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W.S. Keyes is part of the Jackson Family Wine portfolio - owned by Jess Jackson of Kendall Jackson fame. The actual vineyard is located at about 1800 feet and is situated in very chalky dusty volcanic soils which of course contribute to the complexity of this wine. Select blocks are hand harvested from the vineyard and the wine is made by Tom Peffer who also makes Jackson's Atalon wine. Today W.S. Keyes is somewhat of an anomaly in the Napa Valley as they produce one vintage each year of Merlot. All the grapes for this wine are sourced from the W.S. Keyes vineyards including a small touch of Cabernet Sauvignon which is blended into this wine. This vineyard is located within the same area as Jackson's high end La Jota vineyard and in fact some of the fruit from this vineyard is used in their Atalon and another label. As a result of their extremely small production and little marketing only those in the "know" are aware of this Napa gem. It is a rare wine indeed - 2003 was their first vintage and they were essentially sold out of this at press time. Merely 274 - six bottle cases were produced of the 2004 vintage and as of press time the only place you can taste or purchase this wine is through Cardinale Winery in Yountville. This vintage saw 20 days maceration helping extract additional flavors (juice to skin contact) and then 26 months in barrel for aging. It was blended with 2% Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine has elegant aromas of black cherry and dark chocolate with hints of cedar leading to a rich concentration of fruit, especially on the mid palate. This is not a light weight Merlot. It is full bodied yet is in balance with a smooth velvety mouth feel and just the right tannin structure on the extended finish. Visit: www.wskeyes.com |
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Watermark Wine is a small boutique winery run by long time Napa Vintner Phil Steinschriber. Phil is also winemaker for the much coveted Cabernet Sauvignons of Diamond Creek Vineyards on Diamond Mountain and because of his long history working in the wine industry in the Napa Valley has access to extremely good fruit sources. He has been around the beverage industry ever since he was a child. He later worked as a wine buyer which ended up in part being the path to fueling his interest in wine. He earned his degree in Agriculture Chemistry from Fresno State and then after a short stint in Israel making California style kosher wines, and as winemaker for a winery in New Mexico he moved to the Napa Valley and worked for a now defunct winery for several years. In 1991 he became winemaker for Diamond Creek Vineyards and has since made his mark for this winery, often earning top scores for his Cabernet's.
The Watermark wines are layered and complex and need we mention available at much less the cost then the Diamond Creek Vineyard wines. Phil's wines are all hand produced. They are made in a Bordeaux style. The grapes for the 2005 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon were harvested by hand in the very early morning, then cold soaked for 4 days, pressed sweet for the free run juice and then fermented. No pumps are used, punch downs are carefully regulated and are done less often in the later stages of fermentation to help ensure a wine that is less tannic. All aging is done in small French Oak barrels. Recently we had a chance to taste the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon with Tim Mertz who works at A Dozen Vintners and has helped Phil with a number of harvests. Now here is a wine worth getting your hands on! Napa's secret and sometimes not so secret recipe is combine unique high end terroir with a long time well-regarded wine maker veteran and you have the recipe for success in the wine industry. You can tell this wine is full of ripe fruit as soon as you get a whiff of the bouquet. The aromas are big with raspberry, and spice components including black pepper. The palate continues with raspberry and cherry with notes of chocolate, cloves, cinnamon and subtle nuances of tobacco, vanilla and toasted oak to round out the finish. Speaking of the finish; it is clean and very long. There is a lot packed in this wine, both in fruit and spice flavors! Watermark focuses entirely on Cabernet Sauvignon with the one wine mentioned above as well as a Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. Their wines have good acidity and backbone structure and will age nicely for a number of years. Their first vintage was in 2004 and production is tiny at merely several hundred cases of each wine. As a result the easiest way to find their wine locally is to pay a visit to A Dozen Vintners, the collective tasting room just north of the town of St. Helena or visit: www.watermarkwine.com |
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The tasting room is very large and well decorated. They are in a "green" building which means the building materials and furnishings are environmentally friendly. Check out their mostly green wine bar countertop; it is made from glass pieces of recycled wine and olive oil bottles. This tasting room has a slight wine lounge feel with tables and chairs scattered about (even the cushions on the chairs are made from recyclables!). They have a kitchen on site offer sit down wine and food pairings, by appointment only. For a set tasting fee you choose 5 tastes out of 10 wines, (5 Waterstone wines and 5 Mahoney wines are available). We tried their 2005 Merlot which is very reasonably priced. It is a juicy wine with lots of fruit flavors including plum and cherry and you can pick up just a hint of vanilla from the oak aging. It is an elegant Merlot. We also tried their Napa Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon which is priced head and shoulders above the rest of their wines, but for a good reason. The fruit for this wine is high end fruit from undisclosed locations in the heart of Napa's Cab country, the Oakville and Rutherford Appellations. It sees entirely 100% new French Oak and undergoes extended Maceration before the oak aging. There is a lot going on with this wine with complexity of aromas and flavors - the nose has some cedar and the palate has notes of chocolate and tobacco. This is a wine with a long finish. Lastly, we tried their 2005 Syrah; this wine has a huge nose with lots of white pepper flavors on the mid palate. Ask about the Downtown Napa Wine Tasting Card - multiple downtown area tasting rooms participate in this - for a one-time fee you can visit & taste at each of their tasting rooms. You can buy this card in each of the participating tasting rooms. Visit: www.waterstonewines.com |
