Piazza Del Dotto Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

Piazza Del Dotto Napa Valley American Oak Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

For Linda's birthday dinner, Sean and Michelle brought in Covid Carry-Out dinner from Rosebud's in Naperville. The fare included Linda's favorite Margherita pizza, a proscuitto and arugula pizza, meatballs, stuffed mushrooms and a eggplant salad. 

I pulled from the cellar one of Linda's favorite wines, from what she considers one of the most memorable wine tasting events we have had in Napa - the delicacies culinary wine pairing at Piazza Del Dotto during our Napa Wine Experience 2018. 

We tasted and acquired the later release of this Piazza Del Dotto Cabernet wine at that time, and this earlier release during our Del Dotto Winery and Caves tasting tour the year earlier. 

I have mentioned often in these pages that Del Dotto family wines are one of the largest holdings in our cellar collection dating back to the inaugural vintage releases in 1993. 

The Piazza Del Dotto property, not to be confused with the Del Dotto Winery and Caves up St. Helena Highway at the northern edge of the Rutherford AVA just below St. Helena, sits at the southern edge of the Oakville appellation, just north of Yountville. 

Piazza is Italian for 'hot spot' or gathering place. 

The Piazza estates consists of 22 acres of which 8.5 are planted to Cabernet Sauvignon. The estate chateau is called La Barchessa, “the Italian Barn” in Italian, a palatial hospitality center with extraordinary Italian furnishings such as the grand chandelier made in Florence, to paintings and furniture. 

An incredible seventy shipping containers of construction materials, statues, marble, furniture, doors and other decor were sourced in and shipped from Italy. Even the hand-laid bricks lining the driveway and parking area were imported from Italy. Fellow wine producer and business venture partner Claudia Fleury did much of the interior design.

La Barchessa features two floors including VIP tasting spaces upstairs and outdoor terraces with magnificent surrounding gardens with 150+ year old olive trees, vegetable gardens, 17^th century fountains, with views of the vineyards and mountains in the distance. 

Piazza Del Dotto is all about the art of pairing food and wine. The site boasts two gourmand commercial kitchens, one features an impressive French made Molteni stove which Dave Del Dotto calls “the Bentley of stoves”, and a Molteni luxury kitchen range. The second kitchen offers outside stool seating at the ‘food bar’ where small bites are prepared and served paired with carefully selected accompanying wines. 

When we were there in July, they were in the late stages of construction of 10,000 square feet of wine caves being drilled into the side of the knoll across the parking lot, which opened later in September. 

Piazza Del Dotto Napa Valley American Oak Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

Winemaker notes - Ripe red plum and baked almonds on the nose lead to oak-influenced clove and sweet tobacco with subtle layers of Mexican chocolate.  The first impressions on the palate burst with black cherry, black raspberries, stewed strawberries and rhubarb with a touch of pink peppercorns and kiss of oak with a long, clean finish. 

This was an incredible perfect pairing with the stuffed mushrooms with buttered crumbs and crushed garlic accentuating the delight of both. 

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2258002

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2018/07/del-dotto-piazza-delicacies-food-and.html

www.deldottovineyards.com/visit/piazza

@DelDottoWine