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This winery is surrounded by trees and sits high in the hills east of Angwin in the Howell Mountain area. It was completely renovated in 2003 and today is one of the nicer of the old stone hillside ghost wineries in the Napa area. This is an area known for intense Cabernet and that is what they focus on. Most of the fruit is sourced from three vineyards that are in close proximity to the winery. The elevation is typically over 1500 feet which is above the fog of the valley floor. Due to the slightly cooler climate, hang time is long, with grapes usually harvested well after the valley floor fruit. The very rocky soil is volcanic in nature and has great drainage. Howell mountain is known for its reddish volcanic soil. La Jota also makes a Cabernet Franc. Tasting of La Jota's wines are done at the tasting counter at Cardinale. All wines we tried were 2002 which was their current vintage at press time - somewhat older than most wineries' current vintages. We really enjoyed their 2002 Howell Mountain Cabernet Franc which is blended with Cabernet Sauvignon. In our opinion, this is how a Cabernet Franc based wine should taste with lots of fruit mid palate and good structure on the finish. The nose is complex with hints of Cranberries and vanilla - with a lot of fruit on the palate "kissed" by oak and notes of cedar. We also tried a special 21st Anniversary Cabernet Sauvignon. The "juice" for this wine was taken from only their top vineyard selections and is very representative of Howell Mountain teroir, earthy yet at the same time showing a refined elegance. The chocolate notes that you often find in Howell Mountain based Cabernet wines are hinted at on the palate. What really drives this wine however, is its superior balance. Visit: www.lajotavineyardco.com |
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They enjoy both mountain grown Cabernet's and as a result two of their primary vineyards are located on some of Napa's best hillside terroir. Their winery estate vineyard surrounds the actual winery with the majority of the vineyards located just across the road. In addition they have slightly under 500 acres across and south in the valley on the slopes of Mt. Veeder. More recently they acquired some vineyard land in Sonoma County which is planted to Pinot noir and Chardonnay. As of press time, their total production each year is about 10,000 cases with Cabernet Sauvignon comprising the majority of that. Ladera also makes a number of limited production wines including but not limited to Malbec, Syrah, and a Merlot that is only made during "stellar" vintages. These wines are typically only available at the winery and to mailing list customers. During one period of ownership, the winery used a large mirror on nearby "signal hill" to communicate to Napa Wine Co way down in the valley when it was time to pick the grapes so they would have advance notice of when they would need to prepare the crush pad. This is ironic considering that years later, Ladera's first wines were actually made at Napa Wine Co! The grounds are gorgeous especially in mid spring - flowers, lawns and beautifully landscaped garden paths grace the property. Your tour starts with a taste inside the main building above the fermentation tanks and then leads outside and then back inside to part of their 18,000 square foot cave. Your cave tasting will be at a sit down table at the end of one of the cavern tunnels. This is a completely gravity flow winery and they use mostly native yeasts for fermentation but in winemaking sometimes you need to inoculate with commercial yeasts and this is done occasionally. A number of hillside wineries will employ extended maceration in which they leave the seeds and skins soaking in the wine for extended periods. Ladera rarely chooses this technique preferring to rely on taste and a style of wine that is not overly extracted. There is a small soils display next to the entrance of the back of the winery. It contains soils from both of their hillside vineyards. You can clearly see the difference between the red rock Howell mountain soils and the white dusty chalky soils from their Mt. Veeder vineyard. Ladera is about a 10 minute drive from the Silverado Trail on the valley floor; they are located at an elevation of about 1200 feet. All visits are by appointment only and are private for your party. Allow at least an hour for the tour and tasting. The name Ladera is a term for 'hillside or slope' and appropriately describes their own two primary vineyards; Howell Mountain and the steep hillside Lone Canyon, Mt. Veeder vineyard. Tasting wines from these two vineyards is a classic example of the difference that terroir or soil type and location has on a vineyard. The Cabernet's from the Mt. Veeder area are rich concentrated dark wines while the Howell Mountain Cabernet's while still very dark in color, are more refined and elegant but still show well structured tannins. They nicknamed their Cabernet from the Mt. Veeder vineyard the "cowboy"! It takes some time to tame down in the bottle and is generally held back longer before being released (compared to the Howell Mountain Cabernet). We tried the 2004 vintage which is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon; it has a certain briary and brambly nose with nuances of dustiness and other earth tones. This wine is very full bodied with a palate full of dark fruit flavors, blackberry, black currant and black cherry. The tannins are well structured and provide the backbone for a finish of great length. Ladera also picks their grapes when they are at the peak of ripeness. They are able to harvest individual blocks and then ferment and age them separately before any blending takes place. In addition, even parts of blocks are sometimes picked seperately depending on the ripeness of the grapes. Their vineyard manager lives on site and has been managing these vineyards for many years. Case in point was the picking of their 2007 Sauvignon Blanc; it was harvested over a rather short time period but picked many times depending on ripeness. During our first visit we just missed tasting this wine, the one white wine they currently make, as it was being released the day after we arrived. However they had plenty of this wine during our latest visit. We challenge you to name one other vineyard on Howell Mountain growing Sauvignon Blanc! Your not going to find this varietal on Howell Mountain; Ladera does a very nice job with this wine. The 2007 vintage is a very clean crisp wine with flavors that are well integrated and that complement each other including notes of citrus, and green apple. Also of note is their Pinot noir - the first commercial release was 2006 from the Pillow Road Vineyard in Sonoma County. There is a reason Russian River Valley Pinot noirs have such a good reputation and this vintage is a perfect start to their new Pinot noir program. Aromatically, the nose is simply unable to contain itself and this is not a bad thing! It is bursting with fruit aromas - raspberry and strawberry aromas are integrated with subtle spices. This leads to the perfect Pinot noir palate which is balanced between flavor, acidity and structure. The mouth feel is soft; this is a good wine to pair with food. Visit www.pillowrd.com - and their main website: www.laderavineyards.com |
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Lagier Meredith is run by Stephen Lagier and Carole Meredith (Dr. DNA) and is an entirely "self made business". This is one of the more specialized wineries in the Napa Valley as their entire production is on one varietal - Syrah. It is wineries such as this one that you really have to seek out and know about! As this winery says, "Syrah needs a view"! Their 4-acre vineyard has just that and is located at 1300 feet on the slopes of Mt. Veeder in the Mayacamas mountains; their first vintage was in 1998. They moved to the site in 1986; the land had never been planted to vineyards and they planted all the vines themselves to a variety of clones.
Most of their property remains wooded and covered with native vegetation. As they mention they have no employees, no consultants, no partners and no investors! Their philosophy is simple - live on the land, grow the grapes and make the wine. You could say this is a "mom and pop" operation and in a sense that is true, however the high quality speaks for itself and is not representative of just a mom and pop operation. Stephen has a long history of winemaking, first as a "garagist" and "carport" winemaker and than at Robert Mondavi. Carol was a long time professor in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis and has conducted extensive DNA research into grape clones while trying to track down the origins of some of the more well-known varietals. More than a few of her students are now working as full time vintners in the Napa Valley. She was inducted into the Vintner's Hall of Fame in 2009. All their wine is bottled unfiltered and their total production is under 1000 cases each year. This is about as boutique as you will find in Napa. The 2007 Rose of Syrah is a first for Lagier Meredith. They originally made this wine for fun as a home wine but the quality turned out nicely so they released it commercially. Only 80 cases of this wine were made. The wine is a orange and slightly pink, light to medium bodied with wild strawberries on the palate and hints of spices on the finish. The 2005 Syrah has been extremely highly rated and is in much demand. It is a rich well layered perfectly balanced wine with concentrated fruit on the palate mixed with crushed black pepper. Some Syrahs we've tasted have been so skewed on the pepper flavor that it overwhelms the wine; not this one. It has a very rounded mouth feel and a long finish. You can find their wine locally at Backroom Wines in Napa and Dean & Deluca in St. Helena. Visit: www.lagiermeredith.com |
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Lail Vineyards was founded by long time Napa Valley vintner Robin Lail and her family. Robin's history in the Napa Valley reads like a dream story - her father was John Daniels Jr. who inherited the great Inglenook winery from his father -now Rubicon Estate, (and was instrumental in helping put Napa Valley on the map in so many ways), Robin co-founded Dominus with her sister and famed winemaker Christian Moueix (of Château Pétrus in Pomerol), co founded Merryvale Vineyards with Bill Harlan, was general manager at the prestigious Meadowood Resort and was Robert Mondavi's personal assistant for a number of years...and the list goes on. In the early 1990's Robin originally started thinking of creating an outstanding wine to honor her ancestors' history in the Napa Valley; their first vintage was released in 1995.
