Kinsella Estate Dry Creek Valley Jersey Boys Vineyard Cabernet

Kinsella Estate Sonoma County Dry Creek Valley Jersey Boys Vineyard Cabernet 2018

Son Alec and wife Viv hosted Philippe, friend from Provence, who we’ve known since he stayed with us as a foreign exchange student when they were in high school, so we met up together for a reunion with pizza and wine. 

We visited Philippe in Aix-en-Provence in 2019, a trip we chronicled in these pages in several posts. 

Four days in Provence - Aix - Meyrargues 

La Presqu'Ile Restaurant à Bédarrides Vaucluse France 

Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe. Châteauneuf-du-Pape 

A visit to Château La Nerthe

Alec wanted to showcase an example of American wine for our French friend so he pulled from his cellar this limited production boutique label from Sonoma County. He shared an earlier vintage of this label a while back and I wrote about it and its interesting producer at that time, excerpted below.  

This is the label of Kevin Kinsella who founded Kinsella Estates in Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valleyin 2007. Kevin bought a 12-acre vineyard in the foothills of the western edge of Dry Creek Valley and hired legendary winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown to lead his project.

Kinsella is founder of the private venture capital fund, Avalon Ventures, which funded the first big data company, multiple billion dollar pharmaceutical companies, the first touch screen for the Apple iPhone, the first mega social gaming company and the radically new stealth vessel for the Navy SEALS. Avalon has participated in and helped develop more than 120 different companies. As a consultant to the Peruvian government, Kinsella developed the first international marketing plan for the remarkable Andean grain, quinoa. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. 

Kinsella is also a Tony Award winner as he gained further fame and fortune as the largest individual investor in the musical Jersey Boys, which became a worldwide smash hit becoming the 12th longest running musical in the history of Broadway playing to nearly 23 million people worldwide in five locations worldwide over a decade. 

The musical Jersey Boys not only provided resources to pursue his passion for wine but also was the impetus for the name of one of the three vineyards on the estate named after the musical. 

Kinsella Estates is situated in a private valley in the foothills of the western edge of Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley near Healdsburg, situated at an elevation of 500 feet above the Russian River. The valley provides a warm climate that seldom sees a winter frost, some hills even grow citrus trees. The valley runs east-west and is planted with 12 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon vines on steep eastern hillsides made of loamy, metamorphic soil.

The estate has three vineyard blocks; the six acre Jersey Boys Vineyard, Spencer Vineyard is four acres, and two acre Heirloom Vineyard (formerly Tamara Vineyard), a steep sloping 17-year-old parcel wedged between an arroyo and a knoll of Spanish oaks, 

The Kinsella Estate property is a bit unique spot because the Dry Creek AVA is known primarily for the predominant varietal Zinfandel and not much Cabernet. This vineyard however gets plenty of sunshine to provide appropriate terroir for the Bordeaux varietal. 

The Heirloom Vineyard was planted in 2001 with 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. The Jersey Boys Vineyard was replanted in 2008, utilizing four Cabernet Sauvignon clones, with two thirds of an acre planted to Wente clone Zinfandel and eight rows to Petit Verdot. 

With the purchase of the the 12-acre vineyard estate, his business instincts took over. "Part of the philosophy of venture capital is to go with the best people you can," explains Kinsella, who hired talented winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown as winemaker in 2007. Prior to Kinsella, since 2000, Brown had crafted 37 individual bottlings of Cabernet Sauvignon for Schrader Cellars. Twenty of those releases earned ratings of 95 points or higher on the Wine Spectator 100-point scale, including a pair of 100-point 2007s. Ninety-one is the lowest score in the bunch.

Working with Thomas Rivers Brown are viticulturist Kelly Maher and Josh Clark of Clark Vineyard Management. Josh is the son of Tom Clark of the family wine label Clark-Claudon. Josh says he started in this business at age 12, when he would spend the day with “the vineyard as his playground", and where he “practically grew up on a tractor.” Josh took over the family business in 2003 that Tom Clark, started in 1978 so that Tom could focus on the Clark-Claudon label. Notably, we hold twenty vintages of the Clark-Claudon label in our cellar collection dating back to the inaugural vintage 1994.

Kinsella Estates is the only vineyard property Josh farms in Sonoma County with the rest of his clients being in Napa County. Josh says Kinsella vineyards receive even sunlight throughout the day and the soils are well drained to accommodate Cabernet.    

 

The Kinsella team quickly set their sights on making the best-tasting Cabernet from Dry Creek, an area better known for Zinfandel. Success came swiftly with their very first vintage, the 2008, scoring 95 points at Wine Spectator.

Kinsella Estates produces 2,000 cases annually and has no plans to expand outside of what the vineyard has to offer, as Kinsella prefers to remain a single estate production. "Buying grapes to supplement a label would be considered absurd in Burgundy or Bordeaux," he says. Instead, he wants the Kinsella story to be about a single estate. "I have no need for other varietals," Kinsella says. "No need to amp up production. I'd be very happy just to do this perfectly." 

Kinsella Estates Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley Jersey Boys Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

The premium label comes packaged in an extra heavy bottle (as heavy as I have ever seen in a standard 750ml!) forged to hold an embossed coin emblem with the Kinsella moniker and motto, "Su Una Stretta Di Mano" which is also on the rear label. 

