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

Great to revisit this.  First tasted in December, 2002 (notes are on this site) and it has improved a bit but it can still get better.  This wine is made by Andy Erikson and from vineyards on Atlas Peak and Soda Canyon.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is powerful and open with cassis, cedar, blueberries, chocolate, char.  Lush texture.  Firm tannins (the wine  had not been open long).  Great balance.  On the palate, cassis, cedar, charred earth and spice.  Long finish but already performing great.

It was great to try this bottle at age 10.  The grapes are grown in the heart of the historic To Kalon vineyard although for legal reasons, they can't put that on the label.  Just gorgeous!  The bottle was opened and allowed to breather for 13 hours prior to serving but not decanted.  Purple in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is deep and complex with cassis, cigar box, dust, spice and warm earth.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  Great energy and balance.  On the palate, this is young but open (the advantage of old vines on the valley floor).  Complex and layered.  Cassis, spice, ear

This is a blend of the three single vineyard wines that Vida Valiente releases.  The winery was formed with a charitable arm and its Foundation supports lower income students going to Stanford who lack the financial resources.  One hundred dollars from every bottle sold goes to support this Foundation.  The winemaker, Sam Kaplan, identifies particular barrels to achieve his goal for this wine.  This is the first vintage and like all of their wines, it lists 14.8% abv on the label.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim, opaque and bright.  The nose is tight but opens to cassis, dark chocolate, s

This is from the  home vineyard of Vita Valiente.  The vineyard was planted in 2018 at the base of  Glass Mountain in St. Helena.  Beautifully packaged with an etched in paper label.  Decanted for about four hours.  14.8% abv.

Decanted for about four hours prior to serving.  Inky purple in color, opaque and shimmering bright.  The nose is quite tight.  Over the evening it opened a bit, but the bottle got drained, so nothing left on Day 2.  It happens.  Some cassis, slight graphite, baking spice and char.  Full bodied.  Very, very firm tannins.  That said, what a wonderful plush but silky texture.  Great energy and acidity.  Balanced.  The palate is a bit more opened.  Cassis, slight graphite, a bit earthy and char.  Deep.  Long finish.  If drinking now, give it an eight hour decant but this really needs five year

This is grown at a high elevation.  This is the first vintage as the vines are only three years old (planted in 2018).  14.8% abv.Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is very nice.  Cassis, saddle leather, and spice.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  Plush texture.  On the palate, this is very accessible.  I suspect subsequent vintages will be tighter on release.  Lots of concentrated cassis notes with some earthiness and char.  A bit of a saline note on the finish.  This is not an opulent wine (which I was expecting) but still has power.  Cellaring for a few years should be rewar

Bouchaine has consistently made this wine and has consistently made it well. What sets this apart from many California rosé is that it straddles the line between fruit and acidity, allowing the wine to be a part of any meal. It offers strawberry, lemon-lime, resin, light apricot and loquat. There is also a slight tartness to it, a hint of green apple that helps define this as a multi layered wine. Since the wine sees no oak at all, the freshness, the brightness and the clean fruit shines through. 1,500 cases. ORIGIN: Napa Valley, Carneros. ALCOHOL: 13.5%

Most wineries, like Acumen, love fruit grown on hilly terrain. The grapes have proper drainage, the addition of breezes keeps the leafy vines healthier and soils are richer in nutrients. Therefore, this Mountainside Cabernet has everything going for it. This wine requires a little bit of patience however, and decanting this for a few hours will be well worth your time. This shows the obvious black cherry, blueberry, boysenberry, and huckleberry notes that Cabernet typically has.

Another wine made by Thomas Rivers Brown.  Inky purple in color, opaque and shimmering bright.  The nose has cassis, cedar, baking spice and slight char.  Great texture and balance.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, this is very concentrated and tight.  It needs air/time.  With about an hour of air it opens with cassis, slight blueberries, spice and char.  Long finish.  Probably best to hold for a few years and drink for ten to fifteen after that.  Great on its own or with a thick slab of meat.  

Impressive showing for this classic Napa wine.  Inky purple in color and shimmering bright.  The nose is big with black raspberries, blueberries, black olives, and spice.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, cassis, coffee, blueberries, spice and char.  Deep but tightly wound.  It unwinds in layers in the glass.  Long finish.  Just a fantastic wine that is just beginning to show some maturity.  Holding for another decade will be rewarded but drinking now is great as well.  Drink over the next twenty years.  Great on its own, it will need bigger food.  While Prime Rib would be classi