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The tasting room is located inside the main house; note the very mountain/cabin like feel with the knotty pine and a stone fireplace. With a tasting room like this, its almost like you are in the mountains somewhere ...Lake Tahoe perhaps! They are set back from the main Silverado Trail against the hillside which makes for a very quiet peaceful location. This is also a historic property. The Silverado Trail was originally built in 1852 and was the first permanent north south Napa Valley road. You can even see parts of the old Silverado Trail which used to run through the property. The famous stage coach robber, "Black Bart" was actually apprehended on site in 1883. A side room with a thick piece of wood sitting on top of two wine barrels serves as the tasting counter or for a more personal tasting (small groups only) you can sit down with your tasting host. Allow at least 45 minutes. They have plans to develop outdoor tasting areas. How many up valley wineries do *not* make a Cabernet Sauvignon or for that matter, any Napa based wineries. Not many! Failla specializes in three wines, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Syrah all sourced from very cool weather vineyards. If you are looking for a "Pinot house" this is an excellent choice. Their winemaker holds several philosophies; one is to make wines that make you salivate upon the first taste and another is to source from cold climate vineyards which tend to have strong marine influences. These types of wines have lively acidity and are not solely huge fruit driven wines. As a result they tend to pair very well with meals and are quite popular at restaurants. Typically their wines are unfined and unfiltered for maximum color and flavor. Failla owns 85 acres in the Fort Ross area of the Sonoma Coast which can be extremely cold and foggy. They also source grapes from other high end vineyards in Sonoma and Napa. For a relatively small winery they produce a large number of wines. As a result we will focus on a select few that we enjoyed during a recent tasting. The 2006 Estate Chardonnay from the Sonoma Coast has a wonderful fruit driven nose, slightly flinty with hints of melon, pineapple and honeysuckle. The fruit follows onto the palate with lively acidity and a nice clean finish. The 2006 Viogner is sourced from Edna Valley in San Luis Obispo County. This wine has big aromatics, herbs and jasmine with a palate hinting of stone fruit (white peach, nectarine) and even a little citrusy marmalade flavor. The heart of Failla's wines are definitely their Pinot noirs. Two of our favorites are the 2006 Pearlessence Vineyard and the 2006 Sonoma Coast. The Pearlessence has some very nice earthy and baking spice aromas which when left to open up reveal more of the fruit including currants and cherries. The Sonoma Coast is very well balanced with rich aromas of cherry intermixed with exotic spices and that wonderful terroir driven earthiness you find in some of Failla's Pinots. Syrah lovers take note - this varietal rounds out Failla's repertoire and is their "biggest" wine. The owner winemaker is young but already has a plethora of experience working at other high end wineries within the Napa area. There is plantable hillside acreage on site and Failla has future plans to put in a small vineyard. Visit: www.faillawines.com |
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Fairchild Estate is a high quality producer of very limited premium red wines. They currently focus on estate grown Cabernet Sauvignon. In 1999 Larry Fairchild and his wife purchased premium land just above Lake Hennessy in the eastern hills above Napa Valley. Larry has a long history of building startups and managing entrepreneurial businesses including at one point an online company to facilitate the needs of wineries with suppliers of winery related products. This area is probably Napa's most sought after terroir that isn't yet an officially recognized sub appellation. It is in the Pritchard Hill area which is home to two of Napa's generally recognized seven cult wineries - these two are Colgin and Bryant Family.
Fairchild's first release was in 2001. This is a unique location home to several other very premium vineyards and wineries. The lake provides a very unique moderating growing climate especially in the summer during the afternoons when the rest of this area is much warmer. This is a steep hillside vineyard planted to Cabernet Sauvignon clone 7 located in an area known to produce complex wines with intense flavors. The old adage that the majority of winemaking takes place in the vineyard is very true and maybe even more so in the case of a small vineyard focusing on premium wines such as Fairchild. The vineyard is small and so is the total yield with a typical year coming in around merely 1.5 tons/acre. As a result this is one of the smaller Napa prodcuers that we have met with on this project. Each wine is typically only produced in a quantity of merely 90 cases each vintage. That's not much! Larry has two very highly regarded people in the wine industry on his team; Jim Barbour provides all the hands on vineyard management and Paul Hobbs is the winemaker. Hobbs has a long history in the Napa area back to the early 1980's when he worked with Opus One and today he consults for local and International wineries and his wines are extremely sought after. During harvest, the grapes are all hand sorted, native yeast is used during fermentation and no pumps are used as gravity flow is how the juice is moved into the actual fermentation tanks. Their philosophy is to manipulate the wine as little as possible both during fermentation as well as during its aging. Attention to detail is key during the winemaking - hand picked French Oak barrels are used and the wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered for maximum flavors. We met Larry at lunch in St. Helena and tried his 2005 Estate vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (Sigaro). If you are looking for a premium elegant Bordeaux style wine, this is an excellent choice. It is a wine that contains a powerful nose of leather, a smokiness (think cedar) and black cherry. On the palate it reveals several depths of flavor including black cherry, black currant and undertones of vanilla. It contains a pleasant smokiness that lingers long after you swallow. Fairchild also makes another wine, the Estate Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine differentiates itself from the single vineyard Sigaro in that it is blended with valley floor fruit. Visit: www.fairchildwines.com |
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Over the past 20 years Ray has built some very good relationships with vineyard owners and is able to source high quality grapes for all of Falcor's Napa & Sonoma wines. Combining the premium grape sources with Ray's long time winemaking experience produces delicious wines with an additional bonus being the reasonable pricing. As of press time they produce between 4000 and 5000 cases and 9 different wines. Falcor also is able to hold back vintages of wine so that their current releases are typically several years older than most wineries. For example the current vintage of the Cabernet Sauvignon we tasted was 2002 which we were tasting 6 years later at press time. They are well known for their Chardonnays and the 2003 current release (Bacigalupi Vineyard from Sonoma County's Russian River region) does not disappoint. It is a pale amber color in the glass with notes of honey, crème Brule, caramel, some hints of nuts which follow through to the palate. It is a unique tasting very full bodied Chardonnay with a wonderful mouth feel. Their 2004 Sangiovese is a Super Tuscan blend (red wines from Tuscany, Italy that do not use historical blending varietals) with 88% Sangiovese and 12% Cabernet Sauvignon. The grapes for this wine are from Yountville and form a well rounded wine with a smooth elegant mouth feel. Spices, black licorice and black cherry flavors coat the palate. Lastly their 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon is among the oldest current release of Cabernet Sauvignon that we have tried during our 500+ Napa winery tastings. This is not a bad thing as this wine has had more time to age. The fruit is from the base of Howell Mountain in the northern part of the valley. Lots of fruit in the nose carries over to the palate. This wine has velvety tannins with a long finish. A kitchen has not yet been built; when its operational it will provide tasty delectable's to be paired with the wines. Falcor can also still be tasted at Napa Wine Co in their Cult Tasting Room. We will revisit Falcor for updated photos once the kitchen and furnishings are complete. Visit: www.falcorwines.com |
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The hillside vineyards are separated into a number of blocks each with its own soil, water, rootstock or varietal characteristics. The vineyard is planted mostly planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and the only white they make (the Chardonnay), is sourced from the cooler Russian River area in neighboring Sonoma County. As of press time, well-known winemaker Heidi Barrett has come on board and 2008 was her first crush with Fantesca. When they bought the winery there were vintages in barrel from the prior winery (Shadow Lace); the first vintage released under the Fantesca label was 2002, and the first release totally under their control was in 2004. In their relatively short history of making wine they have already employed top winemakers - their original winemakers were the father son duo of Kirk and Nils Venge. Fantesca's main focus is on two wines, a Chardonnay and an estate grown Cabernet Sauvignon. Their bottles always stand out in a "crowd" - they are etched with diamonds in vertical patterns creating a unique textured effect. The 2006 Chardonnay is from Napa's Carneros region to the south and has great color, almost golden with beautiful tropical aromas and flavors including citrus and pineapple. The 2004 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is blended slightly with Petite Verdot which in this case helps flesh out the mid palate by providing additional structure and flavor. This is a very rich full-bodied wine with an appealing nose that includes a certain smokiness integrated with