January 5, 2014 – Wine: 2005 Darioush Signature Cabernet Sauvignon

After my last two half-bottles of 2005 Cabernets, I decided it was time to start opening more bottles before all the 2005 goodness fades away.  So, I skimmed the cellar for a sampling from various wineries that I’d like to open in the coming weeks.  Tonight’s selection was Darioush’s Signature Cabernet.  This was a wonderful wine when it was young, featuring a near rich palette of red fruits, with raspberry most prominent.  Tonight, the tannins have softened somewhat from three years ago, but its lush texture remains.  The palette features raspberry jam, pomegranate, leather, baking spices, and minerals.  This wine appears to be holding up a little better than the last two wines I opened this week.  I’m looking forward to uncorking the rest.

Hendry Ranch Wines, December 21, 2013

Winery - 6 / Wines - 7
Range:  1 to 9 (9 is best, 5 is average)
Small winery operation close by Napa.  Cabernets, Zinfandel, and whites.  By reservation.
www.hendrywines.com

It had been four years since my last visit to Hendry Winery just east of the town of Napa.  The winery is on the road up to Hess Collection (and to the Mayacamas mountain range) just as the curves start and before going “up” at all.  The tiny winery sign is what originally caught my eye and engaged my curiosity years ago, and is the same easily missed sign that visitors need to watch for when driving there.  The winery building is set back a ways from the road behind a row of eucalyptus trees and is hard to discern while driving by.  I was taking some friends wine tasting who had shared a few half-bottles of the Hendry 2006 Zinfandel and I thought they would enjoy tasting the other wines they make there.  When planning to visit Hendry, you will need to make a reservation and plan at least 90 minutes for your visit.  While the tasting experience is educational, the teacher has a gift of gab that doesn’t quit.

The Hendry Winery operations and tasting building

From the outside, the Hendry operations building seems rustic and understated.  Dark redwood siding and a long porch overhang give this building a look that fits perfectly on a farm (which it is).  A large oak shades the front patio to the building, which is elevated about 15 feet, providing a sweeping vantage point for viewing the surrounding vineyards.  Nearly all the wine bottled by Hendry is grown on this very estate, which is rare considering the number of different wines they produce.  Inside, the décor is minimal, but authentic.  Two large tables divide the main room into two tasting areas.  Guests are seated at one of the tables and provided with their own glass, a dump vessel, and a map of the estate’s vineyard blocks.  Just behind the main tasting room is my favorite room – the wine library.  Looking through the windows into the library you see the beautiful woodwork that makes up the storage bins holding their wines.  In the middle of the library is a table used for staging wines which is made of similar materials.  The flooring throughout the tasting room is a richly painted concrete with an old rug taking up the center to help deaden any echoes.

Inside the Hendry Winery main tasting room

Hendry would rather that you sample all of their wines than have a hearty helping of just a few of them, so each wine is poured in ½ ounce samples (rather than the usual 1+ ounce).  In this way you taste about the same volume of wine after the nine different wines have been poured.  The tasting starts with three white wines: a 2012 Pinot Gris, a 2012 Unoaked Chardonnay, and a 2010 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay (which was my favorite white).  Next come the six red wines: a 2010 Pinot Noir, a 2010 Blocks 22 & 8 Zinfandel, a 2010 Block 28 Zinfandel, a 2011 Primitivo, a 2009 Red (a Bordeaux-style blend), and a 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon.  Of the reds, the Block 28 Zinfandel was my favorite and I brought a bottle home.


Based on this experience, I would rate the winery as a 6 and the wines offered as a 7.  This is consistent with my previous visit.

January 2, 2014 – Wines: Two 2005 Napa Valley Cabernets

On New Years Day and the day after, I opened two half-bottles of 2005 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon blends.  Each was one of my favorites from the vintage for its beautiful fruit.  One I liked for its richness, the other for its lush fruit and attractive pricing.  Both, however, are starting to shut down, which is a little disappointing for me.  Alas, that is the cycle of a wine’s life.  This reminds me of some sage advice for wine-cellaring fools such as myself: if you really enjoy how a wine is drinking today, then drink it up.  Holding onto a wine will help you learn how it evolves, but drinking the wine when you enjoy it is probably the best strategy.

2005 Miner Family Oracle Proprietary Red

This wine has been one of my favorites since I first discovered the 2003 vintage.  (I later enjoyed the 2001 and 2002.)  This wine always brings power and subtle richness to the table with impeccable balance.  The 2005 vintage added wonderful red fruits in its youth.  Sadly, those red currants and cranberries are now buried beneath the flavors of red plums, pomegranate, and minerals that are more prominent now.  Still, what remains is immensely pleasing.

2005 Meyer Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

This wine was so impressive that I ultimately acquired about two cases (of half-bottles).  This wine was the one I held up as the example of the vintage’s best.  Priced just under most of the better Napa Valley Cabernets (about $45), it rewarded with tremendous quality and great fruit.  Always well balanced, this wine was lush with red fruits featured prominently, albeit far from rich like the more expensive wines.  Tonight, the lush red fruits are waning, replaced by leather, mint, pomegranate, cranberry, and mineral.

