James Restaurant "Cab is King" Wine Dinner w/ Bell Wine Cellars Wines

 The James Restaurant "Cab is King" Wine Dinner featuring Bell Wine Cellars Napa Valley Cabernets

We attended the "Cab is King" Wine Dinner with Bell Wine Cellars at The James Restaurant in nearby Geneva (IL). The evening featured a carefully curated multi-course menu prepared by The James Executive Chef, Steven Blackburn, and his culinary team. Each course was thoughtfully paired with a wine from Napa Valley Bell Wine Cellars crafted to enhance the unique characteristics of the food and the wines, creating a harmonious symphony of flavors.

We were joined by fellow Pour Boy Lyle and Terry who came out from the city (Chicago) to attend the event. 

We learned of the event during our lunch at The James last month which we featured in these pages - The James Geneva features wine friendly menu and fine wines.

The dinner was held in the fabulous Sun Porch dining room which provided an elegant picturesque setting for the memorable evening. 

The wine flight featured an extraordinary selection of Bell Wine Cellars' finest limited production and allocated wines. 

Bell Wine Cellars is an ultra-premium Yountville (Napa Valley) winery known for small-lot, single clone, Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as other Bordeaux varietals, Chardonnay and Syrah. They produce several limited production Single-Clone appellation (AVA - American Viticultural area) specific designated Cabernet Sauvignons from leading vineyard sources across Napa Valley. 

Tonight's flight featured four of the Bell Wine Cellars' Napa Valley Cabernets, three Cabernet Sauvignons, a Cabernet Franc and a sparkling white Blanc de Noir from Sonoma County. 

A small independent winery was founded by winemaker Anthony Bell; he recently retired and the Bell Wine Cellars estate and winery in Yountville were taken over and are owned today by the Berberian and Spanos Families.

Visiting from California presenting the wines was Bell Wine Cellars Director of Sales, Hillary Cole, who guided the tasting flight, sharing insights and stories about the wines and their unique characteristics.

Hillary's journey as a Wine Master follows an incredible career as a military linguist and counter-terrorism analyst. Her work travel in national security intelligence took her to Europe where she had the opportunity to visit vineyards in the finest wine growing regions where she was drawn to the serenity and romance of the settings, such a stark contrast to her work. 

Following her government service she earned her MBA and immersed herself in Sommelier studies. She worked her way to become General Manager and Sommelier for three Sacramento-area restaurant groups running the wine program at Ella Dining Room and Bar in Sacramento. 

Hillary completed several wine certification programs, her favorites included French Wine Scholar, Champagne Master Level, Napa Valley Wine Expert, and The Business of Wine. She continues her studies of the French language and is currently a Bordeaux Master candidate. Building on her background in business, wine, and leadership afforded her the position as Director of Sales at Bell Wine Cellars.

Hillary represents the new Bell Wine Cellars team that was brought in by the new owners, the Berberian and Spanos Families.

The Berberian Family were prominent wine and spirits wholesalers for five decades in California and Nevada, and then, owners of the Bank of Agriculture and Commerce, launched in 1965 in Stockton, California. Ron Berberian grew the bank to 11 branches, serving San Joaquin and Contra Costa Counties.  The Berberians’ longstanding knowledge and expertise of quality wines eventually brought them to Napa Valley where Ron and Dea are dedicated to enhancing the experience of visiting Bell Wines and offering the best quality award-winning wines.

The Spanos Family, today most known as owners of the NFL Los Angeles Chargers, were notable in real estate development and construction, and equally known for their philanthropy to education, health, and youth initiatives. Native to Northern California over several generations, Napa Valley and the wine industry always held their interest and admiration with their affiliation with Bell Wine Cellars dating to 2002.

Bell Wine Cellars team with several leading notable growers to source grapes from some of the premiere vineyards that represent the varied appellations of Napa Valley. 

The Bell Wines served tonight were crafted by founder and winemaker Anthony Bell who has since recently retired. Going forward this will be overseen by Winemaker and General Manager John Hazak. A native of southern California, John earned a Master of Science degree in Viticulture and Enology from the University of California, Davis before working in the Cotes-de-Nuits, Burgundy.  Returning from France in 2005, John honed his skills as Assistant Winemaker at Provenance Vineyards under seasoned winemaker Tom Rinaldi, then at Sterling Vineyards as an Associate Winemaker, heading their production of all white wines and Reserve red wine tier. 

He returned to Provenance Vineyards in 2015 to direct production of Provenance and Hewitt wines where he modernized Provenance into a small-lot, luxury Cabernet house, then doing the same at Beaulieu Vineyards in 2017.

John joined Bell Wine Cellars in February of 2020.  His previous experiences paved the way to Bell, where he hopes to continue Bell's vision of craft winemaking and constant improvement, while starting a new chapter with this team. 

"At Bell Wine Cellars, above and beyond is second nature. We encapsulate these efforts as Napa’s most prolific researcher and producer of Single-Clone Cabernet Sauvignon, a labor of equal parts love and diligence to express Cabernet Sauvignon as its own purest ingredient." John Hazak,Winemaker & GM.

The dinner menu featured five courses each thoughtfully paired with a Bell Cellars wine. I write often in these pages about the importance and impact of optimally pairing food and wine, accentuating and amplifying the enjoyment of both. 

The James Executive Chef, Steven Blackburn presented each course and discussed its preparation followed by Bell Cellars Director Hillary Cole who presented the accompanying wine, its composition, source and characteristics in applying it to the course.

