Happy Holidays! California Dreaming, The Good, The Bad, The Ugly and the Final Chapter, Restaurant, Wine Shop, and Market Reviews

Alas, my work is done.  It has been a long but rewarding effort to provide you with some great information to help with your next trip to San Francisco, Napa, and Newport Beach.   All, especially Napa are magical places with some of the best the world has to offer.  After close now to 40 years of visiting still gives me goose bumps while I am there and when I leave I have a longing to return.  A place that you will never grow tired of.  As the year ends I wish my loyal readers a safe, healthy, happy, and joy-filled Holiday season and Happy New Year!

Restaurant Reviews

Newport Beach California

R+D Kitchen

Newport Beach CA in Fashion Mall

555 Newport Center Drive

949-219-0555

My wife and I have now eaten here multiple times on each trip to Southern California and it has turned into one of our favorite places, especially for lunch. They have absolutely the best French Dip sandwich I have ever had with mountains of fresh finely cut roast beef on a fresh-baked soft baguette and tasty dipping sauce. There is always a line out the door with locals cramming to get in. They also have one in Napa Valley in the Rutherford area and our friends had dinner at that one who also stated their dinner was great. The one in Napa Valley you definitely need reservations because it was close to impossible to get into that one. In general fresh well-prepared food by well-trained professional and friendly servers. I can’t wait to return in the future.

San Francisco California

Miller and Lux San Francisco

700 Terry A Francois Blvd

San Francisco, CA

415-872-6699

Miller and Lux is a steakhouse owned and operated by celebrity chef Tyler Florence whom we met briefly as we departed after dinner. The food and service are excellent and the decor is high-end and relaxing. Immediately after sitting down, you are offered a selection of sparkling wine to choose from at various price points. I was impressed with the Lobster Thermador one of my old favorite dishes you almost never see anymore. The restaurant has a wide variety of classic steak cuts and accompaniments also. They allow you to bring your own wine with a modest corkage fee. Overall it was a memorable meal but the prices were the highest we paid on our trip and the wine prices on the wine list were in La La land. Chef Tyler made many visits into the dining area to speak with regular customers and friends but otherwise, he did not visit your table, something I find a problem. To me, if the Chef comes out to speak with friends it only takes a minute or two extra I would hope to just stop by every table and say hello, how’s dinner.

Kokkari Estiatorio Greek Restaurant

200 Jackson St.

San Francisco, CA 94111

415-981-0983

This was our second favorite place in San Francisco. It is primarily a high-end Greek Restaurant with all your favorites like great lamb souvlaki. They had an extensive wine list and I had my first bottle of Kongsgaard Chardonnay during the trip. Both the sommelier and busboy went to extreme trouble to help us find suppliers of that wine in the area and their recommendations led us directly to places where we were able to buy it by the case. Very friendly and helpful staff and well prepared fresh food. I had the lamb souvlaki with a Greek salad that was sublime. It was a very nice long relaxing lunch and we will return. The only downside if any was the bill was the second-highest during our trip and it was for lunch no less but to us worth the price.

Johns Grill, San Francisco

63 Ellis St.

San Francisco CA 94102

415-986-0069

John’s Grill is one of the oldest continuous restaurants in the city. It has been there for decades. Nothing fancy but good well-prepared food with friendly service and a reasonable price. The menu is pretty basic but a good selection and something for everyone. A good selection of seafood and plenty of great steaks.

Bix

56 Gold Street

San Francisco CA 94133

415-433-6300

Another oldie but goodie that will take you back to the good old days. Bix is a supper club with a 1930’s ambiance with live jazz and serving American-French cuisine. The menu leans towards seafood and at the same time serves marrow bones as a separate item which I have never seen on a menu before. The service was excellent and the live jazz piano was definitely a plus. I really felt like I was in the Casablanca Movie. Play it again Sam!

Mathilde San Francisco

315 5th St.

San Francisco CA 94107

415-546-6128

It is no secret we like French cuisine and this place satisfied all of our French desires. Everything is a classic French presentation and all of our favorites. I eventually settled in for the basics having escargots and Coq au Vin. The escargots were identical in taste and quality to any I have ever had in Burgundy. The Coq au Vin was classic and just downright delicious. The service was professional and friendly. Coffee and dessert were again classic and we had an obscene number of Profiteroles and probably gained 10 pounds just from dessert. It’s a small and out-of-the-way place but worth the trip for classic French.

Foreign Cinema San Francisco

2534 Mission St.

San Francisco CA 94110

415-648-7600

Let me be very clear here. This is absolutely the best most fun and unique dining experience and high-top shelf experience I have had in years. You would never know it looking at the front door with a bitcoin seller next door and a payroll advance store across the street. It is in one of those urban recovery areas where the area used to be a high crime and drug den area the city is trying to rehabilitate. As we speak today it is a safe area but it still looks rough and the only way you know where the restaurant is, is for the small sign over the door. What a wonderful dinner and Clark and I are seriously thinking of a weekend trip to SFO just to return there and have dinner again. The restaurant is in an old movie theater and inside the dining room is divided into two rooms one of which shows an old movie each evening and that is the theme of the night. The night we were there the movie was “Gentleman Prefer Blonds” with Marilyn Monroe. You sit at the usual white cloth dining table with family and friends while they play the movie as you eat. I didn’t recall any sound so you just see the movie. The menu was extensive and everything is made in-house fresh. One example. They make their own sardines. I am not a sardine fan but they were recommended and wow, unbelievable. I now like sardines. Fresh, not fishy, tasty, and great. The menu both for food, wine, dessert wines, cocktails, drinks is extensive and takes some time to take in. You had to be impressed that they had 5 different renditions of “Pappy” Old Rip Van Winkle Whiskey from 12 years old to 23 years old. It is one of the rarest whiskey in the world and to find all of them on one menu is impressive. The American Whiskey choices alone were over 50 choices. Dining choices were unique. Just one example is Saffron risotto galettes with roasted honeynut squash with matsutake mushrooms, English pea puree, tapenade, and toum and zoug. They also had an extensive list of oysters and caviar as well. Service was professional and attentive and the overall ambiance was relaxed and calming. It was just a truly unique and wonderful dining experience that we will remember for a long long time.

Napa and St. Helena Area

Bistro Don Giovanni

4110 Howard Ln

Napa, CA 94558

707-224-3300

Don Giovanni's was one of the first places we had dinner close to 40 years ago and it is still going strong and expanded to 3X the size we recall.  Fresh pasta, fresh fish, and attentive friendly service, and just great Italian food.  Reservations are a must, though we had no real trouble getting in.  They were full and busy but you do learn when you go to Napa the "Napa lifestyle" and Napa cuisine seems to reign supreme here.  I had pasta with fresh in-house made basil pesto sauce and I can assure you once you have freshly made basil pesto you won't be able to go back to store-bought again.  In fact, we now make our own in-house fresh basil pesto at home.  We had a great meal at Don Giovanni's and we will return in the future.

 

Mustard's Grill

7399 St Helena Hwy

Napa CA 94558

707-944-2424

Directly across from Del Dotto's caves one of the best and oldest places in Napa.  A word of warning don't eat lunch here and then do a tour of Del Dotto after in that for us at least Del Dotto includes a pizza lunch with your tasting and we were absolutely stuffed by 4 PM.  Mustard’s has been here for now over 40 years to our knowledge and we come to every visit and in all those years it remains probably the top 3 places in the valley. Food and service are top-notch and like everyone else farm to table fresh and well prepared. Their wine list is 13x19 inches small fine print front and back and labeled “Way too Many Wines”. Think Bern’s Steakhouse in Tampa on one piece of paper. They had many wines you will never ever see anywhere. One example we had was John Kongsgaard Albarino which I did not know existed. Another one you will not find often is American Expat in France is Alex Gamble Aligote. I always look forward to going to Mustards and you should also.