The well-known Philippe Melka has been their winemaker since the beginning; in fact Lail Vineyards was his first wine consulting job in the Napa Valley. Today Philippe is the winemaker for a number of small premium producers mostly based in Napa. In the past he has been voted American Winemaker of the year by Robert Parker in Food & Wine Magazine. Philippe has a geology degree as well as a degree in enology and agronomy (he knows his Napa terroir very well) and especially enjoys working with Napa hillside vineyards. For someone with such recognition, he is one of the most down to earth winemakers we have met on this project. It is always a fine line to craft wines with that special elegance and softness ready to be consumed now, while at the same time ensuring the wine has the acidity, fruit and structure to be aged and not be flat in say 10 years. This is a line that Philippe walks well - the hallmark of Lail's wines are clearly their elegance and balance upon release. Lail owns and uses fruit from two estate vineyards; the Totem Vineyard in Yountville was part of the original Inglenook vineyard estate. This vineyard is named after a Totem pole that the founder of Inglenook Winery, Gustav Niebaum (Robin's great-grand uncle) gave the de Young Museum in San Francisco. Their Mole Hill vineyard is located high on the slopes of Howell Mountain at about 1600 feet. The name of this vineyard has interesting origins. When Napa pioneer Louis Martini first made red wine locally, John Daniels decided to make some home red wine and included an image of a mole on his label with a cute saying on the back "Mole Hill Red, “A Wine You Will Gopher!" Today this small vineyard is planted entirely to Cabernet Sauvignon and is farmed organically. According to Robin there are generally two things that define a winemaker who works for a small producer - they represent the terroir and site location as authoritatively as possible and they also make a style of wine representing the owner's taste. Lail's palate favors a wine that is integrated and seamless in its presentation; it is a wine that goes so well with food. Many small area producers usually only produce one white wine; a Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. With that said, it is always nice to find a winery that showcases the same varietal but makes the wine in different styles. It is most interesting to taste and notice the differences when these two wines are placed side by side. Blueprint is the name of their newest produced Sauvignon Blanc. It is named to honor Robin's husband Jon who is an architect in the valley. Jon runs Lail Design Group, a company that has designed some of the most innovative wineries and or winery components in the valley including the Vineyard 29 caves and the impressive Cade Winery. Incidentally it was Jon who brought Robin back into the wine business many years after Inglenook was sold. The 2008 Blueprint Sauvignon Blanc is made in a Sancerre style. As a result this wine was aged in stainless steel and is a focused representation of the varietal. This is a lively clean crisp wine that is pale in the glass. It shows nice aromatic characteristics with a floral bouquet and notes of green apple and lime which also lead to the palate. This wine has excellent acidity and notes of mineralities. Intense fruit flavors linger deliciously on the smooth long finish. In contrast is the 2007 Georgia Sauvignon Blanc made in the Graves style. This is named after the first member of their 6th generation. Very few winemaking families in the Napa Valley go back that far! The aging on this wine is of course completely different than their Blue Print Sauvignon Blanc. Here the wine is aged in all new French Oak and stirred on the lees for 18-20 months. The difference is pronounced in aromas, mouth feel and structure. This wine is noticeably darker than the Blueprint. The bouquet is very aromatic with notes of lemon and melon. The palate is creamy but not overly so. At the time of our tasting, this wine had not yet been released yet and was still showing some notes of oak. As the wine integrates in the bottle this will dissipate as everything comes into balance. And this is a wine that has some nice structure; you can keep it around for a few years...or not! The Blueprint Red, 2006 vintage is balanced and seamless on the palate from start to finish. This vintage has 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot and is the first year that this wine has not been a proprietary red. The bouquet displays notes of tobacco smoke, spices and the smooth palate shows a rich core of ripe red fruit including red cherry. The finish is anchored by firm broad tannins. This wine is priced quite reasonably. The J. Daniel cuvee is Lail's flagship wine and in order to understand the significance of this wine, you have to understand the legacy of who it is named after. It is a tribute to Robin's father John Daniels who has a storied history in the Napa Valley. Not only was he at the helm of the famed Inglenook Winery but he was a founding member of the Napa Valley Vintner's association, 3x Chairman of the Wine Institute and is one of the core group of vintners to really promote and "put" Napa Valley on the wine map. Not many vintners land their photo on the cover of a major wine publication such as the Wine Spectator, 30 years after they have died. John Daniels certainly is one of the pioneers to have left his mark on this great wine region. The J Daniel Cuvee is a Bordeaux style blend. We tried the 2005 vintage. This is a dark inky wine with a bouquet that first has a dusty component but as it opens up, it reveals rich dark fruit aromas. The entry is initially soft and contains layers of flavor including blackberry, blueberry, and black licorice. A long finish awaits containing tannins that are well structured and balanced. Robin noted that it is easy to become inspired about their new vintages; each year they strive to learn how to better take care of the land and their vineyards and produce wines that continue to excite their customers. With the quality we tasted during our visit, we can certainly vouch that this will keep happening! Look for the four diamonds on the foil on top of their wine bottles. This pays tribute to the Inglenook brand as well as to the four members of the Lail family currently involved in Lail Vineyards. You can most easily taste Lail's wines at the posh Ma(i)sonry collective tasting room located in Yountville. This is one of the nicer collectives in the valley and only features wines from several select premium producers. Lail Vineyards was a founding partner in this tasting room - it is a "living gallery" that features rotating works of art and furnishings in an elegant setting. Alternatively, serious wine enthusiasts and collectors may consider tasting at the Lail Estate on Howell Mountain. You can find their wine locally at ACME, a high end wine shop in the town of St. Helena. Visit: www.lail-vineyards.com Video courtesy of: www.ghigopress.com
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Today Laird Family estates is one of the largest custom crush wineries in Napa Valley with over 60 small wineries and winemakers bringing their fruit on site during the crush season. As a result, harvest is always a crazy time to be working in the production side of this winery. They have several large state of the art production facilities on site and making wine here is also educational as you are working along side other area winemakers. It is not a competitive environment and winemakers often help out each other. Interestingly, one of their own customers is themselves as Laird makes their own brand on site. Some well known vintners have already come through their doors; cult Colgin Winery, well respected Paul Hobbs, and Bob Egelhoff to name a few. Laird also offers mobile bottling & a multitude of other winery services - www.lairdfamilybottling.com While this winery is located in the southern part of the valley, Laird's history in Napa actually started way north in Calistoga with the purchase of their first vineyard (an abandoned fruit orchard). Ken and his wife Gail drove up from the San Francisco Bay area for a romantic weekend and fell in love with the entire valley. They had no background in wine at the time (still not an uncommon story in Napa) and needed to raise capital to actually purchase the vineyard. The bank told them to "do some homework" before they would lend any money. Looking through the phone book Ken saw merely 8 Napa wineries listed and the only one he recognized was Robert Mondavi. Short story told, he met Robert at the site of what was going to be Ken's new vineyard and Robert told Ken what to plant and said he would buy the grapes for the next 20 years. Good timing on that partnership as Mondavi's fledgling winery was merely 2 years old at this time! More good timing occurred in the early 1980's when the Lairds purchased land in the Carneros region which at that time was pretty much just known to supply good grazing land for sheep. Today the Carneros is Napa's world renowned cool climate terroir - ideal for producing top quality Pinot noir and Chardonnay. Currently Laird is one of Napa's largest growers, managing over 2000 acres. This is very much a family affair with Ken & Gail's children involved including Justin who oversees all their vineyards. Their tasting room is small and is not setup for large groups, however weather permitting there are rod iron tables and chairs outside. We've seen several bike tour companies bring people here for outside lunches. As of our latest visit, a tasting includes a rather lengthy flight of 9 or 10 wines including 4-5 Chardonnays - each with their own unique taste and style. This is certainly one of the largest tasting flight selections you will find at any Napa winery! Their Carneros Chardonnay undergoes 100% Malolactic Fermentation and has notes of honey, apple and citrus; it is delicious! Their Cabernets and Merlots are styled so that you can drink them young. Also try the Jillian's Cabernet Sauvignon Syrah blend. It is a big wine with lots of structure and is named after Ken's grand daughter. Nice large glass windows surround the tasting room with a small adjoining gift shop. Laird typically produces only several hundred cases per varietal, so purchasing wine at the tasting room is your best bet. Due to all the custom crush winery clients who use this facility, this is probably our most often visited Napa winery! We've tasted with a number of winemakers outside next to the olive trees. Laird is sometimes referred to as "the Napa pyramid" due to its unique design. Visit: www.lairdfamilyestate.com Wine with Tony |
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The family then cleared and planted the land and released their first commercial vintage in 1982 with the help of famed Howell Mountain wine master, Randy Dunn. Unfortunately disaster struck in the fall of 1991 when the huge Oakland firestorm destroyed Bob's house. As a result of this, in 1991 Lamborn released an appropriately titled wine called the "Phoenix Vintage". This vintage led to a trend among Lamborn's wines - every vintage from that year on is now given a name, usually relating to an event during the growing season. In conjunction with this are their "back label" stories; for general interest, all of these stories are available on their website. Production then was very small and although it has grown a bit since, it is still around 1000 cases. The fruit is all estate grown on this ridgeline - predominately Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon and the wine is made at Napa Wine Co. Today the vineyards are managed by Mike and his wife Terry - they are farmers and spend hundreds of hours in the vineyards each year carefully managing the vines and grapes. We had the opportunity to walk the vineyards with Mike Lamborn and his attention to detail is amazing. Each vine is handled on a case by case basis when it comes to crop thinning, dropping of fruit, pruning and suckering. The third generation is a part of this business as well with Mike and Terry's sons actively involved in to the day to day operations. The 4th generation is even well on their way! With the exception of their winemaker, this is an entirely family run winery. The well-known Heidi Barrett is the winemaker and has been at Lamborn since the mid 1990's. The details and micro management that go in to the farming and caring for the grapes, plus Heidi's considerable wine-making skills produce two excellent wines. Their main focus has always been and remains on Zinfandel (the bulk of their production). Considering the fact their vineyards are on Howell Mountain, they also produce Cabernet Sauvignon. The Cabernet is all that you expect in a high quality hand crafted Napa area Cabernet; it is soft, smooth and an elegant wine. The 2005 contains layer upon layer of fruit with a slight dustiness towards the long finish. The demand is very high for this wine and is not even sold through their website. Visits here are for serious wine enthusiasts. A tour is conducted with the family and usually involves walking among the vineyards and tasting the wine on their deck or within their home. The Lamborns are some of the most hospitable people you will meet and it doesn't hurt either, that their wine is stellar! As a result the experience is very personal and tailored towards your interest and knowledge level. If you find yourself on the valley floor and want to sample their wine, try the Cult Wine tasting room at Napa Wine Co in Oakville. Visit: www.lamborn.com |