fruit. It has a wide depth of flavor from wild blackberries to elegant spices on the very long seductively lingering finish. As of press time their entire production is about 1600 cases including minute productions of Petite Verdot (from their property) and a Pinot Noir from the Russian River area. These small quantity wines are typically reserved for wine club customers only. Susan's father has allergies to the histamines in big red wines so the Pinot noir is their tribute to him. As of press time they produce only 3 barrels of this incredible wine with one of the barrels always reserved for Susan's father. Their 2006 King Richard Reserve Pinot noir is a fantastic wine. It has good weight for a Pinot with tons of berry aromas and flavors including raspberry and boysenberry. Spices are well integrated throughout the layered palate with just a touch of vanilla towards the finish. Of special note is their annual exclusive "Hands on Harvest" event. If you are looking for a unique small winery experience off the beaten path that includes lots of fun, good food and wine, this event is a good choice. It is the only open to the public event (by appointment) offered by Fantesca and is a great opportunity to meet those involved with this winery, those who are interested in wine and actually help with part of a harvest. Fuel out your day early with delicious breakfast delights and then head straight to the vineyards where your team will pick about 1000 pounds of Cabernet Sauvignon (sounds worse than it is as this usually takes under an hour). The grapes are then hauled to the winery for processing; you will help with the sorting after they have gone through the destemmer (Fantesca uses a rare triple sorting system to ensure only the highest quality grapes will see fermentation) and watch punch-downs and pump-overs (basic parts of winemaking during harvest). The on site cave was actually built during a time when Napa County had implemented strict controls on new cave construction. However one way around this was using your mineral rights in the name of digging a cave! The owner of the property at the time decided to "look" for silver and after digging a main tunnel through the mountain and several "exploratory" shafts he never found silver. Bummer. However at this point he had a very nice cave! Today this small but functional cave serves to age their own wines as well as several other wineries who custom crush on site. It also serves as a conduit between the actual winery and Duane and Susan's home. After the "hard work" of processing the 1000 pounds you will walk through this cave to their patio where you will be treated to a scrumptious catered lunch. This is a great opportunity to taste through the current releases as well as some of their limited quantity "special" wines. By the end of the day you will be a proud owner of a "harvest crew" shirt that boasts a truly fine quote, "it aint life until you put a girl in it" - a reference to the the girl that appears on all their branding. Also check out their "fortune corkies" - this is a very cool idea that Duane and Susan's young daughter came up with after eating at a Chinese restaurant...to put fortunes on wine corks. These feature short quotes about wine and love. Every year they have a contest in which they pick one favorite quote from fans, customers or other wine aficionados. Should your quote be chosen you will win a Magnum of their latest release! Fantesca is also the brains behind the very popular educational Adopt a Grape program. Essentially the premise of the site is to allow one to "adopt a grape" and follow its lifecycle online from bud break to its aging in barrel. Visit: www.adoptagrape.org for more details as well as some great videos. Visit their extremely informative website: www.fantescawine.com Adopt a Grape Video with Heidi Barrett |
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Far Niente is located at the end of a long tree lined driveway on top of a small hill just off of the Oakville Grade near the famed Harlan cult winery estate. The tour starts in the great hall; when you arrive you will see your name on a plaque with the other tour guests. This is of course a good spot to take a photo. Tours then head downstairs to the fermentation area and into their over 40,000 square feet of tunnels. The caves are also built with incredible acoustics, in certain places the person speaking sounds exactly like they are using a microphone. Everything is absolutely immaculate in these tunnels including the perfectly stained wine barrels. Workers even run a string along the wine barrels to make sure all the barrels are in a straight line! The tour continues into the classic car collection; if you know your classic cars you will eat up this museum. It is the single best collection of old, expensive and rare antique cars that we know of in Napa. Expensive one of a kind Ferrari's, Porche's, and other high end cars are displayed here. After the car museum you are then treated to the actual wines in the Founder's Room. This is a very small tasting room and the long table seats about 10. Your wines are already poured and you work your way through Chardonnay, the Cabernet Sauvignon and then finish with the Dolce dessert wine. Dolce is a proprietary winery within Far Niente - they have their own wine cave and specialize in just one type of wine, a Sautern style late harvest white wine blend. This wine is the "nectar of Far Niente" and you will never believe from its wonderful taste that the grapes used to make it are in various stages of ugly Botrytis rot when they are harvested! Nickel & Nickel, another local winery is also owned by the same family and is located just north of Far Niente off of the Highway 29. The main wines at Far Niente are the Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and the Dolce late harvest blend. These are incredible tasting wines but note that they are ultra-premium wines so they are not cheap. Several wine clubs are available. For more information visit: www.farniente.com |
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Ask for the gate code when you make your appointment. When you pull off the main road choose the driveway that heads straight back and up the hill. The tasting is a very personal one on one experience with Tom the winemaker. A visit here is by appointment for serious wine enthusiasts and is arranged around Tom's schedule. Since Tom is responsible for most aspects of this winery and is also involved in other winery projects try to make your schedule flexible. During harvest his time constraints are of course quite tight. Here is a unique opportunity to meet with a long time Napa winemaker, someone who has seen a lot of changes in the valley and worked numerous harvests. Typically you will taste several wines in the "fireplace" room and then walk next door for a few barrel samples. He has a large variety of various wines at any one time in the barrel and this part of your tasting can be very interesting as you can try many wines in various stages. Tom makes about 1200 cases and as a result is not a huge winery and individual attention is given to every wine he makes. The price to quality ratio is quite good. One of the wines we tried had a production of merely one barrel! All their wines are meant to be eaten with food and they are styled with that in mind. These wines are not the extracted California wines known for almost overpowering the senses - balance is key here. Farella makes a refreshing Sauvignon Blanc (their only white which is one of the better Sauvignon Blanc's we've tried on this project - no oak used) as well a very reasonably priced Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, a delicious Syrah and their Alta, a Bordeaux Blend which usually is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. As with Tom's other wines, this is also available in very small quantities. Balance is the key to this wine with fruit, acidity and tannins. An abundance of ayered fruit flavors show on the palate and the tannins are delicate and do not overpower the finish. Tom also maintains a popular wine related blog - visit: http://farella.typepad.com For their main website visit: www.farella.com Wine Pressing Video: |
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All fruit is sourced from Huneeus's own vineyards in Rutherford as well as from Coombsville, a slightly cooler growing climate found just east of the town of Napa. The same attention to detail that Huneeus gives his Quintessa wines is bestowed upon the Faust wines in the vineyards, during harvest and during the aging. They specialize in one wine each year - available in very limited quantities. The first vintage was in 2002. We tried their 2005 vintage; this wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and a touch of Cabernet Franc. The minor blending varietals will change depending on the vintage, but Cabernet Sauvignon remains the dominant varietal in every Faust wine. As with prior vintages this is a rich complex wine dark in color. An exotic combination of herbs, notes of cedar, blackberries & cherries coats the palate. This wine is designed to be consumed now and its styled to be paired with food but it can also be aged. The tannins are moderate and do not overwhelm; there are some spices on the very long finish. Note that Wine & Spirits voted this wine #9 on their best restaurant Cabernet Sauvignons in the nation. Prices are mid range meaning the wine is quite reasonable in comparison to many other high end Napa grown Cabernet Sauvignons. This wine is not available for tasting at Quintessa - the best way to purchase is directly through their website. Visit: www.faustwine.com |
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Faustini Wines | Tweet
