Napa in 2007

Having learned some hard lessons in past trips, we made the appropriate adjustments for this trip and toured Napa during the week. Every place we stopped was new to us and the whole experience was unparalleled to anything we’d done before.
I'm still searching for the rest of my barrel tasting notes from this trip. Maybe I'll find them anyway...
Clos du Val
Cabernet Sauvignon
I enjoyed this wine while was still pretty tight, while others preferred it decanted/open. It’s a good wine to drink alone with lots of complexity to it: dark flavors like chocolate, black cherry, coffee.

Luna
Luna had some good wines, but they were overpriced and somewhat disappointing.

Conn Creek
These guys opend with a nice “hey, how are you?” chardonnay. It was the wine that led us to coin the term “social chardonnay”. You know the ones I’m talking about, where company arrives and you’re still settling in for the event, so you open a nice white wine to warm things up while you finish your preparations.
Smack me in the mouth, this is the biggest, baddest, Bordeaux blend I have ever tasted! Conn Creek Anthology, a full blend of the five Bordeaux grapes (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec), is the richest, chewiest, blast of complex flavor and mountainous structure that has ever crossed my palate! Wow! Woohoo!

Charles Krug
I confess that I made the same mistake that most people, new to the area, make. I recognized Krug as a sparkling wine maker, but what I learned was only their French wineries make it. They stick to the traditions of it, and therefore make Champagne. (Note: Champagne is a sparkling wine made in the eponymously named region of France.) Nonetheless, Krug was quite a pleasant surprise. They had a good merlot at the price point ($19/bttl). Their red blend, Generations, didn’t have the in-your-face structure that Anthology had, but it was smooth and suitably complex. For $15 a bottle less, it was also better valued.

Louis MartiniThe chardonnay they offered was good and fairly priced, as were all of their wines. The stand-out here was an old-vines zinfandel.

Simi - Barrel Tasting
We stopped at Simi to hit their barrel tasting since they were one of the few open on a Friday. Regrettably, it wasn’t really worth the stop – even the food was poor. At some point, it might be worth stopping for the winery tour.

Armida - Barrel Tasting
Nestled up on a hill overlooking a pond and vineyards, this is a nice spot to buy a bottle and sit out on their deck with a small picnic. We had a thought that having people at the rail of the redwood deck, overlooking the vineyards, with four glasses and a bottle on the rail, would be a nice artistic picture.
Once again, their Maple Vineyard Zinfandel is fabulous! We bought futures and I’m sure we won’t be disappointed. They were also tasting a 2006 One Old Vineyard Zinfandel that would be interesting to try once it is bottled.
Their chardonnay was so worth the futures. The 2006 Keefer Ranch Chardonnay had a creaminess to it while still sustaining citrus fruits of lemon, pear, and oddly, a little banana.

Hop Kiln - Barrel TastingKeep and eye out for the November Release of the Dijon Clone Chardonnay. They have a lot of great oils, mustards, dips, vinagrettes, etc. If you are hungry, they bake you a small loaf of bread in about 5 minutes for a couple of dollars. It’s nice to cut the buzz with… The most interesting thing about Hop Kiln is its history, having once been a brewery.

Copia
I talk about COPIA a little in my book. In short, it’s well worth the stop. Devote the better part of the morning or afternoon here as the museum, restaurant, and wine/food seminars will keep you occupied for a while.

Freemark AbbeyThere’s no doubt that this is a very charming place, but the wines, we found were a tad overpriced. We’ve since learned that the real value wines are in the reserve tastings.

Heitz Cellars
Bella Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon was a multi-layered wine that will improve even more in five years. It was so incredibly complex that there were two distinct phases to the flavors that appeared from the taste. The finish was so long I almost checked my watch!

The chardonnay they offer is quite nice as a social chardonnay. Note, however, that it differs greatly from other chards in the valley, in that it’s not creamy or buttery. This is a chard with so much oak flavor you almost have to dig the splinters out of your mouth. Don’t mistake me, it’s got good balance with lemon, pear, and melon, but this is not your Napa chard.