The 'Welcome Starter' was a Fried Brioche Munchkin - fresh baked brioche bread injected with Manchego cheese custard, served with Bell Wine Cellars Blanc de Noir Brut Sonoma County NV sparkling wine.

This elegant sparkling wine is made from two of the three traditional grapes used in the Champagne region of France: Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. The Pinot Noir (83%) hails from Carneros region, which straddles the southern region of Napa and Sonoma Valleys. The Pinot Meunier (17%) comes from the coastal area of Sonoma.  This traditional Champagne is a blend of the different grapes from different growing conditions, building complexity into the wine, produced in the classic méthode champenoise tradionelle. (Of course, only wine produced in the Champagne region of northern France can legally be called Champagne. Those produced elsewhere are relegated to the moniker 'sparkling wine'.)

This traditional Champagne production method entails adding a dosage of sugar, yeast, and wine to start the second fermentation in the bottle, followed by time-consuming hand riddling to separate the yeast following fermentation. The traditional method creates small, tight, delicate bubbles and an added complexity to the wine. 

 

This non-vintage Blanc de Noirs sparkling wine was disgorged in December of 2021 with the grapes grown primarily in the 2018 growing season.  

Producer's Tasting Notes - "Fresh and lovely as an aperitif to start any dining experience or perfect on its own, this sparkling wine pairs with everything, no matter what or when the occasion. Noting a very faintly salmon-tinged pink color, very fine bubbles and a gentle mousse, the wine opens with a fresh and lively nose of light strawberry and the scents one might find in a bakery early in the morning. The palate is delicate and refined, with toasted almond and unsweetened marzipan characterizing the entry. The beautiful but balanced acidity from these cool growing regions supports merengue, marshmallow and the strawberry flavors into the finish, livening up your taste buds for food. Our Brut is finished in the dry style. The Pinot Noir adds texture, body and strawberry aromas to the blend. The Pinot Meunier  contributes finesse, elegance, freshness and floral hints to the blend."

The first course was Oak Braised Short Rib - charcoal roasted carrot with dry aged beef fat powder, confit cipollini onion, sage demi glas and watercress.

 

Paired with this course was Bell Wine Cellars Napa Valley Rutherford Appellation Cabernet Sauvignon 2018. 

 

Wine for this label was sourced mostly from the legendary Beckstoffer Rutherford AVA Vineyard, and the remainder from the equally iconic BV Ranch #3 vineyard originally planted and tended to by legends George de Latour and André Tchelistcheff of Beaulieu Vineyards in the early part of the 20th century, this historic vineyard carved out of the original Rancho Caymus land grant.

 

We discussed the BV Ranch vineyards in these pages just last week when we tasted and wrote about their BV Tapestry with beef bourgogne.

The well drained gravely, loam sedimentary soils formed from after volcanic rock provide a moderate stress to the vines, limiting yield and increasing qualitative potential. The region is influenced by the Valley’s layer of morning fog and afternoon breeze, creating a long growing season which allows tannins to fully ripen and create the signature dusty texture that the appellation is known for, “The Rutherford Dust”.

It was also one of the first vineyards involved in the development and commercial planting of the different clones of Cabernet Sauvignon.

It was aged 20 months in 100% French Oak, 20% new. Slightly more than 9000 cases were produced.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3892416

The Second Course was Grilled Swordfish served in a delicious black plum reduction sauce with fresh plums, crispy haystack parsnips and fall spice radicchio.

 

This was paired with Bell Wine Cellars Napa Valley Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2018.

 

This is sourced from the Neal Vineyard in the Howell Mountain AVA of northeast Napa Valley sited on a ridge almost overlooking the Napa Valley floor. The vineyard is owned and farmed by Mark Neal, son of Jack Neal, one of the original farmers of modern Napa Valley winegrowing.  

 

The volcanic soils of the Vaca Mountain range including Howell Mountain at the north end of the range, stress the grapevines, being thin and well-drained, but it is this specific combination of qualities that lend this mountain Cabernet its structure.  A slightly western-facing aspect allows the warm afternoon sun to push the fruit to an ideally ripe state in time for harvest. The result is a classic expression of the Howell Mountain terroir with full firm structured, concentrated dark saturated fruit with classic spice for an approachable Cabernet Sauvignon.  

 

This wine is 99% Cabernet Sauvignon, with 1% Merlot added for softness and complexity, and was aged in 27% new French oak and mostly once-used oak barrels for 20 months with minimal racking. The wine received about ten months of bottle aging prior to release.

 

Winemaker's Tasting Notes - "Our inaugural appellation blend from Howell Mountain is a dark garnet color in your glass. It beckons with a multi-layered nose of blackberry cobbler, sweet tobacco, new leather and sage. The flavors echo the aromas with dark plum, dry persimmon, hints of cinnamon and a fine worn-in wood expression. The texture is broad and lush, with a creamy mouthfeel that integrates dusty tannins and a bright acidity. We are proud to share our first appellation blend from one of the premier locations for Cabernet Sauvignon in the Napa Valley." 

Only 440 cases were produced. 

 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3965389

 

The Third Course was Waygu Flatiron Steak with petite Yukon crisps, garlic aioli and fried rosemary in a beef jus reduction. This course was the highlight of the evening for me. 

 

 
This course was paired with Bell Wine Cellars Atlas Peak Napa Vally Cabernet Sauvignon 2018.

 

This label is sourced from the Elan Vineyard located on the Eastern slopes of Atlas Peak at south end of the Vaca Mountain range that forms the east boundary wall of Napa Valley. It sits at an elevation of 2100 ft above sea level in the upper reaches of the range.

