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is located as their name cleverly indicates, at 1313 Main Street in downtown Napa within walking distance to a number of restaurants and other tasting rooms. This spacious, sophisticated and elegantly decorated tasting room and lounge moved from their original location on the Silverado Trail in mid 2011. Owner Al Jabarin moved to the valley in 1990 and three years later launched an online wine outlet called WineZone.com which became the foundation for Cal Wine. Cal Wine has operated from the Napa Valley since 1995 and Al is one of Napa's wine pioneers in regards to using the Internet to sell wine. The fairly large cellar for Cal Wine's online sales is also located here. Cal Wine has a sizeable online catalogue of Napa produced wine with national and International distribution and they will ship worldwide. With many searchable categories including by winemaker, they make online shopping for wine a breeze. Over the years we've heard of many plans to open a tasting room in the Napa Valley but almost all never materialize. We first met with Al 5 years ago, which is when we heard of his plans to open an establishment like 1313 Main. Tasting rooms and lounges like this only add value to downtown Napa and with their extended evening hours this is a perfect place to stop by for a glass of wine after work. The tasting menu is arranged by 2oz and 5oz pours; you can also order full bottles and yes, they even serve limited production craft beers! In case you didn't know, beer is what Napa Valley winemakers use to quench their thirst after a hard days work in the vineyard or cellar. In the spirit of their physical address and name, a selection of 13 red and 13 white wines as well as 13 beers are offered daily. 1313 Main has has no interest in being a restaurant but with a kitchen on site they do offer several wine pairings and artisanal small plates. You can also order a plate that includes a full selection of all their cheeses offered. The original Cal Wine shop was tiny but 1313 Main has plenty of space including a large outdoor area in the back that will be used for tastings (once fully developed). Ultimately over 1300 different wines will be available for sale - including one side of the lounge devoted to Napa Valley wines and the other side devoted to an International selection of very affordably priced wines. 1313 Main also has one of the largest selections of sparkling wine both for sale as well as available for tasting in downtown Napa. There are two tasting bars: the main bar that greets you at the entrance and there is also another bar in the back of the building which opens as necessary. If sitting at the bar is not your thing, several alcoves are available for sit down tastings and extended periods of conversation including one in front of the fireplace. A special room houses a huge Brazilian Mahogany table - great for serving larger groups or for private tastings. A limited number of wine lockers are available in this room on a monthly lease - each locker holds up to 18 bottles. This already has been popular with Napa based producers who do not have their own tasting room and want to use this room to pour wines for their own clients. With their great location and space, there are plans to hold a number of wine events here including winemaker tastings and other education events. Ever wanted to private label your wine with a label of your choice? Al offers this service through Cal Wine - pick out the wine you want to label, choose one of their stock labels or design your own. This is a great idea for birthdays, weddings and other special occasions. Cal Wine offers a variety of wine clubs. There's usually plenty of free street parking available. For more information, visit: www.1313main.com and www.calwine.com |
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We caught up with David and Monica at their new location just west of Main Street. These digs are spacious, elegant and simply decorated with the focus being on the visitor and the personalized private tasting experience. Visits to 750 Wines are for serious wine enthusiasts and collectors. David has formed close relationships with many well-regarded vintners in the valley and as a result has a collection of wine that would be hard to find elsewhere. As he says, he wants this wine shop to be "off the beaten path but accessible". It certainly is that, as its hidden near a number of businesses but is merely a block from main street St. Helena. In addition, with the start of the new business he wants the focus to be more on the relationships with the winemakers he works with as well as the consumers. Several wine shelves line the concrete walls. You know you are not in a run of the mill wine salon when names such as Araujo, Grace Family, Lail, Robert Foley and others peer out from among these shelves. These are not just wines that appear with no story behind them - David knows the owners and the winemakers of these wineries. He has stories to tell, if you merely ask. When you visit you taste based on the types of wines you enjoy and you can be assured you are trying wines from producers with extremely limited productions. Because of his long term relationships, at times David has been able to secure wines that you cannot find at any other retail locations. Despite being open only a week at the time of our visit they had already held a number of tastings. Such is David's reputation in the valley for quality and a personal touch, that when he opens a new shop, its not really like opening a new shop. He's just moving locations and the winemakers he works with and his customers follow. While having a selection of wines from premium proven boutique producers, David always keeps a sharp eye open for the newest mostly Napa producers to hit the market. If you are looking for new premium Napa brands (current releases), 750 Wines is a good place to begin your search. 750 Wines maintains four wine shipment offerings for a variety of tastes including their WOW Factor - a monthly shipment of 2 of their favorite wines sure to elicit a "wow" upon drinking. David has produced and distributed his own label for several years called Shelter and this can be tasted on site. Shelter is sourced from a number of notable vineyards in the Napa Valley and is found at several premium restaurants in the valley including the French Laundry in Yountville. We have reviewed Shelter here. Winemaking sometimes goes hand in hand with being a musician. Along with keeping track of all the latest producers and vintners in the valley David also plays bass guitar in a local Rock & Roll band called Wristrocket. As expected, all of the band members are involved in the wine industry in some capacity and two of the other members also run their own Napa wineries (Robert Foley and Jeff Smith - Hourglass). We look forward to hearing their music at some point! Looking for a high end personalized wine tour in the Napa Valley - look no further than Monica's premium concierge company, All Access Napa Valley (www.allaccessnapavalley.com). Tastings are always private and the shop is closed for other appointments while you are inside. Winemakers take note - 750 Wines has a smaller more private room which can be rented exclusively for very personalized tastings. Their main room can also be rented out for small events and they hold small wine release events from time to time. Inquire for more details. They are open 6 days a week by appointment only and can be open Sundays depending on schedules. For more information visit: www.750wines.com |
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A Dozen Vintners is owned by Norman Alumbaugh who also owns Eagle & Rose and of course his wine is available for tasting here. Norm also owns a string of Northern California based Eagle & Rose Inns, Cobb Mountain, Middletown, a hotel in St. Helena and the small Eagle & Rose Inn St.Helena, is located right next door. Plenty of parking is available - look for the old Limo that seems to be perpetually parked in the parking lot every time we drive by! You enter on Lodi Lane rather than directly from Highway 29. Also note the nice bronze statue in front - Norm has these types of statues scattered around his various holdings including at his other inns and also at his own winery in Pope Valley. This tasting room is very well organized - and the names of each winery are listed above the bottles of their wines. At press time, wine from the following Napa area wineries are served here: Adams Ridge, Carrefour, Eagle & Rose Estate / Skyhawk Cellars, Several wines from our various visits that we can recommend are the Zinfandels from John Tyler (Russian River vineyards - neighboring Sonoma County), Watermark's Cabernet Sauvignon (well-known long time Napa winemaker who makes the prestigious Diamond Creek wines), and any of the Howell Mountain Vineyard Cabernets. What is nice about a stop here, is that they offer wines priced for all budgets which in Napa, can be hard to find. Also of note is the Iron Horse Art Gallery which adjoins the wine bar and allows for easy access between both businesses. This gallery features sculpture and all original works including oils and acrylics. They also own a sister gallery in Utah. Visit: www.adozenvintners.com View Larger Map |
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Their name comes from a single Acacia tree which is still growing in between the rows of grapes in one of their vineyards. This tree is located just down the road and you can ask for specific directions so you can look for it from the road when you leave. Their first commercial vintage was in 1979 making them one of the older Carneros based wineries. This wine was appropriately a Pinot noir called St. Clair. This wine has been produced every single vintage since then, and is still produced today, but in extremely small quantities available to wine club members on a first serve basis. This was the first Napa produced single vineyard Pinot noir. Acacia is owned by the Diageo Chateau & Estate wine group which is one of the largest wine & spirit companies in the world - this is the same company that owns Napa based BV Coastal Estates (BV Vineyards), Sterling & Provenance and in fact BV has vineyards planted right next to theirs. Acacia has over 85 acres planted in this part of the Carneros near their winery - planted to mostly Pinot noir. In addition, they have an even larger vineyard minutes away, called Winery Lake near the di Rosa Art Preserve. There are great views of the San Pablo Bay from their driveway and on a clear day you can look at the tall buildings of San Francisco way in the distance. As with many Carneros based wineries their specialty is Pinot noir and Chardonnay; some of their Pinot vines are among the oldest in the USA. After tasting all the Cabernet Sauvignons up valley (one of our favorite varietals by the way), it is always nice to find a high end Pinot noir producer. A few wines are made in such limited quantities that the best way to acquire them is directly from the winery. Such is the case with their Viognier - the 2007 is a nice summer wine - we can see why this varietal is sometimes blended with specific red varietals. The aromas are excellent and very fruit driven - honeysuckle and white peach with other stone fruit nuances. Great fruit follows to the palate with additional tropical flavors. Two delicious but different styled Chardonnays are their 2005 Winery Lake and the 2006 Sangiacamo. The Winery Lake has a rich palate that is very golden in color with almost a caramel crème Brule aroma. The Sangiacamo is our favorite of the two; everything about this wine is well balanced - it is creamy but not buttery, and is a slightly lighter styled wine than the Winery Lake. Notes of mild citrus flavors and just a slight mineral nuance complete the finish on the wine. They produce so many good Pinot's using various styles, its hard to pick a "favorite". The 2005 Lone Tree Pinot noir has a nice floral nose with notes of dried rose petals. It is spicy with black pepper, blackberry and red cherry on the palate. One of our favorite Pinots is the 2005 Beckstoffer Vineyard. The darkness of color hints at this wines complexity and full bodied palate. It is very "big" for a Pinot noir, is layered in flavor and aromas. The nose is fruit driven with some spices. The richness of fruit hits all parts of the palate and the finish is slightly spicy and smoky. Also of note is the relatively new Horseshoe Bend Russian River sourced Pinot noir. Lastly, a special dessert wine is the 2006 late harvest Chardonnay. With just the right amount of sugar, fruit and acidity this wine is well balanced. Its crisp and not cloyingly sweet. The nose is very fruity with pear and stone fruit aromas - nectarines perhaps. Purchases of their Acacia Marsh Chardonnay are for a good cause - proceeds from the sales of this particular wine directly benefit the restoration of the nearby marshes through the California Department of Fish & Game. This wine is sold exclusively at the winery and goes into a fund called "Wines for Wildlife". Did you know Acacia actually made some sparkling wine in the 1980's with some also produced up until the late 1990's. As of press time they had a 97' Brut Sparkling available for purchase. Visit: www.acaciavineyard.com |
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Ackerman Family Vineyards is owned and operated by Bob and Lauren Ackerman, who are long time residents of the Napa Valley. Bob and Lauren previously lived and worked in the Silicon Valley and both have enjoyed fine wine for many years. Bob collected a number of wines including some of Heitz Cellars older vintages. Bob and Lauren were married at Auberge du Soleil in 1989 and after their honeymoon instinctively knew they wanted to somehow return to live in the Napa Valley.