Goose and Gander St. Helena

1245 Spring St

St Helena CA 94574

707-967-8779 

Another very unique place to dine. A great eclectic menu with standard favorites thrown in with unique items like roasted bone marrow, garden radishes with dip, and fried olives and pistachios. One entree a bone in salmon chop I have never seen before. Like other establishments in the valley, they had an extensive wine list again close to 1000 wines. Selections were primarily red and the prices were 3x retail and sometimes over so I recommend corkage here especially if you want white wine. Service was friendly and attentive and not overblown. We enjoyed it very much

Farmstead Long Meadow Branch St. Helena

738 Main St

St Helena CA 94574

707-963-4555

The poster child for the farm-to-table movement. Great food, extensive food, and wine menu you really cannot go wrong here. For some insane reason I and another friend had the 12 hours pulled pork sandwich and coming from the South we know barbecue and would think we would have ordered something more in line with California cuisine. But I must tell you surprisingly it was a great barbecue and very tender. They also serve ribs. Overall the food was very fresh and well prepared. There are way over 500 to 600 wines to choose from and the prices are OK at 2X retail. It’s a great place to go and recommended.

Gott's Roadside

933 Main St (Highway 29)

St Helena CA 94574

This is a bucket list kind of place.  They are like the original McDonalds burger joints with outside wooden tables to sit on and the best hamburger, hot dog, and fries you will ever have as you drink your own bottle of Screaming Eagle.  In our case Scarecrow.  I have only been able to eat there once and this last trip there was a 2-hour wait just to order.  The place was jammed and parking was blocks away.  Is it that good?  Yes, it is.  They are now branching out and we saw the establishment at Oxbow Market which we also recommend you visit in downtown Napa.  You really have to go to experience it and I recommend you try and show up when they first start serving to shortcut the lines.

Wine and Market Shops worth Visiting

California offers extensive places to eat and shop providing items you simply will not find elsewhere.  The following places are ones that we go to almost every time we go as they provide us with opportunities we cannot find in Florida.  We highly recommend all of them as they provide reasonable prices and exceptional help and service during your visit.  Most all of them have mailing lists we recommend you join and all will ship directly to your home dependent on your State laws, but definitely to Florida as we have had no problems with any of them.

Newport Beach Area

Hi-Times Wine Cellars

250 Ogle St

Costa Mesa CA 92627

949-650-8463

A very large wine store with thousands of selections, great specials, and unique wines from all over the world.  Every visit just walking around and looking takes me close to 2 hours.  I purchased wine here for a large birthday party for a friend and brought in the cost at well over 20% of what he intended to pay.  Plenty of bargains.

Wine Exchange

1544 E Warner Ave

Santa Ana CA 92705

714-979-1509

Located in an industrial area it is somewhat difficult to find but worth the effort.  Again lots of unique and unknown high-quality wines.  They have a "Grand Cru" or "1st Growth" room with plenty of wine to bankrupt you but at times some of the best prices I have seen.  One example is I have purchased most of the French Richeborgs in my cellar at around $250 a bottle which is at least 1/2 anywhere else.  No guarantee you find anything but when you do it is worth the visit.  They sell on an internet mailing list which I am on and ship directly to Florida and elsewhere when permitted with no problems.

San Francisco Area

K&L Wine Merchants, San Francisco Store

855 Harrison Street

San Francisco CA 94107

415-896-1794 

Another wine merchant from who I buy a lot of wine.  Multiple stores the one on Harrison Street is their main shop and is huge with an extremely varied selection of hard-to-find wines.  I have visited the Pitray Vineyard in the Cadillac region of the Right Bank in Bordeaux and visited with the Count and his wife in their castle there twice and it is a very low production good wine that we have shipped from France.  I was blown away K&L had it at $15 a bottle.  I also spent almost the entire trip looking for Hirsch Chardonnay and never found it until the last day of our trip visiting K&L.  I am on their "advantage" list or internet mailing list and so far their prices have been some of the lowest I have seen even with door-to-door shipping.

Napa Valley Winery Exchange

Rick Jones, Owner

415 Taylor Street

San Francisco CA 94102

415-297-1074 cell

415-771-2887

A much smaller wine shop in town but well worth the trouble.  The owner and staff are extremely knowledgeable regarding all wines and attend wine tastings extensively and take extensive notes and share them with you.  They provided some of the most wine knowledge and recommendations we received on our trip.  The owner is a stand-up guy and will help you a lot.  I was a lot of fun just to stop by and talk shop.

Napa Valley Area

Gary's Napa

607 St Helena Highway

St Helena CA 94574

707-531-7660

This used to be a Dean & Deluca and was recently purchased by a private owner.  It is the same place with lots of gourmet food and wine, cheese, food, etc.  Most of the wine is very high-end.  If you want Scarecrow and such this is the place to go.  A good selection of wine and helpful knowledgeable staff.

Oxbow Cheese & Wine Merchant

Michael Meyers, "Chief Wine Wisdom Officer"

610 First Street

Napa CA 94559

707-819-6126

The Oxbow Market in downtown Napa is now a bucket list kind of place.  It has about 20 inside cafes and shops with lots of goodies, none better than the Oxbow Cheese & Wine Merchant at the back of the building managed by a wonderful wine expert Michael Meyers and a pleasure to speak with.  Tell him Ross sent you.  He provided me with my first ever significant allocation of John Kongsgaard Chardonnay in my life and has other extensive wine holdings.  He also has lots of great cheese.  He will ship direct and has a internet following I recommend you get on.

Oakville Grocery

7856 St Helena Hwy

Oakville CA 94562

707-944-8802

Just like Mustard's Oakville Grocery has been in Napa since the beginning of time.  Lots of great gourmet food and nick-nacks for home and an extensive wine cellar and more importantly an extensive Champagne and very high-end wine selections to include Scarecrow and Screaming Eagle.  On our last day, I purchased a mixed case to take home on the plane and one example purchased 3 bottles of Nature-Champagne and in the past 30 years, I have only found 2 bottles of Nature-Champagne so they have some rare stuff.  They have recently added a wine tasting room next door and they have Scarecrow for sure at something like $40 a pour and yes it is a little high but a good price so you can say you tasted Scarecrow.  I assume in the future they will feature other high-end wines like that but you cannot beat the setup they have and plan on a visit while in Napa.

 

Update on Covid-19 Immunization and Booster Protection

A picture is worth a thousand words. In this case, the number of nursing home residents out of 1000 infected and test positive with Covid based on vaccination status. Of interest, I have seen some recent data suggesting that the 2 shot immunization schedule is so good some infectious disease experts are questioning whether or not an additional booster is really needed. I believe this graph published in the paper today says it all. I assume we can all agree that nursing home residents are the older and sicker of us and living in a nursing home under close quarters would be assumed to spread infection faster than the general population. As the graph shows vaccinated residents have a significantly lower risk of active infection and residents with an additional booster shot have an almost nonexistent risk of infection. One can also assume the extensive reduction in risk of active infection will translate into lower hospitalization and death rates. The reduction is impressive. And to boot, this is over the past 2 months so the data is very recent. For myself and my family, we all have had or will get a booster.

