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Oakville Cross | Tweet
as the name indicates is a tribute to location - in this case the Oakville Cross Road. It can take longer for some for the "allure of Napa" to take hold than others. Jack and Ruthie Rydman moved to the Napa Valley in 1973 and have been living at their current location since 1974. They remember that much of Oakville Cross Road was already planted to grapevines - even in the early 1970's. Historically their property was site to a prune orchard - in fact one of the original buildings that housed the dehydrator for the prunes is still standing. In later years walnuts grew on what was to become their small vineyard. While there have been vineyards planted in this part of Oakville for many years the wineries on Oakville Cross road are much newer. When the Rydman's moved here, big name wineries such as Silver Oak had yet just released their first commercial vintage a year before, Groth, and Plumpjack came much later. When the Rydman's decided to plant a vineyard one of their easiest decisions was by far which varietal to plant. Needless to say, this is the "center" of Oakville and is one of Napa's sweet spots for growing Cabernet. The vineyard was planted in 1999 and for several years they exclusively sold the fruit to other wineries. In 2005 they decided to make wine although they still sell a small amount of fruit. In order to put "Oakville" on the label they need to use 85% of the fruit from the appellation each year. They make one wine annually - a Cabernet Sauvignon that is blended with small amounts of grapes from select other Napa vineyards. They have found a balance between using French and Hungarian oak with small amounts of American Oak used during the aging. The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon is blended with Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petite Verdot. It is dark in the glass. The bouquet is certainly ripe but it does not fall over the edge into jamminess or super ripeness. This big and showy bouquet reveals ripe blackberry, black cherry, black currant - with a somewhat liqueur and or floral note to the aroma. Aromatically from the bouquet, one expects very ripe fruit to dominate on the palate but that is not the case. Rather the palate features a balance yet at the same time a complexity of flavor. It shows dark fruit, notes of cedar and a touch of vanilla on the soft finish. The tannins are well managed - delicate and smooth from mid palate to the finish. This wine is well balanced between fruit and structure throughout. Jack is adamant about eliminating cork taint. During a trade show he came across a glass enclosure called the Vino-Seal. He then spent significant time researching the benefits of using this particular enclosure and contacted several local wineries who had done extensive research and were already using this enclosure. The Rydman's have been very happy with this type of enclosure - restaurants and wine shops love it because they are assured of no taint and its easy to remove from a bottle. It is not yet used in large production in the valley (the cost is similar to a good quality cork) and mobile bottling lines are not yet tooled to automatically seal this type of closure and sealing must still be done by hand. Their label is based on an original painting by local artist Earl Thollander (died in 2001) who painted a number of scenes in the Napa Valley. Jack kept meaning to have Earl paint a scene from their property but as luck would have it, his wife presented him a painting of their house (painted by Earl) for one of his birthdays. The label depicts their property and home. A local winemaker, John Gilpin has been making their wine for a number of years. While Napa as a whole focuses on quality over quantity - you can still find value at a number of price points. This is one of them - considering their location and the price point of some of their neighbors. You can find their wine at a number of local restaurants including Cook in St. Helena and Brix in Yountville as well as the Napa General Store in downtown Napa and Sunshine Market in St. Helena. For more information and to signup for their mailing list visit: www.oakvillecrosswines.com |
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Because of this increased sun exposure and different soil types one could make the argument (as owner, Elliot Stern does) that the wine between east and west Oakville are different styles - where generally the wines from western Oakville are more masculine with bigger structure and wines from eastern have more finesse yet still retain excellent ageability. Owner and founder Elliot Stern grew up in North Dakota and has been involved in the wine industry for nearly 40 years. His grandfather was one of the first to put together a wine and spirits wholesale business after prohibition. His father continued working in the same industry and Elliot's first experience was as he puts it, "selling something when its been boxed shut" - as in cases of wine. He later went on to become the GM of Sam's Wine & Spirits in Chicago and when he took a position of VP of Sales and Marketing for Wilson Daniels he and his wife soon found themselves in the Napa Valley. Today Elliot has a full plate, he is COO of The Sorting Table, ( www.thesortingtable.com ) a premium company based in the city of Napa that offers distribution, importation, sales and marketing for the wine industry. Their portfolio is rather impressive containing only boutique often well-known wineries. In addition he is an instructor in the Wine Studies Program at the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena. He and his wife purchased their hillside property in eastern Oakville at the edge of the valley floor in 1997. There were no vineyards on the property at that time and a neighbor asked Elliot to plant a small piece of land to vine. Their "micro" vineyard is merely an acre in size. They initially sold the fruit but then tried making home wine in 2003. This was good wine, but when you have vineyard sources from this part of Oakville it really doesn't make sense to merely make home wine. Not having much fruit from his own small vineyard Elliot thought about combining some of his neighbors small vineyards and using these additional fruit sources for making limited production wines, a collective if you will of small micro vineyards. 