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Talk about vineyards with a view. The highest block of Lampyridae Vineyards reaches an elevation of 2,510 feet above sea level on the uppermost slopes of Mt. Veeder; this is the highest vineyard above the floor of the Napa Valley - there is only one other vineyard higher in the entire county - the Blue Ridge Vineyard in the south eastern part of the county tops out at three hundred feet higher at 2810 feet. John and Ashley Derr both have backgrounds in agriculture. John moved to the valley in 1993 and took a job with Crop Care Associates, a local agricultural technology consulting firm. Ashley was researching insects (Entomology) for the University of California and later worked as an assistant to the Napa Valley Farm Advisor. John has worked for Pina Vineyard Management company for a number of years - the Pina's manage around 800 vineyard acres in the valley and as a result, they have both a broad and detailed perspective of Napa's vineyard terroir. In 1996 John brought the Pina's to what would become Lampyridae Vineyards to assess the feasibility and economics of developing a vineyard at this remote location. At the time this was going to be one of their most challenging vineyards to develop. And despite being merely several miles as the crow flies from the floor of Napa Valley, this was and still is truly a remote location - its just not that easy to get to. Developing the site was not going to be simple - the road into the site was a mess - 4wd, muddy during the winter, dusty during the summer especially during the late afternoon when winds often picked up. The uppermost slopes of Mt. Veeder are like looking at a rock pile - the soils are very shallow, rocky and low in nutrients. Significant rock piles around the vineyard are testament to what came out of the "soil" before planting. The rockiest parts of the vineyard literally had to be jack hammered in order to plant the vines. But the views are amazing and historically certain parts of the mountain already had proven vineyard terroir; wine grapes have been grown on Mt. Veeder since the early 1860's. Ultimately it came down to time and money - time of which they had plenty of, money - fortunately it was right before vineyard terroir in Napa Valley significantly escalated in price. The first year they lived on the property was a challenge - there was no electricity. Then in 2000 they lost the the production from the existing well on site - a moderate earthquake hit under Mt. Veeder and their well dried up and a nearby spring was also affected. Today their new well drops down 700 feet and they now have ample water for the vineyards. With John's knowledge and interest in vineyard management he decided to experiment and determine how dry farming would affect a small part of his upper vineyard. He selected 5 rows and stopped watering them in 2007. They have survived but their production is extremely hindered - producing very small clusters and berries. He learned that to date, at least some water addition is still critical for the vines on these rocky shallow well draining slopes. The property is 35 acres with 11 acres to vine and is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Zinfandel. Their Zinfandel block contains the first grapes they planted on site in 1998. This block is entirely head pruned while the rest of their vines are on trellising. Since John has a background in vineyard management and his day job is working for Pina Vineyard Management, it makes sense that he manages the vineyard himself along with several workers. Their grapes have been sold to premium producers including Beringer (for their reserve program). Beringer thought so highly of the site that they had a contract prior to the grapes even being in the ground. Because of the elevation and proximity looking out over the bay in the "bay area" - the growing conditions here are moderate. They don't have nearly the heat spikes that you might find during certain times of the year at the lower elevations. For example in the summer while its foggy below with a temperature in the 50's during the morning - their vineyard site will be in the sunshine and at temperatures in the 70's. Later in the day as the fog rises and it warms up below, their property will remain fairly temperate. Their oldest daughter suffers from motor and communication difficulties. It was a challenge to find a program within the local schools that would provide support and assistance to students with these types of difficulties. Ashley was the driving force behind starting the non profit, Napa Valley Kids Connect ( www.napavalleykidsconnect.com ) - a program she formed to bring these special services to the valley. In order to maintain the level of support and services for these children fundraising is an essential component. Looking for a way to raise money they realized they could hold back some of their fruit and make their own wine. Wines from their grapes had earned accolades and pleasing scores from wine critics for the better part of a decade. They knew they had good fruit. Winemaker Aaron Pott (also has his own vineyard on Mt. Veeder) donates his time and equipment - and other donations of materials and supplies have come from the community including corks, bottles and labels. All proceeds from the sales of their wine directly benefit Napa Valley Kids Connect. Their first release was from 2009 - a 66% Syrah and 34% Cabernet Sauvignon blend. The core of their wine is from what they call the Communication Block - a slightly more than half an acre of Cabernet Sauvignon growing towards the upper most part of their vineyard - a few minutes walk to to the true summit of Mt. Veeder (still marked with a geological survey marker from 1929). Their 2009 Red Wine is slightly above 15% alcohol but is crafted so that the higher alcohol is not noticeable within the wine - the Derr's love the acidic backbone that grapes from their property produce in wines. This wine certainly has a mouth watering acidity. The nose is elegant and dominated by red fruit aromas including cranberry, raspberry and initially a puff of dust or a gravel component. As the wine breathes more red fruit dominates. The mouth feel is soft upon entry with broadly distributed and fairly fine tannins anchoring a long finish. Ashley has a background in entomology (studying insects) and the name "Firefly" was initially proposed but a large entity was already selling wine under this name. Reaching to her past studies she came up with Lampyridae - the Latin word for a "family" of insects commonly called fireflies. This ties in remarkably well with their location. At night they can look down on much of the "Valley of the Moon" in Sonoma County and see the twinkling lights from each of the towns far below. With such a small block to work with, their production is as expected very small - the 2009 vintage produced only 120 cases. For the 2010 vintage, they will have two wines - because the varietal components tasted so well on their own. You can find the wine locally at Mustard's Grill and at the Ranch Market, both in Yountville or online. Visit: www.lampyridaevineyards.com View video: |
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Lang & Reed Wine Company was founded by husband wife team John and Tracey Skupny in 1996 and is named after their two sons. John has a long history of working with well-known Napa wineries including Caymus, Clos du Val and the Niebaum-Coppola Estate Winery (now Rubicon Estate) and today still consults on the side. What was a novel idea in 1996 and still is somewhat a novel idea today in the Napa Valley is a winery that focuses its entire efforts on Cabernet Franc. If you have tasted in the Napa area you will note that Cabernet Franc is most often used as a blending varietal typically as a small percentage in Cabernet Sauvignon. The reason for this is Cabernet Franc tends to take on similar qualities of the varietals it is blended with, brings very nice aromatics to the wine and adds structure - a backbone if you will. Cabernet Franc by itself sometimes has a reputation for "green-ness" or bell pepper flavors and tight tannins. L&R avoids this by carefully choosing their vineyard sources, picking at the right times, as well using mostly neutral oak barrels. The result is in the bottle - juicy, lots of fruit and smooth with well managed tannins.
If you are looking for excellent hand crafted Cabernet Franc wines by a winemaker who has a long passion for this varietal, Lang & Reed is an excellent choice. They are the king of Cabernet Franc in the Napa Valley! As of press time they have three wines available, a 100% Cabernet Franc North Coast, sourced from vineyards in Lake (north of Napa Valley) & Napa Counties, the Premier Etage from Napa, and a unique Cabernet Franc blended wine called the Right Bank - also from the Napa Valley. We started our tasting with the 2006 North Coast "early release" 100% Cabernet Franc. The inspiration for this wine was in part based on similar wines from the Loire Valley in France. In addition John would often hit up his cellar for an everyday drinking wine but would find the wines either too young or too valuable for drinking! This wine has a luscious nose, with delicate flavors including plum and just a touch of herbaceous characteristics. It will pair nicely with a variety of fish dishes. It is by far their most produced wine at over 2000 cases whereas their other wines are typically in the several hundred case range. The 2003 Premier Etage is an excellent "food wine" and is again modeled after some of the Loire Valley wines. The two Napa vineyards used for this wine are grown in somewhat similar soils which are old river soils so lots of gravel and cobble are present and are generally very well drained vineyards. This wine has a lot of layers in the nose and on the palate including chocolate, cherries, herbs and a touch of vanilla before the long somewhat smoky finish. On the winemaking side, it is interesting to note that the tannin management and the wine's fermentation was handled completely differently from each other. Their 2004 Right Bank still features Cabernet Franc as the dominant varietal but is blended with Merlot, Petite Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon. This is an elegant wine not dominated by the Cabernet Franc, rather it blends well with the other associated varietals making a smooth silky wine with a rounded mouth feel. As this wine opens up the aromas bloom into dried fruits and herbs followed by cherry and currant flavors on the palate. You can find their wines locally at St. Helena Wine Merchants or from L&R's website. Also be sure to check out some of John's wine videos. Visit: www.langandreed.com |
