Oakville

A classic Napa Chardonnay.  This drank a lot better for my tastes on night 2.  Golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with vanilla and lemons.  On the palate, this is drinking young but nice.  It seems like the oak has been scaled back over the least decade.  Lots of vanilla cream with some peach and some lemon.  Enough acidity to keep things lively.  Full bodied.  Goof finish.  The drinks great on its own but works great with soft cheeses.  A nice match for roasted fowl.  Drink now or over the next seven to ten years.  

Flora Springs make a variety of wines.  This is 100% Sauvignon Blanc from the Crossroads Vineyard in Oakville in Napa.  It is silvery/green/gold in color.  The nose is very nice with lemon-lime, sweetgrass and minerals.  It has a very nice, slightly oily texture.  Just a hint of residual sugar offset by tart limes.There is a slight chalky quality as well.  Overall, this is very clean and refreshing.  It has a long finish with some warmth.  It would actually work well with grilled asparagus, always a tough food pairing, and lots ot lighter foods or on its own.  Drink this over the next year.

It seemed a bit odd opening this with the Corona Virus spreading across the globe, but why not?  This is one of Rivers-Marie top Cabs and it is delicious.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, dark chocolate, slight plums, spice and cedar.  On the palate, this is full bodied.  Quite concentrated.  It still has firm tannins.  Lots of cassis fruit over spice and dry earth.  Good energy.  Long finish.  This still needs about five to seven years to approach peak.  It should be good for fifteen years after that.  It drinks well on its own right now and will work well with he

Detert is one of the owners of a section of the To Kalon vineyard.  Way back in the day they used to sell to Robert Mondavi.  For my money, they make the best Cabernet Franc in Napa and some of the best in the world.  While it is not inexpensive, for the quality, it is well priced (in Napa terms).  Definitely a mailing list to be on.  Purple in color, a thin ruby line at the rim.  The nose is great with black cherries, cigar tobacco, slight char and a bit of earthiness.  On the palate, this is open and drinking well if still young.  Medium tannins.  Lots of black cherry fruit with some with

A really great wine.  Inky purple in color.  The nose has cassis, chocolate, char, slight camphor note and coffee.  This is a rich, big wine.  Delicious.  Flavors of cassis, blueberries with slight chocolate over spice and char.  Juicy acidity.  Medium tannins.  Long finish. This needs about 5 to seven more years until peak and then should be great for ten to twenty more years.  It will work with big foods like steak or roasts.  

Wow.  This wine was decanted  for 10 hours in a Magnum size decanter prior to serving.  It needed every bit of that.  Inky purple in color.   What an awesome nose.  Cassis, moist earth, baking spice and slight cigar box.  On the palate, this has firm tannins.  Loads of cassis, some black cherries over a rich earthiness with some cedar.  Great balance.  This is a powerful wine but not a monster in that sense.  Lots of fruit but with pin point attack.  Long finish.  This needs at least ten years to get close to peak but if you can't resist, a decant of at least 12 and even 24 hours is needed.

This is the home vineyard of winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown.  His single vineyard wines Cabs are (for now) some of the most attractively priced top wines from Napa.  This wine has really improved since release and it was excellent back then.  Deep purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose has cassis, blueberries, cloves and a slight menthol note.  On the palate, this has light to medium tannins.  Layers of cassis and blueberries with slight tobacco and cigar box.  A slight menthol note on the long finish.  This is drinking great but will continue to mature.  Maybe another 7 to ten years un

Oakville Ranch Vineyard is a gorgeous place and I always wondered why the wines were not more consistently great.  This is my first time trying a Mending Wall utilizing their fruit and it is great.  Inky purple in color.  The nose has cassis, blueberries, baking spices, and slight pencil lead.  On the palate, this is deep and somewhat concentrated.  Lots of cassis fruit with some blueberries over a bit of dry earthiness.  Firm tannins.  Good finish.  This will need five to seven years and then should be good for another ten to fifteen.  There is a nice complexity to this wine as it unwinds

During a recent visit to the Napa Valley, I had a chance to meet with Tom Garrett.  Tom is part of the Detert Family of wines who own a portion of the historic To Kalon vineyard.  The Detert's and the MacDonalds are cousins whose lineage goes back to a common owner of a parcel of the vineyard from the early 1950's.  The Detert's portion grows mostly Cabernet Franc although there is some Cabernet Sauvignon.  This particular bottling is their top Cabernet Franc and it is as good as any made anywhere.  Although still very young, this is a wine that has great concentration and will age graceful

What a treat.  On a recent visit to Napa, we go to walk the vineyards with Alex MacDonald and learn so much about this venerated vineyard and hear about the "newer" winemaking at MacDonald.  And to top it off, we got to try the recently bottled 2017 Cabernet (not yet released).  The story is worth Googling , but the short version is that at the heart of the To Kalon Vineyard in Napa are some very old Cabernet Sauvignon vines.  They have been owned by the MacDonald family since 1954.  These have been used in the top Mondavi wines since before there was even a Mondavi Winery.  Due to some cop