Napa Valley

• Atlas Peak
• Best of Napa
• Calistoga
• Conn Valley
• Diamond Mountain
• Howell Mountain
• Mt. Veeder
• Oak Knoll
• Oakville
• Pope Valley
• Rutherford
• Spring Mountain
• St. Helena
• Stags Leap
• Yountville

The label on this bottle (bought at auction) was very wrinkled which was quite worrisome.  No need to worry, the wine was stunning.  Purple in color, magenta at the rim, opaque and bright.  The nose is deep with cassis, coffee beans, spice and slight graphite.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, complex and deep.  Notes of cassis, chocolate and coffee.  Long finish.  This is delicious.  Great on its own, at age 11, this is starting to show a nice complexity that will work with food.  Beef stroganoff would be interesting.  

This continues to be the best value in the Bevan catalog.  Perhaps a little behind the single vineyard wines in quality.  Perhaps not.  It is expensive but half the price of those.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with cassis, cedar, baking spices and slight dark chocolate.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  This is obviously young, so decant for a few hours if drinking now.  On the palate, it is lush with loads of cassis, some chocolate and spices.  Deep.  Long finish.  Delicious.  This is probably better on its own right now, but that will change as it ages.  Drink over

More mature than past vintages, this has nice tight tannins and acidity to make the fruit work well for aging long-term. The dusty fruit of blackberry, black cherry, blueberry and huckleberry gives way to light vanilla from the oak influence and slight cocoa notes. The oak certainly plays a major influence here, but it does not detract from the beautiful fruit that has been harvested for this wine. Though this wine has a lot of production, the quality is still amazing for the number of cases it produces That takes control, and focus by the winemaking team at Duckhorn.

This is an excellent value in Napa Chardonnay and in our recent tasting, this was the groups top wine.  Green/gold in color, clear and bright.  The nose has lemon cream, some red apples and a bit of vanilla.  Full bodied.  Nice slightly oily texture.  On the palate, lemon cream with some peach and a bit of oak showing.  Good balance.  Nice finish.  This is nice on its own and will work well with seafood or poultry.  Drink over the next three to six years.  

Green/gold in color, clear and bright.  The nose is very tight and took some time to open.  With air it shows butterscotch along with peach.  Full bodied.  On the palate, this has a hint of sweetness along with peach and slight lemons.  Long finish.  This needs a bit of air at the moment so maybe hold for a year and drink for five to eight years after that.  Nice on its own, this would work well with Tuna steaks.  

Green/gold in color, clear and bright.  The nose is a bit "fleshy" or sweaty socks with some grapefruit and buttered popcorn.  Medium to full bodied.  Slightly oily texture.  On the palate, this is perceptibly sweet with grapefruit notes.  Good finish.  This drinks well on its own but might be a difficult food match.  A nice choice for a summer evening on the patio.  Drink over the next few years.  

Yellow/green in color, clear and bright.  The nose is nice.  Very clean without oak.  Aromas of granny smith apples, slight peaches and chalk.  Medium bodied. On the palate, this is crisp but seems to also have some sweetness to it.  A nice combination.  Apples and slight lemon candy especially on the long finish.  This is nice on its own but a bit better with some soft cheeses.  Drink over the next seven to ten years. 

At a recent blind tasting of Napa Chardonnay's, it turned out that there were two identical bottles submitted and served blind.  Always an interesting experiment as such factors as storage and even the tasting order can affect the results.  As it turned out, bottle #1 was the first served while bottle #2 was the last one served.  

Hay/gold in color, clear and bright.  The nose has lots of gun powder/sulfur with some pineapple and baking spice.  Medium bodied.  Nice texture.  On the palate, peach and lemon cream with nice acidity.  Nice finish.  This is a bigger, rounder Sauvignon Blanc which has a lot of oak showing at this young stage.  It drinks well on its own and will work with some foods.  Pasta Primavera might be one.  The fruit will likely fade before the oak integrates, so drink up in the next few years.  

Frank Family seems to be one of those wines that people like because the owners are such good people and the wines are good as well.  While I haven't had the pleasure of meeting the owners, I do agree, the wines are very good.  A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, 4% Cabernet Franc.  Purple in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, cedar and spice.  Full bodied.  Tannins are mostly, not completely, resolved.  On the palate cassis, slight spice and a hint of char.  Nice finish.  An enjoyable, easy to drink wine with some stuffing.  Good finish.  Dri