I provide this information to my blog readers as an objective nonpartisan educational piece of the puzzle regarding the Covid-19 pandemic.  I believe the information and graph speak for themselves and answer an important question.  Of interest, I published this graph initially on our local community email group for the same reason.  Within 24 hours a nice gentleman of 84 years of age responded saying that he had had 3 Moderna shots but still tested positive for Covid.  I attempted to respond to him explaining that regrettably, he was THE 1 person out of 1000 the graph was referring to.  The problem with statistics is when there is one chance in 1000 and it happens to you it is 100% for you.  We buy lotto tickets with every expectation that the 1 chance in 14 million of winning will obviously be us and I am certain many who buy those tickets are equally outraged that 1 chance did not happen for them.  Of interest when I attempted to respond to this gentleman the site moderator had already locked any response to my post.  Of course, I cannot judge why and any judgment will be an assumption which I am loath to do anymore.  But it did get me to think in this regard.  Putting aside any discussion regarding the partisan nature of how we as a country are dealing with the pandemic in terms of masking and vaccinations one point to me becomes clearer.  I practiced medicine for over 40 years and was trained that preventative medicine was as or more important than waiting to treat after someone got sick.  For over 40 years I fought the battle advocating to my patients, the insurance companies, and the public at large that an ounce of prevention was worth a pound of cure at a much lower cost.  For all of those decades, I fought a losing battle.  No one wanted to hear it.  No one wanted to invest or pay for the future.  Everything was here and now.  Have a sore throat?  Give me a pill now so I can get on with my life.  Stop smoking, eat a healthier diet, exercise, etc.  I don't have time.  I'm too busy with other things.  Besides later sooner or later medicine will find a better and quick cure.  In Florida, the mantra of waiting until you get sick and then going to a monoclonal antibody center provided by the Governor if you feel sick is the same attitude we have had for decades.  Why waste time and money for prevention when all you need to do is wait until you get sick, assuming you get sick at all, and then there will be a "miracle" cure awaiting you so you can get on with your life.  Believe me, I wish that was how it is.  But the statistics clearly show that is not what is going to happen.  Yes, some treatments save lives, but the data clearly show prevention saves even more lives but we just don't see it because those people never get sick, and let's face it not getting sick is not sexy and doesn't generate any sympathy or newspaper headlines.  Trust me, the above graph is not a fluke, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure but that prevention never once said it will prevent 100% of anything.  Prevention says it lowers the risk of you getting seriously ill and dying, but again not 100%.  Statins prevent and reduce heart attacks but not all of them.  Anticoagulants prevent and reduce stroke in patients with Atrial Fibrillation, but not all of them.  Seat belts save lives, but if your car flies off the Dames Point Bridge the seat belt will not save your life, in fact, it might cause you to die.  So with that in mind do you refuse to wear a seat belt or refuse to drive over any bridges?

Contact List for Napa Valley California

Contacts to use for any upcoming trip to Napa Valley California. Feel free to contact them directly for appointments and visits. All are highly recommended.

Eric Tracy

Vine View Tours & Transportation

vineviewtours.com

eric@vineviewtours.com

707-337-3056

Drew Neiman

Neiman Cellars

drew@neimancellars.com

707-322-7478

Michael Meyers

Oxbow Cheese & Wine Mechant

Oxbow Market Napa CA

610 First Street, Napa CA 94559

www.oxbowcheese.com

michael@fpwm.com

707-819-6126

866-991-9400 toll-free

Scotti Stark

Stark Advantage

scotti@starkadvantage.com

707-628-7600

Justin Vazquez

General Manager Ellman Family Wines

justin@ellmanwine.com

707-312-2684

Patrick Quigley, Assistant Winemaker

Amulet Estate

patrick@amuletestate.com

509-844-2076

Billy Dewey Cellar Master

Dakota Shy

billy@dakotashwine.com

601-278-2126

Lydia Stafford

Morlet Family Vineyards

lydia@morletwines.com

707-967-8690 ext 105

Trefethen Family Vineyards

trefethen.com

707-255-7700


Aero Packing

Great shipping agent for Napa

They will accept your wine and ship it to your home

707-554-2088


Strala Vineyards

stralavineyards.com

707-339-2244


Theorem vineyards

theoremvineyards.com

Sequoia Grove Winery

Oscar Escareno

www.sequoiagorve.com

707-944-2945

California Dreaming, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly Part 6

This will be the last installment of wine reviews from my California tasting trip.  It was a long journey at the time and has been an even longer journey writing all of this down.  As I finish this the next installment will be restaurant reviews for you and trust me there are some spectacular restaurants in San Francisco you need to visit.  Think movie theaters!

Scotti Stark with Stark Advantage Brokers. scotti@starkadvantage.com 707-628-7600

Scotti is an individual broker who works marketing and conducting tastings for up-and-coming new vineyards. He also makes his own wines in a very small production. We spent an afternoon with him in a secret wine storage facility surrounded by Screaming Eagle and Scarecrow tasting the following wines.

2019 Carte Blanche Chardonnay purchased one bottle for $65

Chardonnay from the Sonoma Coast has rated 96 points by Galloni. Started with a light pear nose and on the taste had a good mouthfeel. Lots of pear in the taste. There was a mildly bitter taste on the finish that would go away with food. Good acid integration and balance

2018 Harumph Cabernet Purchased one bottle for $85

Made by Scotti had a soft sweet smelling nose. Plenty of fruit on the nose and taste. Velvet mouthfeel. Lots of tannins but balanced with good fruit. Not particularly complex but a basic Cabernet to drink now. Scotti also makes a Chardonnay under this label for $35. My tasting buddies ordered some sight and taste unseen and did not care for it so I cannot recommend it.

2014 Castellucci Rutherford Cabernet $95

Light color for a Cabernet. But did have good fruit on the nose. On the taste nice smooth tannins and a chocolate taste. A fair finish

2019 Patria Allen Price Cabernet $125 favorites

The vineyard is right next to Spottswoode. It had a good deep purple color. Lots of coffee on the nose with a velvet mouthfeel along with some licorice. Lots of good fruit, an OK finish.

2017 Greer Estate Cabernet $185

Allegedly called the “Napa Mouton”. The vineyard is in the same neighborhood as Scarecrow, Insignia, and Staglin. On the nose, I detected grass and pencil shavings or graphite. Had a good fruit taste and some mild oak detected? Plenty of acids would be food-friendly. Only a fair finish

Sequoia Grove with Oscar Escareno

Oscar has worked a lot of the vineyards over the years and now is a director at Sequoia Grove. We first met him years ago when he was with Beau Vignes. He is a great guy and can open a lot of doors for you in Napa. He put us onto Eric Tracy of Vine View Tours & Transportation vineviewtours.com, eric@vineviewtours.com 707-337-3056 who got us into some spectacular properties. Oscar won’t be able to help you for the next few months in that as we speak he is undergoing pituitary surgery in his brain. He is expecting a full recovery but will need some time.

2019 Los Carneros Chardonnay $45

Lots of apple/pear on the nose and taste. Some oak on the nose so a little over-oaked which did come through on the taste. Not a favorite

2018 Napa Merlot Winemaker Series $50

A nice chocolate and licorice nose and taste. One the taste dark chocolate was more predominate. Lots of tannins and young but balanced and good balance with the alcohol and acid.

2016 Reserve Cabernet $75

From the Rutherford ranch area. Also part of their winemaker series. Again lots of chocolate and in this case alcohol on the nose and taste. It had a fairly nice taste but nothing unique

2016 Stagecoach Cabernet $110

Allegedly 95 points by someone. Has a high alcohol concentration of 14.6%. I found it totally disjointed and cannot recommend it.