The vineyard is part of the Elan Estate owned by winemaker Patrick Elliot Smith who developed of the site building on his more than 40 years of experience in vineyard development and management. Patrick and his wife Linda purchased the property in 1979 and Patrick started clearing the very rocky land himself, while living in a tepee, and he continues to do most of the manual work himself. 

We visited Patrick and Linda Elliott Smith and tasted and acquired their Elan Winery and Vineyard wines during our Napa Wine Experience back in 1998, when they were crushing their grape and producing their wines at Monticello Winery in Southern Napa Valley. We still hold a half dozen vintages in a vertical collection of Elan Wine which we've featured in these pages - Napa Valley Atlas Peak Cabernet duo.

This was my WOTN - Wine of The Night - the most expressive, finely balanced and integrated for the most elegant and polished representation of the Bell Cabernets.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4304422 

The Fourth and final course was Chocolate French Silk Pie - dark chocolate mousse, white chocolate mousse, dark cocoa nibs and brown butter crust. 

This course was paired with the Bell Wine Cellars Napa Valley Oak Knoll AVA Cabernet Franc 2019.

This wine is sourced from the Chang Vineyard which is situated along the Silverado Trail on the southeast side of the Napa Valley, noted for a great stone wall along the back property line. 

The sub-appellation Oak Knoll AVA is distinguished by a cooler microclimate, second only to the Carneros AVA. The vineyard was planted on rocky but porous loam-chalky soils rich with volcanic rock. Although the temperature is cooler than upper valley, the east side aspect provides sufficient sun exposure for this early ripening variety. The winemaker notes that wines produced from this vineyard are characterized by raspberry and violet flavors as well as dark fruit and great tannin structure thanks to proper maturity and vigor restrain of the soil.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4821368

This was the WOTN - favorite wine of wife Linda and several others in our group.

We enjoyed the Bell wines such that we and our guests acquired each of the Cabernets featured this evening for our cellar collections. 

The opportunity to compare each of the appellation wines in one sitting was very special, indeed, especially when optimally paired with extraordinary food.

https://www.bellwine.com/

https://thejamesgeneva.com/

https://twitter.com/unwindwine

@unwindwine 

https://twitter.com/PassionatePour1

@PassionatePour1

Clark Claudon Napa Cabernet 2004

Clark Claudon Napa Cabernet 2004

For a quiet evening at home, watching a pre-recorded showing of 'The Voice' from earlier in the week, we opened an old favorite wine from our extensive collection from this favorite producer, with a selection of cheeses and sourdough bread. 

Here following is a updated re-post of earlier posting about this wine and this producer.

Clark-Claudon Estate Grown Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

The producer, Clark-Claudon estate is situated on the ‘backside’ of Howell Mountain in an area known as Pope Valley. We have fun with this label as fellow Pour Boy Bill and Beth C's maiden name is Pope. Clark-Claudon's 17 acres of vineyards are carved out of a 117 acre property located on the north east side of Howell Mountain between Ink Grade and Howell Mountain Road, from 800 ft to 1,200 ft elevation. It’s shallow, mountain soils, cool evening breezes and excellent sun exposure are ideal for a low yield of small, intense Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot grapes. The 17 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon are planted with clone 7 which grows well in hillside rocky soil and produces small berries with concentrated flavors. A small vineyard block is planted to Petite Verdot. After completing their initial vineyard planting, Clark decided to leave the  remaining 100 acres of forests, creeks, meadows and ponds in their natural state which serves as a preserve for native birds and wildlife.

Interesting, following my discussions in recent blogpost about the terroir and appellation specificity line of demarcation being at the 1200 foot elevation level to differentiate between Howell Mountain and Napa Valley designation, we have another such-situated Napa/Howell Mountain Cabernet. Similar to the Viader Napa Valley Cabernet Red Blend from earlier tastings, and the Blue Hall Vineyard Camiana Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon that we drank the other night, this Clark Claudon Napa Cab vineyard is at 1000 foot elevation on the lower reaches of Howell Mountain. That terroir distinction doesn't apply here as the Clark Claudon property is on the backside of Howell Mountain which never sees the fog that is experienced on the Napa Valley side of the hill.

We have been collecting this label since its introduction back in 1993 and hold two decades of vintages since. We first met Tom Clark and Laurie Claudon-Clark during our Napa Wine Experience 1999 when we hosted them at one of our wine producer dinners. That night, held at what was then Pinot Blanc Restaurant in St Helena (see picture left), we tasted Clark Claudon 1995-96 against ten year old 1989 Bordeaux. 

During our Napa Wine Experience visits of 1997 through 2000 we hosted gala tasting dinners with the "'Undisccovered Dozen', emerging new wine producers to watch", featured in an article in Wine Spectator Magazine. Many of these producers released their inaugural vintage releases in or about the 1994 vintage. Those producers and winery visits included Plumpjack, David Arthur, Clark-Claudon, Robert Craig, Del Dotto, Elan, Paradigm, Pride Vineyards, Snowden, Nils Venge and White Cottage and are featured variously on my winesite http://www.unwindwine.com. An complete index of my tasting notes of these wines over the years is on the site at this link to California Producers Index. These producers make up a foundation of our wine cellar collection even today. In many of these wines, we still have vertical selections, several dating back to those early release vintages.  

We love the distinctive unique Clark-Claudon packaging with the tall slender bottles. An interesting and trivial wine-geek's observation about the Clark-Claudon branding and packaging; as mentioned, we hold close to a score of vintages of this label. 