Several years later Bob began looking to buy a horse for Lauren (who is an avid rider) and as luck would have it found an already planted vineyard piece of property in the southern part of the Coombsville region located just east of the town of Napa. The horses he was interested in were housed on this property. Unbeknownst to Lauren, Bob initially met with the real estate agent to look at this property for a possible purchase. Later he invited Lauren to "start looking" but had told the real estate agent previously to pretend that she had never met Bob. This way it would appear that the "first" piece of land they looked at would be the last one. Instead of just purchasing the horses, the Ackerman's purchased the land and the horses were included in the deal. There was already a vineyard planted but over time blocks were replaced and since their purchase the entire vineyard has been replanted. The 16 acre site has approximately 10 acres planted to vine, all Cabernet Sauvignon - clone 337. The Ackermans have made their own wine since 1995 which allowed them to determine the nuances of their vineyard as well as increase their understanding of the type of fruit their vineyard produces. This was well before their first commercial release in 2003. This is a producer that had the benefit of time to learn their vineyard properly before producing commercial wine as well as getting to know the wine business. They currently sell some of their fruit and are making between 300 and 500 cases per year. If they wanted to grow their production in the future they do have this luxury as their vineyard produces more than they currently use. This is one of the most unique producers in the valley as 100% of their total net profits are entirely donated to the Napa Valley Community Foundation - www.napavalleycf.org. This is a special producer indeed. This foundation is a philanthropic bank for non profits that links donors to charity projects. Their focus is on giving back to the local community in the Napa Valley. Out of well over 800 unique producers in the Napa Valley there are maybe 5 or 6 producers in which the focus of their production and business model is to dramatically give so much back directly to the community. The foundation is also close to home for Lauren, she has served as their trustee and chair woman. A few days before we meet Lauren for this review, their vineyard had just been officially certified CCOF organic - a process that takes a little over 3 years to complete. They have farmed their vineyards sustainably since they purchased the land however having the certification certainly validates their efforts. Coombsville is known as a cooler region compared to up valley as it is located fairly close to the moderating influences of the San Pablo Bay to the south. These influences result in a rather long growing season usually producing very even ripening. Lauren remembers their earliest harvest coming towards the end of the September (unusual) with their latest harvest coming on November 5th (extremely late for the valley). Their vineyard is trellised with the cooler climate in mind; in this case with the open lyre system to allow the fruit greater exposure to the sun. In the past Coombsville may have been associated with producing blending fruit for "up valley" wineries - but the fruit coming out of this region today is highly sought after for its finesse and elegance combined with structure. Coombsville fruit is producing delicious stand alone wines. Ackerman Vineyards produce one wine each year, always a 100% estate grown Cabernet Sauvignon. With consistency in managing their vineyard, winemaking, and the barrel program, the differences you may taste from year to year are respective of the vintage. Unlike many wines in the valley the Ackerman's release each year tends to be much lower in alcohol, typically in the mid 13's up to around 14%. We tried the 2005 vintage just before its October 2009 release. Ackerman uses all new French Oak (Taransaud) barrels where the wine ages for two years. After bottling, the wine sits for another 2 years before being released to the consumer. Based on their experience with older home vintages, wines from this vineyard age well. This extra age before being released is never a bad thing for the consumer. The 2005 vintage is somewhat of a cross between their more restrained 2003 vintage and the 2004 which shows more fruit. The Ackermans enjoy drinking wines that are versatile, especially wines that can be paired with a variety of foods and these are the types of wines they strive to produce. The 2005 is dark ruby in the glass with an elegant bouquet that shows some floral notes, blackberry as well as subtle aromas of cigar. The oak is well integrated throughout and certainly does not dominate. This wine shows a real complexity of flavor and picks up in structure from the mid palate onwards; this leads to a finish that is anchored by broad slightly dusty tannins. This is more of a traditional Bordeaux styled wine that will age well yet can also be consumed early especially with food. They sell direct; the easiest way to order is from their website and or join their rapidly growing mailing list. Ackerman's wines can also be found locally in the valley at a variety of locations including Backroom Wines in downtown Napa and at Auberge du Soleil in St. Helena. They are also distributed in other states including Arizona, Florida, New York and Wyoming. Because their distribution is small, they plan on capping their retail outlets to a select group of 100. A small amount of wine is held back each year and then re-released as their library vintages. Aside from having the chance to purchase older releases, these wines remain priced reasonably. They are even found overseas in one location, the fantastic Waddesdon Manor in the UK owned by the Rothschild family. Lauren remembers visiting this amazing estate and described how the wine shop carries two wines from Napa - Opus One and Ackerman - not a bad place to be at all! For more information visit: www.ackermanfamilyvineyards.com or their active Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ackermanfamilyvineyards |
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Did you know there are better times of the day and week to taste wine than others according to the Biodynamic Calendar? They have a Stella Natura calendar on site and can be referenced upon request. In addition, they have their own wine bar and lounge inside the main store. They do offer tastings on a limited basis with wines poured by the glass - their main tasting is called IPO and features wines that are new releases or are first time vintages. They also have a Cult Flight which is only available certain times of the year and features very high end "status" wines. At their old location ACME quickly ran out of storage space especially during the hot summer months when wine is shipped less often. To remedy that problem, they have installed 200 private, secured, and climate controlled wine storage lockers. This is the only wine shop in the Napa Valley we know of that offers this service (we've personally visited most of the ones in the valley); its a great idea. We recently had a chance to tour these lockers, some are for short term rental and others are for more permanent use. Each metal locker holds about 10-12 normal size cases. ACME also focuses on tracking down boutique high end small producers who often later go into semi-cult status because of their very limited production, quality and demand. In fact several small wineries essentially got their public start by selling wine entirely through this wine shop before they became more recognized. ACME is an excellent choice if you are trying to find these types of wine or find out who are the latest "hidden treasures". We have been to their shop several times and in browsing their large shelf collection hanging on the wall (a central part of this wine shop), invariably we always find several "new" producers not yet on our radar. It is always a challenge to keep up with the Napa wine industry, even for those who live in Napa Valley and are totally immersed in this wine culture! The store also contains interesting varietals and wines from around the world to spice things up for locals as well as those with an International palate. Interested in wine clubs but are always put off by the limitations and requirements imposed? Perhaps ACME's "Do it yourself" wine club will change your mind! You are the buyer - you get to choose the wine you receive based on the varietal, appellation, country of origin and price limits. In addition you choose as few or as many bottles of wine to receive each month. Want ACME to select the wines? They do offer other wine club options including the "Under the Radar" club, the Kahuna Club (in which price is no objective), and Pulse which was originally intended for those working in the wine industry but now is available to anyone. However, aside from all these services, customer service is their primary focus. Looking for a shopping cart on their website? You will not find it. Their philosophy is they want to talk to and get to know their customers; this personalizes things and makes for much better relationships both from a customer and the wine shop's point of view. When you visit, look for the rusted facade which gives the outside of the building a very unique look. Enter the front door and proceed to the right to the large A door handles. The inside of the shop is well laid out, clean and totally free of clutter. Several chairs and a table make this a good spot to relax. Parking is tight on Fulton Lane but ACME has specially reserved parking spots in the parking lot directly behind the store. Another highlight of ACME's services are their weekly Friday night winemaker tastings. These are held every friday and typically feature a Napa winemaker who represents a boutique producer. They've had some of the biggest names in the valley drop by for these events - everyone from Robert Foley to Dick Grace (Nov 09). Visit: www.acmefinewines.com |
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Adastra is open to the public only 2x a year - during the April & Holiday in Carneros events - both Saturday/Sunday events - that's a total of only 4 days a year! All grapes from their wine come exclusively from the estate. Discounts are usually provided on their wine during these two events. However, if you cannot make these two events, you can taste some of their wines at Napa Co's Cult Wine tasting room off of Highway 29 in Napa Valley. The tasting at their winery during the 4 days/year they are open is located in a historic old redwood barn. It is truly a farm barn as it looks very old and rustic. Because of their limited days per year when they are open, this is always one of the most popular stops during the Taste of Carneros events and should be visited early in the day before the barn gets too crowded. They specialize in four wines all grown from their Carneros Estate - Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot noir and Syrah. In fact they make two distinct Pinots; the Regulus and the Proximus. Continuing in the sprit of this winery to use Latin, the Proximus Pinot is made in very small quantities and as they say is "the best of the best"! Proximus in Latin means "closer" and Adastra uses that term to mean "closer to the stars". We tried the 2005 vintage (less than 200 cases). This is high end, low production Pinot at its finest. Its a rich layered wine full of fruit including plum and cherry with a tantalizing spicy finish. In general, their wines are reasonably priced - our favorites are their Pinots. Up for Croquet in the Carneros? Try playing some croquet at their garden court located just behind the main winery house or take a quick tour of their gardens behind the actual winery. Visit: www.adastrawines.com |
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families and released their first vintage in 1991. Note the image of the acorn woodpecker that appears on their label. This is a very common bird found on their property which makes a very distinct sound. A visit here is for serious wine enthusiasts who typically have tried their wine somewhere else. | As of press time their production is extremely limited coming in at about 500 cases. That is tiny! The winery facility is located beneath the owner's home and is slightly set back into the hillside so it retains a year round cool temperature and if you visit during parts of July and August you will see why this is important due to temperatures often reaching 100+. Six acres of vineyards are planted just below the winery to Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. These are the two varietals they focus on with a vintage of each released every year. In-laws also have vineyards in Rutherford and they have sourced fruit there in the past to make Chardonnay and Merlot. They use a variety of oak barrels including French, Hungarian and American. The philosophy behind this is that each type of barrel helps bring an added complexity to the wine - and if you have ever tried the same wine aged in different barrels, you will know that the type of barrel used can have a dramatic affect on the actual wine. We tried the 2004 Syrah and the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon. The Syrah has aromas that are deep and layered including chocolate and some cedar. The mouth feel is smooth, rounded and silky - with notes of cherry and blackberry on the palate. The Cabernet Sauvignon also exhibits very soft, smooth and silky characteristics with some violets, herbs and earthiness on the nose which slowly dissipates as the wine opens up. This wine has great fruit on the palate including cherry, blackberry and hints of black licorice. If we had to choose one word to describe these two wines it would be soft and smooth...ok, two words then! These wines can easily be consumed by themselves but will pair very well with a variety of food. As as result they are mostly distributed in restaurants by the glass in very select markets. Incidentally their price to value ratio is among the best in the Napa area. Great prices, excellent hand crafted wine - not a bad combination! |
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Ahnfeldt Winery was founded and is run by lawyer/vintner/farmer Bruce Ahnfeldt. His roots are in agriculture having growing up in what is now called the Silicon Valley in the San Jose area. During his childhood this valley was a big prune, apricot and cherry growing region and Bruce leased and farmed apricots for a few years. Now, of course all this farm land is paved over. Bruce is a long time Napa resident having moved to the area in the 1980's. Soon thereafter he planted his first Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard and has since planted additional vineyards mostly in the southern part of the Valley - Coombsville region close to the town of Napa.
For many years the fruit from the vineyards was sold to mostly large Napa based wineries. Every year, a friend continued to encourage Bruce to make his own wine since he already had the high quality fruit and finally introduced him to the well-known winemaker Craig MacLean. MacLean has made their wines since the first vintage was released in 2002. In 2003 Ahnfeldt formed a Vineyard management company run by his son who is a partner with his own label called G Wine Cellars. His son is entirely responsible for the vineyard management of their own planted acres. Their first vintage was a Merlot and right out of the gate this earned an excellent 94 point rating from Wine Spectator. Not bad for a first vintage! Note their creatively designed label - it is modeled after a statue that Bruce had commissioned in honor of his first horse. We tried the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a medium bodied wine with great color, notes of cherry and cedar on the palate. It is very well balanced with smooth tannins that do not overpower. Being a lawyer, having a legal term as the name of one of their wines is very appropriate! Quid Pro Quo was supposed to be a one time vintage made for Premier Napa Valley, an annual trade tasting & fundraiser event held in the Napa area. However this wine was purchased by Dr. York, owner of the San Francisco 49ers football team and was such a hit at the auction, that its now an annual production! Their 2005 vintage is a delightful blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot and a touch of Cabernet Franc. As of press time they have two physical locations for tasting in the Napa Valley - at Uncorked at Oxbow and at Vintner's Collective, both in the town of Napa. Visit: www.ahnfeldtwines.com |
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Alante Vineyard | Tweet