"Su Una Stretta Di Mano" (on a handshake) is a line from the Broadway show, Jersey Boys, but expresses perfectly the enduring bond forged among us, the sun, rain and soil, our excellent winemaker, Thomas Rivers Brown, our dedicated vineyard team... and our customers, who by buying and enjoying our wine - our passion - have joined that circle of friendship.'

“Our wines let the fruit speak for itself - an expression of the terroir, the exceptional clones and the seasonal variation of sun and water in our vineyard. Kinsella Estates wines showcase beautiful expressions of the vineyard blocks from which they are made. Characteristics of the wines include expressive floral and dried herb aromas combined with bright fruit flavors and seductively smooth tannins.”

The Jersey Boys Vineyard was replanted in 2008, utilizing four clones specifically chosen by Thomas Rivers Brown. This vineyard receives even sunlight throughout the day and the soils are well draining. All of the Kinsella vineyards are irrigated solely by their water reservoir, Spencer Lake

Producer’s Notes - “The 2018 Jersey Boys Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon reveals a deep garnet hue as well as a smokey nose of red and black currants, toasted bread, spring flowers, spice box, and dried, cedary herbs. This bold, fruit forward Cabernet shows plenty of richness and depth on the palate, with velvety tannins and a nicely balanced mouthfeel. Rich flavors of chocolate, cloves, leather are complimented by hints of tobacco and leaves you with a fantastic finish. Enjoy this vintage of Jersey Boys after a hour long decant.”

Winemaker, Thomas Rivers Brown’s Winemaker Notes: “The 2018 Jersey Boys Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon reveals a deep garnet hue as well as a smokey nose of red and black currants, toasted bread, spring flowers, spice box, and dried, cedary herbs. This bold, fruit forward Cabernet shows plenty of richness and depth on the palate, with velvety tannins and a nicely balanced mouthfeel. Rich flavors of chocolate, cloves, leather are complimented by hints of tobacco and leaves you with a fantastic finish. Enjoy this vintage of Jersey Boys after a hour long decant.”

“Pure 100% cabernet Sauvignon, this vineyard continually astonishes. Loads of loamy soil notes followed by blue and black fruits give this cabernet massive depth and beautiful integrated tannins. Milk chocolate, crème de cassis and tobacco give this massive wine the depth you come to expect with Napa cabs, but it is all Sonoma County, all from our magnificent little private valley which sees sun all day! We buy no fruit; we sell no fruit.”

Dark blackish garnet colored, full bodied, intense, bold, concentrated rich forward black fruits accented by notes of menthol, cedar, cinnamon and clove spices with hints of cassis and leather on a bright acidic finish, the ‘legs’ cling to the glass. Almost a bit obtuse, give it some time for it to settle and become a bit more approachable. 

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/m/wines/3874859

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3542037

https://www.kinsellawines.com/

2018 Jersey Boys Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon - https://kinsella-estates.obtainwine.com/collection/wines 

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2020/12/kinsella-dry-creek-valley-cabernet-2017.html

Pizza and Fleury Napa Cab Hawaiian Sunset

Pizza and Fleury Napa Cab Hawaiian Sunset

Another night in paradise, the family gathered on the lawn to watch the Hawaiian sunset with pizza and a bottle of fine wine. Somewhat of a son Ryan’s family tradition, on their last night at the south island resort, they watched the sunset together on the lawn with pizza dinner. 

Ryan brought from his home cellar this bottle of ultra-premium Napa Valley Cabernet. 

Fleury Estate Winery Howell Mtn Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

Ryan obtained this rare highly allocated label as a member of the Fleury wine club and has amassed a vertical and horizontal collection of their various labels. We first met Brian and Claudia Fleury at a Del Dotto event in their earliest days when they were just starting Fleury Estate back in 2000.

The Fleury Estate lies just south of St. Helena in Rutherford with a tasting room, winemaking facilities and a 11 acre estate vineyard. Fleury Estate Winery also owns 50 acres of premium vineyard land in the key locations of Napa Valley with vineyards in different appellations and elevations which enables them to craft consistent, high quality Napa Valley wines year after year. 

I featured Brian and Claudia Fleury and their Fleury Napa Valley estate wines in thess pages back in 2018 in the blogpost Fleury Estate Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Duo. I wrote about when we first met Brian and Claudia Fleury at a Del Dotto Estate Winery event (see below) back in 2002. From that meeting we acquired some Fleury Estate Lauren Bryce Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from what I believe was their inaugural vintage release. How surprising then and what fun to hear son Ryan speaking of this wine and about he and some of his buddy's acquiring some of the highly allocated select wine for their cellars. Fleury Estate Napa Cab is a favorite of him and several of his colleagues who have extensive collections of numerous releases of this label.

Fleury Estate Winery owns 50 acres of premium vineyard land in different appellations and elevations that they note allow them to "craft consistent, high quality Napa Valley wines year after year". Their primary Fleury Estate Vineyard located in the heart of Napa Valley just south of St. Helena in Rutherford, is also home to the Fleury tasting room, winemaking facilities and 11 acre estate vineyard.

