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

This is a blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc.  It is a beautiful wine.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is lovely with cassis, slight black cherries, cedar and char.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, young, firm and deep.  This needs time to open but still provides a lot now.  Cassis, and cedar with underlying char.  Long finish.  This is great on its own and would work with a steak right now.  Still, cellar for five years then drink for fifteen after that.  

This is from the American sparkling wine outpost of Taittinger.  Green gold in color with a nice mousse of very small bubbles.  The nose has pears, slight lemons, toast and a hint of vanilla.  Full bodied.  Good acidity.  On the palate, the pears with underlying char.  Some lemon notes on the finish.  Good finish.  This is nice on its own and should be very food friendly.  A great wine to share with popcorn when streaming a movie.  Drink over the next three to five years.  

Light golden in color with a bit of a copper hue, clear and bright.  The nose is big with limes, peach and slight tropical fruit.  Medium bodied.  On the palate, the tropical fruit becomes more vivid along with limes.  Slight minerality.  Crisp.  Long finish.  This is drinking well on its own but would work well with lighter foods.  A nice choice with a Cobb Salad.  Drink over the next five years.  

From one of the classic Napa wineries (and still producing great wines).  This bottle was consumed on the Celebrity Millennium Cruise Ship off the coast of Alaska (off their list).  Green/gold in color, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with lemon cream and a slight pine note.  Full bodied.  On the palate, this is crisp.  It shows just minimal touches of oak.  Nice lemon/lime notes with good acidity.  A bit clipped perhaps on the finish, but otherwise very impressive.  Lovely on its own, this will work well with sea food or even Thai.  Drink over the next eight to twelve years.  

This estate Pinot is a lively compilation of black cherry, strawberry, plum, blackberry compote, with back notes of rhubarb, huckleberry and black tea. The acidity drives the fruit. This is not a shy Pinot, but an overt celebration of expressive fruit. The wine spent 10 months aging in French oak, 33% of which was new, therefore the fruit is more dominant. Using a variety of Pinot Noir clones, winemaker Steve Rogstad, has decades of experience working with his vineyards, and knowing how best to use the excellent fruit that grows on their property. ORIGIN: Napa Valley, Los Carneros.

Located on Mount Veeder, Brandlin is the sister winery of Cuvaison. In the very capable hands of winemaker Steve Rogstad, his 2021 offers classic notes of light kiwi, lemon-lime zest, gooseberry, light resin, tart green apple and a whisper of butterscotch. This expresses what people want in Sauvignon Blanc – something light, crisp, and fresh. But Brandlin adds a bit of texture to the wine due to fermenting in large French oak barrels, then aging 11 months in oak (just half the barrels were new) to add a noticeable viscosity.

Though this has become an iconic wine, the beauty of this wine and many others is vintage variation, which produces subtle changes, depending on weather patterns and how the fruit is grown. This is Duckhorn’s most dense and deeply rich Merlot of the past few years, and in fact this is a Merlot dominant iteration (98% Merlot, 2% Malbec). More dark and brooding than previous vintages this one has a beautiful depth to it - deep and rich, blackberry pie, Huckleberry compote, blueberry jam, and light strawberry.

This was a fun wine to try.  19.1% abv.  Bottled in 1998.  Purple in color with some ruby hues, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has cherries, black cherries and some alcohol note.  Viscous texture.  Tannins all resolved.  On the palate, this is sweet but not cloying.  Lots of black cherry fruit.  Warm on the finish but otherwise very  smooth.  Tasty and a nice way to end an evening.  It does have many Cab qualities but also some Port notes, too.  It appears they used to produce this every vintage, but only once since 2004. 

Always great to try one of these!  Still one of the better Cabs coming out of Napa.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, cedar and spices.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, this has cassis with slight cedar notes and underlying spice and char.  It is still tight and young but already drinking well.  Ideally, it could us another five to  ten years in the cellar, but otherwise give it plenty of air.  It has a nice complexity that unwinds in the glass.  Great on its own, this would be classic with a steak, but would be great as well with a bowl of hearty c

Pop and pour, this wine is in a great place right now.  Purple in color with slight ruby swirls, opaque and bright.  The nose is nice with spice, cassis, earthy and some  hay notes.  Medium tannins.  Full bodied.  Complex.  On the palate, cassis, and black cherries with some char.  Long finish.  At age 15, this seems at peak.  I don't think it will improve but it should still drink well for seven to ten more years.  Great on its own, this will work well at the dinner table.  It went great with a pasta dish and a lentil salad.