Posts Tagged napa

Located in St. Helena, a small winery from Napa that produces Cabernet, Chardonnay and Petit Sirah. This 2006 has a sleek look and is packaged well. I’d bought two of these at about 17 dollars a bottle. It appears this is selling for around 25 at various locations now. The first bottle of this was very good but I’d waited about a year before trying the second. Here are some notes on that tasting and my impressions:

On opening, the classic Napa nose. I didn’t decant this one, just popped and poured. There’s the blueberry and cherry notes, with oak and bell pepper and smoke. The tannins are fairly integrated at this point and there’s not a ton of grip in the flavor, in a good way. It takes about 30 minutes or so for it to smooth out and then there’s just rich chocolate covered cherries and cab goodness. Towards the end of the bottle, it has still a good bit of acidity and structure. There’s blue and black fruits followed by bell pepper and mushroom. Overall, a very nice wine. Of course the price made this even better but overall for $25 I’d say this comes in around a 90pt wine.

Rating: 90pts

Mockingbird Hill Wine
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Here’s a couple of Napa Valley chardonnays that I’ve tried fairly recently. Napa seems to have fully made the transition from over-oaked butterball wines to something a little more reminiscent of the Burgundian-style wines of France. Much more focus on the fruit and the acidity of the wines, allowing them to shine without a ton of manipulation. Both Pride and Neyers were definitely on the leading edge with this style and have helped push out the oak monsters.

2005 Neyers Napa Chardonnay

We took this wine to our favorite ‘BYOB’ restaurant in New Jersey.  It had not been chilled prior to opening.  I actually found it good both at room temperature and also chilled.  There was a lot of carmel, oak and earthiness at room temperature.  When it was slightly chilled, it had a little more of the crisp acidity flavor.

This winery always produces solid values.  This wine is no exception with classic Napa richness and caramel notes.  These flavors mix with apples and pears. The wine is not buttery by any means.  It is just a nice middle of the road wine between the California and Burgundy styles. Priced around $25.

Rating: 90 pts

2005 Pride Chardonnay

The nose from this wine was full of lemon and herbal scents, along with noticeable caramel notes. The flavor at first was a little muted, not tasting as strong as the nose would have indicated. The wine exhibited notes of honey, custard and lemon. However the flavors, for a wine of this quality, came across weak. The finish was smooth and rich, though not lengthy. Priced around $35, this wine did not have a great quality-price ratio (QPR) as would have been expected.

Rating: 88 pts

Is Napa Valley the center of the wine world? Hard to say, but for many the answer is yes. And the main reason is Cabernet. Cab Sav is still by and large the principle grape grown in the valley, though others are making inroads. Every winery wanting to be a major player in the market rolls out there “big boy” high-end release each year, hoping to snag a huge Parker or Spectator score, and slap the $100+ price tag on the bottle. Having tasted a number of wines from Napa, in a lot of cases, their prices may be justified. Napa cabs just seem to have the richest flavors, huge gripping tannins, and long rounded finishes. Here are just a few of the cabs I’ve tried over the years with tasting notes.

2000 Broman Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

This wine came as a gift from some friends last year. Noting the vintage, I figured this wine was ready for drinking. I wasn’t disappointed with my decision. A beautiful wine with finely integrated tannins, a earthy nose, with olives and mushrooms, giving way later to cherries, touch of oak for backing. On the initial pour I found the wine to be a bit tight and acidic. But within an hour of decanting, the acidity and griping tannins melted away, and the wine started to show its true character. Not an overpowering wine but more of a rustic style, with medium body. Because of its rustic nature, I really enjoyed this wine.  Priced around $30.

Rating: 91pts

2001 Grgich Hills Cabernet Sauvignon

I thought this was a wonderful wine – it seemed to be smooth and aged. Plump and ripe with solid fruit, and a smooth rich sweet finish. There were very integrated tannins that would just ripple below the surface. I had some doubts about this wine given the bad press this one got on some of the web sites out there. But the fruit was still in good shape and the flavors were really just starting to gain complexity. I’ll be very excited for my second bottle in a year or two.

