines evolve as the vines get older. This vineyard is next door to Greer and not very far from the J.J Cohn Estate (Scarecrow). Hold on to your pants, this project is going to be fun to watch over the next few years.
Flight 3 - Vice Versa - The best horizontal I have ever tasted (9 notes)
Wine tasting with Patrice and Samantha in their lovely home and then dinner at Truss, located at the Four Seasons Resort. Nuff said...
Red
2019 Vice Versa Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard
USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena
Super expressive nose of purple and blue fruits, milk chocolate, with a touch of wood. Incredibly balanced and drinking well now with a decant. Makes me wonder if these are long haul wines, but you won’t know until you try. Going to save the mag for our 25 year anniversary, which is 15 years from now. Something tells me it will be phenomenal
Red
2019 Vice Versa Cabernet Sauvignon Mysterons
USA, California, Napa Valley
Similar notes to when I had it in AZ. Strong buy and I cannot wait for future vintages to see how this vineyard progresses. Maybe a tad outgunned due to the lineup that afternoon.
Red
2019 Vice Versa Cabernet Sauvignon The Magnificent Seven
USA, California, Napa Valley
Just an outright beautiful expression of the 19 vintage and the SVDs built into a singular wine. Would love to have more of this in the cellar. The Crane spoke out to me more as a singular wine, but this gave me a sense of the vintage as a whole and expressed the phenomenal year the 19’ was and when put into the right winemaker’s hands to create a blend that is indicative of the whole, Vice Versa nailed it with this. Concentrated, dark, balanced, and thought provoking to have this side by side with its singular components.
Red
2019 Les Cousins Cabernet Sauvignon
USA, California
Too little time with this wine and was quite disappointed in myself for not focusing more during the dinner to really understand this wine. Hoping to get another shot at it.
Red
2018 Vice Versa Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard
USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena
I preferred the 19’ today. The nose on the 18’ was not as expressive as I was expecting it to be and it could be that the wine was simply not decanted enough or starting to shut down a bit? On the palate, violets and blackberries with hints of chocolate and cedar.
Red
2018 Pierre Gonon St. Joseph
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph
This wine had a nose on it that I have never smelled before in a wine and I caught myself coming to it often. I need to explore these wines more and was glad to have a chance to do so because in other circumstances, I may have never given something like this a shot.
Flight 4 - Impensata in the vineyard on Howell Mtn (3 notes)
Wine tasting on Howell Mountain with Angela. Visiting the newest vineyard that will ultimately become part of the Impensata lineup, we were greeted with a nice trip on the Polaris, great wines and with the winemaker Nigel and vineyard manager David Abreu, this project is destined for great things.
Red
2018 Impensata Proprietary Red Wine Engelhard Vineyard
USA, California, Napa Valley, Calistoga
Similar notes to last tasting with Angela. Had alongside the 17’ which is not released. The 18’ was bigger, more structured and had a presence about it, while the 17’ felt more elegant, floral and restrained. For lovers of fine wine, I think the 18' is going to be a hit while the 17' I think will be more approachable for most.
Red
2018 Impensata Merlot
USA, California, Napa Valley
Similar notes to last tasting, but was fortunate to taste this alongside the 17', which is not released. My comments still stand that this is some of the best Merlot dominant wines I have had out of Napa. Very food friendly and just killer with charcuterie.
Red
2017 Ciminelli Family Foundation Grazie a Voi
USA, California, Napa Valley
Incredible story behind this wine and I am a sucker for them, not to mention that I think Cal Fire deserves a ton of respect and thanks for all that they did in 17’ and 20’. Nose was a tad muted from the wine being a tad too cold. Started to open up a bit as it sat in glass. While not as impressive as the Impensata offerings, this wine is no slouch.
Flight 5 - Tesseron Estate...or should I say, the old Robin William's Estate (3 notes)
Lunch with the Alfred Tesseron at the Estate on Mt. Veeder. Just blows my mind that I was a part of this lunch. Huge property (600+?) with 18 acres planted to vine. Biodynamically grown.
Red
2016 Tesseron Estate Pym Rae
USA, California, Napa Valley
Bigger and more powerful than its 17’ sibling. Lots of earthy notes, wet leaf, black fruit, and a bit of a departure from Napa. Blind, I would have never pegged this as Napa. There is some definite Bordeaux influences in this wine. Hold for now.