- Anthony Faustini has been a wine collector for many years. Looking to make the jump from serious collector to wine maker he began his research on Long Island in New York, visiting wineries and trying a number of wines. Looking to expand his palate and wanting to make a California wine he came to the Napa Valley where he was introduced to Crushpad in San Francisco. Faustini's first commercial vintage was small - merely 50 cases in 2005 from the Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard in St. Helena. This vintage was a teaser for Anthony and made him realize how much he wanted to be in the business. He started taking remote courses through UC Davis and because of his work for Cisco frequently found himself in California. While here for work - he also started nurturing vineyard and wine making connections. Today he lives in New York and commutes to Napa a number of times each year. Faustini currently focus on two labels, Play Date and Faustini with plans to expand. Each one of their wines involves a unique story. Play Date came about as a result of a dinner at Bistro Jeanty in Yountville. Anthony and his wife Michelle were dining there with several friends when their friends mentioned they were going to be at Lake Tahoe that weekend on a "play date" with other friends and their children. They asked Anthony if he could recommend a good Chardonnay to bring with them (at this time Faustini only made a Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon). This got Anthony thinking, "why don't we make a Chardonnay". The very next day he started working on trade marking "play date". Today Faustini also makes a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Sauvignon Blanc under this label. Based on Anthony's interests and work at Cisco he has a background in technology. Incorporating technology into his wine label was a natural transition and he calls 'Play Date' his "interactive wine brand. Each bottle of wine lists an SMS number and a word; when you send a text to that number with the word in the subject you can access additional information about that particular bottle of wine or join their mailing list for updates. Try it: text the word, playdate to 25827. Play Date also uses the Zork, the plastic cord that is reusable, recyclable, renewable and does not require a corkscrew. The 2010 Play Date Chardonnay tones down the profile of what is thought to be a typical California Chardonnay (oaky, buttery, creamy, notes of honey). Nuances of these components are present in the wine - they just do not dominate. The very aromatic bouquet is pleasing; it shows tropical fruit including notes of pineapple and a hint of toasted oak, vanilla and baking spices. As the wine breathes more tropical aromas develop. The palate is rounded and creamy and this mouth feel continues through to the finish. It shows a clean finish which lingers with flavors of lemon and other citrus. The 2009 Play Date Cabernet Sauvignon has just a touch of Syrah. This wine was made to be approachable, easy drinking and a step in quality above an every day wine. The bouquet initially shows an herbal note, smoky tobacco and as it opens becomes more elegant revealing aromas of black fruit. This wine has nice acidity with a tartness similar to a red currant and fine well integrated tannins. The label for the Faustini wines creatively combines the highlights from each of Anthony and Michelle's last known coat of arms. The Faustini Beach House #34 is a Sauvignon Blanc named after the specific beach house in Newport Rhode Island where they were engaged. The bouquet shows citrus - pomelo and grapefruit. The palate is crisp yet retains some weight and roundness from the mid palate to the finish. Additional citrus flavors linger delicately. As with Faustini's other wines, the Secret Veil enjoys an interesting story behind the label. In 2006 Anthony began preparing for his wedding - his wife knew of his passion for wine and told him to hold off on making any new wine for financial reasons as well as needing to focus on their upcoming wedding. During a business trip he was told that some rare fruit from a well-regarded Howell Mountain vineyard had become available for sale. Unbeknownst to his wife Anthony purchased this fruit and made wine. Whenever she would visit the winery in Napa he would have one of the workers cover those particular barrels with a tarp. During a visit to Las Vegas they found themselves in one of photographer Peter Lik's galleries standing in front of a photograph, titled, the "secret veil". Realizing timing is everything, Anthony revealed his "secret" wine to his wife while standing in front of the "secret veil". Perfect! The 2007 Secret Veil Cabernet Sauvignon is also blended with small amounts of Syrah, Petite Verdot and Malbec. Anthony calls this his "cocktail wine" and stylistically this is the type of wine they wanted to make from their vineyard sources. The bouquet is ripe showing rich notes of blackberry and black cherry - it was aged entirely in new French oak and shows a nice spice component - white pepper - which mostly remains in the background. Big fruit shows especially mid palate - blackberry jam, black cherry - with well engrained tannins. Anthony will quickly admit the reason he started Faustini Wines is because of the richness and depth of Cabernet Sauvignon growing in the Napa Valley. The Faustini Cabernet Sauvignon is his flagship wine. The 2007 Faustini Cabernet is a big bold Napa Cab. Black fruit shows on the very aromatic bouquet followed by an entry that is surprisingly soft but very quickly gains a depth of flavor. This wine is all about the mouth filling richness of Napa fruit including blackberry and black cherry complemented by notes of dark chocolate. This wine shows plenty of structure and coarse tannins linger for some time with notes of sweet fruit. Marbue Marke has been their winemaker since 2007 when he joined Faustini to help with the final blends. He was born in Sierra Leone (West Africa) and came to the USA in the early 1990's to escape the country's civil war as well as for education. Marbue knew at a young age that he had an interest in wine. He was enrolled in Medical School at UC Davis but wasn't satisfied with that career path. Someone asked him to "pick something you love" and he mentioned wine. As it were, UC Davis has one of the best viticulture and enology programs in the country and is the primary "feeder" school for winemakers in Napa and beyond. Marbue ultimately studied sensory science at UC Davis. He wasn't able to enjoy beer - found it too bitter and with a super sensitive palate he was better suited to tasting and identifying wine. He remembers being able to identify merely 0.1 percent quinine in sensory tastes. Now that is someone you want on your winemaking team! After graduating from UC Davis before he was of drinking age he found himself working at J Winery in Sonoma County and often fielded questions about the legality of being able to work in a wine cellar because of his age (yes its legal!). During a ten year period he furthered his wine education with wide variety of wine jobs ranging from in the cellar work to executive work at Gallo to becoming an expert on barrels and barrel aging. His focus has always been and will be to make great wine and learn and improve each and every year. Much of their wine is distributed direct via a mailing list and for obvious reasons their wine has select distribution in New York and New Jersey. For more information visit: www.faustiniwines.com Fox Business News Interview |
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The tasting typically is in the large "shed" looking building with the bright red doors. Note the bathrooms, you won't see bathrooms like this at any other Napa winery. They are huge wine barrels and as a result is a popular photo spot. Besides current vintages you rarely leave a tasting here without trying a few barrel samples of future releases. You either taste inside a small elegantly decorated tent or at the marble table both of which are surrounded by barrels. This is rustic surrounded by elegance which is a unique tasting experience for a Napa winery. It is a working winery. They also have a "cottage" tasting which is held in a small restored historic house on site - note the beautiful lavender garden in front of this cottage. Brian's son is an artist and several of his paintings are available on site. Ask Brian about his "barrel blending" seminars; its pricy but you are dealing with extremely high quality wines and you get to keep the final blends when you are finished. Now to the wines! Their Pinot noir is tops, we tried the 2006 vintage - it is one of the nicer ones we've tasted on this project and the vineyards for this are not even in the cooler Carneros district! Brian also makes a delicious Zinfandel/Cabernet blend. Several vintages of his Cabernet Sauvignons are also available for tasting, are very approachable and ready to drink now. Look for Passionne, a Bordeaux style blend which is among the most popular of their wines. Brian also makes a red blend Port. Total production is about 3000 cases. Visit: www.fleurywinery.com Video courtesy of: www.ghigopress.com
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Flora springs is named after the Matriarch of the family, Flora Komes and is entirely family run. Their Napa vineyards were originally meant to be something to keep them "busy" during their retirement years! Today the 2nd and 3rd generations are actively managing the day to day operations at the winery. As of press time Flora Springs owns eight unique and diverse vineyards in the Napa area. Based on this total acreage they have too much fruit for their own use and end up selling about 3/4 of the fruit to other wineries. This allows them to choose the choicest blocks for their own use from each of their respective vineyards. Several different tasting options are provided and Flora Springs offers a healthy collection of differnt types of wines for all tastes as well as all budgets! An elegant modern tasting counter surrounds the pourers. Be sure to try their barrel fermented Chardonnay; they have been producing this since 1980 making them one of the older Chardonnay producers in the valley. This is a very rich wine that sees no malolactic fermentation and shows very concentrated fruit flavors on the palate. White wine lovers should also consider their Solilogy Sauvignon Blanc (if not sold out). We also enjoyed their 2005 Trilogy; this wine is composed of the five primary Bordeaux varietals. It is a rounded full bodied wine with lots of concentrated fruit. The owners of Flora Springs also own Toad Hall Cellars - a proprietary wine produced at the same winery (not to be confused with Toad Hollow Winery in Healdsburg, CA) and information about their "reds only" wine club is available in this tasting room. First come first serve picnic tables are available in the back in a beautifully designed courtyard setting. For being right on Highway 29 in the midst of the busy touristy wine strip, and being part of this shopping center the courtyard feels miles away. It backs up almost to the vineyards and is a very peaceful area to spend some time tasting wine. They do have food and cheese pairings - ask for details. Want to see one of the smallest vineyards in the valley?! Check out the 3 rows of vines in the back of the courtyard and yes these do produce fruit. Lastly, Flora Springs is a partner in ReCork America where they recycle any used corks from their winery and this tasting room as well as act as a collection point for consumers who wish to recycle their used corks. Visit: www.florasprings.com |