They also own and manage 30 acres in the St Helena Vineyard, and six acre Howell Mountain Vineyard high up in Deerpark.

Their vineyards are planted to all the Bordeaux Varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot and Malbec.

Dark garnet inky purple colored, full bodied, dense, concentrated yet elegant and refined, tongue coating blackberry and hints of blueberry fruits, notes of cassis, black tea, cedar and graphite with tangy acidity and velvety smooth tannins on a long lasting finish. 

RM 93 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?2519948

https://www.fleurywinery.com/

Oak Restaurant Charleston

Oak Restaurant Charleston for spectacular dinner experience

The annual OTBN Wine Extravaganza Weekend this year finds our Pour Boys Wine Group fragmented with folks traveling, so we set a raincheck for a future get-together. 

Meanwhile, we traveled to Charleston (SC) for an abbreviated OTBN get together with fellow wine buddy & Pour Boy Bill C, and Beth. 

Friday night we dined at Oak Restaurant on historic Broad Street in downtown Charleston for a fabulous wine dinner. 

Oak operates eight locations across the southeast from Alexandria to Nashville to Jacksonville with points in-between including Atlanta, Raleigh, Charlotte and in the historic downtown Charleston. 

Located in a historic bank building that dates back to 1848 with brick walls, arched windows, 20-foot ceilings, original metalwork, fireplaces, and 150-year-old heart pine floors. There are four distinct dining areas and the bar, with second and third floor private dining rooms. The atmosphere is lively, cosmopolitan, tony, stylish, warm and inviting. 

The menu is classic steakhouse featuring Certified Angus Beef with all the trimmings, locally and regionally sourced seafood and produce, and special selections of oysters, caviar and specialties including a daily seafood fresh catch, pasta, chicken, scallops and crab cakes. 

There is a broad, extensive wine list features primarily American California Cabernets but also includes some Old World selections of French, Italian and a few select labels beyond. 

We were served by Chris Bartlett who was an absolute pro, hospitable, cordial, delightful - a second tier Sommelier, he was masterful in serving our wines as well. 

For starters, Bill and I both ordered the Foie Gras, and for the group, the baked oysters and the shrimp cocktail plate. 

With the foie gras was served Dolce Napa Valley Late Harvest Riesling 2017 for a perfect, delicious pairing. 

For the main course we ordered Filets of Beef steaks, and Linda ordered the daily fresh catch, Tile Fish with coos coos and corn relish, all with sides of onion rings, pomme purée’, and Oak’s signature cornbread. 

My filet of beef steak was prepared perfectly, to my specified Pittsburg style, and, along with the delicious mashed potatoes was as good as any such pairing I have ever had! 

Crazy as it may sound, aside the fabulous steak, the foie gras and all … the delicious mashed potatoes were spectacular and one of the highlights for me. 

For a wine accompaniment Bill brought BYOB from his home cellar an aged vintage Chateau Montelena Napa Cabernet. I ordered from the wine list the rare boutique producer Mira Napa Cabernet.

I selected the Mira, based on a tasting experience with this producer at a family dinner last year. Notably, we learned one of the Mira founders/owners was from Charleston and that for nearly seven years, they actually had a tasting room featuring all of their vineyard designated wines a few blocks away down the street. 

We tasted and featured Mira and one of their labels in these pages in a blogpost back in February,2023 - Old and New big reds for family celebration party, excerpted here.

Mira Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

This is the handicraft of Co-Founder/Winemaker Gustavo A. Gonzalez and co-founder Jim “Bear” Dyke, Jr., consultant and Washington DC lobbyist who over his 30-year career, has consulted with Fortune ranked companies, trade associations, public policy makers and helped manage numerous national and state political campaigns.

A chance meeting at the Off The Record bar in Washington, D.C., lead to their joint pursuit of the dream of creating a world class winery. In 2009, they joined forces and sourced their first grapes in 2012 with the inaugural release of Mira wine.

Ironically, we learned Jim “Bear” Dyke and Mira Winery had a connection to Charleston and for a while had a tasting room just down the street from Oak. The Charleston connection with Jim and wife Dawn Dyke, and Mira’s history were featured in the April 2017's issue of the Charleston Mercury, where he shared his story of meeting Gustavo Gonzalez and how he put aside the world of politics to pursue his dream, leading to the formation of Mira Winery. The full article can be found here - Click to read article.

Duke and Gonzales were joined by Ed Thralls who came to Mira with 25 years of experience in both wine and financial technology industries. Having studied winemaking at UC Davis and earning a Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW), he has served as director at Flowers Vineyards & Winery and Huneeus Vintners and managing his own winery, Thralls Family Cellars.

Today, starting with the 2023 vintage, Mira’s winemaker is the highly acclaimed Thomas Rivers Brown, the youngest winemaker to ever receive a 100 point score from Robert Parker (he’s earned 60+ since) and has also received two 100-point scores from Wine Spectator, the first American winemaker to receive a perfect score.

Mira Winery is named for the Latin root of “miracle” and Greek for “destiny”. It is a family owned, 16-acre estate in the heart of the Napa Valley, farming historic vineyards that were first planted to grapes in 1885. 