was founded by Bruno Van den Bosch and his wife Christine; they released their first commercial vintage in 2006. The story goes back much further however, to Belgium in fact. Bruno was in the computer industry in Europe and upon moving to California in 1986 he founded Alante Corporation in the Silicon Valley (specializing in refurbished HP computer components). After deciding to move out of the Silicon Valley, and looking for a more rural location to manage his business Bruno stumbled upon what is now their property north of St. Helena in 1993 - it had a warehouse for running his business but the property also came with a planted vineyard. Starting in 1994 they sold fruit to other wineries but each year held back several barrels for their own private label. Winemaker Paul Colantuoni is the son of good family friends. The story of how Alante started producing wine commercially is an interesting one - eventually fate intervened as neither Bruno nor Paul had any inclination they would be in the wine industry or working together one day. Paul in fact was on a career path towards medical school and decided to pursue winemaking after earning non wine related degrees. Upon a whim Paul wrote a letter to Tim Mondavi (who at the time was still at Robert Mondavi Winery) - Tim answered back and ultimately gave him a job. As it turned out, an introductory wine job that would keep Paul in the valley year round was in Mondavi's hospitality department, giving tours. Paul packed everything in a Ryder truck and made the long drive from the East Coast as well as a career change to the Napa Valley. He worked a number of years at Mondavi as well as at Neyers vineyard and then spent time winemaking in France and Italy. Upon returning to the states he discovered Bruno was making the jump to making wine commercially and needed a winemaker. Viola, it was the perfect fit at the perfect time. The focus of Alante is one wine each year, an estate Cabernet Sauvignon from their 2.5 acre vineyard (planted to this varietal). The vineyard sits just north of the city limits of St. Helena and is on the edge of benchland - right where the alluvial soils from the valley floor meet the soils created by runoff from the Mayacamas Mountains. This is prime vineyard land - neighbors include Grace Family, Vineyard 29, and Revana Winery among others. Over the years several prominent individuals in the valley have left their mark on the vineyard. David Abreu planted and maintained the vineyard for several years and winemaker Philippe Melka sourced fruit for several of his clients. Hallmarks of this vineyard are a characteristic spice (crushed black pepper) a sweetness that comes from the fruit (no sugar), and pleasing soft tannins. The 2006 vintage shows a lot of fruit on the bouquet with some notes of dust as the wine opens. The palate is soft upon entry but quickly builds up complexity and spices including black pepper (mid palate to the finish). Of the three vintages this wine has the most spice. The palate is all about the black fruit - blackberry and black licorice. The finish is of considerable length with medium bodied tannins. 2007 is a darker wine than the 2006 (more extraction during the winemaking). There's more fruit in store on the bouquet - it certainly is not as spicy as the 2006 on the palate. A sweet core of ripe fruit runs through this wine as well as the 2008 vintage. Dark fruit shows including blackberry and black cherry. 2008 is an opulent wine for Alante. As Paul says, "the vineyard is a showoff". This wine certainly reflects that - the bouquet is all about the fruit with traces of mineralities and graphite. Notes of raspberry and brown chocolate show on the palate - ripe fruit. The mouth-feel on this vintage is slightly softer than the 2007 vintage. Ripe fruit and ripe tannins complete the fairly soft finish. A lot of thought has been put into their label. The label remains consistent but when grand children are born that vintage takes that grand child's name. Alante is related to the Spanish word "adelante" (progress), usually pronounced "alante". Production each year typically ranges from 250 to 350 cases. As a result, distribution is mainly through the website although you can find the wine at ACME Fine Wines in St. Helena as well Press and Market restaurants. To order and for more information visit: www.alantevineyard.com |
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The highlights of a visit here are the wine of course and the personal experience of sitting down with one of the owners or their children. Total production is about a thousand cases which means some of their wines sell out very quickly due to the low quantities. As of press time, all fruit comes from their own vineyards - although in the past they have sourced from several high end vineyards most notably in the Stag's Leap District. This is one of those rarer small Napa wineries who have everything they need planted right on the estate and don't necessarily need to source fruit from elsewhere. The 2004 Cielo is a Tuscan style blend with Merlot as the dominant varietal but also contains Cabernet Sauvignon and touches of Sangiovese and Barbera. As with their other wines, only small quantities are available. The Cielo had a production of merely 194 cases. The one thing that makes this wine fairly unique is it is not made every year; it is only made during years where the quality of the grapes are superior. The nose has appealing aromas of raspberry, red cherry and just a touch of vanilla from the oak aging. This wine is very dark and full bodied with a touch of spiciness that hits around mid palate and continues into the very long finish. With reasonable yet structured tannins at this age and lively acidity this wine will also cellar very well. The 2005 Tresca Cabernet Sauvignon has 10% Cabernet Franc blended in - the blends and varietal additions usually change from year to year. Tresca means "intrigue" in Italian and its easy to see why customers are intrigued with this one. It is their most popular wine and was their original commercial release. We can see why with its balanced palate and smooth and silky mouth feel. The Lusso blend is supposed to be excellent however it was sold out at time of our tasting. It is their 100% Reserve Cabernet Wine - the beautiful label was designed from a painting by Margaret Keane who is well-known for her paintings of people with large eyes. She has been painting for over 50 years. While not cheap now, if you have the budget, get your hands on some of her works - with such a unique style her art is only going to go up in value. Also of note is the Vino2 glass they use for the tastings. These solid "wine aeration glasses" have a large "dent" in the side - this is for "breaking" the wine - which allows for additional aeration of the wine as you swirl and actually makes a splashing noise. It is always interesting when we find a new type of glassware; this is the only winery out of 600+ we have visited to use this unique type of wine glass. You can purchase them at the time of your tasting. A visit is for serious wine enthusiasts and is always held with family members. This is as personable a tasting experience as you will find in the Napa Valley. Allora loosely translates to "whatever" in Italian. Visit: www.alloravineyards.com |
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As of press time, they have finished all renovation and have moved into their modern tasting room. Create an ambience where people can come to relax - the use of water in this regard is very important and not enough Napa wineries are able to do this. In the case of Alpha Omega they have built a beautiful large reflecting pool with five fountains in the middle. A covered porch area with comfortable chairs is a great place to sit and relax. Outdoor seating is also available near the pool. Due to limited estate vineyard land they source grapes from a number of high end Napa vineyards. In fact they are becoming a Sauvignon Blanc only estate - as the vineyard you see in front of the winery next to Highway 29 is planted entirely to this varietal and plans call for the few Merlot rows they have to be converted to Sauvignon Blanc. The tasting room is open and airy - the tall ceilings help in this regard. The white marble topped tasting counter forms 3/4 of a square. A few limo groups had totally filled all sides of this counter when we last visited...so we just squeezed in and looked at home. Their tasting flight typically includes 4 wines. We started our tasting with a 2005 Chardonnay. It has a nice bouquet with hints of butterscotch, pear and banana (don't always find this flavor in Chardonnays!). It is oak aged - on the palate you may find lemon lime notes with honeysuckle and a slightly roasted nut flavor. The 2007 Rose is an unusual blend that includes Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petite Verdot and Cabernet Franc. There are not too many Rose's like this in the Napa Valley. It is very dark pink with floral aromas of dried rose petals, cherry and chocolate. The palate surprisingly contains very concentrated flavors compared to the typical lighter style Rose's that we are used to drinking. Wild strawberry and raspberry flavors are anchored by delicate tannins. We tried both the 2004 and 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon blends. Both wines are delightful and elegant, great for pairing with foods due to the bright fruit and lively acidity - the 2005 is actually smoother and slightly softer. Both feature very ripe fruit; we picked up raspberry, blueberry and black cherry on the palate. The Proprietary Red Wine blend unfortunately was sold out at the time of our visit as it is in high demand. They make a late harvest Sautern style Sauvignon Blanc / Semillon blend to die for. There are only a select few wineries in the Napa Valley that make a wine like this and Alpha Omega's 2004 version is killer. You have to be careful with the Sautern style wines - sometimes they have an annoying minerality presence towards the finish which in our opinion is a defect (however some people enjoy this). This wine does not have this - its all about the fruit and the balance. As it is a young wine it is light golden/yellow in color - age this and it will turn a nice amber dark gold in the bottle. This wine is extremely well balanced which keeps it from being cloyingly sweet. Nice stone fruit aromas include apricot and peach with minor hints of coffee. The fruit flavors follow to the palate picking up a little pineapple, lemon and honey. Despite this wine being sold out, there is hope; they do release a vintage each year! Alpha Omega is a winery owned by winemakers who have many years of experience in the industry and 2006/2007 was their flagship year - it would be wise to buy a few bottles and keep them for your collection as the price of these bottles 5 to 10 years from now most likely will be a lot higher than they are now. Total production is about 6000 cases. The famed French blending master, Michel Rolland consults for Alpha Omega and helps in their final blending decisions. We saw an interview with Michel - he says he tastes between 30,000 and 35,000 different wines a year. Whew, what a job! Check out their blog: aowinery.spaces.live.com and visit www.aowinery.com |
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Napa attracts people from all over the world due to its fine wine and excellent cuisine. It seems like it is becoming rarer when we find a vintner who actually grew up in Napa and has historical family ties to the valley. Such is the case with the Altamura's; owner & winemaker Frank Altamura has a long history of winemaking in Napa and his wife Karen has had this property in her family since the 1850's. Frank started working in the vineyards right out of high school and gained invaluable experience by working with some of the Napa notables who already had established careers in the 1970's and 80's - vintners such as Randy Dunn, Ric Foreman, and Chuck Wagner. Having grown up in the Napa Valley but trying to plant vineyards in an area with few existing vineyards, Frank found himself identifying soil types on his property similar in nature to those found in some of Napa's high end terroir regions - i.e., Howell Mountain, the Rutherford Bench, Mt. Veeder, etc. Once the soils were identified this allowed him to tailor the particular rootstalks and clones to each soil type. As of press time they are putting the finishing touches on a new winery building. The outside is all stone, quarried from the many rocks strewn over the property. Plans eventually include a new tasting room right next to Wooden Valley Road. The actual winery is located about 1/2 mile in on a gravel road which winds its way past the vineyards. Your tasting here will be in their cave. Altamura concentrates on Sangiovese and their flagship wine, the Cabernet Sauvignon - both of which have been well received by some of the best known wine critics. Altamura has made extensive use of a new French Oak aging program and their wines often will stay in barrel up to an additional year or so compared to the typical wineries. Their production is about 5000 cases. Besides their two main wines they also make a very nice Sauvignon Blanc which is available only at the winery and from their website. Compared to traditional Sauvignon Blancs, this wine is very untraditional. It sees 18 months of oak which contributes to the oak in the nose, but the actual wine does not have that "over oaked" taste. For you Nebbiolo lovers - Altamura makes a delicious wine of this varietal. It is very smooth yet complex and goes well with most foods. Typically they do not open this wine unless you specifically request it, as it is made in such a low production. Most people have never heard of this varietal unless you are a serious wine enthusiast or have visited Italy; there are just a handful of Napa area wineries producing it. All their wines are straight varietals, i.e.., no blending. 2005 Their Cabernet Sauvignon is a big wine, with concentrated flavors; it has strong structured tannins and a very long finish. Visit: www.altamura.com |
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American Roots Winery is run by the husband wife team of Jeff and Julie Murrell. Both have a passion for wine and met while earning Chemistry degrees at Sonoma State University in neighboring Sonoma County. Julie introduced Jeff to wine during their studies and some time after graduating he took his first winery job as enologist at Napa's V. Sattui Winery. Julie has worked on the winemaking team at the Hess Collection winery for a number of years. There are only 5 or 6 commercial wine producers in Napa that we are aware of, whose primary or main focus is on charitable contributions. American Roots is one of these wineries. Jeff's mother was re-diagnosed with breast cancer several years ago and was the direct inspiration to start this winery. They wanted to be able to help fight this terrible disease and their contribution comes from what they know best; winemaking.
The name American Roots was the name of Jeff's moms' store and in the theme of this name, they release four wines each year, a red, a white and a blue label as well as a very limited production "pink" Rose. Look for the colored stars on each bottle to indicate the type of wine. The red is always a Bordeaux blend, the white historically has been a Chardonnay, and the blue is a Rhone styled wine that often includes Syrah. The winery name has another meaning; a number of vineyards are planted on American rootstalks in order to help prevent disease to the fruit bearing varietal. Both Julie and Jeff enjoy working with different varietals and using different wine making techniques. In addition their fruit sources vary depending on the year - they try to source from areas that are historically known for certain varietals which is why they also source fruit from outside of Napa County. 2006 was their first release of the white label. The 2006 Chardonnay saw no malolactic fermentation. The nose is decidedly floral in nature with aromas of pineapple and some minerality components. This is a crisp clean wine with great acidity. It is not creamy, oaky nor weighty in the mouth. The palate is smooth with notes of green apple and pear...an ideal food wine. The 2005 Napa Merlot/Malbec blend is a blend that is not often seen from Napa producers. The Merlot carries the fruit in this wine with the Malbec providing excellent structure. The nose is amazingly complex and reveals more layers as it breathes. It has notes of cigar smoke, bacon, dark cherry and a subtle toasted cedar quality which creeps up again on the finish. The palate is rewarding, rounded and juicy with good dark fruit flavors including blackberry and black cherry. The 2005 Napa Syrah found under the "blue label" is a very dark wine in the glass. A number of different oak aging trials were conducted, but the final results kept indicating that using less oak was better. As a result, this wine was barrel aged for a shorter time with the oak used to mainly help round out the overall structure. Beautiful black fruit (blackberry, blueberry) shows all the way through from bouquet to palate to the finish. The structure shows good tannin depth and weight with a lingering finish. We suspect this wine will pair well with a variety of meats. American Roots supports a variety of mostly breast cancer related causes including Fertile Hope and the Y-Me National Breast Cancer Foundation, donating 10% of all sales as well as providing wine for a number of auctions or fundraisers. Their wine club is called True Blue - which allows one to try different wines each release. Their styles of winemaking vary each year; so do the varietals. Consistency in regards to quality is priority, but not actually with the type of wine produced. As Jeff says, "winemaking is supposed to be fun and we always like to mix things up a bit". Because production is so limited (usually around 500 cases each vintage) the best way to acquire their wine is via their mailing list or wine club. Locally you can find their wine in the Napa area at Soda Canyon Store on the southern part of the Silverado Trail, which is where we first saw their wine or sometimes at the Calistoga Wine Stop in the north part of the valley. All their wines are priced very affordably for Napa standards. For more information visit: www.americanrootswinery.com/main |
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Their winemaker and long time Napa vintner Jeff Hansen, gained invaluable winemaking knowledge at local wineries including Flora Springs and Spring Mountain. We had the pleasure of recently tasting with their assistant winemaker and we started with the 2006 Sauvignon Blanc sourced from the Mello Vineyard in Yountville (only two wineries source from this particular vineyard). Half of the grapes for this wine are the Musque Clone which is known for its very floral qualities on the nose. This wine is made in a crisp style, almost flinty both in the bouquet and on the palate with great citrus and guava flavors. As of press time, their 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon was current release making this among the older of the current releases we have tried. Their philosophy is to give this Cabernet some additional bottle aging as well as providing a slightly aged wine for the consumer, as most consumers of everyday drinking wine will consume the wine within hours of purchase! This wine has 10% Merlot blended in mainly to enhance the mouth feel and aromatics. There is a touch of vanilla and spice on the nose with a very soft rounded mouth feel. This is a perfect everyday affordable Cabernet Sauvignon. Want an even more affordable Cabernet Sauvignon? Try their second label called Olema; the first release was 2005. Of note are their prices; they are extremely reasonable for Napa standards and as of press time you can buy the Olema Napa Cabernet for under $20 a bottle. Hmm, maybe 5 to 10 wineries we've visited have a Napa Cabernet at this pocket pleasing price point! How many Napa wineries source Pinot noir grapes from Mendocino County - not many! With great flavor and structure to this wine, as well as a production of merely several hundred cases, Amici tends to sell out rather quickly. The owners of Amici also spend significant time in Bordeaux France, and often rent out their villa there and in Napa. In Napa the "villa" is a Tuscan styled luxury home located in the north part of the valley near Calistoga. It is called Domaine Beau Soleil (site of one of their vineyards) and you can view details here: www.winevillas.com Visit: www.amicicellars.com |