All our vintage holdings but this one, the 2004 release, are packaged with the wax cap inside the rim of the bottle, topping the cork, as shown left. This one, 2004, has a 'traditional' foil top of the bottle (shown below). Not sure why?

This release was awarded 93 points from Wine Enthusiast who wrote, " ... it really needs time. Give it until after 2008, if you can keep your hands off, and will come into its own after 2010."

A decade later, going on seventeen years, this release is holding its own very nicely and showing no signs of diminution whatsoever. The fill level, label and most importantly the cork were in perfect condition.

Wine Enthusiast wrote, "The 2004 Clark-Claudon Napa Cabernet Sauvignon blends fruit from all over the winery's estate, combining multiple expressions of the fruit. The higher portions of the estate yielded fruit that was rich, deeply colored with intense tannins. The lower portions of the estate produced softer, more perfumed wine."

Tonight's tasting was consistent with previous tastings in 2015, 2016 and most recently in the Spring of 2021. In 2016 I wrote it was more expressive than earlier tastings. I sense this is at its peak, not likely to improve further, but grand and capable of aging several more years none-the-less.

At nineteen years, the fill level, label, foil and most importantly the cork were all still in pristine condition. 

Like before, the room filled with dark berry fruit aromatics as soon the cork was pulled. This was dark garnet colored, rich, full, concentrated, but nicely integrated and elegant black berry and black currant fruits with accents of cassis, mocha, floral and notes of spicy oak and hints of black cherry on a lingering fine-grained silky tannin finish.

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=229261

In seeking to replenish this bottle with a more recent vintage of this wine, I looked in distribution and found none in Chicagoland, but got this response when searching national beverage superstore Total Wine - "We could not find this item at Pensacola, FL (our select store), But we found it at Denver, CO." We'll be reaching back to the producer directly, as well as looking in the secondary market.

https://www.clarkclaudon.com

@ClarkClaudon 

Earlier tasting posts ...  

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2015/01/clark-claudon-howell-mountain-napa.html

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2015/12/festive-holiday-dinner-showcases.html

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2016/05/clark-claudon-napa-valley-cabernet.html

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2021/03/clark-claudon-napa-cabernet-2004.html

Blue Hall Vineyard Camiana Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

Blue Hall Vineyard Camiana Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon with grilled beefsteak fajitas

Wife Linda prepared grilled beefsteak fajitas with roasted peppers and onions with roasted corn aioli. I pulled from the cellar this Howell Mountain Cabernet for a great wine accompaniment. 

As I have posted before in these pages, wine buddy and fellow Pour Boy Bill C introduced us to this wine when he and son Matt acquired a case or more and shared with us a mini-vertical collection of four different vintages. We served and wrote about this wine earlier this summer at a wine dinner with neighbors Mark and Shirley and wine buddy fellow 'Pour Boy' Dr Dan and Linda.

As I wrote previously, this is from Blue Hall Vineyard, a 5 acre site on Howell Mountain owned by two medical doctors, Andrew Zolopa & Annie Talbot. Vintner and owner, Dr. Andrew Zolopa, was a world-renowned researcher and was instrumental in starting the HIV/AIDS program at Stanford University in 1994 and was a professor at the Stanford School of Medicine for twenty years.

Andrew traveled regularly to Napa to enjoy fine wine and in 1998 purchased property on Howell Mountain to build a home away from home. Sitting near the top of Howell Mountain at an elevation of 1,700 feet above Napa Valley, the property was in the geographic heart of the Howell Mountain sub-appellation, surrounded by world famous vineyards (owned by Beringer) and forested hillsides. 

Zolopa planted the five acre vineyard of which 3 acres was planted entirely to Cabernet Sauvignon in 2000-01. The vineyard was adjacent to notable vineyards owned by Beringer.

Zolopa named the vineyard Blue Hall Vineyard, deriving its name from the famous Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson who spent his honeymoon in a cabin on the side of Mount St. Helena in the summer of 1880. Stevenson was inspired by the purity of the blue sky and exclaimed that it was as if he had entered "the blue hall of heaven." The name reference “Blue Hall” was from the book “Silverado Squatters”, written by Stevenson – a book that featured much about historical Napa Valley.

Andrew named the wine “Camiana" after his daughters Camille and Juliana. They appointed Ted Osborne as winemaker, who was self taught building on experience working at Passing Clouds in Australia, Rupert & Rothschild in South Africa, and Chateau du Seuil in Bordeaux. Coming to America, he put in time working for two well-known Napa wineries, Cakebread and Storybook Mountain, the northern most winery in the Napa Valley. 

Blue Hall produced their first vintage release wine in 2004, a 100% estate grown Cabernet Sauvignon. Only 80 cases were made, which they held until after their first commercial release in 2005. While the 2004 was technically their first vintage, it was released after the 2005 as a library wine. That 2004 release, despite the additional year in the bottle was their “biggest” wine out of their first few vintages. They produced the label annually until 2013, their last vintage produced. 

 

This is one vintage of a vertical collection we acquired with/from fellow wine buddy and 'Pour Boy' Bill C who acquired a case of vintages with son and fellow collector Matt back in 2012. We're still holding four vintages of that collection and this is the oldest release from the selection.

Our notes on the inaugural Camiana Howell Mtn Cabernet Sauvignon 2004.