Gustavo A Gonzalez has been practicing his craft in the Napa Valley and around the world to critical acclaim for over 20 years, in California, Italy, France, Argentina, and Brazil. He brings local knowledge and global perspective, experience and creativity to Mira’s vineyard practices and winemaking techniques.

Gustavo grew up in California’s Central Valley, surrounded by family with longstanding ties to agriculture and an appreciation for wine. His appreciation for winemaking took him to the Napa Valley where he joined the Robert Mondavi Winery in 1995 working in the fields towards a career in winemaking. For 17 years at Robert Mondavi Winery, Gustavo worked his way up to Head Red Winemaker where he established Robert Mondavi Winery Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon as one of the leading Napa Valley Cabernets, consistently receiving Wine Spectator ratings of 95 or higher.

Gustavo’s strong relationships with leading Napa Valley grape growers brought Mira unique access to some of the finest blocks of grapes in some of the Napa Valley’s premier vineyards including Hyde Vineyard in the Carneros AVA and Schweizer Vineyard in the heart of the Stags Leap AVA.

Winemaker’s notes - “ A seductive nose with notes of vanilla and warm spice. Reduced tannins and enhanced acidity allows for a lovely smooth, consistent experience with luscious balsamic flavors.”

Dark garnet colored, medium to full bodied, full round concentrated ripe black cherry and blackberry with notes of dusty rose, black tea, hints of vanilla, oak and cinnamon spice with smooth moderate tannings on the lingering finish. 

RM 91 points. 

https://miranapa.com/

Chateau Montelena Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

One cannot write about Chateau Montelena wine without talking about its history. This is the classic flagship label from this legendary producer Chateau Montelena who gained international acclaim for not only the winery, but for Napa Valley and the US wine industry with the monumental and historic ‘Judgement of Paris wine tasting event’. That tasting event was chronicled in Time Magazine in the June 1976 issue.

This 2004 release was the first year that "Calistoga" appeared on the front label, along with Napa Valley. Montelena proprietor Bo Barrett initially proposed AVA status for Calistoga to the US, but it wasn't officially granted until 2009.

Aficionados of wine must watch the entertaining classic movie "Bottle Shock" that chronicles the early days of Napa Valley, early winemakers, and Chateau Montelena, and its legendary finishing first in the epic competition tasting between American and French wines back in 1976. 

We visited the historic Chateau up in the north end of Napa Valley back in the early nineties, before I was blogging and writing about such activities. 

We had fun with the famous event with a wine dinner featuring wines from the historic tasting, featured in these pages - Dinner Features Judgement of Paris Wines - Dinner Features Judgement of Paris Wines to Commemorate the Tasting event's Anniversary

Tonight, this was a fabulous pairing with the perfectly prepared beefsteak dinner. 

This release was sourced mostly from the Chateau Montelena estate Game Farm Vineyard in Oakville.

Winemaker Notes for the 2007 vintage release - “When you talk about vintages at Montelena, they are often categorized as "hot" or "cool." Then occasionally there are years like 2007 which, because of their ideal conditions, earn the tag of "Goldilocks" because everything was just right. Warm spring conditions led to earlier than normal bud break, while the moderate temperatures in summer and early fall further extended the growing season, resulting in long, slow ripening with fantastic flavor development and near-perfect juice chemistries.”

This release was rated 94 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, and 92 by both James Suckling and Wine Enthusiast.

Wine Enthusiast in awarding this a Cellar Selection wrote “Not a wine for drinking now or anytime soon,’ citing its ‘hard tannins that lock down the palate.’ Parker wrote “requires 4-5 years of cellaring. That in itself is atypical of this exuberant, flamboyant vintage. Given this cuvee’s past history, this 2007 should age for 30+ years.”

At going on fifteen years, this wine is likely just now entering the apex of its drinking window, and may improve further over the next decade, and certainly provide enjoyable drinking beyond that.

Dark garnet colored, medium to full bodied, dense, firm concentrated backbone frames the bright blackberry and black currant fruits accented by spice, black tea, crème de cassis and clove spice, with hints of dark mocha and that classic Mayacamas eucalyptus, finishing with firm ‘powerful’ yet refined tannins on the lingering finish. 

RM 92 points. 

Just under 10,000 cases were produced.

https://montelena.com/

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?617461

Some, especially this crowd, would argue such a dinner is not complete without dessert. We finished with a delectable too many layers to count chocolate cake!

 

A spectacular memorable evening with great friends food and wine. 

Beef Roast Dinner Features Viader Red Blend

Sunday afternoon beef roast dinner features premium Napa Valley Red Blend 

Son Alec and Vivianna came over after church for Sunday afternoon dinner. Linda prepared a hearty beef roast with potatoes, carrots and onions. I pulled from the cellar this ultra-premium Napa Valley Red Blend wine for the occasion. 

Viader Napa Valley Red Wine 2000 

This proved to be an ideal pairing with the beef roast which amplified the enjoyment of both the meal and the wine. Tonight, paired with the beef roast, this was fabulous and was perhaps the best, certainly the most enjoyable Viader Red I’ve ever experienced. 

Our having fun with wine includes enjoying several “V” labels, such as this, when tasting/dining with our daughter-in-law Vivianna.