2004 was Oakville East's first commercial release and what was just two vineyard sources in the first year, by 2009 has turned into a collective of 6 families with 7 vineyards - all sourced from the same general hillside terroir. Each year has seen additional vineyards added (bringing on additional varietals) which is a good thing - more fruit from already proven vineyards gives the winemaker additional tools to work with when determining the final blends. Sara Gott has been their winemaker since the first vintage. Previously she worked at Joseph Phelps and Quintessa and when Elliot was ready to launch his project, the timing was perfect as he called her the same day that she left Quintessa. She was quickly drawn to the uniqueness of the project as well as the opportunity to work with the small vineyards. Historically each vineyard was managed differently depending on the ownership - some were managed sustainably, some were organic, some were not. Elliot organized all the owners and as of late 2008 started Biodynamically farming every vineyard that contributes fruit towards the project. He brought on famed Biodynamic farming expert Philippe Armenier, the former owner of Domaine de Marcoux in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, France. Philippe has over 20 years experience farming Biodynamically including a number of visits to top Biodynamically farmed estates worldwide. Philippe has also been instrumental in taking other Napa wineries Biodynamic including Joseph Phelps and Grgich Hills. Elliot tells a funny story of when all the participating vineyard growers/owners were gathered and were listening to Philippe talk about Biodynamic farming. Philippe then passed around a closed bag of a manure type compound as an example of what he uses in the vineyards. Everyone kept the bag shut except for one lady who opened it to the chagrin of the others and she then commented that it smelled just like her garden while growing up in Italy. This was the ice breaker and opened up the discussion to the many advantages of Biodynamic farming. As a result of the recent farming changes, Biodynamic farming has already been a very healthy undertaking for Oakville East. It not only improves the quality of the land but also significantly reduces water usage. These slopes are extremely rocky with very little soil and water is at a premium especially when you consider the cost of drilling new wells and the great depth of the water table. Because of the soils or lack thereof, yields are already extremely low - in the 1 to 2 ton range. The certification for Biodynamic farming takes 4 years and Oakville East hopes to obtain their official certification by the end of 2012. Besides each vineyards' manager, Oakville East has also brought on a vineyard manager to oversee the entire project. This person walks each vineyard every Saturday morning and communicates to each of the growers and other vineyard managers a holistic approach for managing their vineyards. Because of each growers' attention to detail, the various vineyard slopes, sun angles and soil types, harvest always involves a number of pickings at various times, even from the same small vineyard. The 2006 Exposure Cabernet Sauvignon is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petite Verdot. This had just been released at the time of our tasting. It is a dark wine in the glass with an elegant aromatic bouquet showing perfume - almost floral notes and hints of baking spices. The entry is soft and smooth with flavors of black fig, raspberry and red cherry. An earthiness to the wine shows towards the finish which is anchored by broad nicely structured tannins. With lively acidity, excellent structure and layered fruit this wine will age very nicely and should already drink well with food. The Core Stone is Bordeaux styled blend modeled after a Haut-Brion blend with 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petite Verdot. The name of this wine is attributed to the unique terroir in this region, specifically the "core stones" that form what little soil there is in the area. These stones are what remain after an ancient mountain in the Vaca range collapsed on itself. From certain vantage points in the eastern part of the Oakville appellation you can still geographically see remnants of this collapsed mountain. The 2006 Core Stone shows an alluring bouquet that is slightly dusty with hints of mineralities. As the wine opens the nose becomes decidedly more complex displaying beautiful fruit. The palate shows sweet and sour cherry and black currant with an underlying note of creamy vanilla. The clean finish is anchored by fine grained and smooth slightly dusty tannins. It is a most pleasing finish of amazing length. This wine does wonders after letting it breath or decanting. It is a wine that will be sought out by serious wine enthusiasts and collectors. The 2006 was produced in extremely limited quantities with distribution just to Premier Napa Valley (a trade event put on every winter by the Napa Valley Vintners Association) and their first true commercial vintage is from 2008 and will be released sometime in 2011 or 2012. The Core Stone will always be produced in extremely limited quantities. Look for this wine to be much sought after in the world of Napa's high end cult wines once it is actually released. Note that Elliot's wife shoots all the photography for Oakville East; her photography site is: www.avismandelpictures.com Don't look to buy wine directly from Oakville East - they do not sell direct or via their website, rather they distribute via a number of high end retailers in select markets nationwide. Retailers take note, Oakville East is a unique wine from one of Napa's top terroir locations. For consumers - sometimes you can find their wine locally at ACME Fine Wines, a premium wine shop located in the town of St. Helena and they are distributed in select markets nationwide, mostly at premium wine shops (NY, NJ, TX). For more information visit: www.oakvilleeast.com |
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Oakville Ranch is a beautiful estate property located in the Oakville Appellation in the hills on the east side of Napa Valley. Their location is among some of the highest end real estate in the Valley - with several prestigious cult wineries as neighbors. They are not open to the general public due to the isolated location and restrictive permit use. The actual 350 acre ranch (about 80 acres planted to vineyards) was purchased by Bob & Mary Miner one of the co-founders of Oracle and after he passed on his wife took over the management.