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Waugh Cellars is a winery truly "going places". Ryan Waugh founded this winery in 2001 at the young age of 25. Many 25 year olds are still trying to figure out what to do with their careers. At the time of our visit Ryan is project manager for his own 22,000 square foot completely underground-contained cave winery (including the crush pad) 900 feet above the valley floor in the famed Stag's Leap District. Once completed this will serve as custom crush facility for a select few already chosen winemakers. The views from this ridge top location are fantastic with full 'aerial' type spreads overlooking the entire southern and central part of Napa Valley. In addition, Waugh Cellars has plans to build out a large deck with kitchen and other amenities and a fractional ownership community nearby the winery - all of which looks down on Napa Valley.
Ryan is one of the new generation of Napa winemakers - young, lots of enthusiasm, with initiative, International wine experience and an unbridled passion for working with vineyards. He was bitten with the wine bug while studying to be a Doctor at Santa Clara University. His girlfriend's father inherited a large collection of wine and spirits from his father who owned a wine shop. One day he asked Ryan if he likes wine and then promptly indicated to Ryan that he was not a fan at all, but that he had like 300 cases in his basement and Ryan was welcome to try a bottle. Ryan had never really consumed wine at this point so he stated the obvious which was he had no basis to form a decision on the matter. He was then instructed to pick out a bottle from his birth year, which turned out to be a Warren Winiarski Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Lot 2 Cabernet Sauvignon from 1976. One bottle turned into 3 and Ryan was hooked at this point. It is quite fortuitous to note that Ryan's new winery is located in the home appellation of Winiarski's winery - Stag's Leap. Almost immediately Ryan started looking for a wine job and a change in career direction; the Santa Cruz Mountains were close to Santa Clara and this was a good fit while at school. Other stints were at Chateau Potelle, (commuting 2 hours each way to this job shows just how serious Ryan was at the time), Trefethen, he was the first non-family employee at Del Dotto and he also worked several harvest in Australia. As with most winemakers, he knows the unique benefits of terroir and as a result sources fruit from a variety of locations within California based on where specific varietals grow best. All his vineyard sources are locked up into very long contracts ensuring he is not excluded from this high quality fruit anytime soon, and in addition he actively provides the vineyard management for the many locations that his fruit is sourced from. In several cases he has come in and changed the trellising systems, pruning and a variety of other factors to meet his specifications. Case in point was for his Petite Sirah; it took 3 years for him to update the vineyard all the while it was producing fruit - however the quality was not up to his standards and no wine was released during this time. It is extremely rare to see this type of control and full vineyard management from wineries who exclusively source fruit. From the outside, Waugh's wine is easily identifiable by the "W" on the label. From the inside Waugh's wines can be characterized as smooth, with velvety mouth feels and tannins that are well structured but do not dominate the wine. In addition Ryan is a perfectionist for ensuring each cluster of grapes ripens evenly - he does no acid adjustment on his wines and if a wine ends up needing this adjustment, he will not release this wine commercially. As a result, the mouth watering flavors and feel of Waugh's wines are all from natural acidity. The 2007 Chardonnay is from the Indindoli vineyard in the Russian River area of neighboring Sonoma County. It sees no malolactic fermentation, is barrel fermented and there was much stirring of the lees. As a result this is a "heavier" Chardonnay with aromas of citrus, tropical fruit with some citrus following to the palate and notes of toasted almond toward the finish. There is great acidity structure in this wine. We've had some big Petite Sirahs with huge tannins during this project; the 2006 is not one of them. It is sourced from Dry Creek in Sonoma County and is available in very limited quantities. Rich fruit aromas open up to notes of chocolate on the nose - great mouth feel. The 2004 Napa Cabernet combines fruit from two mountain vineyards and valley floor. As with Waugh's other wines this has a smooth mouth feel, rich in flavor and aroma. There are nice flavors of blackberry fruit represented on the palate and notes of various spices which continue to linger well after you swallow. He also makes a Zinfandel and a cool weather Riesling from Santa Barbara County (not the warmer Santa Ynez valley, but rather on a ridge almost overlooking the ocean). Six Degrees is another very interesting project - here is a Napa winemaker who has created a high-end second label featuring a premium