2016 Rutherford Tonella Vineyard Cabernet $115 favorite purchased 3 bottles

On the other hand, this one was a smooth classic Rutherford Cabernet with classic Rutherford “dust” on the taste. A nice chocolate taste and good acid and food-friendly. I was favorably impressed with the wine enough to buy some.

2017 Morisole Vineyard Rutherford $110 not released yet favorite purchased 3 bottles

This wine is to be released in the near future but we were able to highjack a few bottles. The vineyard is adjacent to the Scarecrow vineyard at a much lower price point. Has a complex nose and taste. Opens with a grassy smell that blows off. It was loaded with chocolate, cigar, smoke all pleasantly balanced. I really like it.

Dakota Shy

A small production operation and the last vineyard visit we did. Overall good wines but fairly high priced. They have a limited but loyal mailing list of customers who love the style.

2019 Napa Cabernet $95

Their least expensive wine from a few select hillside vineyards. Had an average Cab nose and along with the taste was a little tight and young. A fair amount of smoke was present. Had a somewhat complex profile in that I tasted sweet cherry which is unusual to me in a Cab.

2019 Oakville Ranch $195

This is pure Cab Franc which many like from the Oakville Ranch vineyard in the east hills of Oakville. To me, it was very alcoholic and the nose and taste had a heavy, complex tannin concentration butt to a degree you expect that with Cab Franc. It is clearly not my style but the wine was well made and would be a hit with Cab Franc fans.

2019 Social Currency Cabernet $250

Their marquee wine. Has a nice spicy floral nose and taste and clearly a velvet mount feel. Lots of sweet tannin and chocolate. Some if not all of the grapes come off Mount Veeder at an elevation of around 1800 feet and I do love Mount Veeder grapes. So overall a very good wine but a little expensive.

Others Misc

2017 Rivers Marie Bearwallow Vineyard Chardonnay winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown

Thomas River Brown is an up-and-coming winemaker, particularly in St. Helena. We met his Aunt and had a brief conversation with her. Some of the wine shops in St. Helena were raving about him and pushing his wines. This Chardonnay from the Anderson Valley had a lot of fruit and oak on the nose as well as taste. It was not overoaked however and was fairly well balanced. It was a little bitter on the finish.

2019 Sonoma Coast Hirsch Vineyard Chardonnay favorite purchased 6 bts $70

I have always thought Konnsgaurd was hard to find. Then I heard about this wine. I spent over 3 weeks looking for it and on the very last afternoon of my trip when visiting K&L Wine Merchants on Harrison Avenue in San Francisco I found 6 hidden bottles and bought all of them. I found out later they still had some so Robert Fallis bought some and I recommend you call them and see what they can give you. Frankly one of the best wines we drank on the trip. The nose and taste start with a complex flavor profile of pear, apple, and vanilla. The wine is fruit-forward but not in excess. On the taste, there is a hint of tart apple. The wine has a nice velvet mouthfeel. Food friendly with lots of acid but well balanced. Oak is light and not predominant. The finish is a nice long fruit finish. I have now drunk the wine 3 times and it continues to delight me and my description has not changed. It is as good as Konnsgaurd, Neiman, and White Burgundy Chardonnays in our opinion but our tasting buddies bought some on my recommendation and didn’t like it as much and want to sell me what they purchased. Their opinion was that it was a little “wimpy” but sometimes wimpy is good.

California Dreamin, Some Extra Wines to Try, Hirsch Chardonnay and Morlet Coer De Valle

2019 Sonoma Coast Hirsch Vineyard Chardonnay favorite purchased 6 bts $70

I have always thought Konnsgaurd was hard to find. Then I heard about this wine. I spent over 3 weeks looking for it and on the very last afternoon of my trip when visiting K&L Wine Merchants on Harrison Avenue in San Francisco I found 6 hidden bottles and bought all of them. I found out later they still had some so Robert Fallis bought some and I recommend you call them and see what they can give you. Frankly one of the best wines we drank on the trip. The nose and taste start with a complex flavor profile of pear, apple, and vanilla. The wine is fruit-forward but not in excess. On the taste, there is a hint of tart apple. The wine has a nice velvet mouthfeel. Food friendly with lots of acid but well balanced. Oak is light and predominant. The finish is a nice long fruit finish. I have now drunk the wine 3 times and it continues to delight me and my description has not changed. It is as good as Konnsgaurd, Neiman, and White Burgundy Chardonnays.

Morlet Vineyards

We stopped by Morlet vineyards and spoke briefly with Luc Morlet the owner. We just did not have time to do a half-day tasting with him and I had already done it 2 years prior so I feel I know his wines pretty well. But after I got home I was able to join a virtual tasting of his 2014 Coeur De Vallee. This wine is 76% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Becstoffer To Kalon vineyard which is one of the original famous Napa Valley vineyards and 24% Cabernet Franc which is what stands out in this wine and it is a favorite of Cabernet Franc fans. I received the wine a couple of days in advance so I was able to open it early and watch the evolution of the wine over time which is how I have described this wine to you below. I should also mention while out there I heard about Morlet’s Ma Douce Chardonnay from both 2017 and 2018. More than one wine shop owner told me they were blown away with those two years of Chardonnay from Luc. So I have in transient a vertical of 2016 to 2019 to try out and see if I want to buy a case of any of those years and will let you know once I have tasted them.

2014 Morlet Coeur De Vallee

4 PM Opening and decanted

Immediately filled the room with a grape juice smell. 1st smell very fruity volatile smell with a stringent alcohol smell, 2nd smell still a lot of volatile alcohol with maybe less fruit on the nose. I detected flower smells maybe rose petals also some jasmine. A quick explanation here. In France when studying wine in France the French told me there is a first and second smell when you taste and judge wine. You want to see what it is like immediately on opening and then again after it has come in contact with more air. The taste was very complex with chocolate, cigar, cedar, and again flowers. Very well balanced and alcohol less intense. Nice fruity finish with a slight bitterness from tannin which is well developed. Tannin and acid balance are pretty much perfect. A pleasant finish aftertaste grows on you.

6 PM open for 2 hours in the decanter.

First smell, chocolate, chocolate, chocolate dark chocolate cake with thick chocolate icing. 2nd smell chocolate cake with raspberry jam. Tons of raspberry fruit on the nose. On the taste solid tannin background but a nice smooth velvet mouthfeel. Chocolate and cigar box flavor along with fruit flavor also. Detected a hint of lemon. Really young and tight. Calmed down from 2 hours before showing a wonderful balance of tannin, acid, and alcohol. Actually hardly can detect any alcohol at this point. Also taste a fair amount of licorice. After reading the description should have predicted the high Cabernet Franc contribution as it adds lots of body and tannin and will allow the wine to age for decades. The purpose of decanting 2 hours ahead is to allow the Cabernet Franc to calm down.

7:20 PM open now for 3 ½ hours

The nose is really evolving. Much, much softer and complex. Definitely can smell lavender now. Parkers description of chocolate-covered cherries is accurate. Can also pick up some hint of mint as Parker described.