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When you stand in the vineyards and look out its hard to believe you are close to the heart of the Napa Valley. You really have to struggle to even find a house as in all directions you only see either vineyards, the lake or the natural forested slopes. This winery is owned by Amizetta and Spencer Clark and dates from 1979 with their first commercial release in 1984. When they purchased the estate, the property was in its natural setting and vineyards were soon planted on these steep hillsides in part from cuttings taken from Napa's well-known Martha's Vineyard. Their winery was constructed in 1985 and is also the home to several other small producers. Spencer is a guitarist for a Rock and Roll Band called Noble Rott which tours nationally. He continues to perform, compose and record music. His wife Amizetta who the winery is named for is a direct descendant of Pocahontas. This is a very low production winery and their entire concentration is focused on three types of Cabernet Sauvignon based wines. Initially Spencer sold fruit to other local wineries and made small quantities of wine himself. In 2002 this changed and from that point on all grapes on the estate have been used for their own commercially produced wines. As of press time, total production is about 3000 cases. Bob Egelhoff is their well-known winemaker and his attention to detail in producing these high quality wines really shows. His focus is on ageable wines yet at the same time, can be consumed now, so they are well balanced and not overly tannic. At present Spencer and Amizetta's son Edward is also training as assistant winemaker. A typical visit is usually with Bob or Spencer; they will give you some background information about the vineyards and you will have a chance to barrel taste in their small cave (one of the smaller Napa caves we've seen). During the initial drilling of the cave they were forced to stop as they ran right into a large spring - the water from this is now used on site. As Spencer says "when you want water for a winery you cannot find it - when you don't it is everywhere!". The very elegant well-stocked tasting room is in the adjacent winery building. We highly recommend their Vigneto Reserve Cabernet - Spencer pulled out a bottle of the 2004 vintage and said "this is the good stuff". We can see why, this is an elegant well-structured rich hillside Napa Cabernet, representing the best of their select wines. The mouth feel is soft and smooth with a lingering finish still full of fruit flavors. Their other two wines are the Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and a red Meritage blend. Interested in viewing how wine is typically produced. Check out Amizetta's high resolution image timeline on their website which details bud break through harvest to bottling. A visit and tasting here are certainly one of the more intimate experiences you will have in Napa, not to mention combining the excellent wine with the stellar views! Visit: www.amizetta.com |
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Ancien is located at the Whitford Cellars (the owner of Whitford Cellars are no longer making their own wines). Ken and Teresa Bernards are the owners of Ancien and Ken is the winemaker. He also divides his time consulting for local wineries as well as in Chile. We know several Napa winemakers who do this - it is a great chance to work with two harvests each year! Ancien's grapes come from several vineyards in Napa & neighboring Sonoma County including Carneros, Sonoma Mountain, Napa Valley & the Russian River. These are all high end appellations for sourcing "cooler climate" varietals. The vineyards that surround the winery were originally planted in the 1960's and the famous Andre Tchelistcheff (of BV Vineyards fame) walked the property and provided consultation. Both owners have lots of experience with Burgundian varietals including Chardonnay and Pinot noir and they used to work for many years in local Champagne producing wineries. Their wines are all made in low production and can be found in some of the area high end restaurants. We tasted their 2005 Carneros Pinot noir - lots of blueberry and blackberry flavors up front, some touches of minerals with light spices at the finish. The spices and notes of chocolate complement the fruit rather nicely. Some of their Pinot noirs are served at the famous French Laundry in Yountville. Visit: www.ancienwines.com Wine with Tony |
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Your tour and tasting will be with Todd, his wife Ronene or their winemaker. It is a one on one event that typically lasts from 2-8 hours - often running 4-5 hours. If your tasting is with Todd, this is by far the longest tour/taste you will take at any Napa Winery. If you do not want to be rushed, set aside at least a half day for a visit. The entire purpose of the tour is educational - you will be shown the vineyards, the wine production facilities, the caves and taste through a wide variety of wines in their larger cave from both barrel and bottle. They welcome questions about winemaking, production, growing - really anything related to wine! Now that you know about a "typical" visit - should you want additional more in depth information consider signing up for one of Todd's wine making seminars. These events cover the main aspects of the vineyards, fermentation and aging, bottling and much more. Their current release Chardonnay is typically offered during the tasting. They were one of the first wineries in the area not to use Malolactic Fermentation on their Chardonnays, which often results in a less buttery creamy wine. Todd told us that usually those who arrive and say they don't like Chardonnay leave with bottles of this wine! We also tried the crisp 2005 Sauvignon Blanc (sourced from Lake County) & then tasted through a short vertical of their delicious Pinot Noir. Their Right Bank is an interesting blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc that has a very smooth mouth feel yet is richly concentrated with good fruit flavors. The Eloge is their Bordeaux styled predominately Cabernet Sauvignon blend. Todd also runs one of the most prestigious Napa area labels called Ghost Horse; it is usually sought out by extremely wealthy collectors. There are several labels within this brand and a current release bottle typically starts at $1000 and easily runs up to $5000/bottle. Just the price puts this label above the typical bottle price of the 8 or so Napa "cult" wineries. All Ghost Horse wines are 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Membership to this wine club is very exclusive and ensures you access to a variety of interesting perks including participating with Todd in some of his adventures. Also, forgot to mention there are two tiers of membership to this wine club, one starts at $500,000 and the other is a million dollars. Also ask Todd about the many worldwide wine events that he conducts and participates in. The Ghost Horse website has an inspirational opening scene - visit it here: www.ghosthorseworld.com and the Anderson's Conn Valley website here: www.connvalleyvineyards.com Video Todd, tasting |
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Andesite Vineyard | Tweet
is one of the smaller commercial wine producers in the Napa Valley - with 2 planted acres of vines they typically produce only around 150 cases. Jo Ann and Charles Howard have lived in the Mayacamas Mountains above the town of St. Helena since 1984. At the time they moved here there were only 2 or 3 families in the area even making wine commercially. Their vineyards are in the heart of the Spring Mountain Appellation. For many years Jo Ann and Charles watched the development of new vineyards on Spring Mountain and the addition of small family wineries in the region. Their hillside plantable acreage was home to walnuts rather than grapevines. Noticing that their grove of walnuts was not looking very healthy, one day Jo Ann called the county for information. She was looking for advice about improving the health and look of the walnut trees. The county official told her he couldn't help in that regard, but that she should strongly consider planting a vineyard in their place. Eventually the Howard's decided to take the plunge, made a bit easier because their caretaker at the time had plenty of experience working in vineyards. The Howards planted each of their 1800+ vines by hand. Charles enrolled in the viticulture and winery technology program at Napa College to learn more about their new vines. As it were, the viticulture program was in the midst of replanting their own vineyard so the field work during class was the perfect tie in to his own vineyard. The first acre was planted in 2001 entirely to Merlot - which is a varietal choice that was strongly influenced by one of their top Merlot producing neighbors, Paloma Winery. A second acre was planted in 2004 entirely to Cabernet Sauvignon. The intent was to plant the vineyard and then sell the fruit but they never actually sold any grapes. Their first commercial vintage was in 2006. Andesite Vineyards produces one wine each year, a cleverly titled wine called Mervignon - a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from their vineyard as well as a small percentage of Cabernet Franc sourced from elsewhere in the valley. Charles does much of the vineyard work himself including harvest and picking decisions. He selectively hand picks fruit that is ripe - this may mean just one half ton bin at a time which he then trucks down the mountain to a winery in the southern part of the valley where their wine is actually made. Their harvest often lasts several weeks because they only pick on a vine by vine basis, focusing on what is phenologically ripe. This rather wooded and hillside appellation is all about elevation and location. The Andesite Vineyard is at 2000 feet. Due to their unique geography and elevation the vineyard sees climatic influences from both the Napa County side as well as the Sonoma County side. The maritime influences from the ocean and neighboring Sonoma County certainly affect the growing season here. There is a seasonal creek that divides each of their 1 acre vineyards and Charles describes the weather in this creek at times like standing in the middle of a cold stream. The air flowing close to the ground in this depression is cold but merely a few feet above the ground its noticeably warmer. Other times in the mornings nearly all of Napa Valley is covered in fog but their vineyards are in sunshine and the air is much warmer than at lower elevations. In part, these differences in temperature help make Spring Mountain unique and contribute to the complexities of the wine produced here. The growing season is very long with ripening often several weeks behind the valley floor. The 2007 Mervignon is a blend of 47% Merlot, 41% Cabernet Sauvignon (estate fruit) and 9% Cabernet franc from Napa Valley. "Mervignon" is the result of a "name the wine contest" for friends and family. Andesite is a "nod to terroir" and a direct reference to the commonly found igneous volcanic rock in this area. The 2007 vintage is a dark wine and shows a ripe but elegant nose with dominant notes of juicy blackberry, black licorice and as the wine opens, some cedar box aromas. The bouquet is very lively. The palate is rounded, smooth upon entry and slightly dusty. The tannins start mid palate; but their presence is more in the background through to the finish. The finish is long both in alcohol and flavor. This wine is 15.6 % alcohol. With only 150 cases produced annually the wine is very selectively distributed. In the valley you can find it on the wine list at Brix Restaurant in Yountville and Cole's Chop House in Napa. For more information and to join their mailing list, visit: www.andesitevineyard.com |
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Growing up in Italy you are of course surrounded by wine and during his many trips around the world he was able to enjoy the finest wines. He teamed up with a former CEO of Kmart to form this winery - the parent company is publicly traded. Andretti Winery is small with an Italian feel to it from the courtyard, fountains, and landscaping. Their main courtyard is a great place for photos. On various occasions we've tasted most of our way through their main tasting as well as their Reserve list. Andretti produces their Montona Estate label - the first vintage was 2003. If you like a more buttery slightly oaky Chardonnay their 2005 Reserve is the wine for you. It has a very nice golden hue in the glass with some vanilla flavors on the finish. Try their Sangiovese - we tried their 2006 vintage. It is a very well balanced wine and you may find some slight oak and cherry flavors on the palate. Another wine worth mentioning is their Brut Champagne made from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Very few wineries in the valley make a sparkling wine - theirs has some interesting hints of toast and raspberries which when mentioned together sound like an odd combination, but it really works with this wine! We also found the Merlot and their limited release Port to be very good. Wine buses often stop here and like other popular walk-in wineries the tasting room can become very crowded quickly. You can walk around to the back of the winery. If the weather is good, chairs and tables are available in the courtyard not far from the rows of grapes. A membership in their wine club offers you tickets to their member only parties (there are lots!), a chance to meet Mario and other benefits. Winery apparel and Mario Andretti books & souvenirs are available. Looking for a private wine tasting experience? Andretti offers this as well as a number of other private tour options including a winery tour, vineyard tour, a blending class, and a sensory class. Visit: www.andrettiwinery.com |
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Peter first fell in love with the Napa Valley while attending college at USC in Los Angeles. During a trip north in 1973 to attend a USC Stanford football game (which for you football fans USC won the game in a 1 point squeaker), his friends took him north to Napa for some wine tasting. Knowing next to nothing about wine he soon became taken in with the industry. His career path was outside the wine industry until 1999 when he retired from law in San Diego. During the mid 1990's he spent 2.5 years looking for a prime piece of hillside Napa property before settling on the totally undeveloped brush covered land on some of the highest slopes of the Diamond Mountain Appellation. The trail to the vineyard is short and ends at a deck that affords one 180 degree views of the Napa Valley and nearby mountains including the tallest, Mt. St. Helena. This is about as personal a tasting experience as you will find in Napa Valley. This winery produces one vintage each year - a delicious Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine will always be predominately Cabernet Sauvignon based but the other varietals in the blend will change depending on the vintage. There are several clones planted on this hillside vineyard and during the wine making, each clone is treated separately. As a result, the individual clones are fermented and aged apart from each other - this gives the winemaker additional options when putting the final blend together. For instance if there is a block of the vineyard that isn't up to their quality standards, it will be left out of the final blend. This wine has a loyal following. It tends to receive a bit more age then many wineries' current releases. We tried the 2003 vintage. It has a solid backbone, rich in black fruit including cherry with a wonderful smooth mouth-feel. It is what you expect of high end Napa area hillside grown fruit. Peter also has a background in geology and each part of the vineyard was carefully planted based on soil type in relation to which varietals would grow the best. Ask about his special tastings - either a lunch or dinner is prepared by himself with several area wines included as well as a vertical tasting of his own Cabernets. We had a peak at his menu and the entrees are sure to make your mouth water from the Gran Padano Italian cheese to the dry rubbed Chateaubriand. These events are available by appointment from mid July through the end of October. Visit: www.andrewgeoffrey.com |
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Enter the warehouse type building off of 62nd Ave and taste at a bar surrounded by art - when we visited unique exotic and erotic artworks were hanging on the wall. Andrew Lane shares this winery with two other wineries who also taste wine in the same facility (Urbano and Periscope Cellars). Wine making in the East Bay and San Francisco area in general is not something new. Napa and Sonoma wineries used to bring their grapes by boat to the Bay Area where for the crushing, fermentation and aging. However, the East Bay is seeing a renaissance of sorts - as of press time there are 15 wineries within this vicinity with more on the way. Andrew Lane has a long history of producing wine in Napa - dating back to 1978. They used to produce home wine and enter these in the state and county fairs and picked up a Best of Show award for a Sauvignon Blanc in 1983 at the well-regarded Napa Town & County Fair. Andrew Lane was founded by David Dickson who named the winery after his two sons. In actuality this was the original Napa "Frog's Leap Winery," as inspiration for this name came after one harvest when the founder was reading "Frog & Toad's Big Adventure" to his children, all the while frogs were making noise outside near the cellar. As Paul Harvey says, now you know the rest of the story. Fortunately there is more to the story. After years of home winemaking within the family, Andrew started their commercial production with the first vintage released in 2002. Unfortunately right when they were getting off the ground their inventory was destroyed in the now infamous warehouse fire in Vallejo. Bowed but not broken after the fire, Andrew moved all their operations to the current location. He is the head winemaker and currently handles all sales. They work with only small family owned vineyards in Napa - some of these contacts date back 30+ years. As a result, they know the fruit and terroir sources extremely well. Today they focus on Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and a Gamay Noir, a relative of Pinot Noir. Now here is a varietal which used to be one of the most abundant varietals planted in Napa County. Over time it fell out of favor and today there is just 2 or 3 acres of this varietal planted within Napa and Andrew Lane sources from one of the last remaining vineyards. This is not their most produced wine due to the small 1+ acre vineyard they source from, and as a result it often sells out rather quickly. We tried the 2006 vintage - tasting notes on the Gamay Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc coming soon! Tastings at the winery are held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Inquire about special wine events which are held on a limited basis. Total production is about 2000 cases; you can find their wine in select markets in Texas, Florida and New York as well as locally including The Wine Garage in Calistoga, St. Helena Wine Center in the town of St. Helena and Backroom Wines in Napa. Visit: www.andrewlanewines.com |