Red
2017 Tesseron Estate Pym Rae
USA, California, Napa Valley
The 17’ felt more approachable than the 16’ today and felt more “Napa” than its bigger 16’ sibling. I preferred this over the 16’ today, but the 16’ will most likely come out the victor long term. On the nose, I get a strong sense of earth, ground coffee, spices with an underlying fruit component.
Red
2009 Château Pontet-Canet
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
What a treat to be sitting across from Alfred Tesseron and drinking this. He accidentally served me two glasses of this and I was not going to complain. Blueberries, leather on the nose and a silky texture on the palate but no rush on this wine as I think this still has a long life ahead of itself. What a treat to be tasting this. I was quite frankly, stunned by this wine as I just came off from trying the Pym Rae and this was showing much better for me.
Flight 6 - Promontory...A Cult of a Wine! (6 notes)
This is becoming a favorite of mine and although I do not love the price, there are few things in life that truly put a huge smile on my face and this is one of them. The views from their tasting facility is some of the nicest views you will ever see. On this trip, we were fortunate enough to taste the 13, 14 and 16 and the 20 in barrel.
Red
2020 Promontory
USA, California, Napa Valley
No signs of smoke taint on the palate. Very very primary with red fruits, graphite and mineral notes. A completely different experience than the 19 in barrel. Will be interesting to taste in bottle.
Red
2013 Promontory
USA, California, Napa Valley
Nose was slightly muted for me initially but with temp and time in glass, opened up nicely. Masculine and punchy. Lots of complexity to this wine. This will need some time, but it has a long road ahead of itself. I enjoyed this.
Red
2014 Promontory
USA, California, Napa Valley
Showing better than the last time I tasted this back in August, followed by 13 and 16. Beautiful fruit, a bit of baseball glove leather on the nose. On the palate, just tons of nuance to this wine, with a long finish.
Red
2016 Promontory
USA, California, Napa Valley
Will need time, but I feel that this will most likely surpass everything we tasted today at Promontory with time. Complexity, structure and fruit is all there. Good acidity, a little more punchy than the 14’ at this stage.
Red
2016 Promontory Penultimate
USA, California, Napa Valley
Lighter style, less elegant and more austere than its big brother. Not sure if this is in the same QPR as a Bella Oaks, an Impensata, or an Accendo. Good wine, but not sure on the reasoning for a “2nd wine” for this estate.
Closing
Ultimately, the majority of the wines we tasted are just top notch, arguably "Grand Cru" quality wines out of this little place called Napa Valley. For a trip this large, with so many wines being tasted, I tried my best to give either thoughts, tasting notes and scores that are indicative of how I perceived them on this trip. YMMV.
Full List of wines tasted this trip as I did not post TN for everything.
Christopher Tynan
18 C. Corbet Hillside Blocks
18 Old Vines Meleagris Gallopavo
12 Old Vines Meleagris Gallopavo
21 Old Vines Meleagris Gallopavo
11 Judge Family Vinyeards Syrah
13 Judge Family Vinyeards Syrah
21 Judge Family Vinyeards Syrah (barrel)
21 Old Game Farm (barrel)
21 La Paz JH Cabernet (barrel)
18 Cliff Lede Poetry
Bella Oaks
20 Accendo Sauvignon Blanc
18 Bella Oaks
19 Bella Oaks
Vice Versa
19 To Kalon
19 Dr. Crane
19 Mysterons
19 Magnificent 7
19 Beatrix
Vice Versa Dinner
19 Les Cousins
18 Dr. Crane
18 Pierre Gonon St. Joseph
19 Grenache RIISE
18 Puligny-Montrachet Les Combettes
(?) Andremily
Impensata
NV Legras & Haas, Chouilly Grand Cru, Blanc de Blancs, Brut
17 Engelhard Vineyard
18 Engelhard Vineyard
17 Ecotone Merlot
18 Ecotone Merlot
17 Grazie a Voi, Red Blend, Napa Valley
Pym Rae
16 Estate
17 Estate
09 Pontet Canet
10 Joseph Drouhin Mâcon-Villages
Promontory
12 Dom Perignon
20 Promontory (barrel)
13 Promontory
14 Promontory
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