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Her life was touched by several fires including at a hotel and a house in which she was rescued just before the roof caved in. As a result she bonded with firefighters and became the country's first female volunteer fire fighter; in addition with her socialite connections she helped raise funds and awareness for firefighters. The site of her original Larkmead Estate is now home to the 3-palms vineyard, a fairly well known northern Napa Vineyard. If you walk around the back of the tasting room you will see three small palms that Larkmead has planted in tribute to this original "3 palms" vineyard. They produce affordable high quality award-winning wines - wines that are often lower-priced then similar caliber wines on the market. It is somewhat rare to find a Napa winery that only uses fruit from their own vineyards and Larkmead sources from their 120 acres of planted vineyards. This winery dates back to the 1890's (the current family has had ownership for over 60 years). They are all about their final product, the wine. Their wines are made in limited supply and they concentrate their efforts on a select number of wine varietals. Their tasting room (finished in early 2006) does not contain a gift shop, music, or food. You can either taste at the counter or in their adjoining windowed wine salon. Ask to see some of their older vintage bottles - one on display dates from 1915 and still contains the original label. This is a Bordeaux style winery in that most of their wines are blends and specific wines may be made only for one vintage. How many Napa wineries make a Tocai Friulano from Napa vineyards...only 2 or 3 wineries out of 500+ visited so far. This varietal is originally from northern Italy and the small part of their estate planted to this contains very old vines. You might almost think this is Sauvignon Blanc as some style Sauvignon Blancs are similar. The 2007 vintage is only their second release, but with a wine this nice and rare to Napa lets hope it becomes an ongoing production. It has nice floral notes followed by pear and citrus on the palate with a nice balance between fruit and viscosity. The other white they make is a Sauvignon Blanc and the 2006 vintage has already been highly rated. Our favorite red is their 2005 "Firebelle" Merlot/Cabernet blend. This has a very elegant nose, with delicious flavors of cherry and mocha on the palate. This wine is very smooth with an elegant softness that contains just a slight smokiness on the finish. The 2003 60/40 Blend is also drinking very nicely as of press time. This wine is made in the style of Pinot noir - no pump overs, just punch downs during the fermentation process as a result, less maceration, and finishes its barrel aging in neutral oak like their other reds. It is a light to medium bodied wine with great fruit flavors, especially cherry and also notes of cinnamon. Note that often their wines are highly allocated and each wine is typically produced in very limited productions. Their wine club is called the Larkmead Firebelle Society, named after the aforementioned Lillie Hitchcock Coit. A visit here needs to be by appointment and is usually for those who intentionally seek out wineries "off the beaten path". Of note is in 2008 a time capsule was buried next to the vineyards in front of the winery commemorating Larkmead's 125th anniversary. This capsule will be dug up and opened in 2028. Photos, maps some "future" predicictions and of course wine bottles were buried. Visit: www.larkmead.com |
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His experience is in the hotel and hospitality industry. He is a former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group - and he helped bring stand alone restaurants with "big name chefs" to resorts and hotels as well as develop the company into a leader in the boutique luxury part of the travel market. In 1983 he had a chance to come to Napa and became manager of the Silverado Resort. During the early and mid 1980's he had the opportunities to meet a number of Napa vintners who were just getting started. Tom started making home wine in 1990 with a small planted vineyard located in St. Helena. Gravitating towards the "mountains" they planted a small 1 acre Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard on Howell Mountain and then acquired the 25 acre piece of property straddling the Napa/Sonoma County line high on the slopes of Mt. Veeder. The property is almost entirely planted to vines including Syrah, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Yes you saw that right, Pinot Noir. We are aware of only 1 other producer on Mt. Veeder growing Pinot Noir commercially and the acreage is so small for this varietal on Mt. Veeder that its not even listed on the appellation's website of grown varietals. The Mt. Veeder Vineyard tops out at 2100 feet making it among the higher vineyards in this mountain appellation. Due to the elevation and location they typically experience cooler days than the valley floor in the summer and warmer nights due to an inversion layer that rises above the valley floor. Their vineyards are planted in volcanic very rocky soils (all hillside). They have two clones planted on site, the Wente (25+ year old vines) and the Hyde clone. The 2006 Heritage Chardonnay shows notes of pear on the bouquet as well as a tropical aspect including hints of coconut. This wine is rounded, soft and creamy throughout the palate. The finish is slightly spicy with notes of oak. This chardonnay was 100% barrel fermented and went through malolactic fermentation. They are making a more "old world" Chardonnay starting with the 2008 vintage. The 2006 Syrah is a fairly dark red to purple wine; it has a pleasing fruit driven bouquet that is somewhat perfumy. A sweet thread of fruit aromas are present including raspberries and blueberries. Slightly spicy but not overly so, the palate is balanced from start to finish. It is a unique opportunity to taste a mountain grown Pinot Noir (at least in Napa). These vines are grown towards the top of their vineyard. The 2008 Pinot Noir (first ever release) delivers mountain characteristics which are noticeable and quite different than say Pinot Noir from Carneros or the softer velvety Pinot's from the Russian River or Sonoma Coast. This is an earthy wine with a bouquet that shows raspberry and boysenberry with the aromas resembling slightly jam like characteristics of these two fruits. The palate is balanced and slightly dusty with mineralities. This is not a simple Pinot, the palate is layered with good structure and earthy textured tannins (rather than the delicate tannins you often find in Pinot Noir) and alcohol that lingers and anchors the rather long finish. While all their wines are produced in small quantities, the Pinot's are typically produced in very minute quantities - usually around 100 cases and are available for wine club members. With a background in hospitality the LaTour's know how to entertain! They hold select events including wine and food pairings, luncheons and harvest parties held at the vineyard. LaTour's wines can be tasted without an appointment in San Francisco at the Winery Collective ( www.winerycollective.com ). This multi-winery tasting room (San Francisco's first) features about 20 different California labels and is located at the Cannery in Fisherman's Wharf. Serious wine enthusiasts can contact the winery directly for private tastings. A resident ceramics artist, Lynn Mahon ( www.lynnmahon.com ) lives on site and he is happy to show his pottery by prior appointment. For more information visit: www.latourvineyards.com |
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Their vineyard is situated on steep rocky slopes and it is this vineyard that is the reason for the name Lava Vine. The slopes are up to 45 degrees and the soils are mainly composed of volcanic ash, rock and petrified wood - the soils are volcanic in nature in part from ancient lava flows. The vines are planted very close to one another and along with the steepness of the property dictates that all farming is done by hand. They farm this vineyard organically with two sheep providing the weed control and a dose of fertilizer as well! Currently they custom crush at a nearby winery but in the future may build a crush pad and winery on site. Their well appointed tasting room is located in a small metal building which was in the past was used by Calistoga Roastery, a local coffee company with a store in downtown Calistoga. Drive around the two story light grey building in the front to the small parking lot in the back. This facility is located right next to a proposed "greenway" which will contain a bike path that once completed will connect to the town of Calistoga and the Solage Resort - which is ideal as Solage includes free use of bicycles with each room. Lava Vine has a side room next to their tasting counter which is for private wine and food pairings as well as can handle larger crowds. The tasting room closes at 5pm each day but can be reserved for after hour special appointments on a case by case basis. Joe started making home wine from the Portuguese varietals that were already growing on the property and initially produced a port wine. Enjoying this wine so much and in talking to his friend, winemaker Nile Zacherle - they decided to start a label and bottle the wine commercially. The first Lava Vine vintage is from 2006. This is artisan wine at its best - family owned, and each wine is produced in quantities of several hundred cases at the most. Several of their wines are produced in quantities of under 100 cases; as a result the best way to acquire these is in person at the tasting room. In addition, their prices are not going to make you suffer for weeks! This is a rare situation in Napa where you have an artisan winery with very limited productions with an open to the public by walk-in tasting room. Many of the artisan wineries in Napa Valley do not have a public presence within the valley, instead selling their wine through select mailing lists or through distributors. We tried the 2007 Chardonnay which is from a vineyard on the eastern side of the Silverado Trail just south from their tasting room. This wine saw neutral oak during the aging and only 50% malolactic fermentation. This wine has a nice golden yellow hue in the glass with a nose that shows aromas of baking spices, nutmeg and pear. It is certainly not over oaked and creamy/buttery - but nuances of oak and creaminess show through in just the right balance. The palate is rich and concentrated with layers of fruit flavor completed by a finish that is decidedly tropical in nature. The 2006 "dry" Viognier is a winner - the nose is extremely fruit driven and the mouth feel is rounded and slightly viscous. Along with their Chardonnay this wine is built to be consumed now but can also be aged for several years. The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon is also from the same vineyard in Calistoga as the Chardonnay. The color is ruby red in the glass with a nose that contains notes of earth and crushed rocks as well as a floral characteristics. The palate follows with red fruit, red cherry and red currant with a spicy crushed black pepper finish. This is a wine that begs for food. As the owners say, they are a "kid and dog friendly tasting room"! There is even a framed sign above the tasting counter that says "dogs are always good". Nice! Also note that Lava Vine donates $1 from every case to the Lung Cancer Alliance. For more information visit: www.lavavine.com |
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Leo Joseph Estate Cellars certainly manages one of the smaller vineyards in Napa (comprising their entire production). Their 8/10th of an acre vineyard is planted to a number of Cabernet Sauvignon clones as well as Cabernet Franc. This is a "micro vineyard" where vines are not counted by acres but by individual numbers.
Their St. Helena vineyard entirely surrounds their home and is in turn mostly surrounded by Whitehall Lane Winery's own vineyard. This is proven terroir. Spearheading this wine is Carolyn Harrison Lawrence a long time resident of the Napa Valley and a former school teacher in the Yountville District. She is in partnership with her 101 year old mother Lillian Harrison (soon to be 102 at the time of this review!) and their first vintage (2007) was released on her mother's 100th birthday. Actually four generations are involved as Carolyn's daughter and grand daughter also help out. The wine is a tribute to Carolyn's father who was born and raised in St. Helena and is named after him by using his first and middle names. Wine is not new to her family - her grandfather used to make home wine and she remembers growing up with wine always on the table for meals. Carolyn purchased the property in 1985 but never planted vineyards. Over the years people would approach her about putting in a vineyard and finally the timing was right in 2002 and the property was planted to vine. Paul Garvey is her vineyard manager (this has to be one of the smaller vineyards he manages) and long time family friend and veteran Napa winemaker George Vierra makes the wine at Bell Wine Cellars in Yountville. George spent a number of years overseeing the wine production at Charles Krug and Robert Mondavi wineries. A balance of new and used oak is used during the aging. In addition to the ubiquitous French Oak, Leo Joseph also uses about 1/2 Hungarian Oak in which the cooper used seems to have a softening effect on the wines. The Cabernet Sauvignon clones are fermented and aged separately and are blended together based on how each one tastes when they are making their final blending decisions. At George's urging Carolyn enrolled in the UC Davis extension program taking classes in enology and viticulture and learning how to care for and manage a vineyard. The vineyard is trellised in the Double Guyot system which is widely used in Bordeaux France but less so in the Napa Valley. This type of trellising is very labor intensive and more complicated than conventional trellising but is certainly more manageable when a vineyard is small like this one. We first discovered their wine at the Family Winemakers tasting in San Francisco. Carolyn quickly noticed who was enjoying the wine at this tasting - women seem to particularly love their wine and commented more than once on its elegance. Their style of wines are more European than what you often find in the Napa Valley, are generally lower in alcohol (usually in the mid 13's) and are not vegetative at all despite being picked earlier than their neighbors' vineyards. Their wines are true to the varietal - by this we mean are focused on showing their vineyards fruit characteristics and are more restrained; without the "over the top ripe fruit", huge structure and or mouth drying tannins. The vintages we tried are elegant wines that are just as easily consumed by themselves or with food. They are looking to build both quality and consistency into each vintage so that you know you are tasting wine from their specific vineyard with the variations being more from the vintage rather than the winemaking or super high alcohols. The 2006 shows an elegant bouquet which reveals very aromatic fruit including red and black cherry and as well as subtle notes of graphite. This bouquet also has a nice floral component including dried rose petal. These are very well integrated aromas which show even better after the wine has had some time to breath or after decanting. The mouth feel is pleasing with rounded flavors of red cherry, plum and cassis. The finish is soft and gentle with lingering notes of plum and just a hint of toasted oak. The 2005 displays subtle aromas of baking spices as well as white pepper, lots of black fruit, a bit of graphite and dustiness; this bouquet becomes even more elegant as the wine breathes. This wine like the 2006 has a soft rounded mouth feel but with lively acidity which helps make it ideal for pairing with food. Again the finish is soft displaying fine grained delicate tannins. A second label also from the same vineyard will be released in December 2009. This wine is called Lillian's. The best way to purchase the wine is via their website. The wine is well priced by Napa standards. As a new producer with limited production they are not yet distributed - their total production each year is usually around 250 cases. For more information visit: www.leojosephwines.com |