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The cellar room is located about 20 feet below ground and is completely isolated from the surrounding water table which rises quite high during the winter months. Their vineyards sit on prime soil for growing Cabernet Sauvignon which in this area is a gravel based sandy loam soil. Grapes from nearby vineyards are often used in other wineries' higher end offerings. As neighbors sold already planted vineyard property Anomaly jumped in and purchased several small blocks of land. Their vineyards are somewhat sheltered because of the horseshoe shape of the surrounding mountains which effectively protects their location from frost. The vineyards are planted to four clones of Cabernet Sauvignon with smaller amounts of Petite Verdot and Cabernet Franc which are used as blending wines. Steve was the original winemaker. Their current winemaker is young, has lots of passion and Anomaly is one of his first head winemaking projects. Anomaly specializes in one high quality Cabernet Sauvignon each year; their first vintage was in 2000. We tried their 2004 vintage. Wow, what a nice approachable rich Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a food friendly wine that melts in the mouth. It has perfectly balanced tannins with rich complex fruit and a very pleasing velvety finish. You may find hints of cherries, cocoa and some other herbal notes to this vintage. There is no reason why you cannot age this wine and their early 2000 vintages are drinking very nicely right now. Anomaly's wines can be found locally at the nearby St. Helena Wine Center and Dean & Deluca Wine shop (both in St. Helena). Anomaly is also involved in a variety of charity organizations. If you are interested in this wine and winery, join their mailing list online. Visit their main website: www.anomalyvineyards.com or their very informative often updated blog: http://anomalyvineyards.blogspot.com Video, Wine Country Welcome: |
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This property is owned by the Antorini Family from Italy. This family has an amazing story and history. They own one of the world's 5 oldest family businesses and trace their wine business back to the year 1385 and another 200 years before that in finance. That's more than 6 centuries, or in their case 26 generations of involvement in the wine industry. Just think about it! They started their business in Italy 170 years after the Magna Carta was signed in England, during the century of the Black Plague, the Hundred Years War, the beginnings of the Ottoman Empire and the Renaissance. Their business was founded before Columbus set sail and about 450 years before wine grapes were even planted in the Napa Valley. The Antorini's focus on the long term and they continuously look to the future, making decisions that will influence future generations, decades down the line. They respect their long tradition yet are open to new innovation in the industry. Matriarch Piero Antorini was encouraged by his father to look at other wine region's in the 1960's. In 1966 he came to Napa and met with Robert Mondavi and after looking at the local terroir decided someday he would have property in the region. In 1985 in partnership with Bollinger and Whitbread (well established companies), Piero acquired this Napa estate. Wine grapes were growing on the property before prohibition but by in large the property was undeveloped. It was however a stop on the old stagecoach line (still marked today). Grapes were planted and for 15 years the property was leased to another winery. After the lease ended, the Antorini Family bought out the other shareholders and took over the vineyard and winery operations. The Antorini's were able to purchase a 40 acre adjacent vineyard to their large property and plant this to vine while they waited for the 15 year lease to finish. As a result they were able to make their own wine before having to wait for the lease to complete. These are all hillside vineyards; the property ranges in elevation from 1200 to 1800 feet. Because of the elevation and relative close proximity to the San Pablo Bay to the south, the site has moderate weather year around. Unlike the the northern part of Mt. Veeder and the Spring Mountain appellations (on the other side of the valley) this part of Atlas Peak doesn't really see an inversion layer so the nights are also fairly cool even during the summer. This all contributes to a long growing season and hang time. Sugars can get high, but they have the hang time to ensure that the other phenolics develop and "balance" out the ripe fruit before the actual harvest. Today Piero Antinori and his three daughters Albiera, Allegra and Alessia are in charge of Antica's operations. Their total production is just over 5000 cases which is an extremely small amount compared to what they could produce. Rather, they sell most of the fruit from their vineyard estate preferring to focus on small lot wines. In 1985 a 35,000 square foot cave was drilled by their employees using equipment from a mine that had recently shut down in the South East USA. No gunnite was used and after only 25 years the inside walls already have that appearance of a much older cave. The inside of the cave looks decidedly European - it has the "character" you often associate with a wine cave. The 2008 Chardonnay shows great balance - both in flavor, acidity and structure. Its a crisp clean wine that will pair well with food. The bouquet shows notes of baking spices and honeysuckle. The mouth feel is rounded but not too soft and the finish is clean and lingers delicately. Piero talks about making wines that are "fresh", wines that invite another sip; this one certainly does that. It has style and elegance. The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% varietal and is a throwback to the days of Napa when this varietal was often created non blended. The wine is dark in the glass and the aromas immediately show notes of smoke, spice and cigar. The palate is all about darker toned fruits including blackberry and plum - it is somewhat briary with a finish that shows dusty tannins that are both from the oak and fruit. With nice acidity this is an excellent wine to pair with a variety of foods - pasta immediately came to mind when we were drinking. The wines can be purchased direct - they do have national distribution but with only 5300 cases total, distribution is somewhat selective. Locally you can find the wine at the Bounty Hunter in the city of Napa. For more information visit: www.anticanapavalley.com and also view the special 60 Minutes made on this unique wine family: Watch CBS News Videos Online |
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is owned and operated by long time Napa winemaker Grant Long Jr. He has lived in the Napa Valley most of his life having moved up from the Bay Area as a child. His father collected wines for many years and when an opportunity arose to move to wine country - the family moved to the Napa Valley. While in high school he was exposed to home winemaking through his friend's father who made wine in his garage. Grant made his first wine at age 16. The winemaking and smells of fermentation that he was exposed to in his friend's garage left a lasting impression. He attended UC Berkeley and then returned to the valley. Before starting Aonair Wines in 2008, Grant worked at several wineries, gaining both winemaking and business experience. All his winemaking experience has come from a "learn by doing" approach. Most recently he was partner in “g” Wine Cellars and spent 8 years as Sales and Marketing Director at Reverie Winery on Diamond Mountain. Grant has a passion for "vineyards with a view" - the hillsides if you will. All of his red wines are sourced from premium rocky volcanic vineyards in Napa's most known hillside appellations. Currently his vineyard sources are from from Atlas Peak, Diamond Mountain, Howell Mountain, Mt. Veeder and Spring Mountain. Aonair in Galic means "sole proprietor"; Grant does it all - he is the winemaker, host and customer service. His label is a tribute to his Grandfather; it portrays his grandfather's Irish crest with three birds representing three generations of family that moved from Ireland to the United States. The number of barrels produced is listed on the front of each label. The bottles for his red wines are hand dipped in wax. He remembers his father's wine collection - a number of wines were meant to be enjoyed daily, while others were for special occasions while still others were only to be opened during a super special occasion in the company of other wine enthusiasts who would share an appreciation for those "special" bottles. The special bottles were always the ones that were hand dipped in wax. The estate wine comes from the vineyard on site which is just a touch under 3 planted acres. This is good vineyard terroir in the Coombsville region (east of the city of the Napa) - both Sodaro Estate and Meteor Vineyards are nearby. The Blue Oak Vineyard is dominated by Merlot with smaller amounts of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. His estate label, Blue Oak was actually started in 2001 and has seen several winemakers through its history. In 2006 Grant picked up the contract for this vineyard fruit and has made the wine ever since. The name of this label is a tribute to the Blue Oaks which are scattered about the property and grow next to the vineyard. The 2010 Aonair Proprietary White is the only white wine made under this label. It is a blend mostly of Sauvignon blanc blended with Sauvignon Musque and Semillon. This wine has great color in the glass - it is golden. The nose shows tropical notes along with orange blossom and hints of graphite. It is somewhat floral in nature. The plate is balanced and clean from the entry to the finish. This wine has very good acidity. The 2008 Blue Oak Vineyard Merlot is a dark wine in the glass with dark fruit aromas including black cherry, black licorice and cassis. While the fruit aromas are dark in nature, they are not dominating - the bouquet is more refined. A hint of pepper rounds out the bouquet. The entry is smooth and soft with well integrated slightly tannins on the finish. The 2009 100% varietal Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% Mt. Veeder fruit. Its an intriguing bouquet with nice depth of aroma including smoke, meat and a dustiness. As the wine breathes black fruit comes forward including blackberry. While mountain wines in the Napa Valley can often have massive tannins when the wines are young due to a variety of reasons - terroir, vineyard & winemaking practices - Grant structures his wines to be approachable while young yet have the depth to as he says, "to peel off additional layers" as they age. This wine is surprisingly well integrated on the finish with lingering dusty tannins as well as fruit that hangs for some time on the palate. The 2009 Mountain Proprietary Red is all about the fruit. This is the most aromatic of the wines we tried - showing a voluptuous floral Potpourri of fragrance, both red and darker fruits, spices, and chocolate. The palate is juicy and concentrated with a reasonable amount of tannins anchoring the fairly long finish. Aonair does not produce a lot of wine - their total production hovers around 1200 cases annually and each wine is in the range of no more than several hundred cases. The smallest produced wine is a tiny amount of port made each year - typically only a barrel available to his wine club on a first come first serve basis. This is not your average port - Grant hand selects and then ages the brandy (used for fortifying) in new French Oak for a number of years. It is clear alcohol when he purchases it, but after it has aged for years it becomes dark brown and turns into a rich explosion of flavor. This is just the stuff you want to fortify your port with! It is rare to find a winery these days whose marketing is held so close to the vest. Their website is just a placeholder with contact information - Aonair is not on Facebook, or Twitter or other social media outlets. Grants wine's are sold exclusively through his mailing list. He has no distributors, he is not in wine shops or in restaurants. Aonair has a successful business model that places customer service as its utmost priority. As Grant says, "I meet with every one of my customers" - without retail outlets - in order to taste his wines you will need to make an appointment. And he is adamant about staying in touch with his customers - his cell phone is on every cork and on the back of every bottle. Tastings are for serious wine enthusiasts and collectors. A visit is always with Grant. He employs one of his friends who is a private chef and visits always include locally grown and prepared produce. Grant's hospitality and the wine are what sets a visit apart here. For contact information visit: www.aonairwine.com |
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was founded in 1990 by Bart and Daphne Aurajo. While the Araujo's were new to the valley from Southern California, their vineyard was not. The historical Eisele vineyard had been producing quality fruit for a number of wineries including Joseph Phelps and Conn Creek and in fact was the source for a 1971 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon - one of California's earliest vineyard designated wines. The Eisele Vineyard was first planted to grapes in the 1880's - at that time it was Zinfandel and Riesling. Riesling has nearly vanished from this part of the valley while there are still a number of old vine head pruned zinfandel vineyards in the Calistoga Appellation. These varietals are no longer are planted in the vineyard; Cabernet Sauvignon was first planted here in 1964. If you walk the vineyard you can find rocks - although not nearly as many today as there used to be. The vineyard is fairly flat but lies at the lower part of an impressive rocky part of the Palisade's - a series of jagged rock outcrops that form this part of the Vaca mountain range in the northern Napa Valley. Over time water and wind and gravity has moved sediments and rock from the mountains into an alluvial fan which spreads out and encompasses not only the Eisele vineyard but the other vineyards in this small side valley. All wines under the Araujo label are from this vineyard - today 75% of the vineyard is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Merlot (all of which are used to form their flagship Cabernet Sauvignon) with smaller blocks of Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier. Bart is a native of San Francisco and after college moved to Los Angeles and founded a successful home construction company. Upon selling their company, the Araujo's began their search for vineyard property specifically in Napa. The Eisele Vineyard was for sale by its owners and namesake, Milt and Barbara Eisele - and was offered to Joseph Phelps who had already made a number of vintages from the property. As it were, he was busy with his own winery and vineyards and declined the offer. The Araujos had enlisted the help of a local real estate agent, Jean Philips (founder of Screaming Eagle) and had instructed her to offer them any well-known vineyard properties as they came on the market. The entire property is 162 acres of which 38 are planted to vine. A winery was built and caves were tunneled into the nearby hillside. Bart describes the magic of this vineyard as producing estate wines that have "weight but without heaviness". They farm organically and have been certified biodynamic for a number of years. About half of their wine produced annually is the Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Their second Cabernet is called Altagracia and they also produce a Syrah, a Sauvignon blanc and in some years a small amount of Viognier. For more information and to join the waiting list to get on the mailing list visit: www.araujoestate.com Note: We have toured the winery and Eisele Vineyard - but need a revisit to complete this review. |
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Ardente Winery is located at 1500 feet on the rocky volcanic slopes of Atlas Peak. This winery is owned by Carlo Di Ruocco and his wife Marie Francoise. We recently met with Carlo during a very typical summer weather day at his winery. Atlas Peak is generally characterized as a rugged appellation (topography) that is located in the cooler part of the south Napa Valley. Case in point on this same day we drove up to Calistoga which is located much further north and the weather was at least 15-20 degrees warmer. As a result of this cooler growing climate Ardente's vineyards see a much longer growing season than up valley. Like other Cabernet Sauvignon growing regions in the south valley, (Coombsville for example), harvest generally occurs in late October and sometimes even into early November. This gives the grapes significant time to mature and develop additional complexities on the vine. However this can sometimes be a challenge depending on the type of weather experienced during the tail end of harvest.