Recognize the last name? Yes there is a relation to the Miner Family located nearby. This is very highly regarded location for growing Cabernet Sauvignon and other Bordeaux varietals. We recently had a chance to drive around the steep property in an all wheel drive vehicle (much needed here!). From the upper parts of the property, there are great expansive vistas overlooking the Napa Valley below. The soil is shallow here, low in nutrients red and very rocky which are ideal growing conditions if you are seeking very small bunches of grapes, with yields extremely low compared to the valley floor grown fruit. This is of course, perfect conditions for producing intensely flavored wines. The estate is absolutely stunning with incredible views of the Napa Valley below and some interesting sculptures including one by Henry Moore. Solar panels were recently installed on the property and now provide much of their electrical needs. One of the nicest and most relaxing areas on the property is outside next to the pool. This is a women owned and managed winery and their winemaker is putting out some excellent wines. We enjoyed their 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon which is decently priced for a Napa Cabernet, considering the terroir from where it is sourced. It is a wine rich in fruit flavor, most noticeably cherry and blackberry. A touch of oak and spicyness in no way take away from the rather long finish. Their Chardonnay is very popular and often quickly sells out. They also make several other red wine blends i.e., the Roberts Blend. Oakville Ranch has been extremely supportive of the largest annual Napa charity fundraising event - the Napa Valley Auction. In fact their general manager has chaired this event and works on it each year. Oakville Ranch donates 1% of their total gross profits to an organization called 1% For The Planet - funds from businesses who participate in this are distributed to organizations protecting the environment worldwide. Visit: www.oakvilleranchvineyards.com |
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The actual winery dates from 1978 and is completely self contained with even a mobile bottling line which is unusual for a winery with a production of about 5000 cases each year. Weather permitting, the tasting is held either outdoors on the lawn in the back of the winery overlooking the vineyards or on tables located within the vineyards themselves. A main room within the winery has been converted into a tasting area. The tasting is all about the wine but there is a lot to be learned in the actual vineyards and you can take a short walk through the vines. O'Brien concentrates on three wines (however they make a number of other small production wines), all very reasonably priced. Their Chardonnay is fruity and crisp and not overly buttery or oaky. The Merlot we tasted was an intensely concentrated wine with lots of fruit and great structure. The wine they are most known for is a three varietal blend called Seduction; it is packaged as a sexy wine with a see through red lace cover. Regardless of the packaging, this is an elegant smooth wine, great for those romantic situations that invariably arise in one's life. Based on some of their other wines as well as labeling they can be called Napa's Romantic Winery! Some of their other wines are produced in quantities of merely several barrels, one of which is a Rose expressively called "Flirtation". Also check out their charity wine website: www.wineforhope.com and ask about their "romance" tours. Thinking of making an appointment here on Valentine's Day? Reserve *well* in advance! Visit: www.obrienestate.com and or Bart's very romantic blog here: http://romanceofwine.blogspot.com Owner, Bart talks about his wine: |
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is the newest of the Napa PlumpJack Family (PlumpJack and Cade being the other two in the valley). Owners and partners in this winery are Gordon Getty, Gavin Newsom and John Conover. Steltzner Winery operated here for many years (their first vineyards were planted in 1965); the PlumpJack group purchased the winery and 36 acres of surrounding vineyards in early 2012. They quickly began renovation of the existing winery building turning part of it into a chic tasting room and salon. Like Plumpjack's names for their other wineries and businesses, Odette was sourced from historical literary works - in this case from a character written about by Shakespeare which also made an appearance in Tchaikovsky’s ballet, Swan Lake. The name was chosen because of the wines that come from this part of Napa (Stag's Leap) and is a name that represents femininity, strength and power. 18,000 square feet of caves are tunneled through the hillside exiting on the other side. A new winery is in development with plans to be completed sometime in 2014. It will be LEED certified. 2013 will be the release year of their first wine, naturally a Cabernet Sauvignon. Until then, Adaptation wines, a second label will be poured along with wines from Cade winery in the tasting room. We will update this review significantly as this winery "settles" into the valley and develops. For more information visit: www.odetteestate.com |
