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

My last bottle of this and it sure seemed to be at or close to peak.  Purple in color with ruby hues, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is great with black raspberries, bacon fat, white pepper and slight dried floral note.  Full bodied.  On the palate, black raspberries, char and slight earthiness.  Complex.  Nice finish.  It threw a lot of sediment.  This will work better with food at this point although nice on its own.  A greart5 match for pizza night.  Drink up.  

Obviously way too young, but, this was open and delicious.  For about an hour or so, and then shut down tight.  We recorked and sampled over the next couple nights.  Day 2.  Still shut down.  Day 3.  Drinking well and the bottle was drained.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has boysenberries, gravel, char and spice.  Thick tannins.  Good acidity.  On the palate, loads of boysenberry fruit with underlying char.  Deep but like looking into a bottomless hole.  Long finish.  Not sorry to have tried it, but the remaining bottles will need a rest.  Ideally, hold for ten years a

This is the inaugural vintage of this wine from Russel and Heidi Bevan.  It is, of course, quite young, but delicious right now.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with cassis, blueberries, dark chocolate, baking spice and char.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, this is deep.  It really needs about ten years or more to really develop but it is juicy and delicious today.  Cassis and blueberries with some char and bit of leather.  Long finish.  No doubt its score get close to or at perfect eventually.  It is great on its own but will take big food right no

Light golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose is pretty with peaches and honeydew along with a touch of spice.  Lovely full bodied rich texture.  Good balance.  On the palate, this is a big wine but with pin point precision if that makes sense.  The peaches and honey dew come thru.  Nice finish.  Drinking youthfully but ready to go.  Drink over the next ten years.  This is great on its own and will work well with heavier foods such as Roast Duck.  It might even go nicely with a steak if that's what you like.  

This is one of the  better "values" in Napa high end wines.  It is a proprietary blend of 70% Cab with the rest Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, blueberries, slight black cherries, spices, and leather.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, juicy cassis and black cherries with underlying char and spice.  Some leather notes.  Long finish.  Delicious.  This is young but drinking well. Drink over the next ten to twenty years.  Great on its own, it would be perfect with a roast or steak.

This is a blend of 65% Cabernet Franc and 35% Merlot from one of the premier vineyards in Napa, the State Lane Vineyard.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with black cherries, blueberries, slight cigar box and spice.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  Juicy acidity.  On the palate, this is delicious.  Black cherries, some black raspberries and blue berries with a bit of leather and earthiness.  Long finish.  This is drinking well and may still improve.  It should drink well for another twenty years.  Great on its own, this would work well with roasted duck or even roast r

The Paraduxx portfolio has been solely focused on blended wines, something they do admirably. The 2019 is comprised mainly of Cabernet Sauvignon with lighter amounts of five other grape including Zinfandel and Petite Sirah. The medley offers dusty black, cherry, blueberry, blackberry, red raspberry light cedar, and sandalwood notes with a very light green tea element and vanilla. The tannins are fairly taught, even after four years, supporting the structure of the wine, and the acidity comes into play making this an ideal companion for food.

Not a lot of people realize that Mike Smith (Myriad among many others) is the winemaker at Becklyn.  Their wines are highly recommended.  This one is no exception.  It is the basic Cabernet in their lineup. Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, cedar,  and baking spices.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, this is complex, deep and also quite tight.  Flavors of cassis, some graphite and char.  Long finish.  It could use a few more years in the cellar or else give it a long decant for now.  Drink over the next ten to fifteen years.

It should be no surprise that this wine is a stunner. Chappellet has long delivered quality wines that exceed the status quo; nearly 60 years in fact. The fruit for this wine comes from Pritchard Hill, a well-know parcel that produces exceptional grapes. A classic old-school Cabernet, this offers blackberry, blueberry, huckleberry, boysenberry and black cherry notes with back notes of vanilla, sage, tight tannins, good acidity and the one thing that makes a wine sing – balance. Comprised of mainly Cabernet Sauvignon, there are small amounts of Petite Verdot, Malbec and Merlot added in.

Merlot gets a lot of mockery (See Sideways), but a well made Merlot is truly special and this is one of the best on the planet.  Now, 2011 was one of the weaker vintages in Napa, but the late Lou Kapcsandy tailors the plants to adjust for the vintages and the State Lane Vineyard is truly Grand Cru.  The result is another outstanding wine.  It also have 5% Cabernet Franc blended in.  if anything, the vintage is a bit more accessible at a younger age than most.  Purple in color with some ruby hues, opaque and bright.  Gorgeous nose.  Black cherries, mocha, spice and slight coffee.  Full bodie