Carlo was born in Italy and raised in Salerno, a city of 150,000 on the coast south of Naples. Incidentally this city is where American troops landed during WWII in 1943 and Carlo vividly remembers that day. Carlo worked for a coffee roasting plant in Palermo for several years before immigrating to the USA. There are a number of similarities to roasting coffee and grape growing/winemaking and we have met with several Napa vineyard owners who originally started out in the coffee industry before getting into the wine industry. Sometime after Carlo immigrated to the USA in the late 1970's he founded Mr. Espresso, a coffee roasting company. This was a time when boutique coffee was certainly not what it is today and Mr. Espresso was on the forefront of specialty coffee roasting in the USA. The Di Ruocco's tried to find similar coffees to what they enjoyed when living in Europe and initially started their business by importing espresso machines from Italy. Compared to how oak is used for aging wine, Mr. Espresso also uses oak - but for roasting their coffee. For more information about Mr. Espresso visit: www.mrespresso.com Now in his 80's Carlo is still very much actively involved in the day to day operations of his small winery as well as Mr. Espresso. Looking to "retire" in the early 90's he started looking for vineyard land in the Napa Valley and located their 20 acre estate on Atlas Peak. Part of the estate was already planted and they later added additional blocks bringing their total current vineyard acreage to 10 acres. 1996 was their first commercial vintage and until 2000 Phillipe Melka was their winemaker. Phillipe is a master in the vineyard as well as being a top notch winemaker and Carlo remembers learning much about viticulture during those first few years. Ardente is Italian for passion or a "burning desire" and Carlo says this is a word he feels best describes his passion for the land, grape growing and winemaking. The estate is fairly self contained, as the physical winery is on site - minutes from the actual vineyards. The vineyards are separated into blocks and they can pick and then vinify small lots depending on when certain parts of the vineyards ripen. Having the winery located so closed to the grapes is an ideal situation during harvest. Their vineyards have been certified organic since 2005. Carlo styles his wines in the tradition of Italian wines in that they are aged longer then many of the current area releases on the market. The mountain tannins are very well managed and his wines are extremely pleasurable to drink upon release. We tried the 2002 Sangiovese; it is hard to find good Sangiovese in Napa (not many being produced for one thing) and this one does not disappoint. Unfortunately this is their last vintage but at the time of this review they still have availability. This wine is a light ruby color in the glass with a very aromatic bouquet including dried stone fruit. The mouth feel is soft and smooth throughout with flavors of red cherry, red currant and strawberry. As with their Cabernet Sauvignon this wine is also well balanced from start to finish. We are always looking for standout red wines that are balanced and are "smooth with structure". Their 2004 "Grande Riserva" Cabernet Sauvignon delivers all this and for a small production hand crafted wine it is priced extremely well. This wine is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot and 2% Petite Verdot and spent 2 years in barrel and then another 2.5 years in bottle. The bouquet shows refined elegance with fruit driven aromas including ripe blackberry. The fruit continues on the palate with concentrated dark fruit flavors including more blackberry as well as black cherry. The finish lingers deliciously and contains broad fairly soft tannins. Ardente also has library wines available in limited quantities - all reasonably priced. Their wines are distributed via their mailing list. Visit: www.ardentewinery.com |
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Their winery is located a short ways down Inglewood Ave just south of the town of St. Helena. Head West on Inglewood near the gas station that is close to the Dean & Deluca shopping center. It is a winery that you have to previously be familiar with or have a recommendation as it has no signage on Highway 29 and is often bypassed by the tourist masses. However, this is a good thing as it is typically less crowded then the larger wineries right on Highway 29. Arger-Martucci is one of the few Napa "boutique" wineries that are open to the public without needing a prior appointment. A visit here is low key, relaxed and casual and is like walking into someone's home. Tasting is in the back of the winery either in their modern tasting room at the kitchen counter or outside on their patio next to the pool. Yes, they are probably the only Napa winery that tastes you at a kitchen counter! If the weather is decent we highly recommend tasting outside as there are great views of the vineyards and unplanted hills to the west. Looking east you can see several close by wineries located along the busy Highway 29 - but here at Arger-Martucci it is quiet and when the vineyards are leafed out you cannot even hear the nearby traffic. This is one of the few wineries in Napa where, weather permitting, you can also taste next to a swimming pool. On one hot summer day a group of people who had visited too many wineries shed most of their clothes and jumped in the pool unbeknownst to the wine pourers! For a winery with an open to the public tasting room by walk-in, their total production is very low - usually in a given year they will be around 5000 cases with the majority of that being their Cabernet Sauvignon. As a result, their other wines are made in quantities of usually just several hundred cases. As of 2008 they won't be sourcing additional fruit, rather their wines will be entirely estate grown encompassing their primary 45 acre hillside vineyard at 1300 feet on Atlas Peak as well as the vineyard that surrounds the winery. For a small winery they make a wide variety of wine and offer a number of tasting options. Their Viognier is a wonderful wine, one of the better Viognier's we have tasted out of Napa. They chose to make Viognier because when the site was purchased this varietal was already planted. The 2006 has a very aromatic bouquet which is often typical of Viogniers. It is decidedly floral in natural with notes of fuchsia and honeysuckle. It is very well balanced with delicious flavors of melon and stone fruit on the palate. The finish is clean and crisp. This is a great everyday drinking wine. When we caught a smell of the 2005 Syrah we immediately looked up to see if anyone around us was smoking a cigar! That's right; the bouquet on this has forward notes of cigar and crushed black pepper which also lead onto the palate. It is a big wine with dark fruit including black cherry - most normal people don't normally taste leather for enjoyment, but if you did, you would note similar flavors towards the finish of this wine. It is a crowd favorite and as of press time it is their best seller. The 2003 Odyssey is a unique blend that changes every year, featuring the best lots of the various varietals from their Atlas Peak property. This is a very good food wine and fortunately Arger-Martucci serves fresh olive oil and bread with all their tasting flights. Red cherry, herbal notes and hints of chocolate grace the bouquet followed by plum, red cherry, a little spice and a structured very long, but not overpowering finish. Enjoy desert wines? Try their sweet Sauternes-style Dulcinea (2004) which is a botryisized blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. If you saw the grapes when they were picked you may not even want to try this wine! Botrysized grapes are initially quite unappealing as they are covered in grey mold but in the end, they produce wines rich in aroma, flavor and color. Lute Olsen the popular ex coach of the University of Arizona Basketball team considers this winery among his favorite. He's spent many hours lounging outside next to the pool sipping wine. It’s not hard to see why! Because Arger-Martucci is a small family owned boutique winery fairly centrally located in the valley it is popular with certain small group tours. Their trellis covered arbor is usually where these small groups will taste. During summer weekends, sometimes you may find Kat Martucci displaying her jewelry outside. www.katmartucci.com She is a talented young jewelry and clothes designer who has been making jewelry since she was a child. Visit: www.arger-martucci.com |
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Arietta | Tweet
was founded by long time Napa winemaker John Kongsgaard, his wife Maggy and Fritz & Caren Hatton. Today Fritz and his wife are the proprietors. Fritz has enjoyed wine since the early 1970's when he was at college. He "grew up" drinking French wine. While earning a degree in Management Arts he found himself working in a wine shop in New York City. Hearing about an opening at Christie's Auction House for their first wine auction, and appreciating "rare wine" - he interviewed and quickly earned the job of cataloguing wine. He fondly remembers drinking a number of older vintages including a 47' Mouton Rothschild. Soon his job was upgraded to "office manager" and then after Christie's Director of Wine Operations left the company, Fritz took over his position. Arietta was originally founded by a shared love of music and wine - Fritz plays piano and John along with making wine truly appreciates classical music (he even had a classical piece composed in his honor). The word "arietta" is owed to the great classical composer Beethoven. It was part of the original manuscript (the Arietta movement) in Beethoven’s last piano sonata, Opus 111. The label on each bottle depicts a couple of bars from this sonata. Music has always been a passion in Fritz's life - he even took a sabbatical and studied piano in San Francisco for several years. Arietta's wines are characterized by their European influences, wonderful aromatics, top vineyard sources in the valley within cooler climate locations, blending varietals to create additional complexities, creating harmonious wines with good acidity - thus ensuring they are food friendly, and using naturalistic wine-making processes (the idea that winemaking starts and ends in the vineyards and using wild yeast for their fermentations). Fritz is a well-known auctioneer of rare wine and is often mentioned in the same breath as the annual Napa Wine Auction. This charity auction was founded in 1981 (donates proceeds to local Napa County non profits, health care, youth organizations, affordable housing, etc.) and Fritz has been at the helm as its auctioneer since 1992. A recent highlight of his auctioning career was in June 2011 when the Napa Valley Auction hit a milestone of 100 million dollars raised since 1981 and the sparkling wine drenching/celebration that quickly ensued once this magic number was reached. He has lots of stories from his time as auctioneer at various auctions around the world including one time a bidder offered to double a $120,000 bid *if* Fritz made the flight to Asia to be at the auction. Needless to say, Fritz quickly caught a flight to the auction and the bidder went through with his word for a $240,000 bid! Arietta's first ever white wine is the "On The White Keys" 2009 vintage. Fritz started thinking about a white wine to complement their portfolio of reds several years ago. After tasting many Sauvignon blancs with his winemaker he decided his favorites were Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blends... agreed, our favorite Sauvignon blancs in the valley typically have been been those always blended with some Semillon. Hillside grown and fruit from older vines comprises their 2009 vintage; it was barrel fermented. Bright fruit shows on the bouquet, baking spices, a bit floral (perhaps sweat pea), and graphite. There is nice weight on the mouth-feel with some mineralities present on the lively finish. Also good acidity makes this wine favorable for pairing with a variety of foods. The 2008 Quartet is their Bordeaux blend (the only principal Bordeaux varietal missing in this vintage is Malbec). The nose is full of fruit, deep, dark and inviting with a bit of spice showing up later in the bouquet. This wine is hand crafted to be approachable early on and it certainly is that. Its soft upon entry with a wide range of flavor - fine grained tannins anchor the pleasing smooth finish. A hallmark of Arietta's wines are their beautiful aromatics and the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon showcases these well. Its a rich, yet elegant bouquet with black cherry, cassis and a hint of sweet vanilla. The palate is complex and expressive throughout - it is a full bodied wine with dusty tannins anchoring the fairly long finish. The fruit for this wine is sourced from a prominent vineyard in the Coombsville region planted on volcanic soils. This is probably their most age-worthy wine. The Cabernet Franc is Arietta's flagship wine and was their first commercially released wine (1996). Usually this wine is blended with Merlot in the style of St. Emillon but in 2008 the Cabernet Franc fruit really stood out by itself in the tasting trials and this is Arietta's first 100% varietal Cabernet Franc wine. This may be a one-time wine - in 2009 they returned creating a blend from these two varietals. The fruit for this wine has come from the same small block (H) of Hudson Vineyard in Carneros since their first vintage. The bouquet is somewhat dusty, almost earthy initially but as it breathes a beautiful classic Cabernet Franc nose emerges showing elegant fruit. The wine has nice texture, reasonable tannins and a finish that is extremely well balanced. A most unique wine is Arietta's blend of Syrah and Merlot, a "marriage of opposites" as Fritz describes. They have tried a number of different blends of these two varietals over the years but ultimately reached a point where slightly more Syrah is used each year to create the blend. The Variation One 2008 vintage is Arietta's "biggest" wine - their powerhouse wine if you will. It is a dark wine with dark fruit aromas both black (blackberry) and blue fruit (blueberry). Fritz calls this is his "Katharine Hepburn - Spencer Tracy wine"! The finish is dynamic and voluptuous with well structured tannins and flavor of fruit that continues for some time. Highly sought after Andy Erickson who has worked at prominent Napa wineries including Dalla Valle, Harlan, Screaming Eagle and Staglin, has been their winemaker since the 2005 vintage. Arietta's wines are well distributed in California and are available in select states including New York, New Jersey and Texas as well as several countries. For more information visit: www.arietta-wine.com |