 
We met Delia Viader, Proprietor/Winemaker at a special tasting in Chicago at Binny’s, the Chicagoland beverage super store back in 2005 as featured in this blogpost — An evening with Delia Viader. We then visited the Viader estate vineyards and winery during our Napa Howell Mountain Wine Experience back in 2008 - Viader.

Shown here is our meeting Delia Viader during a producer tasting evening 

sponsored by Binny's here in Chicago back in 2005. 

Our collection of Viader spans going on three decades of releases dating back to the mid-nineties vintages. It was with interest to see how this vintage has held up over the years to calibrate the lifespan of the other vintages. In the style of many Viader releases, this blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon and 38% Cabernet Franc is crafted in the profile of a top Graves from Bordeaux. 

We expanded our collection of Viader wines following our visit to the Viader winery estate on the lower reaches of Howell Mountain during our Napa Valley Howell Mountain Wine Experience 2008.

The picturesque Viader 23-acre estate sits on the lower mountain at 1200 foot elevation overlooking Napa Valley. The vineyards are planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Syrah. Viader is known for its Bordeaux-style blends. 

The 1200 foot elevation of the estate is significant and notable as that is the height that the fog reaches above the valley floor and hence is the point at which below is designated Napa Valley, and above it designated Howell Mountain. This climatic difference creates a distinctive terroir due to the effects of the fog on the ripening vines. 

It’s a great tribute to our daughter-in-law to associate her with proprietor and winemaker Delia Viader, a remarkable and impressive lady. She was born in Argentina and educated in Europe before earning graduate degrees in the U.S., a notable role model for any career minded female. Delia spent much of her formative years in Europe and in France where she earned a doctorate in Philosophy from the Sorbonne University in Paris, then pursued advanced business studies in the US at MIT, UC Berkeley and UC Davis.

Recognizing the potential Napa Valley wine industry in the 1980's, Viader set out to create a world class wine estate Delia Viader. She began her career in Napa Valley as a partnership with her father after they purchased a plot of underdeveloped mountain-side land. Delia quickly earned the reputation as a pioneer for planting vines running directly down the mountain, similar to many European vine-training techniques, and today is regarded as a fitting model for growing high-quality fruit. With Delia and her team’s persistence, the Viader property grew to immense popularity and its wines have been greatly coveted since inception. All the while, she continued studying Enology and Viticulture at University of California, Davis. During this time she also raised her four children in the wine environment and culture.

Delia Viader was a visionary pioneer in Napa Valley investing in developing a mountain estate at a time when most of the vineyard plantings were on the valley floor.Born in Argentina, Delia Viader came to the United States after spending many years in Europe. In 1986 the love of wine Delia acquired during her time in Europe lead her to purchase a 25 acre property 1200 feet above the Napa Valley floor northeast of St. Helena on the steep, rocky slopes of Howell Mountain. During this time when 99% of Napa’s vineyards were planted on the valley floor, Delia was considered a bit crazy-headed to plant vineyards in such foreboding terroir. But it was exactly terroir that she was after.

Delia’s first release of this proprietary red blend called simply Viader, was the 1989 vintage , a blend of almost equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The wine went on to gain an international reputation as one of the iconic wines of Napa Valley and has become the signature wine for the winery.

In the last few years, Delia’s children have come back to help manage and operate the business making this a true family concern. Alan Viader is Director of Operations and Winemaking, Janet Viader is Director of Marketing and Sales. Mariela Viader (married to Alan) is in charge of the Culinary Program.

“Viader is an elegant wine showing the staying power delivered from a blend of mountain grown Cabernet Sauvignon highly influenced by Cabernet Franc. It’s a wine that involves all your senses and presents itself as pure natural harmony, and serves as the perfect background music to an evening’s conversation between two good friends.” – Delia Viader, Proprietor

We opened this 2000 vintage year release to compare with the 2000 vintage release of another premium Napa Valley Cabernet we tasted the other evening following a beef tenderloin dinner. Both showed exceedingly well, a testament to the vintage, Napa Cabernet’s aging potential, and the provenance of our wine cellar for long term cellaring. 

This release is a blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon and 37% Cabernet Franc. 

Vinograhy writes, “Delia Viader is one of the few producers on Howell Mountain who grow a substantial amount of Cabernet Franc and their wines incorporate a substantial amount of this fruit. The blending that she and consulting winemaker Charles Hendricks do with her fruit results in an extremely drinkable wine, one that is delicate and aromatic.” 

“We’re talking about a wine that emphasizes finesse over power,” says Delia. 

Viader Napa Valley Proprietary Red Blend 2000

At twenty-four years, the label, foil and most importantly, the fill level and cork were ideal. 

Like the Darioush from the other evening, this was still at the apex of its drinking window, showing no diminution from aging whatsoever, and showing prospect to age gracefully for several more years to come. 

This release was rated 92 points by Wine Spectator

4,647 cases made.

Several years ago when I tasted this I wrote this resembled a top tier Bordeaux with its complexity, balance, integrated flavors and tasting profile, but it was tight and a bit closed, begging for much more time to settle and open to reveal its true character. 

