Provenance Vineyards, January 20, 2014

www.provenancevineyards.com

I just cannot head to Napa Valley with friends without one of them wanting to end the day at Provenance Vineyards.  The good news is I thoroughly enjoy visiting here so it never grows tired.  Plus, there are enough wines on the tasting menu that I can try something different every visit (but only if I put my mind to it).  This time there were two new wines on the tasting menu that caught my attention (one of which I bought), so I was glad to have stopped in.

The glowing Provenance Vineyards winery building at dusk.

Because of the plenitude of wine offered at the previous stops this day, I chose to limit myself to only three pours here.  This is very difficult because I so thoroughly enjoy the wines at Provenance.  But I stuck to my guns and tried the 2011 Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon, followed by the 2010 Rutherford Barrel Select Cabernet Sauvignon, and ended with the 2009 To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon.  While the To Kalon is still my favorite, the other two wines surprised me.  First, I was impressed with the ripeness that was achieved in the 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon, which was a difficult cool vintage, but I was especially impressed with the quality of the 2010 Barrel Select Cabernet and actually bought a bottle to bring home.


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