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Ted was recently head winemaker at the Cabernet house of the Pina brothers and continues to consult for small wineries including Trahan. Today he runs Olabisi almost single handedly. Its always refreshing to find a non last name, name of a winery and this one is quite unique. The name "Olabisi" is an African girls name which means "joy multiplied". Take that as you may, but keep that meaning in the back of your mind as you try his rich, layered fruit driven wines. Ted's philosophy is to keep a hands off approach as much as possible to wine making with the thiking that the more you manipulate a wine the more chances for flaws to enter the wine. His vineyard sources change depending on the year and the type of fruit. Olabisi sources from a variety of vineyards both in the Napa area and from other nearby counties. He uses a barrel aging program of French Oak and all the wine is made in Napa. We recently had the opportunity to barrel taste many of his upcoming vintages, some were still in fermentation including the 2007 Beckstoffer sourced Chardonnay from Mendocino County. As a result, this wine was not yet dry but already showed a richness and depth of flavor. Ted usually makes a Syrah and a Petite Sirah (07 is from Napa Valley). With these two types of wines its hard to get a full indication of the final product so we we revisited this wine when it was in bottle. The 2007 Syrah shows big aromatics - black licorice, spices and almost a "meaty" component. It is a dark wine, rich in flavor with reasonably but not un-balanced tannins. He has made many Cabernet's for other wineries and continues to make them, but not yet for his own label. All his prices are quite reasonable. Locally you can sometimes find Olabisi wine at Backroom wines in Napa as well as on a plethora of online merchants. NOTE: Olabisi has moved out of their downtown Napa tasting room and are now focusing on personalized private tastings. Appointments are needed. Visit: www.olabisiwines.com Ted also wrote an excellent piece for Present Magazine about his experiences as a winemaker during the 2008 harvest. Visit: www.presentmagazine.com/full_content.php?article_id=1717&full=yes&pbr=1 |
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David was instrumental in getting approval for this sub appellation. This appellation is also one of Napa's coolest - often cooler than even the noted "cool king" Carneros. During a recent visit to their Heron Lake Vineyard in the middle of summer it was windy, clear and fairly cold even during late morning/early afternoon. What differentiates this site from some of the lower south valley sites is the elevation of the vineyard is around 1300 to 1400 feet and as a result sees more sunshine hours than lower in the valley which is often blanketed by fog in the summer months. What also contributes to the vineyard's colder location is its fairly close proximity to the San Pablo Bay. All fruit for their wine is sourced from this one vineyard - about 10 planted acres on a 1000 estate ranch, much of which is steep and unpalatable and not even serviced by roads. One well-known winery in St. Helena sources fruit from this vineyard for their wildly popular unfiltered Chardonnay. Due to the cool growing climate this area is ideal for growing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. David's philosophy is of course that winemaking starts in the vineyards and he describes his vineyard management as not being farmed, rather it is gardened organically. He lets the fruit ripen to peak perfection and opens up the canopy to allow for even ripening. The real art of a winemaker is in the blending and David excels at this. All the wine making is conducted with as little machine intervention as possible with much of the work done by hand. As of mid 2009 Olivia Brion has moved into a new gravity-flow, solar powered, completely green winery dedicated to both their Chardonnay and Pinot Noir - their first crush at their own winery after 28 years will be in 2009. It is rather difficult to have an appellation association when you are the only winery in the entire 3000+ acre Wild Horse Valley appellation! Despite sometimes hearing the city noises of Napa off in the distance the vineyard is surrounded entirely by native vegetation and it is a challenge to spot any homes in the distance in all directions. The location feels quite remote but in actually isn't really. David's philosophy is to create a wine that is not a huge typical Napa Cabernet high alcohol, fruit dominated wine, but rather a wine that yes, has ripe California fruit characteristics, but is lower in alcohol with a Bordeaux type structure (open top fermentors and a moist humid cave in part help the wine lose alcohol). As a result he can pick at optimum ripeness but not have to worry about the higher alcohol levels based on his specific winemaking. As David says, Pinot Noir is a graceful wine, just not at 15% alcohol. Yes, we agree! Earlier in his career, David was instrumental in designing what is now an essential piece of equipment for many wineries, the wine ozone machine used for controlling contamination, treating barrels and sanitizing applications. At the time of his invention this type of machinery was unheard of in the wine industry. Today, it is available through one company only (Carlsen & Associates) and many of Napa's wineries use this in their wine production. We tried the 2006 Pinot Noir. If there ever was a perfect Pinot this is a good candidate and after tasting the Olivio Brion Pinot's you have to wonder why isn't there more Pinot Noir coming from the Wild Horse Valley Appellation. This wine is dark ruby in the glass showing wonderful fruit aromas, hints of white pepper and floral notes including dried rose petals. The palate is intense in flavor, juicy on the entry yet smooth on the palate. Raspberries and red cherry with soft notes of dried cranberry anchor the body on this lively very well balanced wine. There is almost an earthiness and or minerality component present especially towards the finish. The finish is smooth, clean and of great length. The 2007 Pinot Noir shows a variety of Asian spices on the nose and as the bouquet opens it reveals an alluring floral component including violet and lavender. The palate shows plum, raspberry and a hint of white pepper. Both vintages have great natural acidity which make these wines perfect for enjoying with a meal especially rich French food (you can find their Pinot at Bistro Jeanty in Yountville). Olivia Brion also makes