|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Sign In / Register |
|
|
|
3 Doors Down is a "garagiste" winery located within the town of Napa. The city of Napa allows one to actually bond part of your garage and driveway as a winery which is what 3 Doors Down has done. We have visited a number of garagiste wineries within Napa, but this is definitely one of the smaller ones! This is a Napa winery well under the radar with a lot of potential. They are completely family run - the Italian Isola family manages the winery ranging from grandfather Charles who has made homemade wine for a long time, to his two sons Joseph and Lee and John the grandson. Their first commercial vintage was in 2002 however they have made home wine since 1995 entering at various statewide and county competitions. As John says, eventually the judges became "tired" of seeing them take all the gold medals and started encouraging them to make wine commercially.
Their first vintage of home wine was from one of Napa's most well known highly regarded vineyard sources - lets just say this particular vineyard provided some fruit for a winery which won during the famed Paris tasting of 1976. Not a bad source at all when you are making home wine! Encouragement to start their own winery also came from friends who had enjoyed their wines for a number of years - plus giving away your wine for free only goes so far. Does this story sound like another Napa based Italian family winery? The Buonchristiani's started in their Napa garage and now their wines are among some of Napa's finest. Many winemakers name their winery after their last name so it is always refreshing to find a winery that is creatively named. No there isn't a connection to the rock band 3 Doors Down, rather, their bonded winery is actually three doors down from one of the owner's homes. A side benefit of this name is they will always appear at the top of any Napa winery list! Their primary focus is on Napa grown Cabernet Sauvignon. They have been able to source fruit from vineyards in similar terroir locations from an area in the southern part of the Silverado Trail. As a result their fruit sources have remained fairly constant since the first vintage. We tried the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon in bottle and the 2006 vintage which as of press time was not yet released. The 2005 is a dark wine that has a nose which initially is somewhat flinty with hints of pine pitch aromas and dried herbs including flower petals. After the wine has had time to open up, the aromas evolve more into a rich fruit driven bouquet. The palate follows with lots of nice fruit, dark cherry and blackberry which ends smoothly with a finish that is slightly smoky and spicy. The mouth feel is very rounded and smooth. The 2006 brings forth aromas that are a veritable spice box with nice cedar notes and a bit of white pepper. Note that as of our tasting, this wine had not yet received its final blend. This is a fruit forward wine with nice touches of black cherry and licorice with a the finish that is slightly smoky and dusty. 3 Doors Down also sources fruit for a second wine and as of press time they have a Sonoma County Merlot that shows pleasant aromas of vanilla and oak on the nose which follow through as flavor to the palate. Because their production is so incredibly small this is a winery that you almost have to know someone to get access to their wines, however with very limited distribution within the Napa area, the best way to secure their wine is via their website. You can find the wine locally at the Soda Canyon Store on South Silverado trail which is just north of the town of Napa. Oh, and their prices are some of the most affordable in the Napa Valley! Visit: www.3doorsdownwinery.com |
 |
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
|
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 Note: during the month of February they are donating 50% of all retail sales to charities supporting Haiti. |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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! Visit: www.aetnaspringscellars.com |
|
|
|
Ahnfeldt Winery 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 |
|
|
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 glasses 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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 by end of February 2009. 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 JV Warehouse in Napa. Visit: www.andrewlanewines.com |
|
|
over and there is nothing you can do but make wine! Resistance to the "Napa Allure" is futile. Their winery was built with their current production in mind which is slightly less than 1000 cases. As a result, it is a very small winery but perfectly fits their size and they have no plans to significantly increase production. The cellar room is located about 20 feet deep 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 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 JV Wines in Napa and 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 |
|
|
|
Anselmo Vigne has vineyards located in the hills above the Silverado Trail not far from Darioush and Signorello Wineries. Anselmo "Steve" Simi is the owner - he grew up helping his parents make their home wine. He looked in the Napa area for over 10 years before he found this ideal location to grow Cabernet Sauvignon. The land was site of an existing vineyard planted in the late 1980's. At the time of the purchase the production was over 5 tons per acre which is not the tonnage you need for high quality wine and in the ensuing years he brought production down to under 3 tons per acre. Steve spent hundreds of hours working and improving the vineyard property and infrastructure. The vineyard is well drained with rocky clay loam type soil. Great attention goes into maintaining excellent exposure of the grapes to the sun so that ripening is even. Their first release was in 2002 and they concentrate on a 100% varietal Cabernet Sauvignon each year.
Their total production each year runs merely several hundred cases and quality is of the utmost importance here. Any years in which the "juice" does not make the quality cut will not be used, or less juice will be used and a vintage may not be released or will be released in lesser quantities. Respect for the quality of what is released to the consumer is often hard to find at winery that mass produces wines. Plans are developing for possibly a second wine but as of review time in 2008 this wine has not yet been released. We tried their 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon. The nose is full of fruit including cherries and red currants and the mouth feel is soft and silky. The mid palate has tones of chocolate and tobacco and the long finish leaves you only wanting more of this wine. Their Cabernets are priced rather reasonably for fruit from this particular area of Napa Valley. Also note that Steve's wife Cecilia is a classically trained painter and sculpturist and her works appear on some of their promotional material. Visit: www.anselmo-vigne.com |
|
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 sauterne-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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 very high end Napa Wineries in regards to vineyard management. Both Sandi and John were extremely busy with their consulting and vineyard work but had building a winery in the 1980's. Finally the time came 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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
|
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 |
|
|
Unlike many Napa Wineries the tasting is complimentary. They produce an excellent Syrah and a "big" bold Cabernet Sauvignon. Like Pinot noir? 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. As of press time, they have four of these Pinots available all of which come from a variety of Napa/Sonoma cool-climate locations. The 2006 Dijon Clone Napa Valley Pinot noir is a winner. 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 black pepper spices intermingled in. Also of note is their Zinfandel - it is sourced from old head pruned vines in the Calistoga area. The 2006 we tried is not jammy or heavy rather it is medium bodied with good balance and shows excellent fruit. Their estate property is planted to just over an acre and as a result, they source from a variety of vineyards, ranging from Napa and Sonoma to more northerly Lake County. 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! Ask to try their version. 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 but is seems to do quite well in the Napa Valley. A label for the famous NASCAR Driver Jeff Gordon is also made here - called the Jeff Gordon Collection. Jeff has been by the winery a number of times to check out the production of his wine label! Visit: www.augustbriggswines.com |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
 |
||
|
|
||||||
