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

From the Larkmead Vineyard and made by Thomas Rivers Brown.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, cedar,  blueberries, and spice.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, this has juicy cassis fruit with some black cherries and some blueberries over cedar and char.  Still quite young, this should improve over the next eight to ten years and drink well for ten to fifteen after that.  Delicious and complex.  Right now this drinks better on its own and will need big flavors to stand up to it but with time it will settle down.  For now, braised short ribs would be

This is a brooding wine that is just starting to open up.  It improved with air.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is concentrated with cassis, iodine, graphite and spice.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  The palate is also concentrated with cassis and spice.  Deep but stubborn.  Give it a decant.  Drink over the next ten to fifteen years. This will work well with grilled lamb chops or grilled portabellas.  

This is part of the new lineup of Penfold's wines that are from other than Australia.  This one is from Napa.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is nice with cassis, baking spices, and smoke.  Medium to full bodied.  Light tannins.  On the palate, this is nice cassis fruit, spice and some underlying char/smoke.  Nice finish.  Drinking well now.  It will make great drinking over the next five to seven years.  It is probably better on its own but will work with bigger flavored foods.  The big question is if this improves with bottle age or not.  Time will tell.  

It is always a pleasure to drink an older Napa Cabernet.  This one is drinking beautifully today.  Deep garnet in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is nice with cassis, spice, some tobacco, cherries and slight chocolate.  Full bodied.  On the palate, this is a bit past prime but offering up a lot.  Some fresh fruit (cassis and cherries) along with tobacco and slight funk.  Nice finish.  Good complexity.  This should be consumed sooner than later but all bottles will be unique.  It drank great on its own and worked with some soft cheeses.  

This is a luxury bottle from one of the oldest Napa producers.  It is a blend of 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Petit Verdot, 1% Merlot, and 1% Malbec.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with cassis, blueberries, cedar, and mocha.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, lots of cassis with some cedar and slight chocolate.  This is  still young but opens in the glass.  If drinking soon, a few hours in a decanter is a good thing.  Drink over the next twenty years.  It drinks well on its own but will require big flavors.  Fatty meats or roasted veggies would work.  P

This is a very nice Chardonnay in a middle of the road style.  Golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose has pineapple, toast, hazelnuts, and caramel.  Full bodied.  Nice texture.  On the palate, this round with no hard edges.  Drinks easy.  Apples, pineapple, and char swirls in the glass.  Enough acidity to work.  Nice finish.  Drink over the next year or two as its starting to show some age.  This drinks well on its own and will work nicely with salmon.  

This is yet another wine made by Thomas Rivers Brown.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is intense with cassis, blueberries, floral (violets?) notes and spice.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, this is concentrated and needs some time/air to unwind.  Lots of cassis and some blueberries with some underlying char and spice.  Long finish.  This will undoubtedly improve over the next five to seven years.  It should drink well for another ten to fifteen after that.  Drinks great on its own, this will require a big flavors to work with.  Roasts or grilled meats or veg

Another wine made by Thomas Rivers Brown, this was the first time trying this one, and it is awesome.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with cassis, slight blueberries, cedar, slight dark chocolate and baking spice.  Full bodied.  On the palate, this is concentrated.  Medium tannins.  Flavors of cassis, black cherries, slight licorice with some oak and a bit of minerality.  Great balance.  Delicious.  Long finish.  This drinks well with some decanting now, but may yet improve over the next five to seven years.  Either way, this should drink well for th

Lovely Rosé blend.  This is 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon from Farella and Moonracer vineyards.  Due to the fires in 2020, Realm decided that they could not make all of their reds so this was harvested early and turned into a Rose which is less susceptible to smoke taint (due to less time on the skins).  The results are excellent.  This is the second time I have been lucky enough to taste this.  Some say this is made in a Provence style, but rather, this seems to have fresh vibrant fruit albeit on the softer side (likely due to the Merlot), but certainly of Napa.  Very pale pink/ora

From Magnum.  This is a blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petite Verdot and 5% Malbec.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is dominated by Brettanomyces which comes across as a "ripe" barnyard.  Some people love this while others are averse.  This is a spoilage yeast that will only bloom when the bottle sees warmer temperatures.  In addition, there are plums and cassis with some green bell pepper and spice.  Full bodied.  On the palate, this drinks a bit cleaner.  Very earthy with cassis, bell pepper and black cherries.  Medium tannins.  Long fin