Grignolino Port – It’s a sweet port, but without the brand fortification. Heitz uses grappa, a wine spirit, to fortify their ports. It’ll be good with fruity desserts (including, oddly, pumpkin pie).
Grignolino wine – this is best characterized as a good pizza wine. I’ve found this varietal to be a little odd, with notes of yellow and red bell peppers. It’s not complex, but has an appealing nose. This one didn’t follow through on the palate, however.

Ink Grade Port – I have had a fair share of ports and, unequivocally, this is the best port I’ve ever had. Before I say more, I must say first that you should beware of which Ink Grade you’re buying. The non-vintage is good (and very well-priced), but the quality doesn’t hold water against the vintage port by the same name! What a fantastic port! Nobody does it better, in my opinion. Heitz is special in many regards when it comes to this port. First, they fortify it with grappa, not brandy like most ports. Secondly, the grapes they use are port grapes, which is to say they are the same varietals used to make port in Portugal! Don’t screw around with other wineries’ syrah, zin, or cab ports if you can get your hands on so much as one bottle of this elixir. It costs twice as much as the non-vintage port but no more than anyone else’s.

Peju
The merlot here was fine. The chardonnay is good at the price point. There was a fun “summer wine” (an expression I detest, but is favored by many feminine wine drinkers) called Prevance. I don’t know why, but they were also characterizing it as a fun, easy, “hot tub” wine. It’s much like Siduri’s “barbeque wine”, just more expensive. (Note: An argument ensued over which was better. No clear winner.)

St. Supery
There was nothing exciting here. I like a wine called Elu, but it didn’t really have the balance or complexity commensurate with the price.

Sequoia Grove
What a beautiful place! The cabernets were well-balanced, but on the spicy side. There wasn’t enough fruit accessible to the palate for our preferences due to the American oak aging.

Havens
“Black and Blue” was a nice wine that will be quite “yummy” in five to seven years. A new varietal to us, the Albarino was tart, but good. The crispness could easily be attributed to the lack of malolactic fermentation.

Twomey
Nothing but merlots and what a good source for them! They were complex and structured enough to be able to lay them down. They were in the process of release a Russian River Pinot Noir that might be interesting, but they weren’t tasting it.

Sterling Vineyards
What a beautiful place to visit, nestled like a mansion on the top of a knoll in the northern valley. A gondola ride takes you to the top where you begin a tour through the winery, narrated by automated recordings and large poster boards. The view of the vineyards in the valley below is quite rustic and charming. As you tour the winery, there are stations that serve you wine for your tasting pleasure. My overall impression was that the wines had a bouquet that was far and away better than the taste. In fact the wines were a bit disappointing across the palate.

Domaine Chandon
OMG, get your lips on a glass of their Pinot Munier! This is a varietal that is often grown to blend with other pinots and sparkling wines, but Domaine Chandon has found a real treasure in their Carneros grapes to make a vintage of its own.
The Etoile Brut sparkling wine was nutty, with a surprising honey taste that made it deliciously smooth.
Classic Brut was pretty good and very accessible – easy drinking
Chandon Riche’ had orange muscat added – perfectly balanced to be a sweet, dry, delicious sparkling wine, especially for the price point.

Schug
The white wines were a bit tart and acidic. The reds were a bit spicy, but unworthy of adding to our collection.

Viansa
What a great merlot they have! It goes down so smoothly and easily, but has a very fruit-rich nose without smelling like a pinot. Drink now or in 5 years.
The 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon was rich and full, but not at that price point.
The Cabernet Franc blend was excellent! Finished extremely well with nice balance and left a rich, smooth (non-drying) coating to the mouth.

Domaine Carneros
Great view! We tasted the sparkling wines which were mediocre. They were accessible, but available in any market. In other words, they weren’t anything special.