an extremely small production of a unique non vintage port-styled wine (Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Viognier) called Lord Nelson “Victory", named after a famed British naval hero. Non vintage wines are fairly rare to come by in the Napa Valley. As David says, "its no trick to make sweet wine"; however the expertise comes into play when making a "sweet' wine that is complex both on the bouquet and palate. This is a rich extremely dark, almost black wine in the glass. It will stain your teeth (albeit very temporarily), warm you up (not as temporary), and based on the structure, fruit and acidity has significant aging potential. It shows tremendous concentration of black fruit and dark chocolate as well as an almost wild or earthy component similar to what you may find in some Charbono wines. Olivia Brion can be found in select very high end restaurants nation wide as well as at some of the wine shops in the Napa Valley. On the bottles of wine both David and the grape grower's names are listed under their mutual title of "Fabulist". Wondering who Olivia Brion is and wondering why you cannot find any information about her online other than in relation to this winery? You would do well to look up the world Fabulist. Visit: www.oliviabrion.com Video from CrushPix: |
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is an interesting story that deserves to be told. The owner, David Becker grew up on site when his family moved to the Napa area in 1971. He spoke of few fences around, hiking over to the nearby hills, exploring ruined farmhouses and catching steelhead in the nearby creek. Not a bad childhood. His family purchased land already planted to prunes, walnuts and other stone fruits. For many years that is what grew on site. Then in much more recent years, David purchased the land from his father and acquired these fruit trees which were now somewhat sickly looking. At that time he had no background whatsoever in the wine industry. In fact he installed rain gutters on people's homes for a living as well as provided rain gutter cost estimates. A friend mentioned planting grapes - David has always enjoyed sweet wines and mentioned an interest in planting a particular white varietal that you will never see planted in Napa. Fortunately his friend had 2000 surplus Cabernet Sauvignon vines from a nearby winery which had purchased too many vines for some of their vineyards. David jumped at the opportunity and planted about 50% clone 191 and 50% clone 337, both French clones that produce small berries with concentrated flavors. These vines literally come right up to the deck of his house and almost the entire acreage is now planted with vines. Most everyone agrees that much of winemaking takes place in the vineyard and this is clearly evident with David's unbridled passion and enthusiasm for his one acre of vines. After planting the vines he enrolled at Napa Valley College for viticulture classes. As David says, as the vines would age he would take the next series of viticulture classes so his knowledge would keep up with the growth of the vines! He knew his next door neighbor was often traveling and rarely home but he wasn't sure of her profession. As luck would have it, he found out that she is a world renowned viticultural consultant and she has been able to offer invaluable advice. Nice. His attention to detail in the vineyard is amazing. He manages every single vine himself and spends hours on training the vines, pruning, thinning, managing the cover crop and irrigation. One Acre does take appointments for vineyard tours (no tasting) - this is one of those rare opportunities in Napa to talk one on one with a vineyard manager and to pick up on many of the techniques and practices utilized in this tiny vineyard. This is one of the best, most detailed vineyard tours you will ever find in Napa - small groups only. In trying to come up with a name for the winery, characteristics of the vineyard were discussed including Oak trees, Quail, Hawks, and stones - but the name indicates it best; it is a one acre vineyard in the Oak Knoll district just north of the town of Napa. For a contrast in size, compare the largest winery in this district which is Trefethen, to probably the smallest, One Acre! We tried the 2005 vintage which happens to be their first release. For someone who knew next to nothing about wine merely a few years ago this is a gem. Clone 191 has thicker skins and helps bring a dark color to the wine. The aromas are elegant and refined with an earthy undertone including tobacco and a slight smokiness. The palate is all about the fruit, mainly berries, red cherries and plum with notes of vanilla and a slightly smoky very long finish. A vineyard this size does not produce large quantities of wine of course, their production is usually around 200 cases. That is extremely small and you can only find it in select Northern California locations as David handles all the distribution himself. A noted Napa winemaker once told him, "if you can sell gutters, you can sell wine"! Groezinger's Wine Shop in Yountville is the only shop in the area that we know carries it. Look for the simple yet elegant label with his vineyard's longitude and latitude coordinates listed. As it says on the back of the bottle, One Acre, One Guy, One Wine - that it truly is. Until you have a chance to visit with Dave, check out his extremely informative videos about specific aspects of vineyard management. He purchased a video camera specifically noted to be "YouTube" compatible and now these videos are embedded in his website as well as on YouTube. Dave is the narrator and his wife handles the camera work. We had a chance to pay homage to the "famous" grape plant featured in a number of his videos. This one vine has received more video coverage in its life than most people. Follow along as Dave covers its growth and development. Visit: www.oneacrewine.com Harvest Video: Dave - Spring Pruning: |
