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 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc, and 7% Petit Verdot from the Eisele vineyard in Calistoga.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, black cherries, cigar box, cloves and dust.  Firm tannins.  Good acidity.  On the palate, this has cassis, cedar with an underlying char.  Long finish.  This is young and will still get better but it is delicious today.  Maybe about five to eight more years until peak.  It will drink well for the next fifteen to twenty years.  Great on its own or with food, lamb chops would be a nice choice.  

Shafer Hillside Select is quite simply a First Growth of Napa Cabernets.  Every vintage is always one of the top releases from Napa.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with cassis, smoke, cedar, graphite and dust.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, there is cassis with layers of graphite, cedar and smoke.  Nice complexity. This is just about fully mature at this point. Long finish.  This is delicious on its own and will work well with roasted meats and veggies.  Drink over the next ten to twelve years.  

Stunning wine.  This had a few hours of air prior to serving.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with Mocha.  With a bit of air cassis, red licorice and the very slightest note of prune (but not stewed or in a bad way).  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  Seamless texture.  Juicy acidity.  On the palate, this is elegant.  Yes, it has 15.5% abv but there is no sign on the palate.  Smooth in every way.  Flavors of cassis, dark chocolate and char.  Velvety.  Long finish.  Delicious.  This is not yet at peak but getting closer.  It should drink amazingly for the next fifte

Wow.  This wine is stunning and yet, still on the young-ish side.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is explosive with cassis, dust, mocha, and smoke.  Full bodied.  A seamless texture.  Very firm tannins.  On the palate, cassis, anise, dark chocolate and slight char.  Long finish.  This wine had some air prior to serving but still kept improving over the few hours we enjoyed it.  This should continue to improve over the next five to eight years, but in any event, will drink well for at least another twenty.  There is plenty of fruit to meld into the tannins as they resolve

Great to try a mature Dominus, one of the great Napa Cabs made in a more Bordeaux style.   A blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Cabernet Franc, 9% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot. Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  Mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is dusty with cassis and slight cigar box notes.  Full bodied.  On the palate, cassis with some depth and underlying tobacco.  This seems fully mature with a nice complexity.  Very nice finish.  This will work better food than on its own.  Lamb stew would be a great choice.  Drink over the next five years or so.  

Yowza!  This is drinking wonderfully right now.  Still a tad on the young side but oh, so good.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, anise, baking spices, cherries and leather.  Full bodied.  Lush texture but lots of precision.  Depth and complexity.  On the palate, plenty of cassis, some black cherries with underlying leather and slight char/earthiness.  Great balance.  Long finish.  This is delicious on its own and will work with bigger dishes of roasted meats or fowl.  Drink over the next ten to fifteen years.  

Excellent showing.  At age 14, this is just about at peak and showing nice maturity with some youth as well.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  Opaque and mostly bright.  The nose has boysenberries, slight black cherry, black pepper and char.  Full bodied.  The firm tannins of it's youth are mostly resolved at this point but present.

One of the early wines from Lou Kapcsandy (RIP) back when these were (barely) affordable.  In a great place right now.  This is a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with cassis, graphite, dark chocolate, slight cigar box and char.  Full bodied.  Deep with layers.  On the palate, cassis and slight black cherry with underlying tobacco and earthiness.  Great balance.  Long finish.  This is just about at peak but should be there for ten or fifteen years.  A nice wine on its own but probably

This is a big, California Chardonnay in the best sense.  It is a blend of four different vineyards of Chardonnay.  Silvery gold in color, clear and bright.  The nose is big and enticing with Lemons, vanilla and nutmeg.  Full bodied with a creamy texture.  Good acidity.  Slightly oily.  On the palate, this has lemons, slight lemon peel and an interesting note of mint on the finish.  It is deep with tight complexity that unwinds in the glass.  A very long finish.  This may improve over the next year or two but either way should make great drinking for the next ten years.  It drinks great on i

Its amazing that this wine doesn't get more buzz.  Most of that is because it has been around for so long and great, that people talk about the "newer" wines on the block.  Although expensive, this wine competes with lots of the "cult" wines that are three or five times the cost.  Of course, this is still young and if drinking soon, a five hour decant is not a bad idea.  It has 3% Petite Verdot blended in.  Inky purple in color, opaque and shimmering bright.  The nose is classic with cassis, graphite, cedar and slight tobacco.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, this is deep but ta