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The name "Levendi" in Greek essentially is a toast to "celebrate life". Their winemaker Alison Doran studied for many years under the famed viticulturist Andre Tchelistcheff and she has been with Levendi since day 1. Her style of winemaking is very traditional and she has over 30 years experience in the industry. They are a small producer but have future plans to build their own winery just off of Highway 29 across from Grgich Hills. This winery is projected to open sometime in the next few years and will be open to the public by walk-in. The new winery will be full service with a limited section for small custom crush clients. In addition it will be the only Napa winery paired with an artisan cheese producer who will offer their own flight of "cheese tastings". Levendi concentrates on 100% varietal wines with the focus being Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon; in addition they typically will not blend multiple varietals into the same wine. They make two Chardonnays - the Red Hen Vineyard from the Wente clone which is known for its very small concentrated fruit and the other from Cold Creek on the Sonoma side of Carneros. The Red Hen Vineyard Chardonnay is our favorite of the two; it is a rich wine with very nice tropical fruit flavors and hints of butterscotch and vanilla. Our two favorite wines from Levendi are the Symphonia and Stagecoach Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons. Both are elegant wines which come from grapes that are grown in entirely different areas. Symphonia is wine made from valley fruit contrasted with the Stagecoach fruit which is grown at an elevation of about 1500 feet. Visit: www.levendiestates.com or view their blog here: http://levendiwinery.blogspot.com |
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are an integral part of Napa's rich viticultural history. Patriarch John Lewelling migrated west from Iowa to California (in 1850) along with thousands of others and briefly worked in the gold fields during California's Gold Rush. Eventually he settled in San Lorenzo (San Francisco Bay Area) where he established a very successful nursery and orchard business. His nursery supplied both fruit trees and fruit to the region. Lewelling Boulevard off of the 880 freeway in San Lorenzo is named after John. John moved to St. Helena in 1864 for health related reasons where he planted several hundred acres of vineyards and built the Lewelling Winery on Spring Street in St. Helena (no longer being used as a winery but the building still stands). In 1870 he built an impressive Gothic revival style home for his family - this home is also still standing. When Phylloxera hit their vineyards, John planted a variety of crops (chiefly walnuts and almonds) as well as stone fruit. He also built a dehydrator on site for drying fruit. When John Lewelling died, the California Horticultural Society declared him to be "The Father of California Horticulture". Fast forward many decades. The mid to late 1970's was a time when Napa's wine industry was just at the cusp of taking its production and quality to the next level. For perspective, today less than forty wineries are still producing wine who were in business in 1975 or prior. Lewelling Vineyards while growing wine grapes in the mid 1970's - still had much of the property planted to other crops including cherries, prunes and walnuts. It was around this time that Doug Wight moved back to Napa (John's great, great grandson) after earning a degree in Fruit Science from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He helped manage vineyards for the historic Martini Winery before starting his own vineyard management business. Lewelling Vineyards farm one of the oldest continuously-owned family vineyards in the Napa Valley. What is just as remarkable is that the Lewelling family has stayed true to their agricultural roots. The fifth and sixth generations are now running Lewelling Vineyards and the seventh generation is already running among the vines. David Wight is the primary winemaker and his brother Doug has built a successful vineyard management company and has farmed the family property for the last 40 years. Today Wight Vineyard Management company manages 500 acres of vines in the Napa Valley. Doug's daughter Haley, moved back to the valley and became a winemaker; she and her husband have their own wine brand. She says, "As a child I roamed my family’s ranch with a sense of freedom most children today are denied. I explored creeks, climbed trees, picked berries and walked through vineyard rows searching for arrowheads. I was grateful to know the land, but in my innocence did not realize how quite fortunate I was." It is this connection to the land that is so valuable during one's formative years - you develop respect for the land and when it physically sustains a family through agriculture for generations - that respect is passed on and you become its steward. The vineyard is eighty planted acres located at the base of the Mayacamus Mountains in St. Helena. Because of its proximity to the slopes, the vineyard has benefited from thousands of years of soil erosion coming down from the hillsides. While the soils are not nearly as deep as further out in the valley floor, quantity of production is not necessarily as important when your focus is on making premium wine. For this type of wine, these alluvial deposits/bench land type soils are ideal. This part of Napa is one of the sweet spots for growing high quality Cabernet Sauvignon. Because their production is so limited only a small percentage of their entire vineyard is sourced for the Lewelling wine. The fruit from the rest of the vineyard is highly sought after by a number of premium producers in the valley including Caymus. The family also owns another 200 acres above the valley floor - much of it is still in its natural state. The first commercial release of Lewelling was from 1992. Lewelling's production is fairly small each year - typically around 1200 cases. They focus on two wines - a Cabernet Sauvignon and a reserve barrel selection. Both Cabernet Sauvignons from their 2009 vintage are 100% varietal. Some years a small amount of Cabernet Franc is also blended with the Cabernet Sauvignon. Both wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered. The 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon shows a characteristic on the nose associated with several of the wines we have tried from the Lewelling vineyard - a pleasant earthiness or even notes of dusty gravel. It is aromatically elegant - somewhat floral with hints of cigar smoke. The entry is soft with vibrant flavor - and a mouth watering acidity. It shows bright fruit - more red flavors then dark. The finish is clean with delicate tannins that linger softly. This is a very balanced wine. The 2009 Wight Vineyard Reserve is carefully hand crafted each year from individual barrel selections. Slightly more new French oak is used during the aging. The bouquet is very similar to the Cabernet Sauvignon; it needs time to open and when it does the elegant fruit starts to show. There is a black cherry cassis component to the bouquet that develops as it breathes. While the Cabernet Sauvignon is more restrained on the palate this wine carries an additional richness of both flavor and structure. This wine has both character and class. The finish lingers with broadly distributed tannins and slight notes of toasted oak. With layers of flavor and good structure now - it will be interesting to see this wine develop as it matures over the coming years. Hold on to this one, it certainly has some life ahead of it. The wine is distributed in select markets nationally (mostly high end wine shops) as well as direct to consumer via a mailing list. Due to their small production and demand for the wine there is currently a waiting list. For more information about this unique producer and to join their waiting list, please visit: www.lewellingvineyards.com |
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Lieff Wines | Tweet
is a relatively new producer in the Napa Valley; their first commercial vintage dates from 2004. Robert and Gretchen Lieff own 22 acres of steep rugged rocky hillside vineyards on the western face of the Vaca Mountains across from the town of St.Helena. While they are fairly new to the wine-making scene, the age of their wine production does not tell their full story in the wine industry. Robert has been involved in one way or the other in the Napa wine industry since the mid 1960's. He first came to the valley in 1960 when he was in law school at Columbia University and helped pick cherries with migrant farm workers (back when the Napa Valley certainly had a greater diversity in crops). He was a lawyer for the original 12 acre sale of land to Robert Mondavi in 1966 and was one of the few that attended Mondavi's opening day ceremonies that same year. And the price per acre in that sale was $5000. The appellation of Oakville has played and important role in regards to Napa wine in Robert's life. He was one of the founding partners of Far Niente Winery in the late 1970's. At the time, the historical winery building was covered in ivy and the property needed much work. He remembers Robert Mondavi pulling ivy off the building to expose the sign and using cables hooked to their jeeps one weekend to pull off the rest. A day later a building inspector from the city of Napa called wondering why a new building had gone up on the property "without" a building permit! Robert purchased their St. Helena property in 1997 and soon thereafter started developing the vineyards. Only 2 acres were initially planted; today the vineyard is composed of 5 acres planted almost entirely to Cabernet Sauvignon with one small section of Petite Verdot. The vineyard is in a prime part of Napa Valley not only for the views but from a vineyard standpoint. The grapes struggle here on very rocky volcanic shallow soils. Developing a vineyard in this terroir is certainly not an easy task. Huge rocks line the edges of one of their vineyard blocks - many of the rocks removed from the vineyard are no longer seen here as they were sold and trucked off the property. The Lieff's are active with the Napa Land Trust organization and placed their 22-acre property in the trust which effectively gave up their right to build another winery on the property. In addition to this vineyard, the Lieff's divide their time between their ranch in Santa Barbara County of which 40 acres are planted to vineyards and the grapes are sold to local Central Coast premium producers. Today Lieff focuses on two Napa wines, a 100% varietal Cabernet Sauvignon from the estate and a Sauvignon Blanc sourced from premium vineyards in Yountville and near the city of Napa. The grapes for their 2010 Sauvignon blanc come from one of Napa's sweet spots for growing this varietal - Yountville. This vintage shows pleasing notes of red apple and pear on the bouquet with underlying aromas of Meyer Lemon and other citrus. The plate is rounded with nice viscosity. Merely 200 cases were produced. The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon is dark in the glass and well extracted. The aromas are elegant, seductive and predominately about the fruit. Expressive aromas of ripe blackberry and black currant dominate along with lesser notes of red licorice and cigar box. As the wine opens, a distinct dustiness rounds out this very pleasing bouquet. The palate is soft upon entry but quickly gains in complexity; broadly dispersed tannins start early on the palate and linger for some time on the very long finish. Less than 300 cases were produced of this wine. The wines are fairly well distributed at both wine shops and restaurants in the Napa Valley as well as in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. For more information and to join their mailing list visit: www.lieffwines.com |