Camiana Blue Hall Vineyards Napa Valley Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

 

We last tasted this wine back in 2015 in a comparison tasting of Howell Mountain Napa Cabernets, when I wrote, 'The wine is full bodied and dark inky purple color, the nose is perfumed with violets, cedar box and dusty earth; The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon flavors are complex, tight and dry, with big firm tannins masking the intense concentrated black berry and black cherry fruit accented with tobacco, hints of cassis and sweet oak. This wine is great now but should be laid down for five to 10 years.' Tonight, the fruit seemed more expressive and open, but coming across boldly, lacking finesse, balance or polish, coming across as youthful and, as written before, needing time to settle and harmonize.

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2015/01/dunn-vineyards-howell-mtn-and-napa-cabs.html

Our first tasting of this wine was upon receipt back in 2012 when I wrote:  The 2007 Camiana is full bodied and dark inky purple color, the nose is perfumed with violets, cedar box and dusty earth, The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon flavors are complex, tight and dry, with big firm tannins masking the intense concentrated black berry and black cherry fruit accented with tobacco, hints of cassis and sweet oak. This wine is great now but should be laid down for five to 10 years.

Tonight, at sixteen years, the fill level, foil, label and most importantly the cork were all in ideal condition. The wine was a bit more settled and integrated than initially but still a bit slightly obtuse and forward. Tonight I gave it RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1268057

http://www.bluehallvineyard.net/

Ladera Howell Mtn Cabernet with Beef Roast

Ladera Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon with Beef Roast Dinner

Linda prepared a beef roast with roasted potatoes and haricot verts, and I pulled from the cellar this Howell Mountain Cabernet for an ideal food and wine pairing.

As posted in these pages earlier when I wrote about this producer and their other label, we discovered this wine and purchased it following our visit to the Ladera Vineyards estate and winery up on Howell Mountain in 2006 and then again during our Napa Valley Howell Mountain Wine Experience 2008. 

Owners Pat and Anne Stotesbery farmed two vineyards, one at either end of Napa Valley, the Lone Canyon vineyard on Mount Veeder and another on Howell Mountain, an estate vineyard that was most recently Chateau Woltner, but has a history dating back to the Brun & Chaix Winery in 1886.

The Howell Mountain vineyard was considered from the very beginning to be a little piece of France, and was named Nouveau Medoc Vineyard by the men who founded it. Jean Brun, a native of Bordeaux, and W.J. Chaix, whom he met in Napa, first planted 20 acres of Medoc grapes on Howell Mountain in 1877— among the first to plant vineyards up on Howell Mountain instead of down on the Napa Valley floor.

We'd driven past the historic formerly Chateau Woltner property many times over the years on our treks up Howell Mountain. 

The estate vineyards atop Howell Mountain are nestled around the ruins of the ancient stone winery with it’s 30-inch-thick walls, restored into the main winery building at Ladera. The fabulous historic building consists of production and barrel storage below and a rustic tasting room upstairs. It is surrounded by spectacular gardens, beds of lavender, and of course the vineyards. The structure was built entirely of hard, durable stone, three stories in height, roofed with shingles, and was partly dug into the side of the sloping hill to provide access by wagons or teams to all three floors.

Ladera means “hillside” or “slope” in Spanish, and in this single word you will find captured the essence of Ladera’s wines. The word “ladera” describes and unites both of these sites, characterized as they are by the steep slopes and dynamic micro-climates that make mountainside vineyards so special.

Each of their mountain vineyards were tucked in folds and creases of the mountains accessible only by the by tormenting winding roads far from the valley’s main highway corridor. The mountain winegrowing regions of Napa find cooler breezes and longer sun exposure days with restrained soils and well drained slopes that result in rich concentrated fruit.

Rick with Ladera owner/producer
Anne Stotesbery

The seeds for Ladera were planted in the early 1970s, when Pat and Anne Stotesbery fell in love while attending university in Northern California. Among their many shared interests, they discovered a passion for wine, and were soon taking wine classes together, and traveling to wine country for tastings.

The next two decades took them to Minnesota and Montana, where they ran a 3,200-acre ranch with 750 head of cattle, during which time, their interest in wine continued to grow.

With deep agricultural roots on both sides of their family, Pat and Anne Stotesbery acquired their first Napa Valley mountain vineyard in 1996. Their original vineyard was on Mount Veeder, the following year they purchased their second mountain vineyard, Lone Canyon.

In 1998, Pat and Anne made their first non-commercial vintage of 100 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon.

They moved their family to Napa Valley, and in 2000, they acquired a historic Howell Mountain property featuring an 82-acre vineyard. For the next 16 years, this property served as the home for Ladera.

Ladera primarily focused on Cabernet Sauvignon of which we still hold a several cases of four different labels across three vintages from this era. We also acquired some of their Pinot Noir which was sourced from Sonoma County, as well as their Malbec grown from estate fruit, of which we still hold a half case in our cellar.

The Stotesberys hired winemaker Karen Culler (formerly of Vichon winery, and her own label Culler Wines), and along with their vineyard manager Gabriel Reyes practice the sort of winegrowing and winemaking you might expect of a small family-run operation that makes about 12,000 cases of wine each year.

Around 2008, their son Dan visited us while on a wine promotion trip and we took him around to several of the local wine merchants in the area. 

In 2016, following the earlier sales of the Lone Canyon and the Mount Veeder properties, with their children grown and pursuing careers of their own, Pat and Anne sold their land on Howell Mountain.

Rustic Ladera tasting area in the historic
chai and barrel building back in 2006.

Ladera Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 

This bottle from our cellar is from the Howell Mountain vineyard located at an elevation of 1600 to 1800 feet, high above the Napa Valley floor, with gently rolling terrain. The soils are iron-rich, red, clay loam soils with an abundance of gravel for excellent drainage. At this elevation, the climate is very different from the valley floor. 