California Dreaming Part 5, More of the Good Stuff, Theorem, Amulet, and Corison

Theorem Vineyards

A wonderful visit. Theorem is a small production operation making about 2500 cases of wine a year. We had a formal tasting with food that was a top-shelf event. In general, we liked their wines and purchased some. The views from the vineyard are also spectacular

2019 Theorem Moon Mountain Sauvignon Blanc

A tart wine with lots of acid on the nose and taste. I tasted grapefruit and green apple. It was a fairly typical Sauvignon Blanc and well made. A lot of the wines from this vineyard is overseen by Thomas Rivers Brown who is an up and coming winemaker in the Valley

2019 Moon Mountain Chardonnay a favorite purchased 1 case $58/bt

A stunning wine. Just what the doctor ordered. On the nose rich fruit with mild vanilla and oak smell that carries over to the taste which is a velvet mouthfeel. The wine is earth terroir-driven and is a good balance of earth and fruit. Alcohol was moderate at 14% and acid was high. Oak was nicely light and not obtrusive. Everything was just pleasant and well-balanced and the style we like.  My wife and I drank our second bottle last evening with the same result.  Just a stunning wine and in our world a reasonable price.  I highly recommend it.

2019 Moon Mountain Syrah $95/bt

This was a typical Syrah. On the nose lots of firm fruit and on the taste very nice acid structure and a good finish. Tannins were well balanced.

2018 Voir Dine Cabernet Diamond Mountains favorite purchased 2 bottles $195/bt

Another favorite and one of their “marquee” wines. I am enamored with Diamond Mountain wines and this was no exception. It had a unique floral nose with again a mild earthy terroir smell and flavor. The mouthfeel again was pure velvet. Tasted a fair amount of chocolate and cigar box here. A nice long finish. Fairly high alcohol at 14.8% but you would never know it due to the outstanding balance in this wine.

Amulet Estate Patrick Quigley winemaker

We had a very nice tasting with Patrick and spent a lot of time discussing winemaking philosophy particularly Cabernet. Patrick is the winemaker who put me onto the idea that due to sunlight and heat in California it is difficult to make lower alcohol wines in that harvesting them early means according to him harvesting before the grapes have properly matured losing a certain layer of complexity.

2019 Amulet Estate Platt Vineyard Chardonnay $175

The nose was interesting, with a lot of fresh bacon fat smell and some smoke. Lots of fruit on the nose and taste and tart. Had apple and pear flavors and well-balanced acid along with the fruit. Comes from vineyards on the Sonoma Coast and has 14.2% alcohol

2018 Amulet Estate Beckstoffer Vineyards George III Vineyards $175

From an old famous vineyard, the nose starts with a heavy leather as well as grassy and musky flavor that carries over to the taste. Has a nice velvet mouthfeel and is overall very well balanced with high acid and tannin. Very age-worthy.

2018 Amulet Estate Stellsnier Vineyards $175

Not as heavy nose presentation but still smells of leather. A more tart wine, I noted time to pucker up. Moderate tannins and a nice finish.

2018 Amulet Estate Oakville Ranch $175

This wine is all-mountain grapes from 2700 Ft elevation. The nose and flavor taste is very strong with leather and a lot of pucker-up tannins. But at the same time very balanced with good fruit. Will be very age-worthy.

2018 Amulet Estate Mockingbird Cabernet $300

This is a blend of all their best barrels. There was a soft nose with to me some vinyl smells. There was a huge amount of tannin along with good fresh fruit flavors. My read is a minimum of 10 years of aging.

2019 Amulet Estate Platt Vineyard Pinot Noir $150

This vineyard is adjacent to one of Kistler Pinot vineyards. The wine has a light cherry smell and taste. To me it was bitter. It was also tart and had a normal amount of fruit. To me a typical pinot but nothing outstanding.

Corison Napa Valley

Cathy Corison is highly regarded in Napa Valley. She was one if not the first female winemaker in the Valley. She is dedicated to making wines that are lower in alcohol and high in complexity. Regrettably, I did not like her style that much understanding many of her wines are highly rated by many professional reviewers. After a discussion with another winemaker, I had an epiphany regarding trying to make complex wines with lower alcohol levels that would be closer to White Burgundy wines in France and the issue and problem is sunlight. Napa Valley is blessed with adequate sunlight most days. In France a little less so. In my mind, in order to get lower alcohol wines, you have to harvest them earlier because if you don’t because of the constant sunlight those wines in Napa continue to mature which eventually leads to higher sugar/alcohol. If you pick early you pick in the middle of the maturation cycle which results in lower complexity. In France, it takes longer for the grapes to mature hence you get more complexity. So my theory the bottom line is grapes in France take longer to mature and mature better due to the longer length of time but because the grapes have less exposure to sunlight and hence heat they mature with lower sugar/alcohol levels. In Napa, because it is “hotter” the grapes mature with higher sugar/alcohol levels and if you pick the grapes too early yes you lower the sugar/alcohol but you lose complexity. My theory is probably rubbish but that’s how I explain what I tasted. In the end, Cathy Corison is making good to great wines in a different style. I would recommend a visit and tasting to see if you like the style. Hopefully, your “salesperson” is on Lithium!

2020 Corazon Gewurztraminer $40

First off our “salesperson” guide was over the top enthusiastic extolling the virtues of Kathy every 2 seconds to a fault. Again if we were told the wines were spectacular enough we should eventually believe it, right. Starting with a Gewurztraminer and then following with Cabernets might not be the best idea. Gewurztraminer to some extent is an acquired taste. With the right food match, it is a great wine. I just don’t think it was the best way to start a Cabernet tasting. The wine itself was your basic simple Gewurztraminer with some bitter aftertaste.

2018 Corison Napa Valley Cabernet $100

The nose and taste were a little musky showing an earthy terroir. I detected chocolate and some mild vanilla from a moderate oak presence. Had a mild finish. I agree with the winemaker it had some good minerality. It was a good wine. Just not the style I like but did have lower alcohol at 13.5%.

2017 Corison Napa Valley Cabernet $110

The nose was very interesting. I did detect Herbs de Provence mentioned by the winemaker. The wine had good fruit and I detected peppermint in the wine so there was complexity. Due to the peppermint, I felt that there was what I called a “candy” taste that I really don’t like in wine. Again it is not a bad wine, just not my style.

2016 Corison Napa Valley Cabernet $130

Nice spicy, floral nose with jasmine that carried over to the taste. Had a nice velvet mouthfeel. Good tannic structure and will age well. This shows that these wines do age well and maintain their fruit. Was one of the better wines from this vineyard.

2018 Corison Sunbasket Vineyard Cabernet $195

The wine had a lot of similarities to the 2016 Cabernet above. There was a very complex spicy nose. The taste had good fruit and tannic structure. A good age-worthy Cabernet. I just felt the price point was a little high for what you were getting.

California Dreaming, Part 4 another Good, Bad, and Ugly

Trefethen Vineyards, the Good

Founders Eugene and Catherine Trefethen were ahead of their time starting their vineyard in 1968 looking forward to a philosophy of “sustainability” and growing their own grapes on their estate. Today the third generation of the family continues with the same attention to detail. I have driven by the vineyard multiple times and never visited until this trip and was pleased that I did. Frankly, their wines surprised me. I was also highly impressed with the tasting they did for us which ended up being a sit-down gourmet lunch with their best wines and well worth the cost. I ended up buying a couple of cases with no initial intent to do so which speaks to a good point. Ratings and opinions are great and can be a guide. But in the end, you should buy the wines you like and you don’t need a reason to like a bottle of wine. If you like it buy it. The variation in the number of taste buds on the human tongue goes from 500 to 10,000. Anyone can understand somebody with 500 taste buds will taste the same wine tasted by somebody with 10,000 taste buds differently. You may hate the wine and I may love it. It is OK. A cliché but truthful is don’t judge a book by its cover. The only way you can determine if a wine is good for you is to taste it. I recommend you go to Trefethen and taste their wines and do a lunch tasting.