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The meal seemed to be popular for attractive young people trying to meet other attractive young people but there were all ages present. John is definetely one of the best story tellers in the valley and part of the attraction of this event is listening to him talk! While in the caves we sampled several different wines - just barely getting our teeth wet with their rosato. Then we sampled the same wine being aged in three different oak barrels including American, Hungarian & French. If you have never tried this before there is a huge difference between all three in the nose, the flavors and the overall characteristics of the wine. The type of Oak used has a major effect and when you add the variable of different coopers and different forest sources, additional aspects are also brought to the wine. Lunch is in their courtyard built over an old tennis court; artistic vines made of steel line the front of the courtyard and beyond those lies the sea of the real vines in all directions. We had wine paired with each of our four courses. The two highlights for us were their Holy Smoke Cabernet Sauvignon and their Trilogy blended wine. Both have all the characteristics a smooth velvety high quality Napa red wine should have. After the delicious meal (Cucumber Sorbet, Lavender scented Bistro filet - well you get the idea!) John took time to pose with guests for photos and walked around the large table to meet everyone, one on one. One of his stories involved a friend who called him many years ago from nearby Pope Valley very excited as he saw a huge pig on site. He asked John's permission to kill the animal and John finally relented so his friend drove all the way back to Napa to get his gun and then back up to the property where the big pig was still in the same spot. His friend then killed the animal. About an hour later John received a phone call from one of his neighbors who said "John, what the hell is going on up here, someone just shot my pet pig". So, one of their wines is now named the Wild Boar Cabernet! Visit: www.florasprings.com |
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Flying Horse Winery is owned by Bryant Morris who has been involved in the commercial construction business for many years. Same old commercial building designs? Not so. Bryant's specialty is in developing water themed commercial buildings and he is also the original developer of famed specialty park, Raging Waters. When an opportunity came along for redevelopment of an old Napa resort, Bryant purchased the Aetna Springs Resort a few years back in Pope Valley (eastern Napa County).
Bryant has long been involved in a number of projects and chooses his direction based on the circumstance. Case in point, is when plans changed in regards to developing the Aetna Springs Resort, he planted 24 acres of vines including Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah. When you have the vineyards its time to make the wine! Flying Horse now leases just the land for their own vineyards. Their first vintage was released in 2003. After selling the Aetna Springs Resort Flying Horse purchased a beautiful stone ghost winery north of St. Helena where their wine operations were centered - but in 2010 sold this winery to Luc Morlet Vineyards. We started our tasting with the 2007 Sauvignon Blanc which unlike many Napa produced Sauvignon Blancs that only see stainless tanks during aging, was aged in oak. It is not an overly fruit driven wine rather is crisp and clean with good body and rich mouth feel. The nose has notes of dusty stone, nuances of flint with pleasant honeysuckle aromas. As this wine opens up more, the nose acquires some aromatic pineapple notes. The palate has hints of kiwi, melon and dried apricot. The finish is clean with just a note of citrus flavor that lingers. The 2003 and 2004 Cabernet Sauvignons are both 100% varietal wines made from several clones. Only the highest quality free run juice is used. Our favorite is the 2003. This is a dark deep purple wine that has a very fruit forward component both in the nose and on the palate. The bouquet shows ripe black cherry and blackberry which follows through to the palate. There are neat earthy nuances with saddle leather and tobacco towards the finish. This is a wine that has shown well with another year in the bottle and will continue to age gracefully. It has a nice structured backbone. The 2004 is slightly more restrained with earthy dusty aromas mixed with blackberry and plum. The blackberry continues to the palate, picking up some blueberry notes with also chocolate and hints of mocha. Both wines have the acidity and backbone to age for a number of years. The Flying Horse label was developed based on Bryant's passion with old carousels. He has restored a number of these over the years, most notably for Seaport Village in San Diego and Shoreline Village in Long Beach as well as a number of shopping centers. He has several beautifully restored horses in the actual ghost winery. All their wines are priced very decently. The winery is private and does not see visitors, however they do have a wine club. For more information, visit: www.flyinghorsewines.com |
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Foley-Johnson doesn't sit right on Highway 29 as some of the other nearby wineries do so keep a close look out when you get close (they are the next winery south of Peju Winery). The wood surrounded tasting room is located in an old 1930's totally renovated wooden "barn" and 50 acres of estate vineyards are planted on the property which surround the barn. Sawyer concentrates their wine making efforts on merely several specific wines including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, a red Meritage blend and Sauvignon Blanc. For the amount of detail and wine craftsmanship that goes into their wines, the prices are really quite affordable. We tried the 2006 Estate Sauvignon Blanc. The nose on this followed by the palate might lead you to believe you are drinking Chardonnay. Not so amigo. This is a somewhat unusual Sauvignon Blanc in the Napa Valley in that it was aged in Oak Sur Lie for 8 months, which means is has a creaminess and weight in the mid palate you don't normally find in Napa produced Sauvignon Blancs. Rather than the cut grass and herbaceous flavors you sometimes find with Sauvignon Blancs, this wine is robust with its nutty aromas, almost caramel like which turn to pineapple after the bouquet opens up. This is followed by a smooth palate of pear and apricot flavors with some very nice mineralities. The 2004 Estate Merlot is 100% varietal well balanced wine. Note the hint of oak and spices especially towards the finish. Our pick is their Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 vintage. The nose hints at a fruit forward wine with elegant well integrated aromas of blackberry, and cherry with a palate that also contains hints of vanilla. The finish is smooth and long. They also make what they call the "fun wine" in very small quantities. Its a Rose of Merlot with nice wild strawberry and raspberry flavors on a light to medium bodied palate but with a rather intense finish. This is a good pool and patio sipping wine on hot days. Note that Sawyer tends to age their wines longer than many area wineries, especially in bottle, so by the time it reaches the consumer it already has an extra year of bottle age. Not a bad thing at all! Very friendly, knowledgeable & sincere wine pourers are on site. This is a tasting room that "cares" and that is big in our books. Be sure to also pop your head in the one of a kind bathroom as they have gone creative with corks. Judging by the names on the corks, they tend to drink a lot of wine and most of it is from Napa! Tastings are by appointment only but if you are there during a slow time you may be able to schedule something that day (the regular tasting). Sawyer also offers a unique "winemaker for the day" event in which you create your own blends and at the end of the seminar, you take home a case of your "own wine". Lunch is included after the blending. As of press time they offer three tastings, the regular tasting, tasting combined with tour, and tasting, tour and barrel sampling. The barrel room is underground located just behind the main tasting room. Should you happen to be here during harvest you might even be put to work for a few minutes on on their sorting table, sorting jacks (grape stems) and other debris that don't belong in wine! Total production is relatively small at just over 4000 cases. Check their website for pricing, tasting specials and or discounts. Visit: www.foleywines.com NOTE. This winery was Sawyer Cellars - now owned by Foley Estates. We will update this review accordingly over time. |
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Folie a Deux makes two whites, a Chardonnay & Sauvignon Blanc and a larger selection of reds all reasonably priced for Napa standards between $12 and $30 per bottle. All of their wines are from Napa County with the exception of their Amador County Zinfandel. Amador county in the summer is generally warmer than Napa and is acquiring its own excellent reputation on the "zinfandel wine stage". We tried the 2005 vintage; this has a great fruity classic Zinfandel nose with lots of concentration on the palate mixed in with some subtle spices including cloves and anise. Their Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a big wine with lots of fruit on the front end and healthy tannins on the back end. They also make light fun Menage a Trois wines. Menage a Trois literally means "blending of three" and their three wines, a white, Rose & red, are a blend of three varietals. The winemaker here is also the winemaker for Napa Cellars. A tasting is either Foliex a Deux wines or Napa Cellars but you can certainly do both. Several complimentary tastes are also given. There are also nice picnic grounds on the side of the winery next to their small 3/4 of an estate planted vineyard. Visit: www.folieadeux.com |