neighboring Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon. Nice! It was created with two ideals in mind; produce a stellar Cabernet Sauvignon from Sonoma County and connect with each person who tastes it. This is a special wine that has the "it" factor Ryan speaks of. It is a wine that is easily on par with any of Napa's best Cabernet's; it has that special richness combined with elegance. It is sourced every year from a 2-acre vineyard located on the northeast side of the Napa/Sonoma Mayacamas Mountains above the Russian River Valley (Redwood Hill). It is fermented in special barrels that are from trees in France, which are at least 150 years old. This ensures the wood grain is extremely tight and allows for very slow integration of flavor into the wine and does not dominate (yes these barrels are more expensive then the typical French Oak barrel!). Waugh Cellars operates the "Friends of Waughs" wine allocation list as well as a general mailing list. Visits are for serious wine enthusiasts. Visit: www.waughcellars.com and www.sixdegreeswine.com |
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There is no website (the only Napa winery with a tasting room not to have a website), so don't even bother checking, the tasting room is very small and somewhat dusty; it is located next to the owners house, and this winery has no outside distribution whatsoever. There are maybe 3-4 Napa wineries who have this feel; it is not the "Napa sophistication" that you find up and down Highway 29 - that's for sure. Recently the main winery phone number stopped working so the only way to contact Wermuth Winery is to physically be here when Ralph is open. Compared to the other 500+ wineries we have visited this is weirdly refreshing. He typically is open from 11-4pm but it all depends on Ralphs schedule on any given day. The bonded winery is on site and the owner is the winemaker. A small dirt parking lot is adjacent to the tasting room and can accommodate no more than 3-4 cars at any one time! Due to space restrictions, back in for ease of departure. If Ralph is not in the tasting room or you cannot visually spot him on the grounds, ring the bell at the tasting room or simply make a short beep or two with your car horn. When open, only Ralph pours his wines as he has no employees. The bearded bespectacled Ralph Wermuth is the aforementioned owner and he falls into the "character" very nice guy category. He has a chemistry background and is a physician. Ralph told us he's been making wine on the property for at least 30 years, but the years are running together so he can't really give an exact date. During another one of our visits we narrowed him down to find out that his first commercial vintage was 1982. The vineyard you see in front of the tasting room is the source for his wine. Its less than an acre so as a result his wine is produced in quantities of under 200 cases annually. He can also tell you about the "old days" along the Silverado Trail, when grass grew through cracks in the middle of the pavement or the high cost of sending kids to college these days and will be happy to hit upon any topic you wish to discuss. It is extremely easy to spend an hour or more here talking with Ralph. Today he focuses on Cabernet Sauvignon - he used to make Gamay, Zinfandel and one year made a Cabernet Franc as those wines were sourced from area vineyards. Tasting is $2 - not an amount you will see at any other Napa wineries. All tastings are poured in Ralph's trademark small almost port like glasses. They won't be the crystal clean glasses you are used to finding at area tasting rooms. As a result when we went to swirl, we spilled some right over the top, not being used to such small volume glasses. His wines have a very interesting nose and a bit of a metallic almost tangy finish. The 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon is light to medium bodied. If you let them open up and breath there are some nice fruit flavors on the palate. Wermuth's wines are typically lower in alcohol than most of the Napa Cabernet's you will find, typically they are in the low 13 percent range. Ralph doesn't let his grapes get overly ripe before picking. The price of his Napa Cabernet will be among the lower priced Cabernet wines in the valley. Look for the small black chalkboard hanging on the wall - this is supposed to be used to provide pricing; when we were there it looked like the prices had been crossed out a number of times so we couldn't even read them! Ralph will sign all purchased bottles. When he made white wine, his label simply read "white wine"! Also of note his wife Smitty paints and her colorful cards are available in one corner of the tasting room. Ralph is interested in photography - he mentioned that its hard to get good film anymore; he will take a photo of you in his vineyards if you request. |
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The bulk of their production is Pinot Noir (four different Pinot's produced) as this is one of his favorite wines, as well as two Cabernet Sauvignons, the Purple and Bronze label. Bill used to produce big bold high tannic Cabernet Sauvignons but enjoys the softer lower tannin more velvety mouth feel Cabs which is what he now produces. These are the types of wines that we enjoy and seek out. To produce these "softer" wines he removes the seeds during every step of the winemaking process. Grape seeds have a lot of tannins and when they are sitting in alcohol, the actual alcohol will cause the seeds to release their tannins into the wine. Their first commercial vintage was in 2001. The source of the Cabernet Sauvignon is from his Piedra Hill Vineyard which is located next to the winery. The location is above the fog line which provides a cooler overall climate compared to the Napa Valley floor. This means longer ripening, higher acidity and a more even ripening of the grapes. W.H. Smith selects only the most intensely