The fog line, at 1200 feet, is the demarcation point between what is designated as Napa Valley and Howell Mountain wines. Above the fog line in the summer, the grapes receive sun for a longer duration during the day and the temperatures are cooler in the day and warmer at night than the valley floor. The longer sun exposure and warmer nights allow Cabernet Sauvignon to ripen, resulting in wines that tend to be soft and elegant, with a finesse reminiscent of wines from Bordeaux.

We've had a dozen bottles of the mixed cases we acquired at the winery during our visits, and since, including the Napa Valley Cabernet and the Lone Canyon Cabernet. 

This is the first of this vintage Howell Mountain Cabernet we've tasted and it is by far the best, being fuller, more concentrated and rounded than the others. It was a perfect complement to the roast beef dinner.

At eighteen years, this is likely at the apex of its drinking window, not likely to improve with further age, but should drink well for several more years to come. 

The fill level, label, foil, and most importantly, the cork, were pristine, having been harbored in our cellar since acquisition.

About 2000 cases of this wine were made.

Dark garnet colored, complex and concentrated blackberry fruits with notes of cassis, licorice, vanilla, bitter chocolate and cedar, turning to full dusty tannins on the long bold finish. 

RM 93 points.  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=484766

https://www.laderavineyards.com/

 

 

 

Birthday Surf & Turf Dinner with favorite Howell Mtn Cabernet

Birthday Surf & Turf Dinner with favorite Howell Mtn Cabernet

For my birthday dinner, we grilled out surf & turf New York Strip steak with lobster tail, served with grilled asparagus and baked potato. To pair with the steak I pulled from the cellar one of my favorite Napa Cabernets from Howell Mtn. 

I pulled from the home cellar this Robert Craig Howell Mountain Cabernet. This was a perfect accompaniment to the grilled steak beef and the lobster tail. 

Robert Craig Cabernet is featured often in these pages as it is the largest or one of the largest producer holdings in our cellar collection. 

Of the five or six different Cabernet labels offered by Robert Craig, his Howell Mountain is my perennial favorite. Indeed, if I had to choose my favorite appellation of the seventeen found in Napa Valley, it would be Howell Mountain.

We have visited Robert Craig's estate winery and vineyards high atop Howell Mountain several times over the years, for a private tasting, release parties and tasting tours. One of our memorable trips featured a picnic lunch at the site overlooking the valley below. 

We hosted Robert and Lynn at a wine producer dinner at the CIA back in 1998 and met them for one here in Chicago years later.

Sadly, Robert passed a couple years ago and I offered a Robert Craig Tribute in this blogpost.

We've focused on and visited Howell Mountain producers on several of our Napa Valley trips including most notably, Arns, Dunn Vineyards, Clark Claudon, Viader, Ladera, Lamborn and of course Robert Craig. 

Our holdings of these labels from Howell Mountain may be the most represented appellation of the more than 1000 Napa Cabs in our cellar. Indeed, our cellar collection includes seventy-five bottles of fifty different labels that also include LaJota, Lakoya, OShaunessey, Outpost and Pilcrow. This includes a dozen vintages of Robert Craig and sixteen vintages of Dunn Vineyards Howell Mountain.

Other notable Howell Mountain producers we hold are Outpost, Cakebread, Duckhorn, Cade and Robert Foley, but there are many more emerging as the number of producers and labels continues to increase. 

 

In my opinion, Howell Mountain wines have one of the more distinct and distinguishable terroir based profiles in Napa Valley. The characteristics of Howell Mountain wines are my favorites, big bold fruits driven with highlight tones of mocha, clove and cinnamon spices. I still remember my first Dunn Vineyards Howell Mountain Cabernet from back in 1990 with its distinctive cinnamon spice accents.

Robert Craig vineyard high atop Howell Mountain

Howell Mountain is located in the northeast corner of Napa Valley at the north end of the Vaca mountain range that forms the eastern boundary wall of the valley. The elevation of its vineyards ranged between 1,400 and 2,200 feet above sea level. This is interesting and notable since the elevation means that the vines are located above the fog line which rolls in from the south San Pablo Bay and the valley floor. 

That fog line reaching up to 1200 feet in elevation is the demarcation point between the Napa Valley and the Howell Mountain appellations, since it's impact results in different sub-climate growing conditions, thereby resulting in the distinctive terroir of the two areas. Being above the fog lines results in more sunlight, cooler days and warmer nights.

The Howell Mountain A.V.A. (American Viticultural Area, as designated by the US Dept. of Treasury Alcohol And Tobacco Bureau) was the first sub appellation of Napa when it was designated back in 1983. The area is notable for its two soil types: volcanic ash, also known as “Tuff’, and a dry red clay, both of which are nutrient deficient.  Combine that with the steep hillsides and rocky and porous terrain and you have an environment that places high stress on its vines, resulting in rich concentrated fruit. Stressing the vines produces smaller harvests and smaller berries, but the fruit that is produced is more concentrated, intense and complex, perfect for making superior wines.   

Robert Craig Napa Valley Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2002

This Robert Craig Cabernet from the Howell Mountain appellation vineyards showed all those classic characteristics that showcase the terroir of the appellation.

At twenty-one, this bottle is drinking wonderfully right now but may be a bit past its peak as it is showing slight signs of diminution as the fruits are just starting to fade. 

The fill level, label, foil and importantly the cork, were all in ideal condition, aside the label being slightly soiled.