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You can park on either the left or right side of the building - in our experience the right side typically fills up faster than the left side and both parking lots seem to be the same distance from the entrance. Sometimes when it is busy there will be an attendant at the end of the driveway directing people to park. The massive cream colored limestone used in the building is reminiscent of public buildings in Washington DC or the Getty Center in Los Angeles. This Neo Classical winery is about combining refined European elegance with a modern California styled building. Robert Mondavi used to describe the building as a "space ship" but when you get close you will see it is actually very elegantly designed. Most likely classical music will be playing through speakers located in the courtyard to greet you and you can either walk to the left of the main entrance to their "Partner's Room" for a tasting of their current release or if you have a prior appointment check in at the main reception through the large wooden doors. Their signature wine, Opus One is the only wine available for tasting in the Partner's Room. For the price a good amount of wine is given - not your typical 1 oz pour that most wineries give! Tours are by appointment and usually last about 1 hour 15 minutes. These are extremely informative and are always conducted with small groups only. You start your tour with a sit down introduction with your guide - note the "old world" style furnishings in here. A few items date back to the 18th century and some of the antiques are even much older. The items in this "salon room" were picked out by Robert Mondavi's wife Margrit and the Baron's daughter Baroness Philippine Rothschild (a current owner). Opus One has one of the largest cleanest looking labs of any Napa winery we've been to! You will make a short stop here and then proceed to a large production styled room of which the top of about 40 tanks can be seen poking through the floor. This is one of the nicer production facilities you will see in the valley. The de-stemmer, sorting tables and other equipment can easily be wheeled from tank to tank depending on need. Everything is sorted by hand and all gravity fed into the tanks. Two large rolling doors open with great views of the vineyards in the back of the winery. An overview of their vineyards will be discussed - and even from here you can clearly see how healthy and meticulously groomed these vineyards are. Questions are encouraged and help keep the group tour lively. A short walk downstairs leads to the actual tanks for a quick description of how they are used during production and then leads out of the tank room past an elegant staircase (which leads back up to the rotunda). Lastly you will enter a room which many might consider the highlight of the tour both because this is where your tasting will occur and also because of the view of their elegant barrel room. This is a semi-circular room called "The Grand Chai" contains approximately 1000 French Oak barrels all full of wine. We tried the 2004 vintage; all of Opus One's wines are extremely high quality, but yes some vintages are of higher quality than others and your guide can help clarify which ones these are. However, the 2004 is shaping up to be a winner. It is very smooth, with silky tannins and is well balanced and not one aspect of the wine dominates. At this age the wine is all about vibrant richly layered fruit on the palate - a few years of aging can only improve an already superb wine! Worried about cork taint? Not with Opus One as their levels of taint are extremely low, way below the average because they employ a serious testing program on any batch of corks they consider for purchase. They randomly sample corks from these 10,000 lot batches and when they find an unacceptable level of cork taint based on their tests, they will not order that particular batch. Regardless of whether you are on a tour, be sure to walk up to the upper balcony for a very nice 360 degree view of the valley. Their well designed logo is a profile image of both Rothschild and Mondavi's faces. Lastly a bit of wine trivia: Opus One was the only Napa winery verbally or visually referenced in the California Central Coast wine country based movie Sideways. Visit: www.opusonewinery.com View video: |
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Wineries that are involved in charities often donate some bottles, are involved in charity events or donate a percentage of sales to charities. Orin Swift takes their charity involvement a step further with the production of Veladora, a Sauvignon Blanc. This wine is a tribute to the Hispanic farm workers in the wine industry. 100% of this wine's profits are donated to "Puertas Abiertas" - or Open Doors. This is a charity organization that provides dental services, counseling and health screenings for farm workers. Orin Swift's Mercury Head is a crazily popular wine! It is released in May and quickly sells out of wine shops often within a week's time. The Cabernet Sauvignon for this wine is sourced from the well-regarded Morisoli Vineyards. One winemaker we met with had to wait over 4 years just to acquire a small block of fruit from this vineyard! Mercury Head is easily recognizable by the silver winged mercury dime with vintages containing dimes from the late 1930's and 1940's as the label. This is a big bold juicy style Napa Cabernet. As of press time they had just released a new Bordeaux style wine called Papillion. A photograph taken by the famed celebrity photographer Greg Gorman graces the front of the bottle and in French Papillion means butterfly, so an image of a butterfly is on the enclosure. They also recently purchased 48 acres near Atlas Peak and have future plans to plant vineyards and build a winery on that site. Their office and chic tasting room is upstairs in downtown St. Helena in the historical Odd Fellows Lodge constructed in 1885 (tasting is by appointment only). You can find their "Prisoner" label at many wine shops in the Napa area as well as ACME wine in St. Helena just down the street from their office. One of the employees is married to one of the partners at this fine wine shop. Orin Swift is also Internationally distributed with select markets in Europe, Japan, China and the Caribbean. Visit: www.orinswift.com |