2020 Trefethen Dry Reisling a favorite puchased a case $26/Bt

I have been having a recent love affair with Reisling. As much as I love Chardonnay I also understand the ABC(anything but Chardonnay) crowd. At some point, you need to expand your horizons and drink something different. The reality is with spicy food, Thai being one example, you cannot beat a good Reisling. And Reisling can come in many styles from sweet and a dessert wine to a dry white as an aperitif. I admit a classic German Reisling with that strong “petrol” smell and flavor doesn’t turn me on. But I have recently had some really good dry Rieslings this wine being one. It did have a very light petrol smell letting you know it was a Reisling but it was not overwhelming. The wine was tart on the taste and had lots of pear flavor. It was very balanced and a simple but well-made wine. It had a tart but pleasant mouthfeel. The winemaker describes the tastes of Mandarin Orange peel, apple, and lemon and agrees with the tart description. I like it a lot and purchased a case and that is the first case of Reisling I have purchased in decades.

2019 Trefethen Katies Acre Chardonnay $50

There was a hint of light oak and vanilla flavor on the nose as well as lots of fruit flavors including pear and apple as well as in the taste. On the taste, the oak was more moderate but not unpleasant. It went well with the food match of Red Kuri Squash puree with goat cheese complimented with a tart apple, and pumpkin seed granola.

2019 Trefethen Cabernet Franc $50

A very unique soft leather nose smell followed by a very smooth fruity taste. Oak was moderate and I didn’t particularly like it. I felt this wine clashed with the food pairing of roasted delicata squash and chicories with crispy pancetta, burrata, and toasted pecan. I am going to make an editorial comment here and by no means is this meant to be a criticism. There are different food preparation philosophy’s out there the current rage de jour is the “slow food movement” and “farm to table”. There is nothing inherently wrong with any philosophy as they all seek to improve the betterment of food and wine. I have had a philosophy for years of “no more than 5 components of any dish”. I appreciate complex flavors, but in the end, the reality is the more flavors you have the more chances they will conflict and it makes it much harder to pair a wine. I think that is what was going on in this pairing. God love her the chef was trying to be creative but in the end, the dish was too complicated and had too many flavors.

2018 Trefethen Dragon’s Tooth Cabernet $65

One of their red blends. Interestingly the nose smelled of parmesan cheese, something unique. The winemaker feels this wine is full-bodied and I felt differently thinking the wine was somewhat lightweight. It was well balanced and had plenty of fruit. It was paired with duck confit and potato croquette with garden herbs and to me, not the best food pairing.

2017 Trefethen Reserve Cabernet $115

The nose was light but complex. Mouthfeel was good and tannin and acid were well balanced. Decanter magazine has rated this wine as their best for their estate. I see nothing to disagree with that. The food pairing was good with sous vide beef short rib with Spooner rice congee and wild arugula. I think I wanted seconds on the food.

2019 Trefethen Chardonnay $38 bonus taste

On the nose, a fair amount of fruit and smells of apple and vanilla and a fair amount of oak.  These flavors persisted in the taste and again somewhat overoaked.  I did not feel it was as balanced as some of the others.

2020 Trefethen Sauvingnon Blanc $30 bonus taste

A light nose.  On the taste very crisp and a lot of tart pucker up fruit.  I tasted granny smith apple flavor and again quite a tart taste profile.  A nice Sauvignon Blanc with more of an apple flavor than say the usual grapefruit.

2020 Trefethen Quandry $25/Bt bonus taste favorite purchased a case

A huge surprise. A terrific value quality-price ratio wine. You cannot beat the quality for the price. Everyone loved the wine. A nice light nose with tart flavors of apple and pear. On the taste, a good acid background makes it very food-friendly. It is a white blend made with 3 of my favorite white grapes, Riesling, Viognier, and Chardonnay. Lots of fruit flavors and some honey and lemon zest. A nice rounded mouthfeel and a clean and bright long finish. Will be an ideal summer picnic, patio, or poolside sipping wine and will pair wonderfully with seafood and poultry. 13.5% alcohol, Think summer fried chicken!

Frank Family, The Bad

Nobody makes bad wine anymore. Winemakers and owners don’t spend millions of dollars and years of time figuring out how they can make bad wine. They spend their time and money trying to make the next 100 point blockbuster. Sometimes they succeed. A lot of times they don’t. And in the end, it really boils down to style and being able to control what they in fact can control. Frank family has a long history of winemaking and lots of people love their wines. I have never been a big fan in the past so I agreed to do a tasting there with an open mind understanding things change over time and maybe they would be the greatest wines I tasted this trip. Sadly I have to report that did not happen. I again emphasize it more an issue of style rather than quality.

Lady Edison Reserve Brut $110

Started out with their sparkling wine. Is all Chardonnay. To me, it was not that dry as I tasted some sweetness and residual sugar. To me, it had a higher concentration of carbonation which for me is a plus. On the taste, I tasted a fair amount of pear and the finish was nice. It sort of grew on you as you tasted it. But for me, the price was too high for what you were getting.

2018 Lewis Chardonnay

Not to be confused with Lewis Family wines a totally different animal.  I did not like this wine. The nose was not particularly pleasant. It was a typical California overoaked Chardonnay that overwhelmed the wine and in addition, again it had some sweetness to it indicating a higher residual sugar load. There really was no complexity here. My opinion is these grapes were harvested way too early and had not matured enough to make a bottle of better wine.

2018 RHF Cabernet

Had a cheery nose and taste but was not balanced well. I know some like the style in that it was “jammy” but to me that made it smell and taste more like cough syrup than a good wine. Just not for me.

2017 Winston Cabernet

A lot of tannin here. It will definitely age for a long time. Smelled and tasted like a typical California Cab. The vineyard is at the southern portion of Calistoga to the east of Highway 29 and lays in the valley. So it does not have complexity as say vineyards further north and upon the mountains would have.

2017 Patriarch Cabernet

A lot of unbalanced alcohol and tannin here and not yet approachable. Needs a lot of time to develop.

Peju Vineyards The Ugly  

Rutherford wines are fairly distinctive and have what is called the “Rutherford” dust. Most Master Sommeliers would be able to spot a Rutherford Cabernet without any effort. Our friends recommended Peju as they had been before and liked the wines. So again with an open mind, we checked them out. They are right in the middle of the Rutherford area next door to St. Supery just off Highway 29.  Oops, not what we expected and not in a good way. To begin with a corporate presentation with enthusiastic young salespeople telling you over and over again 100 times in 10 minutes these are great, great wines trying to implant into your brain with brainwashing these are great wines. Pretty much a pump and dump strategy. Other than their sweet dessert wine which was quite good nothing stood out as something we would want to buy.

2017 Sparkling Blanc de Noirs

Very sorry but not impressed at all. The nose smelled like dishwasher soap and we did discuss maybe they did not rinse out the glasses well enough after washing them and if that was the case then they don’t pay attention to detail and if they don’t do it in the tasting room most likely they don’t pay attention in the vineyard or production facility either.

NV Province Blanc de Noir

This is a Chardonnay Pinot Noir Sparkler. It color was somewhat strange. I called it a “dark” rose color. It was pretty disjointed with no balance at all. Technically seemed to be poorly made. Again my thought is maybe harvested before the grapes were actually mature.

2018 Piccolo

Another wine with what seemed to be a “funky” color or off-color. Good fruit on this one with a cherry nose and taste. Some tannins but again not well balanced and not impressive

2020 Sauvignon Blanc

Made one simple statement, not impressed.

