Provenance Vineyards, April 26, 2014

www.provenancevineyards.com

Okay, so this winery was largely responsible for the timing of my visit this month.  And, rather than coming during normal tasting room hours, I am here after hours for dinner.  … a lobster dinner.  Provenance announced its first lobster feed at the winery and I decided to give it a try.  Lobster and wine … what’s not to like?  Upon arrival at the tasting room, you are signed in for the dinner, then directed into the cellar where you get your first taste of wine.  Then you hang around in the tasting room chatting with other guests, or you can try your luck at a ring-toss game set up to give away a couple bottles of wine.  Once dinner is ready to be served, all of the guests are brought outside under the new crushpad roof (which ensured a measure of protection against any rain).  Each guest was then served a small baking tin replete with one medium-sized lobster, a few shrimps, potatoes, and some green vegetables.  Each table was staged with sourdough bread that outshined the meal itself.  (I would have been nearly as happy to enjoy the wine and the bread alone.)  The one element that the open crushpad could not protect against was the wind, which had whipped up briskly just in time for dinner.  I was grateful to be wearing a leather jacket. 

Provenance Vineyards at dusk.

As I usually sober up during dinner before the long drive home, I had to carefully monitor my intake of wine at Provenance.  So I set my sights on quality to resist the quantity.  Upon arrival, two wines were being poured, the 2013 Malbec Rose and the 2011 Sleeping Lady Cabernet Sauvignon.  (Because of the magnitude of the event, they were pouring into small wine glasses rather than the usual varietal-appropriate stemware used in the tasting room, so I borrowed one of the tasting room glasses and transferred my wine there.)  Next, I chatted briefly with the assistant winemaker who suggested I should taste the 2011 Hewitt Cabernet Sauvignon (which was not one of the wines being offered), so he poured me a taste from one of the last bottles open from the day’s tastings.  With dinner, I enjoyed the 2011 Cabernet Franc and the 2011 Winemakers Blend.  My favorite was clearly the Hewitt, but all these red wines were amazing (especially considering the nature of the vintage).  I did notice that they were very careful not to pour any other vintages, thus avoiding comparisons with the richer 2009 and 2010 red wines.  I enjoyed these wines over two and a half hours and was good to drive by the end of the event.

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

April 15, 2014 – Wine: 2005 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red Wine

When your boss tells you to uncork something nice to celebrate, you really don’t have much choice.  It had been a short while since I had uncorked one of these Pahlmeyer half-bottles, so I was eager to try another.  I find the consistency of this wine’s quality and flavor to be amazing.  I find every sip to be captivating.  I almost wish it wasn’t as good as it is so I could drink it a little more slowly.  Tonight was no different from any of my prior experiences with this wine, except that the palette has evolved slightly and is far more complex.  I noted flavors of sour cherry, cranberry, baking spices, minerals, and leather.  I really think I need more special occasions in my life that require I open a nice bottle such as this.

2005 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red Wine

Elizabeth Spencer Wines, April 26, 2014

www.elizabethspencerwines.com

I must be a good friend.  After all, I am willing to stop at the winery where my friend is a wine club member, pick up his latest shipment for him (and hold it in my cool basement), and taste the wines there to see what’s good.  This last part is my motivation of course, because the wines made by Elizabeth Spenser are so tasty.  And being located at the corner of the main Saint Helena highway and Rutherford Road, the winery is very convenient for me on nearly every trip is take to the area.  (Almost too convenient.)  I also enjoy the quaint, brick tasting room, with its suburban England charm and feel.  (A visit here reminds me of a trip I once took to Windsor.)

The Elizabeth Spencer Winery tasting room

I always have to be careful tasting at Elizabeth Spencer, especially when I have more wineries on my tasting agenda.  The folks tend to be quite generous with their wine club members, so I like to draw the line at two pours.  That doesn’t explain why I had three, of course.  That’s the wine itself.  On this visit, I tried three wines.  I enjoyed the 2010 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Special Cuvee, followed by the 2011 Russian River Chardonnay, and lastly the 2013 Pinot Noir Rose.  The chardonnay was my favorite of the day, but the Cabernet was decidedly delicious.

A full review was written already about Elizabeth Spencer Wines during my visit on November 2^nd, 2012.

April 12, 2014 – Wine: 2004 Saint Clement Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

This Cabernet knocked my socks off … again.  I remember when I signed up for the Saint Clement California Collector’s wine club (the first time), I was hoping to get a 2001-2003 vertical of the Howell Mountain Cabernet, but was a little disappointed to find three bottles of the 2004 vintage instead.  I later fell into some real deals on the 2002, and have tasted the 2003, but still missed the 2001.  (I opened a magnum of the 2002 a year ago on my birthday and loved it.)  So, I tucked these three bottles away in the cellar and forgot about them for a while.  I opened the first in December of 2012 and was sufficiently impressed to remain happy with my purchase.  Then I stumbled upon another bottle for 50% off and snatched it up.  But tonight, I had no idea of the delight that was in store for me.  The wine is fantastic, with a potent nose (even with my seasonal allergies) and a palette rich with flavors of blackberry, black cherry, black raspberry, dark chocolate, and minerals.  Now I need to find three good reasons to open the remaining bottles.  (How about … “It’s a sunny day”?)

