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 Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cab Franc.  Just a gorgeous wine that while still youthful, is showing some maturity.  We drank this pop and pour but I would recommend a lot more air or decant.  Purple in color.  The nose is great with cassis, black cherries, tobacco, slight leather, and spice.  Wonderful rich texture.  Great balance.  Medium tannins.  Plenty of fruit; cassis and black cherries layered with earth and tobacco.  Long finish.  This wine has a nice complexity that shows itself as it unwinds in the glass.  Its delicious but more than just that.  While it shows

This was consumed with a couple of my neighbors outside by the fire on a late Spring Day.  It was quite well received.  It is a blend of  Grenache, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, and Sangiovese.  First, the bottle is very pretty with a silk screened label.  The wine itself is likewise pretty with an almost iridescent salmon orange color to it.  The nose is large with burnt oranges, some strawberries and slight cherries.  There is some alcohol on the nose too.  On the palate, this has a very nice texture.  Big fruit, mostly tart cherries.  Enough acidity to work with food but made just fine sip

I really enjoyed this wine.  A long time Napa standard, it had been a while since I had revisited it.  Light golden in color.  The nose has melons and red apples.  Very clean, little oak and no butter.  On the palate, this is crisp and refreshing.  Some apples, some melon with a nice mouthfeel.  Food friendly.  Under $30.  Really a nice value in Napa Chardonnay.  

This wine is from the late great winemaker Denis Malbec's own winery.  He made wine for some of the top wineries in Napa including Kapcsandy but was sadly killed in a car crash in 2017.  This wine is certainly a tribute to his skills.  Purple in color.  The nose has cassis, slight cherries, spice with slight tarragon note.  On the palate, this is has a nice structure.  Pinpoint fruit hanging with tannins.  The fruit has cassis and cherry and while ripe, not over done.  This drinks well now but consumed over a couple days, it was better on Day 2 suggesting its best days are still ahead.  Nic

From a 375ml.  This is a nice bottle to have when you want something easy and not too expensive for a couple of glasses.  Purple in color.  Cherries and slight raspberries on the nose.  Some bramble and spice.  Easy drinking.  Not too complex.  Enjoyable.  Around $15.  

Purple/ruby in color. The nose has cherries and celery.  On the palate, there is some cherry fruit.  This is sweet and sticky.  I presume some residual sugar.  Lacking acidity.  Clipped finish.  This retails for $25 and some people will like.  Not for my tastes though.  

Purple/ruby in color.  The nose has cherries, spice and some chocolate.  On the palate, this is sweet ripe cherries.  One dimensional.  Easy drinking.  Tasty.  Nice finish.  It retails for around $50.  Drink over the next five years.  

In a tasting, its often the bigger, flashier wine that is the best.  But, at the dinner table, over a couple hours, the opposite is often true.  That was the situation this wine had to deal with, but it came thru just fine.  Despite being 30 years younger than one of the wines, it still managed to strut itself quite impressively.  Purple in color, magenta at the rim.  Bright.  The nose has cassis, some graphite, spice and slight cedar.  Powerful but not over the top.  On the palate, this has a wonderful mouth feel.  Juicy.  Its big but seems light on its feet.  Flavors of cassis, and some p

This bottle had been stood and was decanted about an hour before serving.  We enjoyed it over the next couple of hours.  Blind, I would have guessed a not too old Bordeaux, maybe say 2000.  Bright purple in color, magenta at the rim.

Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose has cassis, coffee and spice.  On the palate, there is nice dark cherry fruit, some cassis, and spice.  Medium tannins.  I wouldn't wait on this too long as I am not sure there is enough fruit to outlast the tannins in the long run.  That said, it is drinking well now with some nice fruit.  A bit of complexity as well.