2017 Rutherford Stained Glass Series

Finally a better wine. It is one of their top wines. Had a good tannic structure and solid fruit with better balanced. A fairly high alcohol concentration made the wine taste a little stringent. Better but still not anything I would buy.

2019 Calmere Chardonnay

An overoaked wine with fair fruit. But nothing I would buy.

2014 Merlot Meritage

Another good wine they should maybe push a little more. Had a nice cherry nose and I also tasted licorice well. Overall I would say a good wine

Sweet Orange Muscat was the best wine for me and I purchased one bottle to drink down the road.

California Dreaming, Part 3 Strala, Ellman, and Neiman Vineyards

Strala Vineyards(www.stralavineyards.com)

Founded by Jason and Laura Ray they concentrate on small production wines with vineyards managed by Jason. They have a good portfolio of good wines at reasonable prices and overall we were very happy with our tasting and recommend them to you.  In honor of upcoming Veterans Day, the Vineyard gave me an additional Veterans discount and I thank the vineyard for recognizing Veterans.

2018 Strala Brut Rose Napa Valley A favorite and I purchased 6 bottles for $60/Bt

I just don’t drink alcohol in the morning. Decades ago while attending a week-long bachelor party for a friend we would get up every morning and start drinking beer at 8 AM. I can assure you it never ended well and I learned my lesson. So suffice it to say when I was presented with a glass of sparkling Rose at 8 AM I was not really thrilled to start tasting that early. But I am glad I did. I was shocked at the quality of this Sparkler especially given the early hour. It was an outstanding sparkling Rose better than most that I have tasted in the past. It had a wonderful toasty fruity nose followed by a balanced flavor profile and a nice finish. There was nothing off in this wine and it was well made. It was one that made my favorites list

2019 Strala Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley Purchased 6 bottles $35

Clark and I don’t buy nor drink many Sauvignon Blancs as we find them somewhat overdone with acid and harsh and just not our style. But we were very impressed with this one. There was a tart fruit smell on the nose but not overbearing and pleasant. What sold us was the acid was very well balanced with everything else and was not overwhelming as others we have had. There was a nice subdued tart lemon flavor as opposed to grapefruit that you usually see with Sauvignon blanc. This wine had a very good finish that was also pleasant. One of the few Sauvignon Blancs I have purchased.

2019 Strala ChardonnayNapa Valley $50

It’s not a bad wine but it didn’t make it onto my favorites list. There was a fair amount of oak on the nose that carried over to the flavor and was minimally bitter and “overoaked” but it was there. It is aged 40% French Oak but the American Oak seems to predominate. It just is not my style and I prefer other Chardonnays.

2017 Strala Pinot Noir Napa Valley $65

Comes from vineyards in Carneros. Very typical California Pinot with a predominant cherry fruit on the nose. Lots of cheery fruit taste also. I did not find it particularly complex or compelling as it clearly is a good example of a basic Napa Pinot and has no French Pinot characteristics.

2017 Proprietary Red Wine Napa Valley $55

The makeup is 40% Zinfandel, 30% Merlot, 30% Cabernet, and 10% Petite Sirah, a unique blend. It turned out to be a pleasant complex wine. It had a lot of licorice flavor along with bacon fat that I really do not recall being in the flavor profile of many red wines. In my opinion, this would be a perfect wine with a BLT. I recommend it as a well-made wine with an interesting flavor profile.

2018 Strala Napa Valley Cabernet 100% Cabernet $85

Regrettably, I could not recommend this wine. I just didn’t like it. It is supposed to come from an area near Pritchard Hill which in my experience has nothing but outstanding Cabs, just no this one. It had a cough syrup smell and taste to it as well as no balance. You cannot win them all.

2018 Strala Reserve Cabernet $150

From the Sleeping Lady Vineyard located in the Upper Range of Pritchard Hill. It is an up-and-coming vineyard we heard a fair amount about. It was in fact much better than the regular Cab with a more complex nose and flavor profile and much better balanced. I did not buy any but it is a good wine.

2018 Montagna Pritchard Hill Cabernet Purchased 2 bottles $250

It is a tight young wine but impressive in its balance and finesse. I smelled lemon in the nose, quite unusual for a Cabernet. I really have not had any Pritchard Hill wines that I have not been very impressed with. I purchased a couple of bottles even at the high price as I felt the wine was worth it.

Ellman Family vineyards(elllmanfamilyvineyards.com)

A small family operation with exceptional wines and a commitment to great wines.  They are a third-generation wine family believing in tradition and taking pride in cultivating a quality wine operation that has been in the family for almost three-quarters of a century.  They started years ago as vintners in Napa Valley and their team includes winemaker Andy Erickson and manager Mike Wolf. 

2018 Brothers Blend Cabernet Purchased 6 Bottles $95 93RP

Started out with a light spicy nose flavor. Very nice velvet mouthfeel. Lots of dark chocolate taste. Felt it would go well with a cheese course. Is 95% Cabernet and 4% Merlot? Have already drunk one bottle for dinner and went very well with a hamburger and fries.

2020 Caryn Renae Sauvingnon Blanc $65

My first thought was pizza, pizza, pizza. It seemed to smell initially like a nice pizza for some reason? There was a good pear flavor profile and a fair amount of residual sugar giving it some sweet taste. I felt it leaned toward being like a sweet Reisling character. It was a good wine but not the kind of Sauvignon blanc I would favor.

2014 Jemma(1.5L) Cabernet $350

Served from magnum to show how well these wines age. It did in fact show good aging. The nose was complex and smelled of a fine leather. The tannins were soft and velvety and the wine was well balanced. I felt it would continue to age and improve for at least 20 years.

2018 Jemma Cabernet $150

Onto its younger cousin, the 2018 again presented with a complex nose and flavor profile this time with cigar box primarily. Again a nice velvet mouthfeel and a good finish. Lots of young tannins but still smooth and well balanced. An excellent acid backbone makes it very food-friendly. As 2014 has demonstrated it will age and evolve in bottles for decades.

2018 The Estate Cabernet $195 94RP

A very young tight Cabernet. The nose was soft not much there but on the flavor, the tannin was very strong and had a licorice taste. It will have great aging potential. It had a nice finish. Made with 60% new French oak and 40% aged French oak-aged for 3 years. An interesting oak profile.

2018 Elaine Cabernet $250

To compare to the Estate Cabernet this one is 100% new French oak. You really couldn’t appreciate the oak much on this one as the alcohol imprint was high. It had 14.8% alcohol and you could smell it on the nose. The taste was a tight cigar flavor and my main comment was the wine was very very young. This family clearly is making age-worth wines so I would not be surprised if this one last 50-75 years without and problem.

Neiman Cellars Drew Neiman Winemaker

It was one of the highlights of our trip to meet Drew Neiman. Somehow related to Leroy Neiman maybe, his main claim to fame is he was the assistant winemaker under John Konnsgarud for 12 years and for all intents and purposes was making the wines that Clark and I have loved for over a decade and had an extremely hard time buying any. What a joy to meet him and when we first tasted his 2016 chardonnay our first thought was wow, It’s the high-quality wine and style we love. Turns out his mentor John Konnsgaurd originally worked at Newton and “invented” Newton unoaked chardonnay. Drew also worked in the past at Wente Vineyards. He is a very gracious host and he also has a strong opinion on pairing his wines particularly with cheese so in addition to our wine tasting we had a cheese tasting also. He recommends Culture Cheese Magazine(https://culturecheesemag.com) as a great reference. If you are in NYC Drew recommends a visit to Murray’s Cheese( https://www.murrayscheese.com). You can contact Drew at drew@neimancellars.com.