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Lindstrom Wines | Tweet
focuses on two wines each year, an estate Cabernet Sauvignon and a Pinot Noir from the Russian River appellation in neighboring Sonoma County. Both wines are produced in extremely small quantities Greg Lindstrom had been to Napa several times - and had long been a passionate wine consumer before he won a week trip to the Napa Valley courtesy of a winning bid at the Sun Valley Wine Auction in 1995. During this trip he combined another one of his interests - real estate and started looking for property in the valley. He soon found an undeveloped piece of land and had the vision to see its vineyard potential; the property is located in the heart of the Stag's Leap Appellation. Their total property comprises twenty acres of which four are planted to Cabernet Sauvignon. This had to have been one of the more challenging and interesting vineyard sites to develop in all of Napa Valley. A small (several acre) hillside vineyard in either the Mayacamus or Vaca mountain ranges would often involve one or two directional facing slopes. Not so here. The vineyard is located on a prominent very narrow ridgeline that rises near the valley floor and the vines are planted on both the steep sides and on top of this ridge. Flat land does not exist in this vineyard. Despite being only four acres there are a surprising number of exposures and microclimates. This little gem of a property has allowed the Lindstroms to plant grapes that have exposure in all directions. With all this variety in terroir - a number of site specific clone and rootstocks were carefully chosen. The diversity of microclimates on the property ensures that they never pick the entire vineyard at once. It is separated into 11 different blocks and each block is picked as it ripens. The vineyard acquired its name, Nicali from combining the names of Greg's two daughters, Nicole and Ali. After realizing the potential of his vineyard (above and beyond merely selling the fruit) Greg decided to make wine commercially and hired well-respected winemaker, Celia Welch. She has made every vintage since the initial release dating from 2005. In part because of the steepness, the vineyard is all farmed by hand and managed for low yields. This is certainly a desirable part of Stag's Leap - the Nicali Vineyard looks down on the well-known Fay vineyard (one of the most historic vineyards in the Stag's Leap District) and relatively close neighbors include vineyards owned by Shafer and Joseph Phelps. Greg has been a lawyer for many years and as he says - "he became a lawyer to become a vintner" - that is not an uncommon story in the valley; we've talked to a number of vintners who also practice law and or built up careers in law before making wine commercially. The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon is a complex, yet well-balanced wine. The bouquet initially shows notes of earth, smoke and cedar but as it opens refined aromas of fruit come forward including blackberry, red and black cherry and even red licorice. Hints of chocolate also show - this wine evolves very well with some air. Tannins appear after the mid palate but then smooth out and are quickly integrated in the mostly red fruit of the very long finish. This wine drinks wonderfully by itself but has decent acidity and character to also pair with food. Much of their wine is distributed directly through a mailing list although you can find it in select restaurants in the valley and wine shops including St. Helena Wine Center in downtown St. Helena. Lindstrom is a member of the Stag's Leap Wine Growers Association and each year participates in the Vineyard to Vintner event; tickets are sold and allows one to visit a number of wineries in Stag's Leap for tastings including producers like Lindstrom who are not open to the public. For more information and to join their mailing list visit: www.lindstromwines.com |
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Sandy is originally from Florida and owned and was President of an International events and conference planning company (International Investment Conferences, Inc.). During her business trips to the Bay Area she would visit Napa and soon fell in love with the area. After dividing her time between Napa and Miami (her company headquarters) she sold the company in 2005. The tasting room was in the historic Williams-Kyser Building (now closed) and all appointments to taste the wine are by appointment only. Sandy founded Ubuntu Restaurant in 2007. This is Napa's only Michelin star vegetarian restaurant. The organic gardens which supply much of the produce for the restaurant are located adjacent to the vineyard for Lion's Run. Ubuntu also includes a yoga studio upstairs. Sandy would often have friends over for yoga sessions and yoga workshops. During these sessions people would mention an interest in having good food along with their yoga workout. This was the impetus for combining the restaurant with the yoga studio. You may be able to try a vertical of vintages and some older vintages are typically available for purchase. All the vintages we tasted have noticeable excellent acidity balance. The acidity in these wines is natural...from the vineyard. Winemaker Gary Galleron employs the "less is more approach" when it comes to making wines, taking more of a minimalist approach in the actual winemaking but being very hands on in the vineyard. As a result all the wines we tasted are very food friendly. With such a small vineyard, production usually runs merely several hundred cases annually. The 2004 vintage has held its fruit surprisingly well and show bright aromatic aromas on the bouquet. Black cherry and black currant show with chocolate and vanilla as the wine opens. This wine like all the vintages we tasted has lively acidity. The tannins are rounded and well integrated into the finish which is smooth and long. As the wine opens additional seductive aromas of brown chocolate reveal themselves. The 2005 shows just a hint of an herbal note on the bouquet with both red and dark fruit interwoven with delicate aromas of mocha. Cherry and currant show on the palate - this is a balanced elegant wine. The finish is slightly bigger than the 2004. The bouquet on the 2006 rich black fruit aromas including cherry. Of the three wines this bouquet shows the most fruit. The palate is focused and balanced with a thread of spices running from mid palate to the finish and like the bouquet reveals rich fruit flavors including plum and cherry. Again the tannins complement this food wine rather than over power it. For more information visit: www.lionsrun.com |
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Lobo Wines | Tweet
are the creation of the husband wife team, Randy and Krys Wulff. Randy and Krys grew up together in Stockton - and Randy has operated a successful law firm for many years. His legal career has spanned more than 20 years, settling over 3000 cases. His hallmark case took the couple to New York for 2.5 years where he was the mediator and arbitrator of the World Trade Center property damage claims. The Wulffs began their foray into the Napa wine industry on a serious basis by acquiring a vineyard in what is now the Oak Knoll appellation in the late 1990's. Until their first vintage was released in 2007 they exclusively sold fruit to wineries such as Lewis, Pine Ridge and Mumm. Today they own their original vineyard in the Oak Knoll district, lease another and within the past few years planted 4 acres in Atlas Peak. They championed close row planting from the beginning and even the vines in their rocky Atlas Peak vineyard are planted with tight spacing. No tractors are used and coupled with the steepness of several of their blocks - everything is very much hand farmed. It is a labor intensive process. After debating about whether to build a home on the valley floor close to their original vineyard a beautiful property came up for sale in the hills. Their home vineyard is a unique piece of property in Atlas Peak. There is a bird's eye view looking straight out at San Pablo Bay. Their property is geographically located such that its among the first hillside properties in this part of Napa to gain full exposure to the bay. What this means is this can be an extremely windy part of Atlas Peak. There are no other hills blocking their view of the bay. Their vineyards are at about 1350 feet which still keeps them well within the fog line on most days. There are certainly some very rocky vineyards in Atlas Peak but this is among the rockiest we've seen in this appellation. To reach their vineyard you have to drive through an entire volcanic lava cap which doesn't seem to support much more than some grass - their vineyard is on the side of this lava cap but the fairly large rocks running down the steep vineyard slopes ensure these vines will struggle for everything they are worth. Krys remembers coming to the Napa Valley in the 1960's when as college students she and friends could easily pick from just a number of Napa wineries producing in the valley. There were just a handful of wineries with tasting rooms - all without tasting fees and as "starving" college students they could easily sample many wines in any of the larger wineries at the time - i.e., she recalls visiting Louis Martini Winery a number of times. The Wulff's have long enjoyed wine, and often find themselves visiting various wine regions as well seeking out new producers - especially in Napa. As a result they have met numerous people in the wine industry, formulated the types of wines they enjoy, varietals and wine styles. It is extremely rare for a smaller producer to have more than one primary winemaker. Lobo has three! They have segmented their winemaking and vineyard operations team into specialists. Currently they produce three different wines - a Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and a Cabernet Sauvignon - and each of these wines has its own winemaker. The Wulff's decided to do this to focus a winemaker on the particular varietal he/she knows best, has the most experience with and or is the varietal the winemaker truly enjoys working with. Randy & Debbie Lewis make their Chardonnay (both well-known for their style of Chardonnay), Ken Vigoda (was long time winemaker at Raymond Vineyards) makes the Pinot Noir and Victoria Coleman makes their Cabernet Sauvignon (it is an interesting story how she ultimately became a winemaker - her original introduction to wine was as a temporary receptionist at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars). Lobo's total production hovers around 500 cases each year - their vineyards certainly have additional capacity to increase production but they sell the majority of their fruit. Most of their wine sales are direct - online. Krys has jumped into the social media aspects of brand awareness and the business side of the operations while Randy focuses his efforts on their vineyards. All their wines are estate grown either from their vineyards in Oak Knoll or their home property on Atlas Peak. Their wines are typically in the high 13 to low 14 alcohol range and the percentage listed on the label is the true level of alcohol - rather than legally listing a lower percentage than what was measured. Their son is a graphic designer and designed the label. Lobo means wolf in Spanish - a play on their last name. During their research for the label they discovered that newborn wolf pups have blue eyes and this is the color they chose to represent on their Pinot Noir. The Chardonnay label shows yellow eyes and the Cabernet Sauvignon a darker color. The 2010 Chardonnay was recently released at the time of our tasting. This is a beautiful wine that drinks well by itself. It undergoes full malolactic fermentation and is aged sur lie in barrel (75% new French oak) for 11 months. This is a big mouth filling rich Chardonnay; stylistically it is the type of Chardonnay that the Wulff's enjoy drinking. It is very golden in the glass and the big aromas perhaps reveal the depth that is awaiting on the palate. Tropical fruit aromas, apple spice and a touch of citrus show on the bouquet. The palate is rounded showing tropical flavors, crème brule, mineralities and apple. A hint of vanilla rounds out the long finish. The southern part of Napa Valley and Carneros is unquestionably Napa's hotbed for Pinot Noir. While selling their Pinot to Mumm for their sparkling wine the Wulff's were never able to