Top 5 Winery Visits of 2013

If you drink a lot of bottles of wine during the year, it is easy to put together a list of your top five (or ten) favorite wines from the year.  Then I realized that I visited 30 different wineries during 2013 and figured I should pick my favorites from that list.  This turned out to be nearly as difficult as selecting just five favorite wines from the year.  I narrowed the list down to my favorite nine wineries, and then had to start dropping off some notable wineries.  The five left standing are truly a remarkable list.  Four are located in Napa Valley, while the fifth is perched above the Russian River.

Larkmead, March 25, 2013
St. Clement Vineyards, March 1, 2013
Gary Farrell Winery, July 5, 2013
Hess Collection Winery, August 14, 2013
Ehler's Estate, May 14, 2013

Though this last winery did not make the list, it was the best of those that did not and is worthy of mentioning here for its intimate setting (underground in a working cellar) and scale.


Anomaly Vineyards, March 25, 2013

January 20, 2014 – Drought in California affects Napa Valley

The lack of rain in Northern California is readily apparent in Napa Valley today.  Ordinarily, the vineyards are lush with a green cover crop, surrounded by rich mounds of wet, dark-chocolate colored soil.  By mid February, the cover crop starts to bloom as the vineyards glow yellow in the low winter sun.  This year, all of the vineyards are dry.  There is no cover crop and the soils are a dusty gray.  This will be an important year for vineyard management techniques. 

Below is a photo from December 28, 2012, and one from today.  I have never seen the valley this dry.

Lush vineyards at Saint Clement in Napa Valley on December 28, 2012

Endless dry vineyards seen from Silverado Vineyards on January 20, 2014

December 26, 2013 – Wine: 2004 Saint Clement Armstrong Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon

I have not been the biggest fan of Diamond Mountain Cabernets, at least not when young.  And this wine failed to impress me when it was young.  Indeed, the wine press agreed with me, rating this bottle 90 points; not bad for any wine, but for a wine costing as much as this does, the rating (and the wine) was a letdown.   Each vintage is different of course, and last year the 2003 performed remarkably at the Christmas table, so I maintained hope for this bottle.  This time the wine won me over – not quite as much as the 2003, but still enough to impress me.  The wine offers up great balance, terrific structure, and a sense of restrained power.  On the palette I noted pomegranate, cranberry, tea, leather, and mineral.

My Top 5 Wines of 2013

Everyone who writes anything about wine seems to publish a list of the top wines they tried in the last year.  So, I decided to review my tasting notes and put together a list of my favorites that I opened in 2013.  Since I don’t actually rate the wines I taste, the list is a little more subjective than others.  Still, like all such lists, it represents my opinion of my experiences.  To form this list, I pulled out any stand-out wines that I opened during 2013 and found 14 of them.  Then I narrowed the list to just these five:

2002 Hewitt Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon 750ml
2001 Ridge Monte Bello 375ml
2002 Rudd Estate Red 375ml
2002 Rubicon Estate Red 375ml
2007 Gary Farrell Russian River Selection Pinot Noir 750ml

There were three others that are really worth mentioning (I could only select my top five):

2005 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red 375ml
2002 Opus One 375ml

2003 Hestan Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 375ml

December 23, 2013 – Wine: 2007 Gary Farrell Russian River Selection Pinot Noir

I have been waiting to revisit this wine since last August.  I also wanted to share it with my wine buddy in San Francisco, who is a big Pinot Noir fan.  I was hoping to get some time for dinner with him before this wine shut down, but I just missed the window.  When I opened the first bottle in August, the wine expressed beautiful dark fruits and baking spices in an elegant body.  This time, while the wine retained its elegance and exquisite balance, it lost the magic that was expressed in its fruit.  The wine is still lovely and worth pouring for special friends, but that magical expression has passed.  Had I not opened that wonderful bottle last August, I would not have felt let down by this otherwise lovely bottle.  Such is the experience with aging wine – it continues to evolve, whether you want it to or not.

2007 Gary Farrell Russian River Selection Pinot Noir

Provenance Vineyards, November 25, 2013

www.provenancevineyards.com

My tasting buddy wanted to finish up our trip at Provenance.  I also had a selection of wines to be picked up, so both our goals lined up.  I also wanted to taste the 2010 Hewitt before it disappeared.  It seems that Wine Spectator magazine had just given it a score of 95 points and ranked it the number four wine on its list of top 100 wines for 2013.  The score alone is impressive, but the ranking is a phenomenal accomplishment.  I have long said that the Hewitt Cabernet is my favorite Cabernet (for the price) to come out of Napa Valley.  Of course, all of this acclaim will kill the affordability of my favorite wine.  Thanks a lot Wine Spectator!  (Well, Tom Rinaldi and crew do deserve it.)