flavored and aromatic wine from select barrels for his final blends. He also keeps fruit from individual clones separate until the final blends are constructed. We tried several barrel samples during our visit including what will be their 2006 bronze label. This dark wine has a very round mouth feel; even so young, it is already an elegant style of Cabernet Sauvignon. We thought it was impossible to find a winery producing high quality Pinot Noirs located in the hills of Howell Mountain until we visited W.H. Smith. Of course this isn't Pinot country and they don't grow these grapes here, rather all their Pinots are sourced from premium vineyards located along the Sonoma Coast region in Sonoma County. We tried a bunch of these Pinot's while still in barrel. Our favorite is the Pinot Noir produced from the Hellenthal Vineyard which is located at about 1800 feet. This is a very dark wine with earthy notes on the bouquet followed by vibrant cherry and raspberry flavors. A number of area wineries have discovered this vineyard and source fruit from it. The vineyard site is only 5 miles from the Pacific Ocean so it receives a fair amount of wind and fog, which are perfect growing conditions for this varietal. Their Maritime is their "high end" Pinot Noir and the fruit for this wine is selected from several vineyards all within close proximity to the Pacific Ocean. Compared to their Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir this wine is darker and more shows more concentrated fruit both in the bouquet and on the palate, all the while retaining the wonderful elegant smoothness. The palate shows a variety of fruit including plum and cherry with a soft lingering finish. The bronze label 2006 Howell Mountain estate wine has a distinctive nose that shows hints of evergreen mixed with aromatic dark fruit followed by a palate that is surprisingly smooth for this mountain grown wine. The tannins are balanced and form the structure for a pleasing finish. The 2006 purple label, also an estate wine from their Howell Mountain vineyard is a decidedly bigger wine than the bronze label - its a wine for you serious Cab lovers! Hints of vanilla and ripe black fruit show in the bouquet followed by rich concentrated dark fruits on the palate. The wave of new tasting rooms within city limits is riding up the valley - it all started with Napa and has finally reached tiny Calistoga. This is the latest of several new tasting rooms to open or be opening soon in Calistoga. Ask about the "Wine Sensory Experience" a 1 hour course filled with very educational sensory exercises about wine. The class is taught by one of the owners, T'Anne (by appointment only) Friday-Sundays in the mornings. She has over 30 years experience in the industry and during this course provides information about how to recognize wine aromas, wine profiles and soil characteristics and how they affect wine. At the end of the class you will taste all wines offered in the tasting room as well as cheese and light appetizers. This course is always held in the mornings before their general tasting room is open and as a result the course is entirely private. Often times you can find winemaker Bill and his wife Joan in the tasting room. WH Smith plans on holding special events from time to time in this tasting room. For more information about WH Smith's wines visit: www.whsmithwines.com For more information about the wine sensory experience, visit: www.winesensoryexperience.com |
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The owner Dennis Johns has a very long history in the Napa area of making wine and as as result has accumulated tremendous knowledge and winemaking skills. His styles of wine and wine making philosophy have changed over the years. He now introduces oxygen to his wine during several stages of the wine making process; this is done to the majority of his wines. This is a philosophy different than many area winemakers but is in no way whatsoever detrimental to his wines. Winemaking as with religion has no "right way or path". Today he makes wines that are smooth, and very easy to drink when you open the bottle. They can be aged but they are meant to be consumed now. White Cottage makes a rather large variety of different types of wine. We had the pleasure of trying several from barrel - including a Cabernet Franc and then a Cab Franc blended with about 20% Cabernet Sauvignon. What a difference the Cabernet Sauvignon makes when blended - it ads a backbone and complexity that the Cabernet Franc just does not have by itself. By itself, the Cab Franc sort of just drops off and disappears in your mouth. The Ezivese is a unique blend of Sangiovese and Zinfandel. A typical tasting will be held in their tasting room or if weather permits outside on their porch which overlooks the native woods and vineyards. This is a personal tasting, usually conducted with the owner in which you get to know him and how he makes his wine. White Cottage planted blocks of grapes within the native vegetation so as to keep a balance with the surrounding environment, rather than clear cut everything. We also tried their Sauvignon Blanc - this is a crisp refreshing wine great for serving on warm summer days. Be sure to try their Howell Mountain Cabernet - it is made with top quality mountain fruit. Do not only take our word - as the winemaker says, it is up to you to decide which wines you enjoy. Visit: www.whitecottageranch.com |