2016 Neiman Chardonnay My favorite wine of the trip purchased 2 cases for $85/Bt

In a word spectacular and spiritual. Soft hints of on the nose and taste, perfect balance and acidity, a minimal hint of oak if at all. Lots of pear and lemon fruit. The alcohol is high but not noticeable and it dissipates. More than once winemakers told me if the grapes are good and the wine is balanced you will not notice the wine being too high in alcohol nor overoaked. Classic old-world style to me with plenty of terroir and mineral backbone. Just a class act wine. So good me and Robert purchased 6 cases together and begged to be included on his yearly allocation list. Drew paired it with Tom D’crayion cow cheese from Savoie. I also understood him to say the grapes for this wine come from the Hudson Vineyard where more than one winemaker makes Chardonnay, Kistler for one.

2016 Neiman Red Wine $150

This wine has 55% cabernet from Pritchard Hill and 45% Cabernet Franc. Grapes come from the Cauldwell Vineyard. The wine was young and tight but well balanced. If you like Cabernet Franc this would a wine for you.

2018 The Fallen Red Wine $175

Starts off with a spicy aromatic nose. 70% of the grapes come from Sleeping Lady Vineyard and 39% is Cabernet Franc from again the Cauldwell vineyard. It was a very balanced pleasant wine with great structure and balance. It was one wine that during the tasting I ended up drinking all of it it was so good.

2016 Neiman Syrah $65

Lots of fruit on the nose with hints of caramel as well in the taste. A tight young concentrated wine. All the grapes come from the Cauldwell vineyard. The wine paired beautifully with a goat gouda cheese. Will age well and tannins and acidity were perfectly balanced. A very good Syrah.

California Dreamin, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, Part 2 Del Dotto Barrel Tastings led by Dave Del Dotto

As I get going in writing about all of these tastings it has become quickly clear that it will take more than 2 parts to write all of this down.  So I dedicate Part 2 to Dave Del Dotto alone.  Dave the master himself took us into the barrel room and showcased his greatest wines.  There is no question Dave is obsessed and passionate about making the greatest wines possible and combining them with an elegant and wonderful lifestyle matched with the best food.  It is a delight to hear Dave's stories about his wines told in his opulently designed and decorated caves.  It just does not get any better. 

2019 Piazza Reserve Cabernet

There is lots of fruit on the nose that I described as Welch's fruit juice. The wine was young and the tannins were moderate. I also noted the tannins were soft. Overall the wine was balanced and had a nice moderate finish. To me an excellent well made wine.

2019 St Helena U Stave Cabernet Block 2

This is the sister of the same grapes in another barrel and what separates the two is this one has 100% American Oak and its sister has 100% French Oak, In this wine, the nose was a little less pronounced and what I would call “tight” but there was plenty of fruit expression. To me, the tannins were not well developed and were bitter. I didn’t think this was one of Dave’s better-balanced wines. I am biased in that I don’t particularly like American Oak so I did consider that but overall I have had much better wines from Dave.

2019 St. Helena Treuilterrior Cabernet

The sister to one above is made with French Oak. A much better wine in my estimation. Nice fairly complex nose with lots of spice and fruit. The tannins were again young and again bitter but less than the American oak one. Overall it was better than the American Oak one but again I have seen better but I suspect this one will age out the tannins better.

2020 Vineyard 887 Cabernet

It is unknown if this wine will be released but it tells a story and serves as a good example of judging wines. This wine came from an area affected by the recent fires in wine country. Every winemaker is deathly afraid that the fire and smoke ruined their grapes and they won’t be able to make wine. Some winemakers actually destroyed the grapes on that assumption. Dave decided to do a little experiment and went ahead and made wine from the “fire grapes” to see what might happen and he might yet release this wine. Tasting out of the barrel is was a great wine. Balanced, fruity, and no hint of smoke or fire damage. There are multiple factors that will determine if a fire damages a particular vineyard so congratulations to Dave for waiting and we will see what happens. One problem is even if he makes and releases the wine it will have no resale value and future buyers will only remember it was from a “fire” year and therefore tainted somehow.

2019 Oakville Taransard French Oak Cabernet

This cab was made in 100% French oak from a specific barrel maker from France. It had a nice complex spicy nose and the body, tannins, acid were smooth with a velvet mouthfeel and nice overall balance. I could detect bunches of spice and more specifically cedar.

2019 Oakville U-Stave American Oak Cabernet

OK, here we go again with the sister analogy. This wine is from the same grapes as the Taransard Oak Cab but again made with 100% American Oak. For whatever reason, this American Oak Cab from Dave was much better with better balance and complexity of flavor. Lots of fruit-forward in the nose and taste and young but again very smooth and pleasing. In this wine, I detected a nice bit of cinnamon present.

2019 “The Beast” Cabernet purchased single cluster magnum 1.5L $900 A favorite

Dave Del Dotto’s most famous wines. I have lost track of how many have achieved 100 point status but plenty. 2019 should prove to be no exception. It is a blend of all of Dave's best wines. It is extremely well balanced with lots of fruit and smooth tannin. A nice complex canopy of tastes including cinnamon and cigar. A great wine.

2019 Howell Moutain Cabernet purchased 3 bottles $250 per bottle

A nice sweet fruity nose again made with 100% French Oak. Though young the tannins are soft and well balanced with acid. A nice smooth mouthfeel and a smooth nice long finish. I have always preferred Mountain Cabs to the valley ones and I do feel Dave makes some of the best Mountain Cabs and I recommend them.

2019 Villa Del Lago Cabernet near Pritchard Mountain or Hill near Colgin Vineyards Purchased 3 bottles $350 per bottle A favorite

It may be due to my bias regarding liking Mountain cabs generally and Pritchard Hill cabs specifically but this wine was the greatest one I personally have tasted at Del Dotto. It is a stunner. A truly wonderful velvet mouth feel with balanced fruit, acid, and taste. Almost a spiritual wine and perfectly made from a technical aspect.

2019 Rose Sparkling Wine Piazza Del Dotto purchased 27 bottles for $52 per bottle

 

I have lost track of how many bottles of this sparkler I have purchased and I continue to buy and drink it in high numbers. It is a well-balanced sparkler with lots of fruit and toast on the nose and a great flavor profile with pear, apple, and fruit. The finish is long. It rates as a favorite.

2019 Chardonnay Fort Ross-Seaview Sonoma Coast purchased 3 bottles for $85 per bottle

 

The Fort Ross-Seaview area is actually pretty much on the Pacific Coast adjacent to the Sonoma area.  There have been quite a few new Chardonnay's from the area and so far I have liked them all.  I particularly like Dave's Chardonnay's including this one as they are well balanced with a good fruit profile in the nose and taste of apple and pear.  This one had some Granny Smith Apple flavor to me.  The oak is well balanced and the finish is prolonged.  I recommend it.

Overall a great barrel tasting at Del Dotto led by the master himself in his opulent and magnificent caves. I highly recommend it be on your bucket list when visiting Napa. Other than his American Oak wines which in of themselves are good his wines continue to be outstanding and worth the time, effort, and price to obtain and drink them. I certainly purchased my fair share there. Dave told us an interesting story where a lover of his wines and buyer stayed at the vineyard almost an entire day attempting to purchase every bottle of wine in Dave’s inventory. Dave couldn’t get rid of the guy who would not take no for an answer. He sold him a large selection of wines but as Dave told him he had to have enough wine around to sell to his other buyers and it really would not be fair to sell one person all of his wine.