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The winery sits just down from a country road which used to connect Napa with the town of Sonoma thus providing a shortcut to the current main highway that cuts through the Carneros region to the south. Today this sleepy little road is rarely used as it dead ends at private property and there is no way to cut through the hills. Just over the hills that border their property you will find Artesa and Folio Wineries. Fontanella Family Winery is located at an elevation of about 750 feet and is more sheltered from the cooling San Pablo Bay breezes that come across the Carneros to the South. The elevation here ranges from about 500-1000 feet and is all rolling hills. These are the last hills of the Mayacamas Mountains (that form the north south spine of the west side of the Napa Valley) before they end in the relatively flatlands of Carneros. Jeff made wine commercially for several years before building this winery. Building new wineries in Napa is today usually a gargantuan task that involves significant paperwork and time. Fortunately, Jeff's wife Karen is a real estate lawyer and her knowledge about the permit process helped expedite things to the point that this winery was completely finished in merely two years. That is unheard of today in Napa! As of press time they focus on three different wines; Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel. We started our tasting with the 2007 Chardonnay, as they have no vineyards yet as of the time of this review, all fruit is sourced from various locations in Napa. This wine was fermented in barrel and stirred on the lees for 8 months. Only a certain percentage of the wine was allowed to go through Malolactic fermentation. This wine shows a richness of fruit and some weight on the palate. There are nice honeysuckle, lime and nuances of caramel on the nose with an expressive palate that shows mineralities, nuances of tangerine, and caramel. It is well balanced with nice acidity. The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon was sourced from Rutherford and Mt. Veeder. Note that every bottle has its own number on the back. The wine is crimson red in color and has a bouquet that hints of sweet plum with floral nuances. The palate is rounded and smooth containing lots of fruit. The finish is somewhat smoky and very long. This is a good food fine. We also tried the 2007 Zinfandel (not yet released) - a day after it was bottled. They tend to bottle the Zinfandel early to mitigate the oak used on this wine, rather allowing the true varietal flavors to show. With Zinfandel, the harvest time can always be a tightrope as when to decide to pick. Jeff has seen this varietal go from juicy grapes to dried up raisins in merely a week. Not yet suffering from bottle shock we picked out notes of cranberry on the nose with nuances of dried fruit and a palate that is extremely well balanced between ripeness, acidity and flavor. There are smoky Asian spices towards the finish. The winery has about 26 acres of which part of the land is suitable for vineyards. Plans call for planting several varietals on site - this part of Napa is good for Chardonnay, Merlot and specific clones of Cabernet Sauvignon. Their first commercial release was in 2005. A visit here is for serious wine enthusiasts (by appointment only) and has a feel of "old Napa" before all the new wineries and crowds arrived. This is a great location to visit from downtown Napa as they are maybe 15 or 20 minutes from the center of town. As you get closer to the winery, you drive on a narrow winding road through the country. Fontanella's winery is located right next to another new winery project; Renteria Winery has built caves and has upcoming plans to build an actual winery here as well. As of press time Fontanella opened their brand new tasting room (by appointment) in October 2008. The best way to acquire their wine is to join their mailing list. Visit: www.fontanellawinery.com Jeff & his wife talk about their winery: |
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Ric initially starting working in Napa at wineries including Robert Mondavi and Stony Hill as well as the Sonoma County based, Kendall-Jackson. Soon after he started working with Peter Newton (well-known for founding Napa's Sterling and Newton Vineyards). Ric was winemaker at Sterling for a number of years and helped designed their winery as well as Newton's winery. Peter sent Ric to France to study some of their winemaking techniques. While there, Ric took copious notes (his original notes and notepads are still on hand at Forman's tasting room). Ric was a pioneer winemaker in Napa; he introduced a number of techniques to the valley including barrel to barrel racking, one of the first vintage dated Merlots, fermenting Chardonnay to barrel while still sweet (letting the fermentation take place in the barrel rather than in tank) and a number of viticultural practices. His early influences were definitely Bordeaux in nature and today both his viticultural practices and winemaking reflect that. Presently Forman produces merely 3000 cases (about 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon and 1000 of the Chardonnay) - that number is reached because it is the caseload amount that Ric can physically produce. Not only is he the winemaker (his son Toby is the assistant winemaker), but he is also responsible for managing his entire vineyard on the 40 acres that surround his winery. He is a very hands on winemaker preferring to do even the most mundane winemaking tasks himself. By doing everything himself, and producing small quantities he ensures that each bottle of wine is truly hand made while helps maintain a very high standard of quality. Ric is also a partner in several other premium Napa vineyards including the Star Vineyard in Rutherford and also the premium grape producing Thorvilos Vineyard located not far from Ric's own property. Harvest is always done by hand with the processing of the fruit starting almost immediately as the winery is located right next to the actual vines. The red wines are all fermented in small steel tanks; the small size helps ensure quality control. The red blend is typically aged in 80% new French oak. Blends are decided upon soon after fermentation. Ric spent significant time looking for the "right" type of property in Napa in the late 1970's. After three years he located a ridge location at the base of Howell Mountain. However some serious labor was required on the property before there could be a working winery. Ric fired off 500 sticks of dynamite and a bunch of blasting power - opening up room for the actual vineyard as well as building some extensive tunnels under his house and winery (for barrel aging). The vineyard sits on an ancient up-lifted river bed so there are plenty of rocks, but despite this, the soil itself is rather deep. The vines are planted very close to each other on un-terraced hillsides. During bud break its fairly easy to see the different varietal blocks within the vineyard based on the differences in each varietal's growth patterns. Having walked through several blocks we can say that these vineyards are immaculate - each vine is carefully managed multiple times throughout the year. Today Forman focuses on two wines each vintage, a non malolactic fermented Chablis style Chardonnay from a vineyard he owns on the Rutherford Bench and a Bordeaux styled red blend. We have yet to try the Chardonnay but will be making a future visit at some point and will update this review then. The red blend is made from grapes grown on site including Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. The nice thing about Forman's wines are their balance and smoothness right out of the gate. The 2006 we tried had just been released about a week before and while very young it already had that elegance and structure that will treat this wine well in the bottle over time. The bouquet is very fruit forward with a nice terroir aspect present in both the bouquet and on the palate. Hints of dust, gravel and mocha develop, adding additional nuances to the fruit aromas as the wine opens up. The palate is balanced and has some nice spices but its really all about the fruit and it is smooth from start to finish. The finish is long, slightly smoky with structured, ripe and fine grained tannins. Visits to Forman need to be by reservation and are for serious wine enthusiasts and collectors. While priced accordingly for the high quality and hands on work that goes into making these wines, they are certainly not priced like area cult wines. With a production of only 3000 cases there is not a lot of wine to go around. Much of it is distributed directly through their mailing list. Locally however, they do have excellent distribution and are found in a number of restaurants in the Napa Valley as well as several wine shops including Dean & Deluca and both the St. Helena Wine Merchants and St. Helena Wine Center (all located in the town of St. Helena). For more information visit: www.formanvineyard.net |
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Fotinos Brothers Winery as the name suggests, is run by brothers Tom and Chris and their wives Danielle & Leesa. This is a very good arrangement as Tom handles all the vineyard management and winemaking and Chris handles the marketing and business side of the operations. The Fotinos family has a long history in the Napa area. Their vineyards date from 1968 making them among the older growers in the Carneros region. In fact there were so few vineyards in the Carneros at this time, their small vineyard was about 10% of the total planted vineyard acreage. Think the Fotino's family has the history, Tom's wife Danielle is a 12th generation American and traces her roots back to the Mayflower ship and her great great grandfather was one of the original owners of a land grant in the Carneros region. Today Tom handles all the vineyard management on the 11 planted acres which includes a UC Davis and a French clone Pinot Noir as well as tiny bit of Chardonnay.