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At press time, they specialize in three types of wines, Chardonnay, a red blend called Claret and a Cabernet Sauvignon. Their Chardonnay is quite nice as it retains a bit more acid than some of the typical Chardonnays; this gives it a very nice crisp mouth feel and also allows it to age nicely for a number of years. This wine only undergoes partial malolactic fermentation so as not to mask the fruit and floral aromas of the wine. It is left on the lees and regularly stirred which gives it some nice weight and creaminess. Their Claret is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot and is barrel aged for up to 2 years, then bottle aged for up to two more years so by the time it reaches the market it has had 4 years of aging. This is not a bad thing for the consumer! The blend of this wine typically changes each year but Cabernet Sauvignon is always the majority varietal. It is a very Bordeaux style wine that is great with food. The 2002 vintage is all about the fruit with juicy flavors across the palate as well as structured tannins that provide the backbone to a pleasing finish. There are small caves within the main cave walls and it is here that the bottles are packed very tightly during their aging process. This is not a common practice and we can think of only other winery with this type of system - the "sparkling house"...Schramsberg. For those of you who have never been in the company of fermenting wine or listened to the sound it makes, White Rock Vineyards has creatively recorded an almost 3 minute audio for your listening enjoyment. Don't expect a Pavarotti type performance! Lastly, you should also be aware that White Rock's reds tend to be very ageworthy wines. To purchase wine online or for more information visit: www.whiterockvineyards.com |
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This winery has a well rounded slate of premium wines (at decent prices) which have won numerous awards; their Cabernets and Merlots are very rich and complex both in aromas and flavor and these are in fact their two most produced wines annually. They have long used screw cap enclosures (among Napa's first wineries to do this) for some of their wines and the reserve Cabernet is actually enclosed with what is called a Vino-Seal, a glass enclosure. As well as being perfectly functional, this enclosure also makes a neat conversation piece as well as a souvenir from the bottle of wine. This is the first Napa winery to use an enclosure such as this one. The cost is a little more than a cork but the overall savings and benefits to both the winery and consumer is great. These type of enclosures prevent the problems you sometimes have with corked wine. The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon has a pleasant fruit driven nose followed by a palate rich in fruit including blackberry and black cherry. A soft entry carries all through the palate and is anchored by velvety tannins. It has just the right amount of tanginess and tannin structure to pair very well with a variety of foods. This wine is also priced well for the quality. The 2005 Reserve Cabernet is 100% varietal and shows concentrated dark berry fruit on the palate with smoky nuances and hints of mocha. For dessert wine lovers their Belmuscato (an Orange Muscat) is sweet with a long finish and not overly syrupy like some of the Muscat wines we have tried. We also had the privilege of trying their Belforte Port. This type of port is not often found in Napa as it is made from Petite Sirah grapes. Most area wineries that make a port often use Zinfandel grapes. The 2005 vintage is rich in alcohol and flavor with a moderate balanced amount of residual sugar. In other words you won't be left gasping because of the sweetness in the back of your throat! The tasting room is rather spacious and the staff is very knowledgeable and friendly and can give you recommendations for other area wineries. Like other nearby Highway 29 based wineries the tasting room can become very crowded especially on summer and harvest weekends. If you are looking for a more private tasting experience Whitehall offers a reserve tasting program. This is a private tasting with a wine guide and lasts about 1 hour. Ask about their annual open house, typically held in September. You can also join their mailing list online. Visit: www.whitehalllane.com or check out their blog here: www.whitehalllane.com/blog |
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Everyone has their own taste in Cabernet's and their Cabernet fits our palate like a glove. Our visit here was early on in our project and after tasting this wine this was the first winery where we said "yes, we get it"! We are always looking for the "it" Cabernet Sauvignon wine during our Napa wine odyssey and this is definitely one of those. A local winemaker we met with previously describes "it" as having that special richness combined with elegance. The 2004 vintage is one of the nicer Cabernet's that we've tried in Napa Valley. It is structured so that nothing dominates the wine, rather the acid, tannins and alcohol are extremely well managed and the overall structure is smooth and velvety. The nose is full of aromas of cherry and touches of vanilla from the French oak which lead to rich fruit flavors with a touch of mocha. Everything contained within this wine is representative of a very high quality Napa Cabernet. 2.5 acres are planted on site and extreme micro management goes into the making of this wine - there are even micro terroir (soil) regions within the small property and each of these regions is treated as its own unit during harvest, fermentation, aging and the actual winemaking. The estate is gorgeous - it is located right next to Highway 29 North and you can drive by their location day in and day out and never know its there due to its hidden location behind the trees and bushes as well as the non signage. It is one of the first stone wineries built in St. Helena (dates from 1876) and originally opened as the JC Weinberger Winery. Starting in 1883 Hannah Weinberger became one of Napa Valley's first woman winemakers. This was because her husband became a victim of St. Helena's first murder after a disgruntled employee tricked him with a fake telegram and then shot him in broad daylight at the train platform. Yes, in our experience every ghost winery we have visited in the valley has some interesting history! The current winery dates from 1997 which is over 90 years between vintages. Over the last few years a huge renovation and restoration was conducted and now the winery and grounds look sparkling. Parts of a more modern restoration and addition date from 1938 and include the pool and gardens behind the actual winery...definitely the oldest pool at a Napa winery! Also of note is William Cole typically places within the top barrel lots at the annual charity Napa Valley Auction. A visit here is for very extremely serious wine enthusiasts and collectors as all visits and tours are private and the estate is opened for your party only. Visit: www.williamcolevineyards.com |