Saint Supery Vineyards & Winery, April 26, 2014

Winery - 7 / Wines - 7
Range:  1 to 9 (9 is best, 5 is average)
Art, view of cellar operations, and patio seating.  Cabernets and interesting whites.
www.stsupery.com

It had been years since my last visit to Saint Supery Winery and I was anxious to return.  Situated right on the main highway running through Rutherford, the winery beckons to me every time I pass by.  A lobster feed at another winery drew me up to Napa Valley this day and I worked a visit into my plans for the day.  And I am glad that I did, since the interior of the winery has undergone a refresh in décor.  The upstairs gallery remains mostly unchanged, except that the wine scent demonstration table is gone.  Downstairs, the floor and walls have all been redone with a more modern look.  The early afternoon weather was glorious (low 70’s) so I enjoyed my tasting outside on the patio adjacent to the tasting room.

The entrance and patio at Saint Supery Winery

The winery operations at Saint Supery are set back a ways from the highway, with ample parking.  From the parking lot, you walk through a large patio area which is dotted with places to sit and talk in the sun.  The exterior of the building has contemporary look, with a mix of stonework and white woodwork, with tall slender columns propping up the roof overhanging the tasting patio.  The tasting patio is flanked by short walls and a raised garden.  Large glass provides unobstructed views both inward and outward.  From inside, the look has been recently updated with applications of rich woodwork on the walls and surrounding the tasting bar which occupies the middle of the room.  The floor is paved with large, rich, putty-colored tiles.  Bottles are displayed along the length of the back wall providing an interesting combination of product and symmetry.  An adjacent room displays more of the product on the walls and provides a more tranquil environment for selecting wines for purchase.  Upstairs, a long, wide hallway is dedicated to displaying artwork.  Midway down the hallway is a door to a catwalk above the cellar operations floor.  From the catwalk you look down upon the many shiny fermenting tanks used to process the wine.

Inside Saint Supery Winery

I opted for the reserve flight of red wines.  My flight started with the 2010 Rutherford Merlot, followed by the 2010 Elu Meritage, which is really tasting nicely right now.  This was followed by the 2009 Dollarhide Petite Verdot, then the 2009 Rutherford Cabernet, and finally the 2009 Dollarhide Cabernet, both of which were delicious.  My favorite wine was the Elu Meritage, as it always has been.  I nearly bought a bottle, but the price was a little steep.

The new foyer at Saint Supery Winery

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

April 10, 2014 – Wine: 2002 Surh Luctel Cabernet Sauvignon

I was a little disappointed with this wine in the full bottle.  When I last tasted this wine, it was in the half-bottle back in October 2012 and the wine was impressive, both for its structure and complexity.  I was eagerly looking forward to opening another bottle.  This time I opened a full-bottle (750ml).  I found the wine was less interesting than my experience from the half-bottle.  Of course, 18 months have passed between the two tastings, which would lead to softening of the wine to some degree, but I was surprised to find the wine was more muted, more integrated and seemingly less structured and layered.  Perhaps the half-bottle develops a more obvious personality that I find preferable.  This bottle was only disappointing by comparison to the half-bottle earlier, but none-the-less still a quality wine.  I noted flavors of cherry pie, baking spices, pomegranate, and minerals.  I have one bottle of each format remaining in my cellar and I am looking forward to comparing the formats again in two to four years.

April 8, 2014 – Wine: 2008 Blackbird Arise

My wine buddy was the first to suggest I try the wines from Blackbird.  Since they have no tasting room, we headed to Ma(i)sonry in Yountville to enjoy a flight of their 2006 vintage.  I was suitably impressed to want to acquire several bottles of the 2007 vintage and later a few bottles of the 2008.  Since the 2008’s seem to be coming around sooner than the 2007’s, I decided to open this half-bottle of Blackbird’s Arise red blend, featuring Merlot, Cabernet  Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc.  I found this wine to be big and expressive.  The palette was nicely balanced with flavors of blackberry, cranberry, incense, minerals, and a note of lime on the finish.

 

Corison Winery, March 31, 2014

www.corison.com

I had my own wine club pickup at Corison, which was my main motivation for my trip to Napa Valley today.  Every March, the wine club offers a library selection to wine club members.  This March, the selection was a magnum of the 2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.  I casually mentioned that my favorite vintage was the 2002, and they happily changed the bottle for a 2002 (which was selling for the same price), after some minimal bookkeeping.  The magnum was delivered in a winery-branded wooden case, so this bottle will have a special place in everyone’s cellar (especially mine).  Now I have to plan a large dinner to enjoy this big bottle.

One of the tidy tanks in the Corison Winery operations room

As this was my fifth winery of the day, and the first stop was more than generous with their wines, I decided to limit myself to just two wines at Corison.  I first tasted the 2010 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, which seems to have opened up a little since I tasted it last fall.  Then I tasted the 2010 Kronos Cabernet Sauvignon, which will be shipped to me in June.  I am looking forward to picking up these bottles of Kronos Cabernet.  For those who are interested, Corison also bottles a few wines under second labels called Corazon (a dry Gewuztraminer) and Helios (a delicious Cabernet Franc and Syrah), which are available to taste most days.

A full review was written already about Corison Winery during my visit on April 6^th, 2012.