This is prime Carneros vineyard terroir - with rich red alluvial soils. Tom takes a holistic approach to vineyard management and farms sustainably. He introduced ladybugs to kill pests rather than spraying, and is considering using hawks to keep birds away from eating the grapes after veraison occurs. For many years they sold grapes to other well-known wineries including Robert Mondavi, top Carneros Pinot Noir producer Saintsbury and more recently to Domain Carneros. They are 4th generation farmers as their great grandfather originally made wine for friends and family in Greece. Chris & Tom made wine for themselves for a number of years and one year gave some of their Pinot Noir to famed chef Thomas Keller of the French Laundry. He was surprised at the quality of this "private label" and encouraged them to produce this commercially. When this encouragement is coming from someone with the stature of Keller, it pays to listen! Their first commercial release was the 2006 Pinot Noir from their estate vineyard and as of press time they also produce limited quantities of Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from the Rutherford appellation as well as Pope Valley. They may be a "new winery", however take note that they have been making estate Pinot Noir since 1973 under a private label, so despite their first commercial release in 2006, this winery actually has accumulated significant experience growing and making wine from this varietal. They are a firm believer in releasing wine when it is ready to be released, rather than trying to get it into the market to make a sale. As a result, their wines always see at least a year in the bottle before being released. Their initial production is 500 cases but they have plans to increase this in the coming years. This is one of the few wineries we have tasted with before they even had a release on the market! As a result our tasting was of a variety of components from the 2007 vintage which will create the final blends (including the same wine aged in barrels from different coopers). Their Pinot Noirs have a smooth silky mouth feel which are very representative of their source terroir. The Dijon clone we tried was full of cassis and raspberry intermingled with various spices. Keep in mind the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon from Pope Valley was a very young wine when we tried it. It is dark ruby in color with already nice aromas including an interesting mix of dried fruit, ripe blackberry overtones and spices in the nose followed by cherry and additional spices on the palate including cloves and pepper. The 2006 Pinot Noir was released in Fall 2008 with the Cabernet Sauvignon to be released in late 2009. Fotinos Brothers supports a wide variety of charity organizations ranging from education to the humane society. Visit: www.fotinosbrotherswinery.com Dr. Fotinos Interview: |
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Franciscan's history in the Napa Valley dates back to 1975 with their first vintage, a Cabernet Sauvignon made by the late Justin Meyer (of Silver Oak Winery fame). The well-known vintner August Huneeus (owner of Quintessa Winery) was instrumental in forming their proprietary Bordeaux blend. As with other hallmark wineries in the valley, Franciscan has a signature Cabernet Sauvignon wine, and this is called Magnificat. Great care goes into the making of their wines. All juice is fermented and then aged separately based on specific lots in the vineyards. The wine is integrated during their blending trials just before bottling which is a fairly time intensive process. Consider the fact they start with approximately 400 small lots and some years only end up with half of this making the cut. Choose from three flights of tastings - each flight includes a souvenir glass. If you enjoy big red wines try their Altitude flight - these are all wines from their Mt. Veeder collection. Mt. Veeder Winery is part of Franciscan and is located at about 2000 feet in the western Mayacamas mountains. Sit in the gardens at Mondavi winery and look west, you will be looking in the general direction of Mt. Veeder. Mt. Veeder is its own separate winery under the same ownership, and its wine is actually made on site at Franciscan. Their Veeder Reserve is a big wine using only the best grapes from their property. It is a full bodied wine strong in tannins with a long slightly peppery finish. Franciscan developed Napa Valley’s first 100% wild-yeast fermented Chardonnay; this was unusual at the time as the other area wineries were using cultured yeast, rather than the native yeast from the vineyards. Native yeasts are more temperamental than cultured yeasts and require careful observation. Today they continue to use native yeasts in most of their Chardonnays. The grounds are nice to walk around on and many olive trees grow here. The fountain which sits in the middle of the circular driveway is a great spot for taking photos. Ask about joining one their "Expressions of the Vine" wine clubs - membership gives you perks and other benefits to additional Icon Estates owned wineries. Visit: www.franciscan.com |
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Frank Family wines have won a number of awards especially their Cabernet Sauvignons. Tasting is complimentary (yes, a rarity in Napa these days!); there are two tasting rooms located in the yellow house behind the main winery and administrative offices. One of the tastings is for their "champagne" and the other is for their still wine. A private elegant sit down tasting room is enclosed off from the main tasting room. This winery was completely remodeled in 2008 and it has become one of the more photogenic wineries in the northern part of Napa Valley. As of our latest visit, Frank Family owns 330 vineyard acres in the Napa area, ranging from the cool weather Carneros (their Chardonnay comes from here), to Rutherford to the very little known Capell Valley region in eastern Napa County. They own no vineyards on site of the winery. If you enjoy sparkling wines or "Champagne" as Frank Family lists on their labels, start your tasting as soon as you enter the main house. Compared to the number of commercial still wine producers in Napa there is an extremely small number of sparkling producers. We enjoy sparkling wines and after tasting with 600+ commercial wine producers in Napa, something more unique always strikes up a fancy with our palate. That's right! This is one of the rare wineries in the valley that focuses both on sparkling and still wines and has separate tasting facilities for each. They make a very nice non vintage Blanc de Noirs from 100% Pinot Noir. Much of this wine's pinkness comes from the short time the skins were left in contact with the juice. This is a nice fruit driven sparkling wine - you will notice (unlike still wines), you can really feel this wine on the roof of your mouth. Nice melon and strawberry characteristics on the palate. In 1919 there was a treaty signed in Paris indicating that only producers from the Champagne region in France could bottle and label their sparkling wines as Champagne. The USA was in the midst of the early prohibition years and never signed this. As a result USA producers technically can bottle their sparkling wines with the word Champagne. As respect to the French most American producers do not. Frank Family, however does not export this wine and all their sparkling wines are labeled Champagne. Their "signature brut" is a well aged wine. Normally signature means your flagship wine and in this case this is one of their higher end sparkling wines, but it also takes on an additional meaning as the owner's signatures are printed on the label! They bottle this