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Once you reach the modern elegant winery you will see that it is located in a very scenic spot; there are great views of the surrounding hills and natural vegetation including pine trees. The founder and owner Betty O'Shaughnessy produced her first commercial vintage in 2000. The primary goal of this winery is to produce world-class Cabernet Sauvignon and their growing and winemaking decisions are entirely centered around this philosophy. Twenty nine acres of the estate vineyards which surround the winery are planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and another 6 acres are planted to the typical Bordeaux blending varietals. In addition, they have a small vineyard on Mt. Veeder located on the other side of the valley. We tasted their 2004 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. At a glance this is a very dark wine foreshadowing what is to come on the palate. Black fruit mixed with tobacco is found on the bouquet which follows through to cherry and currant with a finish that is like pure velvet. With a smooth soft mouth feel, good natural acidity and tannins that are well balanced this wine is drinking well now. As of press time, they also produce a 100% varietal Cabernet Sauvignon from the Mt. Veeder vineyard and a Merlot from their estate vineyard on site. O'Shaughnessy has put in over 12,000 square feet of caves - and unlike many Napa winery caves these ones are 20 feet tall in places and are double the width of normal caves. The main cave room is elegant and classy and is where they sometimes hold events. Check out their impressive vertical wine cellar; restaurants would kill to have a cellar like this! They have ample cave space so barrels are not stacked high in the caves, rather they are all at the floor level. Sean Capiaux is the winemaker - he helped design the fermentation tanks and his wines for O'Shaughnessy have already garnered very high ratings by respected wine critics including Robert Parker. Sean has his own label (Pinot noir) which you can check out here: www.capiauxcellars.com. For more info visit: www.oshaughnessywinery.com Wine with Tony |
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Outpost is primarily known for their Zinfandels which are organically farmed on the 42-acre estate. All their wines are 100% varietal. This is a noted Zinfandel growing region of Napa and many small wineries produce Zinfandel in this area. The soils are very rocky and red which helps produce very concentrated rich wine. Because of the elevation and exposure, harvest dates here are typically very late in the season. To give you some perspective on this, when we visited much of their Zinfandel was still completely green whereas the Zinfandel we saw on the valley floor had already well passed through veraison. Because of their somewhat remote location, an "outpost" if you will they don't see many visitors for tastings. As a result your tasting will always be a very personal one and a visit here is for serious wine enthusiasts. Tastings are conducted inside on a large wooden table in a wide windowed room overlooking the vineyards and hills below. Outpost makes an exceptional Grenache; very few Napa wineries make a wine of this varietal. Theirs is an excellent example of what you can do with this wine, a lot of the varietal fruit flavor is retained on the palate; it is well balanced and very smooth. The bad news is it is made in low quantities, so order it early! The Zinfandel we tried has some nice floral notes on the bouquet with a palate full of berry fruit with undertones of exotic spices. Outpost also makes a Howell Mountain Cabernet and a Petite Sirah which is even a bigger bolder wine than their Cabernet. Their True Vineyard is 9 acres planted entirely to Bordeaux varietals and these wines were released for the first time in 2008. Outpost has very limited distribution - mostly at high end restaurants in the Napa Valley and San Francisco. Visit: www.outpostwines.com |
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In regards to stunning views we have discovered at least three outstanding winery sites in the Napa Valley; this is one of them. Perched well above the valley floor just above the eastern edge of the Oakville Sub Appellation on a clear day you can see almost all of the valley south of St. Helena even into downtown San Francisco. This is probably the best known terroir that is not in a sub appellation of Napa. The area is known as Pritchard Hill and it is producing some exemplary wines. Pritchard Hill is above the eastern side of Oakville and is one of the rockiest parts of Napa. Sonoma has an appellation called "Rockpile" - that name could easily be substituted for this area. We have visited a number of vineyards in this area and one nearby vintner toured us around thousands of pounds of stacked rocks next to his vineyards. When Mark and Dana purchased the property it had not yet been planted, however the area in general had already proven itself. Chappellet has been on Pritchard Hill since the late 1960's - Colgin, one of Napa's "cult" wineries is one of their neighbors and Bryant Family and Dalla Valle are not far away. From the beginning, Ovid assembled one of Napa's "dream teams"; David Abreu is the vineyard manager and Andy Erickson is the winemaker (Screaming Eagle, Harlan, Staglin etc). David Abreu planted and has managed the vineyards since day one. In addition the famed French blending master Michel Rolland is their consulting winemaker. Ovid planted 15 acres to all red varietals in 2002 (the majority being Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc) and in the process took out amazing quantities of rock. The vines certainly have to struggle in this region - there is an abundance of sunshine and the elevation also contributes to some superb wines. 