Tonight's tasting was consistent with earlier tasting notes of this label dating back to September, 2009, and August, 2010.

Dark inky garnet colored, medium full bodied, concentrated complex core of black raspberry and black currant fruits accented by a layer of sweet mocha chocolate turning to tones of clove and hints of vanilla and spicy oak, turning to smooth fine tannins on the lingering finish.

RM 93 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=49572

http://www.robertcraigwine.com/

https://twitter.com/RobertCraigWine 

@RobertCraigWine

Son Ryan and kids joined us for our cook-out dinner and he brought from his cellar these two favorite producer premium labels that he had opened at home earlier. 

Long Shadows Saggi Columbia Valley Red Blend - Sanviovese, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

We're members of the Long Shadows wine club and hence get regular Vault Key Club release allocation shipments of their top labels of which we share our case lot with son's Ryan and Alec and fellow Pour Boy Dr Dan. We've written in these pages about the Vintners Collection wherein Long Shadows collaborates with world class winemakers to craft varietal compositions from Washington State fruit. 

This label is inspired by the great wines of Tuscany and father-son winemaking team Ambrogio and Giovanni Folonari, winemaker Gilles Nicault crafts Saggi in the style of its original winemakers.

The 2018 Saggi is a Columbia Valley Blend: 58% Sangiovese, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 12% Syrah. The Sangiovese is sourced from two distinct Washington State Sangiovese vineyards, both planted in 1998. Both sites with have terrior of well-draining soils, important to managing Sangiovese’s vine vigor and controlling berry size. Candy Mountain Vineyard Sangiovese is a warm vineyard that delivers grapes with ripe, black currant aromas and flavors. Boushey Vineyard Sangiovese, grown in the Yakima Valley, is a cooler site that brings brightness and balanced acidity to the blend. 

The Cabernet Sauvignon comes from Stone Tree Vineyard on the Wahluke Slope, included to add a silky texture to the wine. The Syrah adds a darker hue and another layer of complexity.

Winemakers' tasting notes: "Easily one of our favorite Saggi bottlings to date, this wine showcases the quality of our vineyard sites and the warmth of the growing season. A brilliant garnet-red, the 2018 Saggi is elaborately fragrant, brimming with red cherries, ripe strawberries and notes of nutmeg. Vibrant and
well-integrated with balanced natural acidity, this is a textured wine with great richness and flavors that linger across a generous finish. Drinking beautifully now, the wine’s concentration and structure also make it an excellent candidate for the cellar."

This is becoming a go-to wine for us for Sangiovese complemented Italian cuisine, but bigger and bolder than your typical Sangiovese Brunello di Montalcino. Son Alec, who also shares in our club allocation cites this as one of his favorite wines.

As usual this is a stand out with its big bold style, bright garnet-red colored, full bodied, nicely balanced and well integrated vibrant forward fruits of raspberry, red cherries and ripe strawberries with fragrant floral and notes of nutmeg and clove spices. 

RM 93 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3720918

 

https://longshadows.com/wines/2018-saggi/133

Cliff Lede Stags Leap District Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

This is one of our favorite producers and labels of which we hold a decade of releases in our cellar. We have visited the state and done tastings there on numerous occasions. Ryan is member of their wine club and regularly gets this along with their other premium and single vineyard designated labels as part of his regular allocation shipment. 

Winemaker Notes - Inky purple with blood-red tinged edges, the elegant and seamless 2013 Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon's multilayered perfume fills the glass with notes of violets, lavender, and spring flowers. Intertwined with the floral notes are heady layers of plum, blackberry, and red currents. Silky, unctuous flavors of smoked cardamom, cinnamon, and black licorice lay out on the palate and finish with the taste and texture of liquefied rocks. 

The fruit for this release was sourced from the hillside terraces of the legendary Cliff Lede Poetry Vineyard, as well as Lede's Twin Peaks Vineyard estate surrounding the winery, and a few neighboring vineyards in the Stags Leap District. The wine is composed of small lots from the best blocks, representing a diverse range of carefully selected clones and rootstocks. From Poetry’s exposed, rocky terraces that are volcanic in origin, to the ancient riverbed alluvial soils of Twin Peaks, the breadth of contributing sites translates into a wine of impressive complexity.

According to Wine.com, this is a blend of Bordeaux variteals: 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot, 6% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% Merlot 

This release was awarded 94 points by Wilfred Wong of Wine.com, 93 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate,

Robert Parkers said the 2013 Cliff Lede Cabernet appears to be one of the vintage's top wines. 

 

Dark dense ruby/purple color, medium full bodied, floral notes highlight blackberry and black rapsberry fruits with notes of crème de cassis, cinnamon spice and hints of graphite and forest floor on a long silky tannin laced finish.

 

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2077905

 

Dunn Vineyards Howell Mtn Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

Dunn Vineyards Howell Mtn Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

Rick w/ Randy and Kirsten Dunn
at Howell Mtn estate

Fellow Pour Boy, wine buddy, Bill and Beth C visiting from Charleston, we dined out for lunch at the 64 Wine Bar and Restaurant in Naperville. 

Due to Covid precautions, the wine by the glass metered serving machines were not in operation. Not finding anything enticing or inspiring on the BTG (by-the-glass) menu, including in the wine flights, Bill ordered from the wine list a bottle of Dunn Howell Mtn Cabernet Sauvignon. 

We dined on burgers with truffle fries and salads for our lunch. 

We visited the Dunn estate and vineyards up in Angwin atop Howell Mtn during our Napa Valley Howell Mountain Wine Experience back in 2008.

