December 12, 2014 – Wines for a surprise party

A dear friend was having a birthday, and unbeknownst to him, he was having a small party to celebrate it.  My contribution was the wine.  Since I was invited about five hours beforehand, this was the best I could pull together after work (plus a card, or course).  We started off with a half-bottle of 2007 Clos du Val Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and followed with a bottle of 2007 Provenance Vineyards Winemakers Reserve Blend.  Both wines flaunted the vintage characteristics, and both surprised me a little.  The Clos du Val surprised me by finally coming into its pulled-together stage, where good balance, softened edges, and delicious fruit prevail.  (This wine showed much promise when I first tasted it at the winery on release.)  The Provenance surprised me for the development of elegance it was undergoing.  Regrettably, this was my last bottle of the 2007 Provenance blend, but I have newer vintages standing by.  And this is probably the longest that I have aged any screw-cap bottle in my cellar to date (about five years now).  Tom Rinaldi, who was the master winemaker at the time, suggested that a screw cap could easily go about four to six years.  Implicit in his remarks was that he preferred corks for longer aging of red wine.

Saint Clement Vineyards, November 24, 2014

www.stclement.com

I had two motivations for my prompt return to Napa Valley this week.  First off, I was eager to try out my new SLR on the fall color in Napa Valley before any more weather stripped the foliage from the vines.  Second, I had a pickup at Saint Clement that I had missed by two days during my prior visit.  As I pulled into the valley from the south, I could see that I was nearly too late to capture any decent photographs of the area.  But, the further north I traveled, I soon learned that the weather had been a little more forgiving up this way.  I managed to capture a number of great shots.  (The geek in me took pictures with my point-and-shoot to compare with those from the SLR.)  And, my wine club shipment was ready for pickup as anticipated.  Had I delayed my trip any longer, I might have had to pay shipping so they could get my wine out from underfoot.

Some repurposed wine barrels at the winemaker's studio at Saint Clement Vineyards.

The weather was warm for late November so I opted to try some white wines with my flight.  I started with the new 2013 Bale Lane Sauvignon Blanc (which needs a little time to sweeten and integrate, but shows good promise).  Next I enjoyed the 2012 Abbots Vineyard Chardonnay.  Then it was on to the reds, starting with the 2011 Oroppas, then the 2011 Johanna (a red blend in my pickup), and lastly the 2010 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon.  Of these, the Johanna was my favorite, but I picked up a bottle each of the Chardonnay, the Oroppas, and the 2010 Star Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.

A full review was written already about Saint Clement Vineyards during my visit on May 12^th, 2012.

January 12, 2015 – Revisiting Fall Color

My most recent trip to Napa Valley was on November 24, 2014, and while I captured some amazing autumn color, it is clear that I missed the peak colors by several days.  The weekend before my visit had seen some heavy rains and strong winds that stripped the wines of some of their beautiful foliage.  Still, what remained shimmered and gleamed in the brilliant afternoon sun.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from my afternoon there.  I hope they help to warm you as the trees and vines now lie naked awaiting Spring’s next dress rehearsal and bud-break.

Along the Silverado Trail just north of the Yountville Cross

The view from the balcony at Miner Family Winery in Oakville

Behind the offices at Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards

The driveway leading to Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards

Conn Valley Road near Howell Mountain Road (looking south-west)

At Charles Krug Winery in Saint Helena

November 18, 2014 – Wine: 2005 Saint Clement Progeny Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Tonight was to be a special dinner, so I wanted an impressive wine to serve.  I had narrowed it down to one of two vintages of the same wine:  Saint Clement Progeny Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (from Mount Veeder).  I had just one bottle of 2002, and a handful of the 2005, but I suspected that the 2005 was not yet ready.  Still, I figured the 2002 had yet to reach its full potential either, so I opted for the more plentiful wine, the 2005 (which I had previewed back in 2008).  My company for dinner was not nearly as patient as I, so we only let the wine decant about 20 minutes before starting to drink it up.  (My initial taste suggested a 90-minute decant would be needed, and nearly two hours later it was about ready.)  At first the wine was off-balance, edgy (fuzzy?), and lemony on the finish, but you could sense the power and complexity lurking beneath the maelstrom.  As the wine mellowed, its true nature emerged.  Indeed powerful, this wine was also balanced, complex, persistent, and delicious with flavors of dark currants, raspberry, dark cherry, dark chocolate, minerals, and black licorice.  It is still robust with tannins and should wait another five years to approach its peak potential.