I started my tasting off with the 2012 Estate Sauvignon Blanc, which I use as my benchmark for other Sauvignon Blancs from the valley.  While not light and crisp, this wine is balanced, slightly sweet on the finish (albeit completely dry), and with a touch of richness that makes this wine enjoyable anytime the temperature is above 60 degrees outside (not just when the temperature soars).  It remains my favorite Sauvignon Blanc, and shines just as brilliantly as most other 2012’s.  I then moved onto the reds, comparing the 2009 Three Palms Cabernet Sauvignon to the 2009 To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon (which was my favorite of the visit).  Lastly, I compared the 2009 and 2010 Hewitt wines side-by-side.  What wine did I pick up an extra bottle of?  The 2012 Estate Sauvignon Blanc.  (If you like this varietal, 2012 is your vintage.)


A full review was written already about Provenance Vineyards during my visit on February 8^th, 2012.

December 22, 2013 – Wine: 2007 Goldeneye Anderson Valley Pinot Noir

It was at a wine tasting in San Francisco when I first discovered Goldeneye wines, just a few months before the presidential inauguration lunch where the 2005 Goldeneye was the featured red wine.  Of course I had to get a few half-bottles.  The 2005 Goldeneye was an impressive wine when young, and got better over the subsequent two years.  I followed up with two visits to the Goldeneye tasting room up in remote Anderson Valley, enjoying both the 2006 and then the 2007 vintages.  When the 2007’s were released in half-bottles, I snatched up about a half dozen for my cellar.  While the first bottle I opened last October seemed a little uninspiring, this bottle was much better, with a prominent nose.  The body remains elegant and the palette features vintage typical notes along with some black plums.  I look forward to opening the next bottle soon.  Of course, I busted my favorite Pinot Noir glass while washing it the next morning, so now I get to head to the mall during the holiday madness.  Oh joy!

January 7, 2014 – Historic stone winery buildings

I just added another day-trip itinerary to the winery day trips that focuses on visiting historic old stone wineries of Napa Valley.  In it I list four of Napa Valley’s most accessible historic stone winery buildings that are still in use as tasting rooms or winery operations.  Some of these buildings are beautiful specimens of stonework at its best and have withstood about 130 years of use (an earthquakes).  You will also find other wineries that incorporate stonework into their architecture.  Check out the wineries on the right navigation list or here.

Ehler's Estate tasting room in St. Helena

Freemark Abbey tasting room in St. Helena

Ladera winery operations on Howell Mountain

Ma(i)sonry tasting room in Yountville

December 14, 2013 – Wines for trimming a tree

I have a few friends who, for whatever reason, do not trim a Christmas tree.  I thoroughly enjoy trimming the tree, so I like to share the activity with a few friends.  This gives my friends an opportunity to participate in what I consider a relaxing moment, and I open some nice wines.  This time, the wine that out-performed was the least expensive.

2008 Savannah-Chanelle Coastview Vineyard, Monterey Syrah

This wine outperformed the others.  And thanks to a clearance sale at a local wine merchant, I was able to get a couple of bottles at $14 each, making this a superb wine for the dollar.  This wine is smooth and slightly rich, with good black fruits and a nice black pepper quality to it.

2007 Provenance Cabernet Franc

This has long been the wine I can count on to please at any gathering, and when it was on sale for about $21, that made it a great wine to bring to a party as well.  This wine has more structure than the Syrah and the palette is a little less elegant, but remains balanced and delicious.  The flavors retain their vintage-typical expression of blue and black fruits along with good mineral development.

2009 Norton Reserva Malbec

This wine was brought by one of the guests, so I do not know its price.  A quick search of www.wine-searcher.com suggests the price is similar to that of the Syrah.  When the cork was just pulled, this wine was completely smooth and a little one-dimensional.  After about 45 minutes the typical Malbec characteristics (like pepper) featured more prominently as the wine offered up more structure.  The wine drank beautifully for the first two hours or so, but it developed a subtle funk after three hours.

Freemark Abbey, November 25, 2013

http://www.freemarkabbey.com/


I was visiting wineries with a good friend and I had been hoping to work in a visit to Freemark Abbey with him during our last trip through Napa Valley, but it didn’t work out.  This time, I put the idea on the table as we were driving down Howell Mountain (it’s on the way, just two minutes off our route).  So, we made the detour to Freemark Abbey and I was glad we did.  My friend got an opportunity to try their wines, and I was able to sample one of the wines in my November wine club shipment – the winery’s flagship Cabernet (Bosché Vineyard).  As luck would have it, our tasting was held in the historic stone winery building (our second of the day) rather than the newer members’ tasting room.  I love the feeling of the old stone building … it lends a sense of history to the wines.  (Freemark Abbey was one of the six California red wines at the 1976 Judgment of Paris event.)

The entry to the historic Freemark Abbey stone winery building

My tasting flight started off with the 2011 Howell Mountain Chardonnay.  As much as I have been enjoying the 2011 Chardonnays, I found this one too mineral and lacking in fruit.  I continued with the 2010 Napa Valley Cabernet (which is quite tasty), then the 2009 Mount Veeder Cabernet, and lastly the 2009 Bosché Cabernet.  This last wine is wonderful for its grace, power, and ripeness.  I was happy to have a bottle in my wine club pickup.

A full review was written already about Freemark Abbey during my visit on December 28^th, 2012.