Dunn Vineyards Howell Mtn Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

This release was awarded 95 points by Vinous and Wine Spectator and 93-95 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. 

This label is known and distinguished by its dipped wax seal top rather than foil packaging. 

This is a wine legendarily known for its long life. We hold two decades of this label in our cellar most of which we have not yet opened, opting to hold it for a long term. Robert Parker wrote that it should drink well for 30-40 years, Wine Spectator notes drinking window out to 2040.

Taking into account its reputation for a long lived wine, neither of us had ever, or very seldom tasted this label so young. 

Dark garnet and purple colored, medium full bodied, at six years, this was surprisingly approachable with its concentrated full bright expressive fruits of black currant and black berry fruits with hints of spicy clove, smoke and notes of sweet tobacco, creme de cassis and what I initially thought of as 'menthol' but later realized it was what one of the pundits called camphor, turning to supple tannins on big finish. 

RM 93 points.  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2638109

Clark-Claudon Napa Cabernet 2004

Clark-Claudon Estate Grown Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

For beef stroganoff dinner I pulled from the cellar this aged mountain fruit Napa Cabernet - a perfect match! 

The producer, Clark-Claudon estate is situated on the ‘backside’ of Howell Mountain in an area known as Pope Valley. Their 17 acres of vineyards are carved out of a 117 acre property located on the north east side of Howell Mountain between Ink Grade and Howell Mountain Road, from 800 ft to 1,200 ft elevation. It’s shallow, mountain soils, cool evening breezes and excellent sun exposure are ideal for a low yield of small, intense Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot grapes. The 17 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon are planted with clone 7 which grows well in hillside rocky soil and produces small berries with concentrated flavors. A small vineyard block is planted to Petite Verdot. After completing their initial vineyard planting, Clark decided to leave the  remaining 100 acres of forests, creeks, meadows and ponds in their natural state which serves as a preserve for native birds and wildlife.

Interesting, following my discussions in recent blogpost about the terroir and appellation specificity line of demarcation being at the 1200 foot elevation level to differentiate between Howell Mountain and Napa Valley designation, we have another such-situated Napa/Howell Mountain Cabernet. Similar to the Viader Napa Valley Cabernet Red Blend we drank the other night, this Clark Claudon Napa Cab vineyard is at 1000 foot elevation on the lower reaches of Howell Mountain. That terroir distinction doesn't apply here as the Clark Claudon property is on the backside of Howell Mountain which never sees the fog that is experienced on the Napa Valley side of the hill.

We have been collecting this label since its introduction back in 1993 and hold two decades of vintages since. We first met Tom Clark and Laurie Claudon-Clark during our Napa Wine Experience 1999 when we hosted them at one of our wine producer dinners. That night, held at what was then Pinot Blanc Restaurant in St Helena (see picture left), we tasted Clark Claudon 1995-96 against ten year old 1989 Bordeaux. 

During our Napa Wine Experience visits of 1997 through 2000 we hosted gala tasting dinners with the "'Undisccovered Dozen', emerging new wine producers to watch", featured in an article in Wine Spectator Magazine. Many of these producers released their inaugural vintage releases in or about the 1994 vintage. Those producers and winery visits included Plumpjack, David Arthur, Clark-Claudon, Robert Craig, Del Dotto, Elan, Paradigm, Pride Vineyards, Snowden, Nils Venge and White Cottage and are featured variously on my winesite http://www.unwindwine.com. An complete index of my tasting notes of these wines over the years is on the site at this link to California Producers Index. These producers make up a foundation of our wine cellar collection even today. In many of these wines, we still have vertical selections, several dating back to those early release vintages.  

We love the distinctive unique Clark-Claudon packaging with the tall slender bottles. An interesting and trivial wine-geek's observation about the Clark-Claudon branding and packaging; as mentioned, we hold close to a score of vintages of this label. All our vintage holdings but this one, the 2004 release, are packaged with the wax cap inside the rim of the bottle, topping the cork, as shown left. This one, 2004, has a 'traditional' foil top of the bottle (shown below). Not sure why?

This release was awarded 93 points from Wine Enthusiast who wrote, " ... it really needs time. Give it until after 2008, if you can keep your hands off, and will come into its own after 2010."

A decade later, going on seventeen years, this release is holding its own very nicely and showing no signs of diminution whatsoever. The fill level, label and most importantly the cork were in perfect condition.

Wine Enthusiast wrote, "The 2004 Clark-Claudon Napa Cabernet Sauvignon blends fruit from all over the winery's estate, combining multiple expressions of the fruit. The higher portions of the estate yielded fruit that was rich, deeply colored with intense tannins. The lower portions of the estate produced softer, more perfumed wine."

Tonight's tasting was consistent with previous tastings in 2015 and 2016. In 2016 I wrote it was more expressive than earlier tastings. I sense this is at its peak, not likely to improve further, but grand and capable of aging several more years none-the-less.

Like before, the room filled with dark berry fruit aromatics as soon the cork was pulled. This was dark garnet colored, rich, full, concentrated, but nicely integrated and elegant black berry and black currant fruits with accents of cassis, mocha, floral and notes of spicy oak and hints of black cherry on a lingering fine-grained silky tannin finish.

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=229261

https://www.clarkclaudon.com

@ClarkClaudon 

Earlier tasting posts ...  

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2015/01/clark-claudon-howell-mountain-napa.html

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2015/12/festive-holiday-dinner-showcases.html

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2016/05/clark-claudon-napa-valley-cabernet.html