Tonight this was magnificent, benefiting from more aging, and likely at the apex of its tasting window. As we learned with many of our topflight Bordeaux, that we drank them too early, and were rewarded when we gave them several more years aging in the bottle.

Dark garnet colored, medium to full bodied, silky smooth mouthfeel, polished and elegant, the bold yet balanced spicy Cabernet Franc aromatics were bright and vibrant, highlighting the dark berry, cherry and raspberry fruits, with notes of caramel, mocha, anise, tea, tobacco and graphite with incredibly smooth supple tannins on the lingering finish. 

RM 94 points - improved over earlier rating of 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=6703

www.viader.com

https://x.com/viader_napa

https://x.com/unwindwine

Groth Birthyear Vintage Napa Cab for festive family holiday dinner

Groth Birthyear Vintage Napa Cab for festive family holiday dinner

Further to our Festive Christmas Eve family dinner featured in an earlier blogpost, we also opened an aged birthyear vintage bottle for the occasion.,

We hold in our cellar collection a horizontal of wines for each of our kids’ (and grandkids’) birth year vintages that we hold to open for special occasions and family gatherings. So it was that tonight I also pulled from the cellar a birthyear vintage wine for son Alec, joining us for Christmas Eve dinner. 

As our kid’s get older, the window for holding and tasting birth year wines is rapidly closing, and, we still hold a collection of wines that need to be consumed. In this case, for our youngest son Alec, the 1990 vintage was especially extraordinary.  

Three #1 Wine Spectator Top 
100 Wines from 1990 vintage

Three times, three different wines from the 1990 vintage were awarded #1 Wine of the Year by Wine Spectator Magazine as part of their annual Top 100 Wines of the Year.. 

This is a testament to the global success of the vintage, one was from California, one from Bordeaux and one from South Australia, a further testament to the amazing spectacular 1990 vintage. 

 

All these wines were acquired upon their release back in the early nineties, in some cases, even before being so recognized and heralded.  

We also hold large format bottles of birth year vintage wines for these years in our collection. I blogged about these wines and big bottles in a previous blogposts. 

Tonight, with the hearty beef roast dinner, I pulled from the cellar this 1990 Napa Cabernet for a wine pairing. 

Groth Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1990 

This is the standard Groth estate cuvee’ offering. It had 15% Merlot added to round out the blend. 

We visited the Groth Estate back in the late nineties for a tour and tasting.

Notably winemaker for this wine was none other than Nils Venge.  

This release awarded 90-92 points by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, and 90 points by Wine Spectator.  

The Wine Advocate Review was back in 06/1992. The Wine Spectator Review was a decade later  in 02/2001.

Parker referred to the classic Groth style - sweet, almost intensely opulent fruit flavors, silky tannins, and hedonistic.

At thirty four years of age, aside the soiled label, the foil, and most importantly the fill level and the cork were in ideal condition. 

This bottle was past its prime drinking window and was showing diminution from age. The body was slightly murky and the dark garnet color was taking on a slight brownish hue. The blackberry fruits were turning slightly tart and starting to give way to non-fruit flavors of earth, tobacco and leather, with notes still apparent of herbs, coffee, spice and cassis with tangy acid predominating on the finish. A momento tasting but time to drink up as a last vestige of this vintage cuvée. 

RM 86 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=35189

https://grothwines.com/

https://x.com/GrothWines

@GrothWines

@unwindwine

Venge Silencieux for Christmas Eve dinner

Venge Silencieux for hearty festive Christmas Eve dinner - Silent One for Silent Night, Holy Night

Just returned from a family Christmas gathering in Conneticut, Alec, Vivianna and the girls joined us for a festive Christmas Eve dinner. 

Linda prepared a delicious hearty beef roast with potatoes, carrots, green beans and onions, with a garden salad and fresh brioche rolls.  

As is customary, when dining with Alec and Viv, I pulled from the cellar one of our ‘V’ collection of wines, having fun paying tribute to daughter-in-law Vivianna. 

Readers of these pages know about this tradition and how we can fulfill it with bottles from Venge Vineyards, or Viader, or some occasional others - Verite’, Vine Cliff, Varner …. 

This premium selection featured a large, oversized, heavy painted bottle, predominantly bearing the ‘V’ Venge Vineyards logo.

We feature Venge Vineyards often in these pages going back many years, and highlighting many family gatherings - 

Visit to Venge Vineyards and Nils Venge

Gala Family Celebration Dinner at Angelis Italian

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2017/12/venge-napa-valley-oakville-penny-lane.html

Venge "Silencieux" Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 

We hold dozens of Venge labels dating back decades, and chose this large, heavy, oversized painted bottle for the occasion - and, selected the oldest of half a dozen vintages of this label, as part of cellar management. 

Silencieux 2011 was a big bold expressive Napa Cab, and proved an ideal pairing with the hearty beef meal. 

Venge describes this wine and the inspiration for the Silencieux (Silent One) name on the rear label, shown below - fitting for this Silent Night, Holy Night! 

This is 100% Cabernet that was blended by winemaker/producer Kirk Venge from five different vineyard sources in Oakville, Calistoga, Mount Veeder, Spring Mountain and Coombsville. Hence, a Napa Valley designation, but no further sub-classification single AVA granularity. (There are seventeen appellations (AVA’s) in Napa Valley. 