in a Cava style bottle (pronounced Kava - the name for sparkling wine produced in Spain) which means it won't fit in normal size wine shipping boxes! We tried the 1997 vintage which is 60% Pinot noir and 40% Chardonnay (current vintage had 11 years of aging by the time of release). There is some good citrus fizz in this wine, with some lemon and tangerine flavors. Keep aging this if you can resist drinking it! We found the Rouge (red sparkling wine) to be a real winner - red Champagne is not often found and theirs is a real treat. Again, this is a non vintage wine - its dark red with nice blackberry and raspberry flavors. For being so far north in the valley Frank Family can have one of the more crowded tasting rooms. The long time pourers are informative and friendly. In our several visits here, one word often rises to the surface about the typical drinking experience - that is the word "fun", and compared to some wineries an experience here is more about the drinking and tasting, rather than just tasting (and yes there is a difference). The atmosphere is welcoming and very social with strangers often picking up conversations among themselves. Rich Frank is sometimes here as well; he does not run this winery from a distance which is great. The still wine tasting can vary but it typically includes a Chardonnay, Zinfandel and Napa Valley Cabernet. The 2006 Zinfandel is a winner; the somewhat subtle bouquet is misleading as to how packed in flavor this wine actually is. Great black fruit and spices abound. This is a juicy ripe wine. The 2005 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is a delicious vintage. It is soft, smooth and elegant with delicate yet structured tannins on the finish. If you remember tasting in their trailer type facility for many years, their new tasting room brings them on board with many of Napa's other elegant tasting rooms, not that the no frills trailer tasting was a bad thing. We hold some memorable moments from that old tasting room. Picnic tables are available directly outside the tasting rooms. Note that groups of 6 or more require appointments. Visit: www.frankfamilyvineyards.com |
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Bill Frazier, a former pilot for United Airlines and a Virginia Tech alum purchased property here in the early 1980's; he started making wine as a hobby which then turned into a full time operation. His original vineyards were planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot - at the time he was somewhat of a pioneer in this regards as Cabernet was not often planted in this cooler growing region. Additional acreage was purchased and a cave was then built. This is truly a family run operation. Even Bill's kids have jumped into the wine business with a passion. His daughter is in charge of their marketing and his son is the vineyard manager. Their well-known wine maker is Kirk Venge. The wine making process here is very hand driven and non automated. Unlike large wineries who often pick an entire vineyard with one pass Frazier always picks many times during harvest, ensuring they are only picking the fruit that has the most flavor. After the fruit is picked it is then sorted 4 separate times, ensuring only the ripest highest quality berries go to fermentation. They have two labels, Frazier and their second label, Lupine Hill. Their Frazier Memento Cabernet Sauvignon due to its very limited production is typically barrel tasted and is only available for purchase at the winery (not even through the website). Only the highest quality fruit from the property is used to make this wine. The 2004 Memento vintage is extremely dark which is your first indication at how big this wine will be. Considering the juice sat on the skins for 42 days, this wine has great layers of flavor and good tannin structure on the finish. Buy enough of this wine to be able to cellar a few bottles! This was the first winery we tasted at upon resuming our Napa Wine project after being out of the country for two months. It was so good to get back to Napa Cabernets. There is a reason Napa Valley is famous for its Cabernets and it is wineries such as this one that do no harm to that good image. Both Cabernet Sauvignons under the Frazier label we are like drinking liquid velvet; they are big wines yet still very well balanced and are wines meant to be paired with food (all wines we tasted were paired with cheese). Their Frazier Cabernets & Merlots are made solely with 100% free run juice, the highest quality juice you can get out of a grape. Visit: www.frazierwinery.com |
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The name of this winery was formed by combining the first names of 3 owners who purchased the winery in 1939. We enjoyed their Chardonnay from the Truchard Vineyard (from the cooler Carneros region). There is a lot of citrus and lime type aromas from this wine with almost hints of bananas on the palate. The finish is slightly creamy. Their flagship wines are the Cabernets but they also produce limited quantities of quite a few other varietals (both red and white). They have own two main vineyards in the valley and then source from other area vineyards, some have been sourced from for many years. A very nice tasting is their Library/Current Vintage Cabernet comparisons. As of press time they have wines for sale dating back to the late 1980's - not a lot of wineries in the valley have this. The comparison tasting features 4 Cabernet Sauvignons - two of which are the generally the same blend but about 10 years difference in age. This comparison tasting to the best of our knowledge is one of a kind in the Napa area, featuring much older wines against their newer counterparts. We tried their 1991 Bosche Cabernet Sauvignon - still very rich in color although with a slight browning around the edges of the glass which is normal in wine this age. There are great dark fruit palate characteristics on this wine with a long soft finish. Their 1995 Sycamore is a Cabernet Sauvignon / Cabernet Franc blend and is a slightly bolder wine with a larger tannin structure. Tasting sheets are given with spaces to take tasting notes under each wine description. They have a beautiful 2000 Edelwein late harvest Riesling and we were told they were the first winery to make a late harvest of this varietal in the Napa area. It is natural botrysized wine so it is only made during certain years depending on the weather and growth of the Botrytis spores. Visit: www.freemarkabbey.com |
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Frias Family Winery is owned and operated by Manny Frias and his family whose roots are from Mexico. This is one of the few Hispanic owned wineries within the Napa Valley. Manny grew up in San Francisco and fell in love with the Napa Valley during tasting trips in the 1960's when Cabernet Sauvignon was several dollars per bottle! Finally in 1977 he was able to purchase 100 acres on Spring Mountain above the town of St. Helena. Today this vineyard is surrounded by high end vineyards which provide the fruit for several cult type wineries. Manny planted a very small portion of his acreage to vines in the early 1980's and would go on to make his own home wine. First and foremost they are growers and vineyard managers. Winemaking starts in the vineyards and they spend significant time in their vineyards micro managing each vine. Their winemakers and wine making locations have changed several times throughout the years, but one thing remains consistent; the high quality grapes from their own vineyards. Soil types differ drastically from one block to the next and parts of their vineyard are extremely rocky. This unique "terroir" all makes for interesting complex wines.