Rating: 93pts

2001 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

Ruby-red to deep purple in color, this was a dark and rich wine. This wine had a nose with perfumes of blueberries, lilacs, and hints of allspice. The flavor is all chocolate and cherries. As this wine progressed through the tasting, it continued to be sweet, smooth and suave, with spicy flavors of currant. There was also a decent amount of oak that backed this wine, but nothing over-powering, say like a Silver Oak. This was a big wine that kept on going and going, and would have been good for a few more years to come. Served this with a roasted duck breast, rich cherry sauce and polenta.

Rating: 92pts

2003 Amizetta Cabernet Sauvignon

Not much nose on initial pour – taking its time to open up. Still even after 2 hrs it’s a bit closed down – a note of spice and violets, lavender as well. Bell pepper nose and on the taste. Not a ton of oak holding things up either. Fruits are muted some by a tannic and acidic nature of the wine overall. Softens up after about 2 hours – still a good grip of tannins and raspberry earthiness. Good finish and follow-through with pencil lead and tobacco. Warm molten bittersweet chocolate.

Priced around $40

Rating: 91pts

2004 Ladera Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

This is a really wonderful, rich Napa cab that is showing really well in these early stages of life. It possesses big sweet fruit, with raspberries and green peppers on both the nose and tongue. There are notes of mocha, mushroom and tobacco flavor. The finely integrated tannins give this wine a solid mid-pallet and finish. A really nice wine all around for the price, which I’ve seen for around $30.

Rating: 91-92pts

2004 Turnbull Cabernet Sauvignon

This was a wonderful wine full of big, brawny, and bold flavors. The flavor was rich and multi-dimensional, with the tannins bold at first however quickly fading into the body. Chocolate raspberries and classic Napa blueberries dominate the mid-palate, with an earth tobacco and charred earth mix in the finish. Good length and body, especially for the price of around $35. This was a solid Napa cab for the money.

Rating: 93pts

2005 Monticello Vineyards Jefferson Cuvee Cabernet Sauvignon

This was a wonderful wine from Napa Valley. I let it decant for about 1 hour prior to tasting. The initial taste however found this wine to still be tight and acidic. There was a good nose on the wine however, with aromas of black fruit and earthy spices. The flavor was big, long and lush, and with a little more time, the wine opened up perfectly. Blackberries and black cherries dominated the palate, and mixed in with tobacco, cocoa, and cassis. The finish was relatively long and the tannins, while fairly well integrated, still had a nice bit of grip to give the wine that bigger mouthfeel. Overall I found this wine to be exceptionally well-made and even went out to buy a second for the cellar.

Rating: 93pts

Below are two tasting notes on a couple of syrahs from Napa based wineries.

2001 Shafer Relentless Syrah

A very solid wine with great deal of power, and lots of fruit goodness. The nose had a smoky nature that held blueberry and raspberry notes, in that classic Napa-style. Big fruit in the front, followed by chocolate-covered cherries and mocha notes. The finish was long and deep with a good bit of acidity towards the end. It has to be said that this wine was a little one-dimensional, but overall it possessed a ton of power and richness to peak my interest and keep me wanting to come back for more. It also has a long life ahead of it with many more drinkable years in the bottle.

Rating: 91pts

2005 Neyers Old Lakeville Highway Syrah

This was a beautifully rich Syrah from California. The wine was a cross between old world and new, with an extracted flavor and an earthy, almost musky quality. Flavors of dark plums and mushrooms were most noticeable. It also had nice cherry kiersch and tobacco notes. This wine had good body and length on the mid-palate, with a nice soft, rounded finish. Overall, it was a very enjoyable wine. Priced around $27.

Rating: 91+ pts