Reviewing my experience with this wine, and reading the pundit’s expressions, this is perhaps an object lesson in interpreting reviewers comments of a wine. Or perhaps I obsess, but that’s what makes these assessments fun!

Being a blend of no less than five different vineyards, perhaps its my imagination, but this seemed to be slightly obtuse, a cacophony of flavors, big, bold and forward, almost slightly aggressive in its boldness - but delicious nonetheless. 

I felt that at fourteen years in 2024, that it might need another couple years to integrate and settle, but alas, perhaps not. Time will tell but I suspect it’s at the peak of its tasting window and will not improve, or be tamed, with further aging. 

Wine Enthusiast, who rated it 93 points and anointed it a “Cellar Selection”, projected it to  “age effortlessly through at least 2021.” 

Wine Enthusiast noted further, “It makes you wonder why we obsess with single-vineyard bottlings.” And, more to that pint, it is available at a big discount to those single vineyard labels providing nice QPR - Quality Price Ratio. 

It was also rated 92 and 91 points by Wine Advocate and International Wine Cellar, respectively. 

Wine Advocate said, “The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Silencieux is a much larger cuvee, …. Rich, concentrated, round and generous, this is a sumptuous Cabernet Sauvignon with no hard edges” Large and generous stand out in my purview, indeed, and I might disagree about the ‘hard edges’.  

International Wine Cellar referred to it as “Slightly high-toned … very good vinosity and serious length. Excellent for the vintage.“ Which ends on the point that 2011 was a slightly ‘off’ vintage in Napa Valley, and perhaps it’s simply that lack of perfection in the vintage that shows in this slightly less than stellar showing. 

Delicious, none-the-less, my words, which I later discover echo Wine Advocate sentiments -  … “but it is a delicious, reasonably priced Napa Cabernet Sauvignon that showcases Venge’s Midas touch with this varietal.” 

Dark, bright ruby-red, medium-full bodied, rich, concentrated, round, forward ripe black currant and blackberry fruits, highlighted by dark mocha, graphite, currant, clove spice, anise and sweet oak, with full round tannins and tangy acidity on the sumptuous finish. 

RM 92 points.   

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1678403

We also opened a Groth Birthyear Vintage Napa Cab which we featured in this follow on blogpost. Notably, winemaker for this wine was Nils Venge! 

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2017/12/venge-napa-valley-oakville-penny-lane.html

http://www.vengevineyards.com/

https://twitter.com/VengeVineyards

@VengeVineyards 

@unwindwine @rickmcnees

Beau Vigne Reserve Napa Valley Proprietary Red 2022

Beau Vigne Reserve Napa Valley Proprietary Red 2022

Watching “The Sticky” series on Netflix, we had some of the leftover delicious beef tenderloin in avocado sandwiches. I opened this premium Napa Red Blend from a just received shipment that we were eager to try. This is another Big Red from another emerging interesting Napa producer who produces a wide portfolio of wines from estate and contract growers and purchased lot sources.

If the pedigree of the winemaker says anything, then Beau Vigne is in a distinguished class with 100-point winemaker Julien Fayard (Lafite Rothschild, Smith Haut Lafitte, Melka, Quintessa, Realm, Covert Estate), and where Dave Phinney was the founding winemaker! Note also, the collaboration with Philippe Melka, and contribution of another of our fav’s, winemaker Kirk Venge. 

I featured Beau Vigne in detail in a more extensive blogpost last summer - Beau Vigne Napa Valley Proprietary Red, and several other blogposts such as the one’s below.

The producer writes - “Our Napa Valley winery is devoted exclusively to making influential luxury Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Sauvignon Blends. Taking inspiration from our founding winemaker Dave Phinney who sought out to make red wines that would compete with the greatest wines of the world. This tradition was enhanced by the addition of winemaker Kirk Venge in 2008 through 2018/19 who obtained a perfect 100 Points from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. Present-day winemaking is now in the hands of Julien Fayard who hails from the legendary first growth Château Lafite-Rothschild and Atelier Melka before becoming the brilliant up and coming new winemaker in Napa Valley.”

Beau Vigne was taken over by Charles Bartlett when he purchased the brand in 2019 with the intent to carry on the dream created by Ed and Trish Snider, whom he has known for many years. Charles has worked in Napa since the late 1970s and has built a successful wine trading company, working with many of the top names in the mountain AVAs. 

Bartlettl hired Julien Fayard to establish and oversee modern practices in the vineyard and in the cellar. The release of beau Vigne CULT Cabernet Sauvignon, beacme one of Napa Valley’s most acclaimed labels with year-over-year 93 to 98 points from critics. Beau Vigne continues the tradition of hand-harvested grapes planted and grown on Atlas Peak, the Pritchard Hill region and other viticultural areas of Napa Valley including Howell Mountain, Oakville and Rutherford.

We featured our tastings from the Beau Vigne portfolio in these recent blogposts:  

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2022/10/beau-vigne-reserve-proprietary-red-wine.html

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2022/10/beau-vigne-proprietary-red-byob-at.html

Beau Vigne Reserve Napa Valley Proprietary Red 2022

This is a most recent limited release label from the BV collection such that even the CellarTracker inventory of a million labels and collection of several million tasting notes, doesn’t yet have any mentions! 