taste their fruit in a still wine. There are not a lot of Napa wineries producing Pinot within Napa outside of the Carneros and Jamieson Canyon regions to the south. The Wulff's released their first Oak Knoll Pinot Noir in 2007; this was their first commercially released wine. Stylistically there are many delicate Pinots from both Carneros and even more so from the Sonoma Coast and the Russian River appellations in neighboring Sonoma County. Lobo Vineyards wanted to create a Pinot that had good body, character and structure. The 2009 Pinot Noir quickly reveals a sweet aromatic core including predominately strawberry with lesser notes of raspberry and chocolate. The palate is focused and rich in flavor; it displays concentrated fruit - with notes of raspberry and blackberry. Randy describes picking Pinot noir during its "window" as being very critical; the harvest time when sugars are balanced with acid. It is always refreshing to try a Napa Cabernet Sauvignon that is not just about entirely about the boldness of fruit. The 2008 Oak Knoll Cabernet Sauvignon shows an herbal note on the bouquet, a neat cigar like smokiness and as it opens a bit of mocha. The fruit is certainly there, more red than dark and carries over to the palate revealing flavors of blackberry and black cherry. This medium bodied wine is certainly approachable while it is young and should develop nicely in the bottle for a number of more years. Their first vintage of their Atlas Peak Cabernet Sauvignon is from 2009 (not yet released at the time of this review). The wine is selectively distributed in Northern California including a few restaurants in Oakland (where Randy maintains his law practice), and throughout Napa including Celadon and Allegria - as well as wine shops - the Napa General Store. Their mailing list customers are part of the "pack" which is an appropriate name. There is no cost to join and members receive certain percentages off on the wine. For more information and to purchase visit:www.lobowines.com |
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Their winemaker is in charge of Cardinale, Lokoya and La Jota. He knows the vineyards very well and keeps only the highest quality fruit for Lokoya. In certain cases this comes down to merely a few select rows in specific blocks in the vineyard. All their Cabernet's are unfined and unfiltered allowing for maximum flavor. Allow an hour for the sit down tasting of 3-4 of Lokoya's wines. The tasting typically starts outdoors (weather permitting) where from the Cardinale Patio you have some of the nicest views in this area of Oakville's Vineyards as well as to the north all the way to Mt. St. Helena. In addition, glance to the east and the highest mountain you see will be Mt. Veeder, site of one of Lokoya's vineyards. The sit down tasting is paired with gourmet cheeses. All vintages we tasted were 2004 - Lokoya owns and micromanages their Mt. Veeder and Howell Mountain vineyards and then sources the fruit for their Diamond Mountain Cabernet which is from a fairly steep vineyard. We started with the Diamond Mountain - this wine is all about the fruit both in aroma and continuing to the palate. Various spices add to the depth of this wine with a moderate tannin structure on the finish. The Howell Mountain is a beautiful wine which has an exotic fruit driven nose that is almost floral in nature. It is the most aromatic of the three wines. Some of the richer Howell Mountain Cabernets that we have tried have notes of chocolate in the mid palate and this full bodied wine is no different. Herbal characteristics continue through to the intense and lingering finish. Lastly is their Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon. The nose is subtle and the least aromatic of the three wines. Its aromas however, disguise just how big this wine is! It is decidedly the darkest of the trio, a deep purple in color. The wine is very well structured with an amazing depth of flavor including blackberry and black currant. Their Mount Veeder is for serious Cab drinkers who enjoy a big wine, or don't mind cellaring for a number of years. This vintage has received a phenomenal rating from Robert Parker. It was also paired with a Cabra al Romero Spanish cheese coated with finely sautéed rosemary leaves that was out of this world. Delicious! Note, this wine will be made, probably by the 2009 vintage at the old Chateau Potelle Winery on Mt. Veeder which is now being totally renovated. Visit: www.lokoya.com |
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There is no signage to the winery either on Highway 29 or on Whitehall Lane. In fact along the way there are actually several signs that highly discourage visitors, such as "no trespassing", "do not enter, private road" etc. If you have an appointment at this winery you can ignore all those signs and drive to the end of the road - which is several miles from Highway 29. The road forks once about 1/2 mile in from Highway 29- stay to the right and wind around for another mile or so using extreme caution on the particularly narrow bends in the road. The main winery building is partially constructed of clay taken from the property; this effectively moderates the temperature year round. This building was designed by William Turnbull who also designed Napa's Cakebread Cellars. Long Meadow Ranch offers a variety of tours. One is in the open-air 4whd Pinzgauer vehicle, a hike, and a hike or Pinzgauer tour plus a large lunch including estate grown produce and of course beef from their grass fed cattle. We opted for the driving tour having been on more than our fair share of walking tours at Napa wineries and besides there is only one other small Napa winery offering tours using the "cool" Pinzgauer vehicle. The driving tour takes about 45 minutes with several stops one of which affords great views of Napa Valley. Along the way you will probably see their famous long haired cattle, a building which has served for many TV photo shoots, and their main hillside vineyards. The tour guide is a great source of information and questions are encouraged. All their vineyards are certified organic and so to are their other crops. While the valley floor is planted to a mono culture crop, Long Meadow Ranch has always embraced a holistic farming philosophy that multiple crops contribute to the health of the entire farm. They also recycle anything organic that is created or produced on the property. After the driving or hiking tour you will take a quick peek at their olive oil making facility. LMR is one of only two wineries in Napa Valley to make olive oil (the other being Round Pond). Your tasting will actually include shots of olive oil - yes there are special olive oil tasting glasses and a method to tasting olive oil, versus say wine. On to the wines. We tasted their Sauvignon Blanc, Ranch House Red (both wines are light in style and easy drinking). The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon is rich with ripe fruit flavor and is not a huge alcohol bomb, rather everything in this wine is very well balanced...and the price is rather reasonable by Napa standards as well. This mouth feel is very smooth and is anchored by a rather long finish. Want some real heat to finish off your tasting? Try their 80 proof Grappa made from Cabernet grapes. LMR also owns the nearly 6 acre Rutherford Gardens located in Rutherford right next to Highway 29. This land has been producing fruit and vegetables since the 1930's and surprisingly has never been planted to wine grapes, especially considering the property is literally surrounded by vineyards. Home grown produce is available for sale from Wednesday through Saturday - check for the latest hours. LMR also sells produce at the St. Helena Farmers Market and they own a 500 acre ranch on the coast in Marin county, home of their famous beef producing cattle. They hold a cattle auction each May. Long Meadow Ranch has also donated over 380 acres of land as conservation easements meaning these acres will never be developed and will remain in their natural state. Note: An exciting new project is the Long Meadow Ranch Winery & Farmstead located along Highway 29 in the southern part of St. Helena next to the Whiting Nursery. This location includes the Farmstead Restaurant featuring dishes prepared with locally grown ingredients (on the property), a wine and olive oil tasting room, a full organic nursery with farm supplies, demonstration gardens, and a seasonal outdoor farmer's marketplace. The restaurant is one of the central features and is located within a contemporary barn with indoor and outdoor seating. We will visit this new location in February 2010 and will update our review here. Visit: www.longmeadowranch.com |
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Their St. Helena property includes several parts; the Farmstead Restaurant (their executive chef is the same chef as at Rutherford Grill to the south), the farmhouse tasting salon in the restored historic Logan-Ives House and the outdoor sections including a sensory garden, a small vineyard and a chicken coop. Note that the corkage at the restaurant is a minimal fee but all proceeds from this will be donated to local charities. Long Meadow Ranch currently offer four choices for tastings, two of which are available upon walk-in, a Library Tasting (for groups of 6 or more - by appointment) and their "Full Circle Farming Tour" which is offered 3x a day. This tour involves walking through their sensory and vegetable gardens, Whiting Nursery and concludes with a tasting inside the farmhouse. The tasting room is modern, elegant and intimate. A private room on the side is available for reserve or appointment only tastings. Long Meadow Ranch makes a variety of wines with the focus being on wines with good acidity, that pair well with foods and are lower in alcohol than the normal Napa Valley wine. As a result their wines are extremely popular with sommeliers and chefs and have been featured at many wine dinners across the country. You can find their wines at a number of Napa's own restaurants. The 2008 Sauvignon Blanc shows citrus aromas in the nose and is slightly herbaceous. The citrus aromas continue as flavor on the crisp clean palate. Their 2006 Ranch House Red delivers nice quality for a very reasonable price. The nose is slightly spicy with a layered palate and good acidity. It is fairly balanced from start to finish. The 2005 Sangiovese is an excellent food wine. It is ruby color in the glass and shows more red fruit than dark fruit (raspberry, cranberry and other assorted berry fruits). Great acidity too. They often have a library wine on hand and in this case we tried a 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon. There is a definite soil characteristic to the nose, it is earthy and slightly spicy with both red and black fruits on the palate. This wine is nicely balanced. The 2005 E.J. Church is a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon (this wine is named after the original rancher who lived on what is now Long Meadow Ranch). This wine shows some herbal notes on the nose, black tea, hints of chocolate and a palate that is silky soft and smooth from entry to the finish. There are not many wineries who actually have the facilities in Napa County to make olive oil. LMR makes several types of olive oil at their ranch using imported Italian equipment. Tasting some of these hand produced oils is an eye opener especially when you compare the flavors and aromas to many of the mass produced olive oils you find in the supermarkets. Some of their trees on the ranch are among the oldest olive oil trees in the county and are still producing (dated to the 1870's). There is a way to taste olive oil just as there is a way to taste wine. The tasting glasses are tiny and you need to warm up the oil, simply place your hand under the glass and your other hand over the glass to keep the aromas inside. Prato Lungo (meaning Long Meadow in Italian) is a delicate light smooth olive oil. There is just a hint of spice and white pepper on the finish. Their NV Select Extra Virgin Olive Oil is more of a traditional type of oil with a big bigger body and lots of pepper on the finish. If you are using this in salad dressings there is no need to add additional pepper. We will revisit in Spring once the tours are in full swing, when the restaurant has been opened for several months and their gardens become more lively than in the dead of winter. Their wine club is appropriately titled, the "Corral Club". For more information, visit: www.longmeadowranch.com |