2005 was their first release. We recently sat down with CEO and managing partner Janet Pagano and Assistant Winemaker Austin Peterson. Austin barrel sampled us on their 2008 Cabernet Franc, one aged in wood tanks and the other aged in concrete. From merely these few tastes it is evident that Cabernet Franc does extremely well here. The one aged in concrete shows a neat dustiness on the nose with hints of wet stone and lavender. The earthiness also continues to the palate. With the amount of rocks in the vineyards you can't help but notice some of this terroir in the wine itself. The concrete tends to soften the tannins slightly. The wine fermented in wooden tanks shows excellent fruit - notes of blackberry on the nose, it is rich, layered and maybe slightly more showy than the wine fermented in the concrete. When you blend the two you have excellent layering and depth. The actual winery facility is small yet extremely functional including several unusual innovations (at least in regards to Napa wineries). They ferment both in wood and concrete and have the only permanently designed in place concrete tanks that we have seen in Napa. Using concrete and wood for the fermentations gives the winemaking team some subtle yet interesting differences in the wine. In this rocky conditions it is always a challenge to drill a cave; Ovid's cave is small, extends about 20 feet back into the almost solid rock hillside and is very functional. Their tanks are all for small lots and were designed around the vineyard blocks. The winery is entirely gravity flow. Their focus is on two wines each year a Cabernet Sauvignon and their "Experiment" - this is a novel name for a unique wine each year. No two years are the same and if they cannot create a blend that satisfies their exacting tastes, this wine will not be created. Sometimes two wines are released under Experiment. Only 500 cases of Ovid are typically produced The winery itself was designed by famed winery architect Howard Backen - some of his other projects in Napa include Futo Estate, Dana Estate and Harlan Estate. He has a certain trademark that stands out when you are in one of his wineries - his designs combine elegance with power and the use of darker wood tones. Ovid maintains a mailing list (which at the time of this review is currently closed due to demand) but you may add your name to their wait list. For more information visit: www.ovidwinery.com |
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This is one of the larger wine counters in Napa - much of the time during the weekdays its easy to get a seat here for a tasting or light food but on Friday nights and some weekends it can get a bit busy. Locals night is always Tuesday evenings from 5:00pm - 9:00pm (prices for locals are discounted). With a number of bar stools on each of the 4 sided tasting bar, conceivably you can have almost 30 people around the counter at any one time. They have nicely organized menus listing both the food items as well as the wine. Our favorite lunch special whenever we stop in are the Panini sandwiches. Look for their 6 simple colored graphics which are explained towards the front of the menu. These graphics represent specific types of wine, for instance, the wine's sweetness, aromas, structure etc - so each wine that is available for tasting has one of these logo's next to it to better help you choose a wine that matches your palate. They have an excellent selection of both local wines as well as International wines. Their motto is "We spit, so you don't have to." Also browse their large selection of local and International cheeses including samples. Looking to taste something other than just Napa wines? On a recent visit, the tasting included many options - most of which were international, ranging from South America to Europe to Australia with only a few Napa wines sprinkled in. A plethora of International wines are available for purchase by the bottle (shelves which surround the central wine bar), and if you purchase one of these, they will uncork it for you and you can drink it at the wine bar. Very cool! You can also order small plates to pair with the wine and ask for specific recommendations based on the specific wines ordered. A small deli is located on site with cheeses, meats, olives etc. A stop here is typically not the only one you will want to make when you are at the Oxbow Market! Gotts Roadside (upscale burgers) is on the same block; this is a hip, popular upscale burger restaurant with some long history in the Napa Valley. You know your in Napa when the wine list differentiates you from a "typical" hamburger stand! The original Gotts is in St. Helena and is a tourist magnet. This Gotts serves more locals and as a result, is not quite as crowded during the busy lunch times as the original restaurant. If you walk outside from the Oxbow Wine Bar into the main part of the Oxbow market you can choose from a variety of specific vendors including vegetables & fruit, ice cream, tea, olive oil, rotisserie, spices and much more. The owners of Oxbow Wine Merchant & Wine Bar also own and operate the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant in San Francisco. No specific website exists for their Oxbow location but you can visit the website for their SF location: www.fpwm.com or the main Oxbow website |
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