Unlike an earlier release of the same label back in 2013, this release doesn’t list the blend and is therefore presumed to be 100% Cabernet Sauvignon? 

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2023/07/beau-vigne-napa-valley-proprietary-red.html

Dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, rich round ripe black berry and black currant fruits with spicy acidity, hints of graphite, bittersweet dark chocolate, cassis and black tea on a full lingering finish. 

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=5207604

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=5207604

https://www.beauvigne.com/

Frisson Napa Valley Atlas Peak Cabernet Sauvignon

Frisson Napa Valley Atlas Peak Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

We were invited to son Alec and Vivianna’s for dinner on their return from their holiday with the in-laws in Naples. With pizza, to watch our Alma Mater Indiana demolish our perennial rival Purdue in what may be called the Route 66 Game (IU 66 - PU-0), Alec opened from his cellar this Napa Valley Atlas Peak Cabernet that he picked up at one of the on-line retailers. 

This is from Frisson, a producer I’ve never heard of, which is not surprising given the proliferation of producers and labels over the last several years - from 300 to over 500. Of course with the finite amount of vineyards lands, and strict restrictions on development, there are many dollars chasing the limited supply of wine grapes from the now seventeen different Napa Valley Appellations, and non-designated sites. 

Naturally most vineyard land owners and contract growers have established distribution in place for their brands and product. Many of these new producers lack their own vineyard sources so they end up buying excess or available fruit in the marketplace. I’ve written in the past about the dynamics of getting ‘invested’ in such brands. These are not for collectors who relish in vertical collections, comparing wines from a single site across multiple vintages. This may not be possible if the producer has limited access to a site source, or purchased a one-of or limited duration supply of fruit. 

Also, caveat emptor, that a vineyard owner will want to maximize production in a stellar vintage, holding as much fruit as possible to leverage their brands, and established distribution. Where as, in a lesser vintage, they may choose to liquidate (*) their inventory to other producers, so as not to dilute (* - puns intended) their own brand with substandard, marginal, or less than stellar fruit. 

This is not to say that some fabulous wines are not available from such producers. And, many well known labels and brands rely on contract growers for their fruit, through long term established supplier agreements - Lewis Cellars, and Freemark Abbey with their Bosche’ Vineyard label as prime examples.     

With that said, this producer, Terry Davis, writes, “Frisson is a French word meaning a moment of intense excitement, a thrill; a word which aptly describes our story and philosophy.’

“One evening we met a winemaker who shared our philosophy and vision – to make truly fine wines that exemplify the energy of the New World, honed with the sophistication of the Old World approach. Our Frisson began!’

“After purchasing a prized allocation of 2007 Diamond Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon grapes our journey as vintners came to life.”

This is another collaboration of entrepreneur/investor and winemaker. (See my most recent blogpost of similarly situated collaboration on a Washington State premium label). 

The Frisson website continues, excerpted here; - “Like about everyone else who has come to Napa Valley, Terry Davis dreamed for years about becoming a part of the Napa Valley world of wine.”

“He met Wayne Donaldson, winemaker, (who) told him of his desire to make a great Cabernet. Terry said if he came across the right grapes he would give him a call.”

The story continues … “Next thing Terry knew, he and some friends had bought three tons of Diamond Mountain grapes. One of his partners said, “Let’s get this straight… you don’t know a damn thing about making wine, just met this guy and you want me to invest? Do you think I’m crazy? I’m in!”’

CellarTracker records show no less than fifty different labels from this producer dating back to the 2010 vintage. 

The Frisson website identifies no less than three winemakers; “Morrisey, a former student of New York University’s elite film school, spent ten years in show business as an electrician and cameraman before choosing to reinvent himself and try his hand at winemaking. While attending graduate school at the University of California, Davis, he secured a harvest internship at Château Pétrus in Bordeaux in 1997. He later worked under famed Napa Valley winemaker Tony Soter, founder of Etude Winery, who helped him refine his approach.”

Another, Winemaker Paul Colantuoni crafted the Frisson 2018 Yountville Label. He gained experience at Rocca Vineyards, where he crafts their Yountville wines.

Ryan Woodhouse, Wine Buyer for well regarded and established Bay Area Wine Retailer K&L wrote about the Frisson Rutherford label: “As it says on the back of this bottle: "Frisson - noun: a sudden strong feeling of excitement or fear; a thrill." Despite not knowing this word previously, it quite accurately described how I felt when I saw the vineyard sourcing for this wine...and the price! The 2019 Frisson Rutherford Cab is sourced 65% from Georges III Vineyard and the remaining 35% from Melrose Vineyard! A fabulous, rich, ripe, modern Cab from one of the most famed vineyards in all of Napa for this price!?”

This label we tried tonight is from Napa Valley Atlas Peak. If was awarded  91 points by The Wine Advocate, and 90 points by James Suckling.

Dark garnet colored, medium to full bodied, black berry and black cherry notes with nots of cedar, vanilla, spice and herbs turning to firm but approachable tannins on a lingering finish. 

RM 90 points. .

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?3845886

https://www.frissonwines.com/