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Bill's family traces their winemaking back to the early 1500's in Italy. They made wine in California since 1902 at various locations including Healdsburg in neighboring Sonoma County. Bill's grandfather, Antonio was actually the first California winemaker to have a wine-making degree. Bill grew up with the wine industry in his blood. Besides his family contributions to the California wine industry, his personal claim to fame is he started the first ever mobile bottling service for wineries. Drive to the wineries, bottle using all your own equipment and then leave. The cost of an individual bottling line is almost prohibitive for small wineries and he saw a niche that wasn't yet filled. However, it wasn't easy proving this service to the banks as he applied for 39 loans before one bank actually gave him a loan on his 40th attempt! As they say the rest is history - as today mobile bottling is huge business in the wine industry. His original bottling business spawned many new similar businesses and today many of the owners based in Napa and Sonoma & beyond received their training under Bill. During our most recent visit, we saw him out front appropriately working on a mobile bottling truck. He still runs his original bottling company called Estate Bottling. We started our tasting with a 2007 Carneros Chardonnay. This only undergoes partial malolactic fermentation and is not overly creamy. The fruit is well represented both in the bouquet and on the palate. Honeysuckle, dried apricot and minerality nuances are found in the aromas with pear, vanilla and just a touch of toasted oak towards the finish. The 2005 Simpatico is their "Right Bank Bordeaux" version using estate grown Rutherford fruit. It is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. This is very drinkable now. The 2005 Estate Cabernet Franc has some minty herbal qualities in the bouquet with touches of mocha followed by a palate layered in flavor - raspberry and some earthiness. The 2003 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon has a nose full of black currant with notes of cedar and mocha and the palate is juicy with black cherry and black currant flavors. The Rutherford Red is their high end wine and is always made in fairly small quantities; the varietal percentages vary from year to year. The 2005 is a very dark wine and contains a healthy amount of Petite Verdot which contributes to the color, richness and structure of this full bodied wine. Their total production rarely exceeds 1500 cases which makes them one of the smaller wineries in the Napa Valley to have their own tasting room. As a result of their low production the wines often sell out relatively quickly. A number of red varietals are planted on the 9 acres surrounding the winery. These are used for their high end estate red wines and in addition they source fruit from cooler growing regions for their Chardonnay and Pinot noir. Note: the winery is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Visit: www.whwines.com |
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The tasting room backs right up to their main cellar storage room, which is huge. Be sure to ask to step inside for a better view. Look through the windows and you will see hundreds of cases piled up in this large room. Gallo is a huge wine company, but compared to other wine corporations of even smaller size, they are first rate. We have been to several of their tasting rooms (not only in Napa) and in our experience, their staff are always top notch, informed, professional and helpful. The estate tasting is "the" tasting here! It typically covers 7 or 8 of their varietals. A very unique feature of this winery is all their red wines are blended with small quantities of Petite Verdot. The reason for this is it helps create a Bordeaux style blend and brings color, tannins and a nice backbone to the wines. We started out with a 2005 Napa Valley Chardonnay with production at 28,000 cases and compared this to the same vintage Reserve Chardonnay of which only 3,500 cases are produced. The Napa Valley Chardonnay is a great outdoor wine; its rather light, crisp and slightly creamy with melon and citrus aromas. The Reserve on the other hand is all about the fruit; this is a rich Chardonnay that will easily stand up to foods higher in fat, salt or oil content. The 2003 Merlot has the most fruit driven aromatics of any of their wines we tried. Think of a cross between a Pinot noir and a younger Cabernet with concentrated cherry flavors. William Hill makes two radically different Cabernet Sauvignons. The 2004 vintage is one of the lighter bodied Cabs we have tried during our Napa wine odyssey. Despite being made from fruit from similar vineyards this wine is radically different. The keywords for this wine are "more, more more"! More aging, more French Oak, more tannins, more body. Some wines are also only available for purchase or tasting at the winery; these are their "Winery Exclusives" which are produced in extremely small quantities and typically include varietal wines often used for blending in other wines, i.e., Cabernet Franc, Malbec & Petite Verdot. The 2003 Petite Verdot deserves special mention. It is a big wine, bigger than a number of Cabs we have sampled. PV is a grape that produces wine extremely dark in color; this version bursts into your mouth with a variety of flavors including cherry and plum with some subtle notes of vanilla. If the weather permits special outdoor tastings can be arranged by appointment. Check their website for any tasting specials. Visit: www.williamhillestate.com |