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Arkenstone planted their first vineyard blocks in 1998 (12 acres are planted today) being extremely careful to plant in open areas so that few native trees would have to be removed. Howell Mountain is a beautiful appellation and because of its location and elevation is a region that contains a number of pine trees. It is an area similar in vegetation to parts of the Sierra Nevada's to the east that are also located around the same elevation. As with other Howell Mountain vineyard sites the soils are extremely rocky and parts of their vineyard are on steep slopes. They have been able to use a number of these rocks in their landscaping and in the actual construction of the buildings on site. Neighbor and good friend Robin Lail provided the original spark to get into the wine industry and in addition the Krausz's had a farming background which certainly helps when growing and managing vineyards. Through Lail, well regarded soils, viticulture expert and winemaker Philippe Melka (originally from Bordeaux France) walked the property and soon helped them match specific soils to specific rootstalks and clones. There are currently 24 blocks planted and over the past 5 years they made wine every year but never produced it commercially. Philippe Melka was their consulting winemaker. During this time they were discovering the "sweet" spots in their vineyard as well as making minor adjustments to certain blocks by changing out clonal selections and rootstalks to better match the specific site. This is a winery that has the luxury of time to do things properly with the focus being on quality. As a result their first vintage dates from 2006, 8 years after their vineyards were planted. Their vineyards are farmed organically and managed sustainability and have been since the beginning. At this stage of the project we are mostly meeting with "virtual" wineries and it is always a treat to visit a physical winery. This is certainly one of the nicer cave wineries in the valley. Winemaker Sam Kaplan has been on board for several years and played a prominent role in helping design the winemaking facilities including a very neat design specific to their tanks. You've seen the jacketed tanks for temperature control but this facility actually has temperature control built right into the floor taking this an extra step. Everything in this elegant cave is designed with the winemaking in mind and is very state of the art. Sam is also their vineyard manager; they employ their own vineyard management crew rather than using a vineyard management company (this "in house management" is certainly becoming rarer in the valley). All of Arkenstone's wines are estate grown and they are one of only 2 vineyards we know of on Howell Mountain growing Sauvignon Blanc commercially. If you are looking for a Sauvignon Blanc that you can actually age for a few years this is a great candidate. There are so many different Sauvignon Blanc styles on the market and the style that this wine is made in is what we enjoy drinking. Its made more in the French Graves style in that Semillon is blended in, it does not see tank at all, rather it is barrel fermented and then aged sur lees in French Oak for a lengthy time which helps produce a rich rounded texture. This is certainly not your quick to market Sauvignon Blanc, rather it has already been aged a few years upon release. Their first release is the 2006 vintage. This wine shows great color (golden honey) - there are no grassy notes in the nose or on the palate. The bouquet shows some mineralities and notes of honey with tangerine blossom. The small amount of Semillon also adds to the very aromatic bouquet. If there ever was a candidate for a "full bodied" Sauvignon Blanc this is it! It is a wine that shows excellent complexities of flavor, depth and viscosity. The palate reveals intense fruit including apple and pear with a nice note of spiciness (baking spices). The finish is super long, crisp and leaves subtle flavors of grapefruit. Merely 180 cases of this wine were produced. The 2006 Obsidian is the first release of their Cabernet Sauvignon based Bordeaux blend. It is a fine line between a wine that is ready to consume at the time of release as well as one that has the acidity, structure and fruit to carry the wine for a number of years. This wine walks that line well and is very much already in balance. Dark fruit, forest floor notes and a unique dustiness show on the bouquet along with hints of brown chocolate. This is a complex nose that reveals more layers of aroma as it breathes. The entry is rounded and soft and gains in intensity starting from the mid palate. More dark fruit shows than red fruit including blackberry and dark cherry. The finish shows delicate fine grained tannins. One of their priorities during winemaking is tannin management - most of which they actually conduct in the vineyard (row orientation, canopy management, harvest time etc). This is an elegant wine that will appeal to a variety of tastes. 450 cases were produced. As of the time of this review they also make a very tiny production of Syrah. Arkenstone is open by appointment only for serious wine enthusiasts. They also have a mailing list. Visit: www.arkenstone.com |
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While this is not technically in the Howell Mountain Appellation - it might as well be, as soils on their property and vegetation are very similar to Howell Mountain (the appellation starts at 1400 feet). The soils are very rocky here - in fact much of the stones for the great Culinary Institute of America building in nearby St. Helena came from this property. The current owners (Sandi and John) are only the 3rd owners in the properties history since it was homesteaded in 1863. Both have a long history in winemaking; Sandi has been making wine in the Napa area for more than 25 years and consults for wineries abroad including Thailand and China. As a result, Arns wine is one of the few Napa wines you can find at select locations in Bangkok including the famous historical Oriental Hotel! John also has a long career consulting for premium Napa Wineries in regards to vineyard management. Both Sandi and John were extremely busy with their consulting and vineyard work but had been discussing the possibility of building a winery in the 1980's. Finally the opportunity arose and they took the plunge in the early 1990's. Their first commercial vintage was released in 1992. Arns winery is small and their total production is about 1000 cases of which the majority is their estate Cabernet Sauvignon. They also make two other wines, a Syrah and a Napa Valley Cabernet. All their wines are 100% varietal. A visit here is for the serious wine enthusiast and a tasting is typically with Sandi or John and if the weather permits is held outside on their patio overlooking the vineyards. Their Syrah is one of the more elegant Syrah's we've had during this project. It has the Syrah characteristic smokiness and pepper flavors but these do not overwhelm the wine as it is beautifully balanced. Their estate Cabernet Sauvignon is our favorite. Characteristic of their particular vineyard, this wine is very dark and inky in color. The 2004 vintage is a smooth high quality Napa Cabernet - with notes of cherries in the aromas and more anis as the wine starts to open up. The palate has nice notes of chocolate and dark cherry. For an off the beaten path personal tasting experience, sampling high quality hand crafted wines, it doesn't get much better than this. Joining their mailing list gives one the opportunity to sometimes purchase older vintages (when re-released). Visit: www.arnswinery.com |
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From their outside porch on a clear day you can see the skyscrapers of San Francisco far in the distance, several Bay area bridges, Mt. Tamalpais, Mt. Diablo, the San Pablo Bay - and in the foreground, the di Rosa Art Preserve and Domain Carneros. Artesa has very nice grounds including modern statues, waterfalls, and a serene inner courtyard. After you climb up the steps from the parking lot you will walk down a long path to the entrance - across what appear to be square concrete pavers. You are walking directly on top of their barrel room so if your footsteps sound a bit hollow, there is a good reason for it. They also have a wine members only tasting room - visible from the outside so you can see who is inside. However, we recommend they take the next step in VIP room windows like the one in the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. The Kodak has installed "soft glass" so that when you walk past the outside of the room, the windows instantaneously turns fuzzy and you cannot make out the features of those inside. However at certain angles you can see who is inside; this is done so those outside of the VIP room have at least a glimpse of who is inside there, but at the same time gives the VIPS their privacy. Tours at Artesa are given daily at 11 and 2pm sharp. A tour which includes a tasting takes about an hour and weather permitting starts outside on their porch. Check out the statue of the Madonna in their central courtyard. You won't see many Madonna's with braids like this one has. Also note the very unique reflected image of this Madonna that is seen indoors - which varies in location depending on the time of year and the sun's angle. The tour covers the winery & Carneros history, and includes a stop in their production facilities. Their barrel room is one of the larger ones you will see in Napa Valley. Oh, and Benedictine monks are continuously chanting which adds an "old world" flavor to a stop here. Perhaps this soothing music is even good for the wine as it ages, who knows?! Our guide was a Carneros local and grew up before the rolling hills were covered in grapes - this entire area used to be sheep and dairy farms. Lots of art decorates the inside and outside of the winery. This art is the brainchild of Gordon Huether who has been the resident artist at the winery since 1997. He has his own studio just north of the town of Napa - visit: www.gordonhuether.com Choose from two tasting flights including their "classic" and the Limited Release & Reserves. Despite having a number of tasting counters on site, summer weekends can get pretty crowded. We recommend spending the extra $5 to taste their limited releases. Saunter over to the wine bar after you pay for your tasting at the main entrance. Their Limited Release wines are very smooth and very drinkable now. Excellent Sauvignon Blanc - the 2005 Reserve has rich aromatics and a wonderful creamy mouth feel - fruit includes melon and pear with notes of caramel and vanilla from the oak aging. There is a pleasant nuance of ripe banana that lingers on the finish. Other nice wines are the 2006 Carneros Pinot noir, the rich concentrated fruit flavors of the 2004 Reserve Merlot, a Cabernet Franc and their very food friendly Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. True to their Spanish roots Artesa produces an Albarino wine - we know of only one or two other Napa wineries producing this varietal. Pick up a copy of their monthly newsletter - recipes, wine info & more! Serious wine lovers may want to take a look at Artesa's "Candlelit Barrel Room Tasting". This tasting by appointment only is limited to only wines produced in quantities of less than 700 cases and includes a tour of the winery by one of their wine educators. This special tasting is only offered on Saturdays and Sundays. Visit: www.artesawinery.com |
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was founded in 1996 by several partners; today two couples own the winery along with the primary partner, Paul Johnson of Napa. The name translates to "Heaven & Earth" in Italian. Mr. Johnson has lived an interesting life - from being a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot in Japan, to owning a resort in Jamaica to his involvement in the banking industry in Chicago. He and his friends (later business partners in the winery) were enjoying an especially long evening with good wine when they decided it would be fun to get into the wine industry. Most dreams like this discussed at long wine infused dinners fizzle by morning. Not so with Astale e Terra. For 6 months the owners scoured Napa for winery real estate and eventually arrived at the end of Soda Canyon Road where they fell in love with the property and quickly purchased it. The vineyards are at an elevation ranging from 1200 to 1700 feet. As a result they are above the fog line and the growing season is long with lots of sunshine. However, lots of sunshine doesn't necessarily translate to warmer growing conditions mainly because of the elevation and their more southern location in Napa (closer to the moderating influences of the San Pablo Bay than say Calistoga in the north). The growing temperatures are quite moderate allowing for long hang time and slow development of flavors. This is one of only two wineries in this part of Atlas Peak as most of the surrounding producers are growers not winemakers. Over the years Astrale e Terra has boasted a fine pedigree of winemakers from Pam Starr and Bill Ballentine; presently Scott Harvey is their consulting winemaker. Their primary winemaker lives next to the vineyards. The winery is small, not a typical "Napa Chateau" by any means. Its functional and is built right among their vineyards. The property is 60 acres of which 35 are planted to vine. The majority is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon but they also grow Merlot, Petite Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Syrah. Astrale e Terra tends to age their wines longer which results in a softening of the tannins and helps balance out the flavors and structure. As a result, they leave their wines longer in oak but use neutral oak so as not to overly influence the fruit characteristics. All their red wines are estate grown. Their wines are meant to be paired with food - with decent alcohol levels as well as acidity. They source fruit from several Napa vineyards for their one white wine. 2008 was their first white wine vintage. The 2008 Sauvignon Blanc is blended slightly with some Semillon for weight or "body". This wine only sees a kiss of French Oak and does not undergo malolactic fermentation. As a result, the wine is rounded but not creamy and retains a nice crispness. Aromas of graphite, lemon and tropical fruit show. The palate also has some tropical notes with a finish that is zesty with some baking spices. Those who know Scott Harvey know his passion for Riesling - the 2009 vintage is slightly blended with Riesling. The Merlot is only made in years they feel the quality is superior. The 2004 vintage has an elegant bouquet and is fairly smooth from start to finish with tannins that are now very well integrated. This wine is very well balanced. Usually under 200 cases are made. The original vintage of their flagship wine (Arcturus) dates from 1999 and compromises the bulk of their production. Arcturus is named after the 4th brightest star in the sky - classified as a Red Supergiant. The parallels of the star to the actual wine are similar. It is on the "bigger" side of the wines they produce as far as structure as well as being their most produced wine. Hints of earth show on the bouquet complemented by raspberry and blackberry. The palate is rather soft and elegant upon approach showing ripe black cherry and notes of cedar. The tannins are broadly distributed and finish with notes of spice. The Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is sometimes called a red blend when there is less than 75% Cabernet in the wine. They would rather have the flexibility of blending larger amounts of other wines if it helps with the flavor, aroma and structure rather than be tied to always using more than 75% varietal in order to call it a Cabernet Sauvignon. The bouquet on the 2005 vintage is very terroir driven - a noticeable earthiness is found on the bouquet which leads to a very approachable palate (at 5 years old, at the time of this review, this is their youngest current release). It has great acidity with just the right amount of tartness to pair with a variety of foods - showing plum and raspberry The Syrah is their "biggest" wine but age has treated it very well. It is a dark wine with an elegant bouquet - rich fruit aromas lead to a rich rounded mouth feel. It is a soft wine, voluptuous with a rounded entry. This is a wine that is certainly easy to drink by itself! For a small Napa producer their prices are extremely reasonable. Looking for a short term offered special - how is this is for a good price? Their 2003 Syrah for the holidays (2010) is running $10/bottle when you purchase a case with free delivery if you live within Napa. This is as good an offer as you will find anywhere in Napa. See http://p0.vresp.com/H9oEHg for details. Tastings are for serious wine enthusiasts, typically for those who are members of their wine club. The wine is selectively distributed in 5 states; locally you can find the wine at Backroom wines in Napa and V Wine Cellars in Yountville as well as a number of local restaurants. For more information visit: www.astraleeterra.com or follow on Twitter: @astraleeterra |