Their first commercial vintage was in 1991 although they had been making home wine since the mid 1980's. For about 10 years they concentrated on nothing but premium Cabernet Sauvignon and in later years planted small blocks of Cabernet Franc and Merlot on their hillside vineyard. We tried their very unique 2007 Rose. This is a varietal blend you just won't find anywhere else in Napa as it contains Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Syrah. It is orangish pink in color. The aromatics hint of watermelon and strawberries which follow onto the palate as flavor. There is no bitter finish on this one that you sometimes find in select Rose's. Depending on your taste your palate may trick you into thinking there is some Residual Sugar but it is totally dry. Their Syrah brings a lot of fruit to the glass both aromatically and in flavor. The 2005 Red Wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and a bit of Syrah. This wine is well structured with a smooth, rounded mouth feel. The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon is ready to drink now (we tried it not long after its release) and as soon as this wine hits your lips it explodes in flavors of blackberries, dark chocolate, and raspberry. If you think of raspberry filled truffles, you will have some idea of the power of this wine. Their overall focus is producing affordable fruit forward wines structured so they can be consumed early in their life. As of press time they are building a cave on property and eventually hope to hold select tastings. Visit: www.friasfamilyvineyard.com |
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They have over 1000 panels of solar cells on 1/2 an acre which allows them to completely be off the grid, and all the gardens on site are also farmed organically. These cells when full producing at maximum efficiency, provide enough power to sustain the electricity for about 150 homes. The main Hospitality Center building is LEED certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) which maximizes water efficiency, energy storage and recycled materials used in the construction. Note the normal looking gravel parking lot - little do most people know that a series of wells go down 250 feet below this parking lot and act as the heat or cooling source for their hospitality center. Confused on how this works - ask one of the staff! We've been here several times and it is always a peaceful experience away from the crowds you sometimes find at other Napa wineries. This is an excellent winery to visit during the spring as the winery is surrounded by beautiful gardens as well as a plethora of flowering trees and other plants. Hospitality is down to an art here, the staff is very helpful, friendly and knowledgeable. If you are visiting during the summer note that the bathrooms have lotions and Sunscreen. Perhaps you forgot your hat for the outdoor tour? Don't worry, they usually have a few hats on hand! If you arrive early for your tour you will typically be offered a Rose to sip either indoors on one of their plush seating arrangements next to the fireplace or on one of their rocking chairs outside on the deck. You start with a sit down introduction and your first tasting is in their beautifully renovated main building. This was the most diverse group we've tasted with at any of Napa's Wineries. We had 6 countries represented among 10 people in the group! Your guide will ask if you know their wine motto - it is "Time's fun when you're having flies!" The tour will walk you among their 4 acres of organically farmed gardens. These gardens produce year round but the springtime is the best to see the many vegetables, herbs and flowers. We even got to sample one herb which is used in making sugar and as expected, tasted just like sugar. There is so much space on the property that even if there are other groups of people walking around it never feels crowded. Unlike other Napa wineries a visit here feels like a trip to the farm with all their other agricultural selections aside from the vineyards. Look for the big "red" building; this was built in the late 1800's and a visit here is one of the highlights of the tour. There are good views (provided the huge cellar doors are open) overlooking the property from the second floor. Note their wine corks, most of them say "ribbit" - this was originally conceived by the owner to "poke fun" at those who take wine tasting too seriously. The tour ends with every member of the group trying to shoot a basketball through their quite askew basketball hoop. If anyone actually puts the ball through the basket that person will receive a free 350ml bottle of their Sauvignon Blanc (one of their most popular wines) - this is quite novel as we haven't seen any other winery do something quite like this! Our favorite red wine is their Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine sees no new oak and the 2005 vintage very well reflects its Rutherford terroir with dusty and earthy aromas that lead to a palate full of exotic spices combined with cherry and currant. They exclusively dry farm on over 200 acres and you can almost taste the earthiness in some of their wines. Dry farming takes a lot more work then simply running water lines through the vineyards. The soils need to be built up organically so that they retain moisture - even after some serious heat and long dry spells, if you dig down just a foot or so in their vineyards you will find moisture. As they say, they are "farming for flavor" and you really get a sense of the terroir or where these wines were grown when you taste them. Check out one of the most unique websites in the valley and if you are planning a visit here, try to educate yourself about this winery. Your tour guide will typically ask a few trivia questions on the tour and if you are the first to answer correctly you may just be handed a prize! Visit: www.frogsleap.com |
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Futo Estate is owned by Tom and Kyle Futo who are originally from Wichita, Kansas but have lived in Napa for a number of years. It is rare when a new 100% estate producer opens a physical winery within Oakville. If you are determined to acquire land in Oakville you either have to purchase a winery or existing vineyards. There are very few "new" vineyards in Oakville and part of Futo's Estate consists of rather new vineyard plantings. 13 acres are set to vine with the majority of the estate situated on steep wooded hillside acreage in the western part of Oakville. Micro terroir always plays a part in this, the "tenderloin region of Cabernet Sauvignon", to quote Futo's General Manager Joshua Lowell. Aside from top vineyards located in this part of the valley, from an aesthetic point of view this "hidden" part of Oakville is one of Napa's more picturesque locations.
It is clear there is a well focused passion and attention to making the best wines as possible from this small estate. The focus is on the long term - building a wine estate to last and produce consistent high quality vintages with their vineyards' mark on every bottle of wine. While this is a new physical winery the estate is certainly not and already has a proven history. Part of the current Futo Estate is the former Oakford Vineyard property and well-regarded winemakers who made wine for Oakford in the past include Heidi Peterson Barrett and Marco DiGuilio. Other premium vineyards are located in this region including Harlan Estate and Bond Winery, Futo's nearby neighbors. Futo Estate focuses on a very limited production estate Cabernet Sauvignon blend. Their second wine is called OV (again all estate fruit). Futo produces terroir expressive wines representative of their unique location. Their wines are rich, expressive and fairly approachable upon release. With excellent structure and acidity they are certainly built to age. From a vineyard standpoint this is a unique part of the Napa Valley in that it is tucked away from the main valley floor and the soils are a combination of both benchland as well as true hillside slopes (Mayacamas Mountains). The soils here are very rocky and well drained and the vineyards are separated into 5 different sites each of which contains a number of individual 1/2 acre blocks. David Abreu who planted many of the vines on site is their vineyard manager. Cabernet Sauvignon is the predominate varietal on the estate with Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot also growing. Great attention to detail has been put into the vineyard block locations and their exposures. When you examine Oakville closer you realize the diversity in microclimate and soils from the eastern side of the appellation to the western side where Futo is located. As far as the crow flies this is approximately only 2 miles apart in length. The western side has less sun exposure then the eastern side and the vegetation here is different. Rather than the open vegetation and drier slopes, this western side is forested. The vineyards are at an elevation of between 300 to 500 feet in the foothills of the Mayacamas range; this is not benchland and not quite Mayacamas mountain vineyards either. While not receiving as much sun as the eastern hillsides of Oakville Futo's site tends to remain fairly warm during the growing season. The fog breaks sooner here and because of their slight elevation above the valley floor they tend to be exposed to the warmer air that rises due to the inversion layer. The winery itself was designed by renowned architect Howard Backen, the man responsible for designing nearby Harlan Estate, Poetry Inn on the other side of Oakville, Ovid Winery and Dana Estate near St. Helena as well as other prominent International buildings. Backen has worked on a number of select wineries but input also came from winemaker Mark Aubert and this winery was designed with the property in mind. The winery facility is compact and very functional. With a number of small tanks Futo has the flexibility to ferment individual blocks on their own. The tanks are conveniently located right above the cellar rooms and the wine is fed via gravity down to this lower level. Their wines are always blends (Cabernet Sauvignon based). Their first vintage was in 2004, a mere 80 cases with their first commercial release coming in 2005. Their wines undergo extended maceration up to 30 days and sometimes longer. This is a process that actually helps to soften the hillside tannins. The 2005 Futo Estate is predominately Cabernet Sauvignon with the remainder of the blend Merlot. The bouquet shows concentrated ripe aromas of black fruit, black currant and blackberry with just a hint of espresso. The entry is surprisingly soft but quickly gains in complexity; it has great depth of flavor with power. Sweet firm tannins begin to form just past the mid palate and lead to a long and satisfying finish. This wine has good structure and lively natural acidity - the key to the finish is that the tannins complement and are in balance with the rich fruit. The 2006 Futo Estate is even a darker wine than the 2005. It also has Merlot as well as some Cabernet Franc in the blend. It was just released prior to our tasting. This wine has an exotic nose with big bold dark fruit that shows an earthiness representative of this side of Oakville, minerals and even a hint of pencil lead. The mid palate is rich, well layered and opulent displaying a nice balance of black cherry, black licorice and dusty blackberry. This vintage has a larger backbone than the 05' with wide broad shouldered expressive tannins. Like the 2005 this wine has a super long finish. Futo is a label you will certainly recognize at first glance. It is creative and innovative and stands out without being flashy. An "F" for Futo is created in the empty space between the two pieces of the silver colored label. Futo's wine is almost entirely distributed direct, via a mailing list - such was the demand for this wine that there was a number of people on this list well before their first vintage was even released! Dean & Deluca may also carry the wine. For more information and to join their mailing list visit: www.futowines.com |
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