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Wineries of Napa Valley offers wine from five Napa Valley wineries: Goosecross Cellars, Burgess Cellars, Girard Winery, the amazing late harvest and botrytis wines of R.H. Harrison Family Cellars and Ilona Howell Mountain Winery (the owner of this label is a long time employee of Burgess Cellars). The nice thing about Wineries of Napa Valley is their vintners tend to stay with them for a long time unlike some of the other collectives that tend to rotate wineries. Often area collectives are for wineries that do not have tasting rooms but three of the wineries represented here all have additional tasting rooms. When busy there is a second bar that can be opened. We enjoyed Ilona's blend of Howell Mountain grown blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cab Franc; it is a very easy to drink smooth wine with rich concentrated flavors. The Orange County Register wrote about her wine here. Note that despite some of the wineries having their own tasting rooms, some of the wines poured here often differ slightly than what each winery offers in their own tasting room. For example we sampled Goosecross's Sparkling Rose here while it was not served at their tasting room. Finish off your tasting with one of the R.H. Harrison Family Cellars botryisized Sauvignon Blancs. This is truly "desert" and there are maybe 2 or 3 wineries in the Napa Valley focusing all their efforts on this type of wine. There is a very informal relaxed and friendly atmosphere here. Be sure to take the "wine quiz" usually sitting on one of their tables. This location is a Wi-Fi spot for Internet access and outdoor seating is also available in their small fenced off patio section. Always wondered about grape varietals? There is a very nice framed graphic listing a plethora of the world's wine grapes on the wall to your right as you walk in. Ask about the Downtown Napa Wine Tasting Card - multiple downtown area tasting rooms participate in this - for a one-time fee you can visit & taste at each of their tasting rooms. You can buy this card in each of the participating tasting rooms. Visit: www.napavintages.com |
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A visit to this winery is about as far from the "normal" preconceived notions of the "Napa wine experience" that you can have! Don't even think about taking a 2-wheel drive car down their road - over the years a number of cars have gotten stuck. Wing Canyon sits in the heart of the Mayacamas Mountain range. Bill and Kathy purchased 160 acres in 1982 and then cleared 10 acres to vine. Their first vintage was in 1991 and their typical annual production is merely 400 to 700 cases. The small winery building is built of rammed earth which is a mix of earth and concrete which has been compressed. The walls are 2 feet thick and as a result moderate the temperature inside very well throughout the year. Wing Canyon specializes in two types of wine; a Cabernet Sauvignon and their Lolita Merlot. All their wines are hand crafted and grown on site with the exception of a blending varietal which they source from one of their Mt. Veeder neighbors. Because of their small production they can pick when they want and may only pick certain parts of their vineyard at a time. As a result harvest can stretch out over multiple days or weeks. This is important in making high quality wines and ensures that only the best, ripest fruit is used. Most of their acreage is dry farmed resulting in lower yields (merely 1.5 tons/acre on average) but more richly concentrated fruit. In addition, they use 100% sustainable farming practices and plant beneficial cover crops both for the soil and to attract beneficial insects to the vineyard. They don't use herbicides, pesticides or synthetic fungicides. The fruit in this part of the Napa area is extremely concentrated and they typically harvest between 1 and 1.5 tons which is quite low compared to valley grown fruit. This type of fruit produces very concentrated flavors in the actual wines. We tried their 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon; it definitely has some cherry flavors as well as spices including cinnamon. It is a very nice wine. Besides the two reds sometimes they have a very small amount of Chardonnay available but often production is so small (1 or 2 barrels) that they often do not even commercially produce it. However sometimes there is some left over from what they consume at the winery and you can find this for sale on their website. Kathy hand paints a different label for each vintage. Visit: www.wingcanyonvineyard.com |
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Witt Estate is one of the few wineries in the Napa Valley just focusing on a single varietal, in this case on Merlot. We have mentioned the Napa Allure several times and we can mention it again here. The owners, John and Barbara Witt are originally from Ohio and have always enjoyed drinking wine. They found themselves taken multiple annual vacations to the Napa Valley and at some point it made sense to actually move and retire here. That point came in 1997 when they pulled up their roots from Ohio and moved west to the Napa Valley. They purchased their property in 1997 on the west side of the valley just south of St. Helena in the shadow of Mt. St. Jean which is located in the Mayacamas mountain range. The land was site of an old dairy farm and was not planted to vineyards. The property at that time required major work but today has been turned into a stunning estate.