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To understand Atalon, first some history is in order. Atalon itself is a relatively new winery releasing their first commercial vintage in 1997. When the brand was first founded the wine was made high on Howell Mountain at an old ghost winery built by W.S. Keyes. In the late 1800's Keyes was producing award winning and some of Napa's finest wines. Atalon is a derivative of a French word meaning "benchmark". The idea behind the winery was to produce high quality wines from the vineyards used in this original winery. Following up with the French meaning of benchmark, you could almost say Atalon is using the original W.S. Keyes winery as their own benchmark. Today they source fruit from a variety of vineyards in select locations within Napa Valley. The winery sits in a bucolic location totally surrounded by vineyards just north of Tubbs Lane (near the Old Faithful Geyser). As a result of its location this is one of the most northerly based Napa wineries. We always like visiting this part of the valley as there are less people, less traffic, and the wineries are much more spread out. Tasting, while by appointment, is informal and enjoying their wine is a very pleasant experience. This winery has finished major renovation and upgrades; the gardens and outdoor landscaping were redesigned and Bob Pecota's old house was converted into a tasting area. Weather permitting, the tasting will be outside on the patio near the pool otherwise it will be inside their cozy tasting room. Atalon is known for merely two tiers of wines: a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and in addition a hillside grown Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. However, note that their first white wine, a Sauvignon Blanc was released in 2008. The Napa Valley vintages we tried were all very well balanced with soft smooth tannins. There are definitely some noticeable differences based on terroir and the hillside grown fruit versus the valley floor. The hillside grown wines tend to be bigger in structure with rich very ripe fruit flavors. The grapes used in their wines come from several premium vineyard locations in the Napa Valley historically known to produce very high quality grapes. There are nice views of the vineyards and nearby hills from the wooden deck in the covered fermentation area. Also note the handprints of Bob Pecota in the concrete (former owner). We refer to the two "C's" which are the best bicycle friendly areas in Napa Valley. These are Carneros to the south and Calistoga here in the north. Bicyclists will find these small vineyard surrounded roads a joy to ride especially considering this part of the valley sees less traffic then much of the rest of Napa Valley. A bike rack is available in front of the winery for parking. Visit: www.atalon.com NOTE: The tasting room is currently closed indefinitely. We will post an update here as details emerge. |
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Atlas Peak Winery was founded in 1987 with the intent to focus on Italian varietals including Sangiovese. However over time their relatively high altitude vineyard location, specific soils & climate proved to be very conducive for growing premium Cabernet Sauvignon and now this varietal is their main focus. The actual winery was located on Atlas Peak - (surprise, surprise) but they actually make their wine now at a large winery in the Carneros region, just south of the Napa Valley. Their vineyard land comprises about 500 acres making them one of the larger growers on Atlas Peak. They make ultra premium Cabernet Sauvignon with Napa grown fruit entirely from mountain vineyards located at elevations of 1000 feet or higher.
The fruit for their Atlas Peak wines come from their own vineyard and fruit for their other mountain grown wines comes from premium vineyards on Howell Mountain, Spring Mountain and Mt. Veeder. The wines from these other mountain regions are their "Mountain Series". It is easy to distinguish the two labels, just look for the black label versus the one white label. As someone once said 'great wines have great views'! One other winery comes to mind with regards to producing select wines from specific mountain vineyards and that is Lokoya although their style of wines differ from Atlas Peak. Atlas Peak's vineyards remain constant which means they source from the same vineyards year after year. This helps build consistency into the wine and the winemaker over time knows the type of fruit he is getting. The winemaking equipment was recently upgraded and is now state of the art. These are serious Cabernet's for the serious Cabernet Sauvignon drinker. They are very inky dark wines, big, bold, brawny and full of fruit with huge tannins. Lets see what these wines are like in 10 years! All their wines are unfiltered and unfined for maximum flavors and color. Attention to detail in the vineyards and in the harvest is of the utmost importance with multiple hand sortings of the actual grapes and a very long extended maceration up to 45 days - all temperature controlled. Two of the biggest wines we tried during our visit with the winemaker are their 2004 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon and the Claret. Typically all their Cabernet Sauvignons see a very small percentage of a blending varietal which is usually Petite Verdot. We sampled their 2004 Claret (from Atlas Peak); this is their one true blend usually containing 5 blends with Cabernet Sauvignon the dominant varietal. As with their other wines this one is very dark and shows great blueberry and cherry on the palate with huge broad tannins on the finish. This is a rich complex wine which will age well. Visit: www.atlaspeak.com |
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The four partners have opened a tasting room in downtown Calistoga and are part of a number of relatively new tasting rooms to open in the city limits. With four partners there is no need to hire tasting room staff and one if not more of the owners are always on hand to pour the wines. The tasting room is small but is divided into two tasting counters, one for the general public and one for their mailing list customers. Parking can be an issue in the tiny downtown of Calistoga but no so here - along with several other vintners in the same building they share a parking lot for guests. During the weekend when the nearby bank closes additional parking is available in the same lot. August Briggs is noted for their diversity of wines - as of the time of this review they produce 16 different wines! Their wines are sourced from a number of vineyards, primarily in both Napa and Sonoma counties. After selling their Calistoga winery, once again they are technically a Sonoma County winery as their production was moved to a winery in Western Sonoma County. August Briggs established relationships with their growers over the years regardless of the change in ownership, continue to source from these same vineyards. Like Pinot noir? Joe certainly does - he worked with this varietal in Oregon as well as cooler growing regions in Northern California including the Russian River, Sonoma Coast and Carneros. For a winery "up valley" they produce quite a few different Pinot noirs - although none are grown on the estate as this part of Napa is a bit warm for high quality Pinot noir. During our latest visit we tried the 2009 Russian River Pinot. This wine shows notes of melon and lemon twist on the bouquet with citrus on the palate and a a zesty mid palate to finish. The mid palate has some nice weight and viscosity. The finish is clean and shows hints of mineralities. The 2008 Dijon Clone Napa Valley Pinot noir is a winner. The fruit is sourced from a vineyard south of Carneros. This is a very fruit driven Pinot both on the nose and on the palate. Delicious concentrated flavors show including cherry and strawberry with some clove and white pepper spice that show up on the mid palate. Also of note is their Zinfandel - it is sourced from old head pruned vines (dating from 1908) located about a mile from their tasting room. The 2009 we tried is not jammy or heavy rather it is medium bodied with good balance and shows excellent fruit (notes of cherry pie). Zinfandel at times can overpower food; not so with this one. August Briggs produces several Cabernet Sauvignons including a wine from the historic and well-known Monte Rosso Vineyard located at about 1000 feet in the Mayacamas mountains in Sonoma County. Production was lower in 2008 due to weather related issues and this vintage is concentrated and displays a very aromatic bouquet. More red fruit shows than dark fruit. This wine has good natural mouth watering acidity. One wine you rarely see available from Napa wineries is the Italian varietal Charbono - the reason being is there are less than 100 acres of this varietal planted in the entire state! There are several vineyards of this varietal planted in the Calistoga appellation. Another varietal that in our Napa tasting experience is quite rare is the Pinot Meunier which is a close relative of the Pinot noir grape. Pinot Meunier is normally grown in a select part of France and used as a sparkling wine varietal but it grows well in the southern/cooler part of Napa Valley and makes a nice still wine. Besides the August Briggs label, they also produce wine for the NASCAR Driver Jeff Gordon - called the Jeff Gordon Collection. Visit: www.augustbriggswines.com |
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Aum Cellars is owned and operated by Peter Hoffman, a fellow Cal Poly, SLO graduate. He grew up in and around what was at the time one of California's largest vineyards in Southern California. Knowing that he wanted to do something with agriculture he attended Cal Poly which was before they even offered their wine and viticulture program. During his time in college he started picking up more interest in wine especially Syrah. While living on the Central Coast, he discovered Alban (makers of fine Central Coast Rhone based wines including Syrah). Peter fell in love with this varietal and found himself planting Syrah vineyards for a local vintner. This turned into additional vineyard management work and soon he was managing high end vineyards that were producing fruit for some premium area wineries including Santa Barbara based Sine Qua Non. As Peter says he took a ten year detour to actually start making commercial wine. However with prior management of large scale vineyards, his experience was in demand and was hired to come to Napa to oversee famed grower Beckstoffer's vineyard holdings. He further refined his palate while working at Stag's Leap Cellars.
In 2000 Peter started making home wine and released his first commercial vintage in 2003. Today he devotes his time to winemaking as well as consulting for a variety of wine related projects. He bonded his home and makes the wine there. All wine as of press time are bottled under the Aum Cellars label (look for the Aum Sanskrit symbol on the label). Peter produces his wines organically and Biodynamically and as of press time is in the process of being officially certified (by 2009 or 2010). Due to personal allergies his wines always contain low amounts of sulfites. Peter takes a minimalist approach to winemaking, rather letting the varietal and vineyard characteristics show. His wines are unfined and unfiltered (vegan style according to Peter!) and native yeasts are used for fermentation. The winemaking is as gentle as possible with manual punch-downs and no pump-overs during fermentation. In addition he has long term leases on vineyards to ensure fruit sources remain fairly consistent. In the future, Peter will be sourcing fruit from outside of Napa, for other varietals that tend to grow better in different terroir regions. As of press time Hoffman Family produces one white wine - an interesting blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Muscat and Pinot Blanc. We tried the 2005 vintage. Initially the Muscat dominates the nose producing a nice fruity overtone but as the bouquet opens up more honeysuckle and melon become apparent. The palate has great fruit; think cantaloupe with notes of other citrus, most notably grape fruit. This is a crisp clean easy drinking wine. He produces two very distinctly different Cabernet Sauvignons. In our experience tasting in Napa, almost all vintners have one certain style of Cabernet, whether it be the rich high alcohol fruit forward California style, or the lower alcohol higher acidity Bordeaux style wine. Hoffman Family actually makes both and quite well we should point out. We tried the 2005, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from a vineyard in St. Helena. Peter has had extensive experience with specific types of clones and this wine is all clone 7 (good up front fruit with manageable tannins). This wine is definitely made in the French style with the alcohol around 13%. Peter likes to keep it at this or even lower. It is rare to find a Napa Cabernet these days coming in at these alcohol levels. This is the type of style wine that Peter is passionate about; it is a great food wine. You need the higher acidity to cut through certain types of food and the flavors really come alive with a meal. One sommelier called the nose on this a chocolate cake - there are definitely chocolate aromas with other spices and nuances of pepper. The palate has nice fruit including notes of raspberry, plum and red cherry. This wine has a rounded mouth feel with soft delicate tannins. It has great ageability. The 2006 Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon is a mix of different clones each of which brings a specific contribution to the wine. As Peter says, you want a clone which "brings a hint of corruption to a good Cabernet Sauvignon"! We've had some huge Mt. Veeder Cabernets which blow the socks off your palate when you drink them young. This is not one of them. This is the California bigger rich fruit forward wine. However this wine will be able to carry itself longer due to its higher acidity. It is pronouncedly darker than the St. Helena Cabernet and sees more new oak during the aging. Nuances of chocolate on the nose lead to a palate rich in dark fruit including blackberry and blueberry. The structured tannins are well balanced, are soft and delicate. Look for additional varietals in the future including a Syrah. Oh and we haven't yet mentioned these wines have one of the better quality to value price ratios in the valley! Visit: www.aumcellars.com |
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