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When the Longs moved here in the mid 1960's they found old stills and other wine making evidence buried in piles of debris. From talking to old timers, they found out that during prohibition, customers from the Bay Area used to drive up here to buy black market brandy and wine which was being produced illegally. Their vineyards are situated around 1000 feet in elevation; this would be a much warmer growing climate if it wasn't for Lake Hennessey situated at the base of their long driveway. This lake provides a moderating cooling affect in the summer with afternoon cooler breezes blowing over the lake and up into the nearby hills. A tasting here is is for the serious wine enthusiast; the tastings are always held at the Long home as the actual wine is made at Hall Winery St. Helena on the valley floor. Your tasting will be with either Bob or his wife Pat. Weather permitting the tasting is held outdoors under their vine covered trellis with great views overlooking the hills and Lake Hennessey in the distance. The Longs specialize in 100% varietals and have made a number of wines throughout their history. In 1978 they produced one of Napa's first barrel fermented chardonnays and until several years ago they made a wonderful 'botrytis' Riesling. After producing in the range of 3000 to 4000 cases annually, the Longs have downsized and now produce merely several hundred cases each year. Today they focus on two varietals, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. The Chardonnay exhibits amazing floral characteristics and is very well balanced with a lot of flavor due to the concentrated grapes from their mountain vineyard. The palate has notes of melon and lime flavors with even a steely minerality characteristic. The Cabernet Sauvignon is soft in tannins, has a high natural acidity and as a result should age well for many years. Cassis, anis, black cherry and blackberry flavors are layered on the palate. For serious wine enthusiasts this is a great opportunity to meet with a vintner and taste wine from someone who has a long rich history in the Napa area. Be sure to sign their guestbook before you leave. Visit: www.longvineyards.com |
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The winery is located almost across from Sutter Home on Highway 29 just south of the town of St. Helena. The building is quite non descript from the outside and you enter their tasting room through a side door next to the main parking lot. Once inside you will see everything is elegantly furnished and very classy. Their tasting bar is intimate and is sit down which personalizes the tasting experience. Choose from several different tasting flights - they own a number of acres in neighboring Sonoma County, make a wide variety of wines and often several Sonoma wines will also be available for tasting. We highly recommend one of their two tour options - one is a cellar visit and tasting and the other includes the full on tour including history, stops in the barrel room and sometimes a stop in the vineyard, especially around harvest when the fruit is getting ripe. The vineyard on site is called the Thomann Station Vineyard, named after an actual train station stop which used to be located here. By the way, this vineyard produces some excellent Petite Sirah. Both tours typically require advance reservations and at the time of this review are offered twice daily. On the tour, you will learn a little bit about the Martini family's history, their emphasis on red wines from Napa and Sonoma County premium vineyards, special winemaking techniques used, fruit sources, and unique characteristics of these wines. The tour is a good introduction to winemaking and general winery operations with lots of time for specific questions. You will finish the tour with a tasting of several of their Cabernet Sauvignons. Note the use of the Go Vino glass on the tour; you don't have to worry about breaking this one! It is plastic but looks just like a regular wine glass. On the start of the tour you will see that one end of the original winery building is completely covered with ivy. It is a huge wall - walk to the end of this wall and you will see the massive vines of this single plant which have completely grown over the side of the building...this gets our vote for the largest Napa Winery Ivy plant! During the main tour you will stop in their barrel aging facility - note the huge redwood tanks that date from the 1940's and 1950's. You don't see these in many Napa wineries today. A highlight of this tour is a visit into their old cellar located just downstairs from the actual tasting room. Here huge tanks line the walls and is where you will finish your tasting. It is always interesting to compare terroir differences between same vintage wines and typically you will try a Sonoma and a Napa Cabernet side by side; both are completely different in flavor and style from each other. If you enjoy full bodied, fruit forward Cabernets, try the Monte Rosso Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is made in limited production and is typically only sold at the winery. The fruit for this wine is from vineyards Louis Martini originally purchased in 1938 located in the Mayacamas mountains above Sonoma Valley in Sonoma County. This vineyard and wine's name in Italian means "red mountain" which is quite representative of the rich red soils found there. We tried the 2004 vintage; it has lots of fruit up front with some nice spice characteristics and just a touch of oak on the finish. During our tour, the guide hand sliced some prosciutto which when paired with the Monte Rosso wine, made the wine really come alive. Course, they paired the most ideal prosciutto with this wine as they admitted to having tried 40 different prosciuttos before deciding on this particular one! We were also fortunate to try a Martini Cabernet from 1979 - the nose on this was like a tawny port, but the mouth feel was as smooth as you will ever find from an older Cabernet. Their Martini Muscat is smooth to drink, has a slight sparkle to it and is available for a great price. They also produce a very nice Gewürztraminer. They have several places on site for dinner parties, groups, or educational wine seminars. As a side note, they offer "In the Vineyard" tours at their winery in Alexander Valley (neighboring Sonoma County) - visit our Sonoma County Wine Page on our travel site for more information. Visit www.louismartini.com |
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Luis Ochoa Family | Tweet
We recently sat down with Luis Ochoa to try his family's wines. Luis has been in the Napa Valley since December 31st, 1966. He remembers arriving in California from Michoacán Mexico on December 29th and two days later he was in Napa working at Beringer for the going rate for newly hired vineyard workers at the whopping salary of $1.40/hour. Luis remembers when his daily paychecks were only $11 or $12. With only 10 or so wineries operating commercially in the Napa Valley at the time you didn't have much choice of where you worked. For the next few years he spent his time either at Beringer or Charles Krug. He developed his vineyard management skills over the years and helped plant or manage a number of high end vineyards in the valley - including the the Crocker Vineyard in St. Helena. He also was instrumental in developing a large vineyard in Carneros in the late 1970's for Cuvaison Winery. Today he operates his own vineyard management company as well as his own small Chardonnay vineyard in Carneros where he sells much of the fruit to another winery for making sparkling wine but keeps certain blocks for his own Chardonnay. Luis started making wine in 1998 with his first commercial release dating from 2002. All Ochoa's wines are made in small lots - usually only 250 to 500 cases per wine. The 2009 Chardonnay (current release at the time of our tasting) has pleasing balanced aromatics including notes of honeysuckle, melon (somewhere between a cantaloupe and a honeydew) as well as wet straw. As the wine breathes hints of graphite creep into the bouquet. The wine is golden in color. This Chardonnay was fermented entirely in stainless steel but it has a nice weight on the palate and actually some spice on the finish. The 2005 Chardonnay is noticeably darker golden in color than the 2009 - this wine was fermented in oak rather than stainless steel tanks. It doesn't have quite the weight as the younger 2009 vintage; ripe melons, honeysuckle and even a hint of lemon show on the nose. The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon initially shows lots of dusty brown chocolate on the bouquet as well as enticing aromas of vanilla bean - with ripe red fruit including plum, cherry and raspberry. More red fruit than dark fruit shows on the palate including notes of red berry. This balanced wine has a clean finish and shows moderately structured food friendly tannins. A beautiful classic rich display of a Napa "red wine" is the 2006 Ochoa Red Wine or as Luis calls it, "My New Love". Its easy to see why! This wine is all about the fruit; it is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc & Merlot. The palate is rich yet focused - with a soft entry that builds in complexity and power. The finish is slightly spicy with good structure. You can find value at many levels of wine pricing, including higher priced wines. This wine is certainly priced reasonably for the quality of vineyard sources and expression of fruit and flavor profile. Ochoa's wine can be tasted exclusively by appointment only. If your tasting with Luis, you will be greeted with an "Hola" regardless of your primary language! Look for his trademark white sombrero. Visit: www.facebook.com/LuisOchoaFV |
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In 2008 they totally remodeled their main tasting room and created a special Reserve room behind the main room. One of the most common comments people say when they see the Reserve room is "this is how I want my house decorated"! Both rooms are very elegant; note the shadow boxes in the main room - at the time of our latest visit, these contain various items for sale including Limoges porcelain dinnerware designed by famed chef, Thomas Keller of the French Laundry. The walk-in tasting is held at the square counter in this cozy room which is well heated by a roaring fire on winter days. For warm summer days relax on their porch just outside the tasting room. They offer two tastings, their General and the Reserve tasting. Luna makes a number of fairly high alcohol wines that do not taste "hot" including the amazing 2005 Reserve Sangiovese. It is a dark ruby color and is rich in fruit both in the bouquet and on the palate. The aromas open with pleasant mineralities and red berry fruit with a rich concentrated palate integrated with black cherry and spices. The mouth feel is luscious and soft with firm rounded tannins and a finish of unbelievable length. Fortunately the majority of fruit for this wine come from the same vineyard for every vintage since 1999 - helping build consistency into this wine. Another wine worth noting is their 2004 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve which is slightly blended with Cabernet Franc and Merlot. The nose is fruit driven (blackberry) with just a touch of chocolate to accompany followed by a palate that is rich yet smooth on the entry. The wine gains in complexity and intensity and ends with a finish that has very good structure with firm strong tannins. There are other wines you should not miss (may or may not be available for tasting depending on availability), one is their very reasonably priced estate Pinot Grigio. A touch of Chardonnay is usually blended in and typically native yeasts are used during fermentation. This wine is barrel aged and the vintage we tried showed nice apricot and pear flavors characteristic of a fruit forward Pinot Grigio. For those who want try a unique blend Luna makes Freakout, a mix of 4 white varietals including the Ribolla Gialla, a little used varietal in the Napa area which is originally from northeastern Italy. A killer wine that we have to mention despite its only one time production is their Vin Santo. This means "holy wine" in Italian and is truly that if you are lucky enough to get a taste of this. This wine was only made in 2001 and was aged in sealed off barrels for 5 years. One of the barrels actually exploded due to the pressure that built up over time. In any case this wine is brownish, almost amber in color and has a nose almost like a fine sherry with a rich complex palate including nuances of apricot, cinnamon, and toasted almond. Their Pinot Grigio Luna Mille Baci Late Harvest Dessert Wine is produced only in years where natural botrytis occurs. It is extremely rare to find a late harvest wine of this varietal in Napa and Luna does an good job. The 2005 has great natural acidity and phenolic grip or weight in the mouth. Dry straw, honey and toasted almond are characteristics of the bouquet with more honey and toasted nuttiness following through to the palate. The well-known professional golfer Arnold Palmer is an investor in Luna and his private label wines are made here. Visit: www.arnoldpalmerwines.com. Recently Luna announced a Reserve Wine Pairing (by advance reservation only) in which they pair their limited production red wines with cheese, truffles and other delicacies. Visit: www.lunavineyards.com Luna Harvest Video: |
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