Little did they know how much work building the estate would entail as well as planting a vineyard and then making wine commercially. After soil tests determined that Sauvignon Blanc or Merlot would grow well, the Witt's chose Merlot based on the fact they have always enjoyed red wines. They produce about 200 cases each year of this wine and the first few vintages were made at the nearby Tres Sabores Winery. 2002 was their first vintage. They do grow a slight amount of Cabernet Sauvignon on the property and this is sometimes used for blending purposes in the Merlot. They have named their wine Repartie which is a play on their last name and means "witty conversation". We tried their 2004 vintage. This dark purple wine undergoes extended maceration which leaves the skins in contact with the wine for longer periods of time thus ensuring strong color and flavors. This wine tastes of ripe plums often characteristic of Merlots as well as fine flavors of Vanilla imparted from the type of oak used during the aging. It is slightly smoky on the finish with well-managed structured tannins. We also tried their 2003 vintage. This is a nice soft wine with a similar nose to the 2004 which has benefited from the extra year in the bottle. It is silky smooth on the palate with delicate tannins anchoring the long finish. You can find their wine locally at the Rutherford Grill, Dean & Deluca and sometimes at the Oakville Grocery. They also produce limited quantities of olive oil and lavender from the property. Visit: www.wittestate.com |
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Wolf Family Vineyards was established in 1997 by Jane and Doug Wolf, and their winemaker Karen Karen Culler has been on board since the first vintage. Their property includes about 30 acres of which 7 acres are planted in vines. The winery is located almost against the Mayacamas mountains just a touch south west of the town of St. Helena. A small winery on site was built in the 1980's and the surrounding acreage was already planted at the time of the Wolf's purchase. At the time the vineyards were mostly planted in Merlot which perhaps wasn't the most ideal varietal for this location due to the soils and microclimate. The property runs from the hills of the Mayacamas mountains to the flatland of the valley floor.
After purchasing the vineyards, the Wolfs with Karen Culler's insights replanted the entire vineyard with Cabernet Sauvignon and smaller percentages of other varietals. The only varietal that was not removed was the Cabernet Franc; it was originally planted in the 1970's and these vines are still producing fruit today. In fact their first vintage in 1997 was from their Cabernet Franc vineyard. They also have a separate Sauvignon Blanc vineyard on site as well as small amounts of other Bordeaux varietals. As of press time, they focus on three wines, a Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and a predominately Cabernet Franc. Wolf also runs a second label called Phaedrus, or in Greek meaning Wolf. We tried their 2006 Sauvignon Blanc which like all their wines, is produced in limited quantities. Compared to Cabernet Sauvignon, there certainly is not a lot of Sauvignon Blanc grown in the St. Helena appellation and their vineyard showcases this varietal well. The focus on the winemaking side of things is to present the varietal characteristics rather than over stylize the wine. Case in point is the minimal use of oak, as the the fermentation is mostly conducted within small stainless steel barrels and then left to age on the lees. This wine is a blend of two Sauvignon Blanc clones, the Musque clone and the Sauvignon Blanc clone 1. It has a luscious round mouth feel with lots of fruit up front and more of a herbal minty flavor on the mid palate. Great natural acidity and a clean crisp finish make this wine perfect for pairing with a meal. It is always a delight to find a nice Cabernet Franc and Wolf's 2006 vintage does not disappoint. A small percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon is blended to provide additional depth and structure on the finish. Their Cabernet Franc vines are vigorous yet older, which as a result produces berries that are quite small resulting in very concentrated flavors. This is a smooth elegant wine with soft delicate tannins that anchor the long finish. Also be sure to try their 100% varietal Cabernet Sauvignon - in our opinion, this wine has good aging potential. You can find their wines in local wine shops and they are distributed in select markets in NY, Chicago and California. Their total typical annual production runs between 1000 and 1500 cases. When you have olive trees growing on you property you might as well harvest the olives! Wolf Family also produces a very small quantity of olive oil each year. Visit: www.wolffamilyvineyards.com |
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