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

Arns Napa Valley Pritchard Hill Melanson Vineyard Syrah with Gia Mia Pizza

Arns Napa Valley Pritchard Hill Melanson Vineyard Syrah with Gia Mia Pizza

Monday night dinner, we ordered wood fired pizzas from Gia Mia in Naperville. Located in the old historic public library downtown, the trendy restaurant offers casual fine dining in a lively vibrant atmosphere. While I don’t necessarily like the somewhat noisy ambiance, I love their meatballs and polenta entree, except for the fact that often they add too much spice heat to the mix.

Such was the case tonight, I was looking forward to a pizza and big wine pairing for dinner, the Mia Gia pizza was excessively hot with spice that it overpowered even the big unctuous red wine, undermining the whole food-wine experience. 

Shame on me for not noticing till after the fact that “The Bruno” pizza includes, besides the sausage, pepperoni and meatballs … spicy soppressata!

That aside, this was the same profile as earlier vintages of this extremely limited release label that we enjoyed so much. 

We first discovered and acquired this label at the winery and were able to reacquire some at auction last winter, which we saved for an occasion such as tonight.   

We wrote about Arns Winery and this limited release Napa Valley Syrah and that estate visit in an earlier blogpost in these pages, excerpted below.  

Arns Melanson Napa Syrah 08

Arns Melanson Vineyard Napa Valley Syrah 2012

John Arns, Rick, Linda and fellow Pour Boy 

Bill C at Arns Estate on lower Howell Mtn.

We first discovered Arns wines at Andy Bassin's McArthur Wines in Washinton DC during my several years being based there. The presence of Arns there was due to the heritage of the winemaker Sandi Belcher Arns being from Virginia and distributing wines to her home marketplace when visiting back there. 

We visited John Arns at the Arns Estate on Howell Mountain during our Napa Wine Experience back in 2013. We first discovered and acquired this varietal offering during that visit. 

This wine is indicative of one of our favorite wine styles with its rich, concentrated, full bodied, forward fruits.  As my tasting notes from that period stated. "Tasted at the winery, shipped some home, drank a bottle upon arrival, need to go buy more."

This is a very limited production bottling from this boutique producer so when we saw it on-line, we snatched up the entire lot. Of course, Arns primarily specialize in Cabernet Sauvignons, which we also love from this producer, which makes this Syrah label all the more rare and cherished. For the 2012 vintage, only 85 cases were produced. It was aged three years in one year old French oak.

While Arns Estate Vineyards are located up on lower Howell Mountain, hence the Napa Valley appellation designation*, I recall from or discussions with the producer that the fruit for this label is actually sourced from the Melanson Vineyard down at the southern end of the Vaca Mountain range down on the slope area known as Pritchard Hill.

The Melanson Vineyard sits on Pritchard Hill on the rugged eastern ridges above the town of Rutherford overlooking the Napa Valley below with views of Lake Hennessey. The distinctive terroir of the site consists of rich Sobrante Loam soils loaded with volcanic rock at elevations averaging 1,400 feet and distinct southern and western exposures produces better than average fruit due to its exposure, clones, soils  and most of all, care.  The elevation places the vineyards above the fog line and allowing maximum sun exposure throughout the day providing even ripening.

Arns Syrah comes from a small corner of this vineyard and sits in a major rock pile.  There was soil added so a vine could be planted in something other than boulders. Syrah berries are large, about the size of a quarter and their skins are tough and can endure sometimes even the most unfavorable conditions.  John Arns notes that "with above average sunshine, (this site is above the fog line) it truly demonstrates that terroir really matters." 

* Interestingly, it is at the 1200 foot elevation, the level of the fog line, that is also the line of demarcation between the Napa Valley appellation below, and the Howell Mountain appellation above, up on Howell Mountain. 

My notes from 2013 - "Dark inky garnet color, full bodied, powerful but polished forward flavors of black berry and hints of blue fruits, layers of cassis and mocha, hints of clove, violets, leather and olive with a long lingering firm but silky tannin finish. Much like a big Southern Aussie Shiraz.'

Tasted at the winery, shipped some home, drank a bottle upon arrival, need to go buy more." 

At going on twelve years of age, this wine is still very much in its peak drinking window and not showing any sign of diminution with hint of raisin and whisper of menthol. While it will not likely improve or benefit from further aging, it certainly has another half dozen years of life left at the apex of its profile. We love this wine and were eager to obtain this lot ant auction, and taste and compare it to earlier releases. We consumed all the product we acquired over the years from from the Estate.

RM 93 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2366677

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1498990

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2013/04/arns-napa-valley-estate-vineyards.html

Arns Estate Visit on Rick's WineSite ...  
http://www.mcnees.org/winesite/napa/napa-2013/arns/napa-2013-arns.htm

http://arnswinery.com/

https://www.giamiapizzabar.com/

Groth Oakville Cabernet with Grilled BeefSteak

Groth Oakville Cabernet with Grilled BeefSteak

We watched four grandkids for the weekend, back and forth between our house and theirs’. For dinner on our deck we grilled out flank steak with scalloped potatoes, asparagus, cheese bread and Texas toast. To accompany the grilled beefsteak I pulled from our cellar a favorite Napa Valley Cabernet. 

This follows another Oakville Cabernet from the same appellation and vintage recently which, not surprisingly, had an almost identical profile and status. That earlier wine food pairing was featured in these pages in this blogpost - 

Paradigm Napa Valley Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 with Tomahawk Ribeye steak dinner

Groth Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 

This is a remarkably similarly situated replay of an earlier previous tasting of this wine about three years ago, which, therefore, I’ll excerpt here. 

At twenty years, the fill level, foil and most importantly, the cork were in ideal condition. Amazingly, even this bottle has the same label conditions as the one opened back in 2021 with ripples of separation from the bottle. Obviously this batch of bottles had some issues with the labeling machine resulting in this separation a decade and half later, identically on multiple bottles of the same batch (as shown, tonight’s bottle here, and earlier bottle below). 

From blogpost - 

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2021/05/groth-oakville-napa-cabernet-2004.html

Posted May 7, 2021

Groth Oakville Napa Cabernet 2004

Groth Oakville Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 - ideal pairing with filet of beef

We feasted on the left over filets of beef from last evening and I pulled from the cellar this Groth Napa Cabernet - a perfect pairing. Indeed, the producer's menu suggestion for this wine: "A slab and a Cab", Dennis Groth recommends you drink his Cabernet Sauvignon with steak."

We visited the Groth estate winery and vineyards during our Napa Valley Wine Experience back in 1999. Groth gain notoriety and recognition when Robert Parker of the Wine Advocate gave the Groth 1985 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon the distinction of being California’s first perfect 100-point wine. 

Since then, Groth wines have been ranked on Wine Spectator’s prestigious Top 100 Wines list eight times, most recently in 2019, when the 2016 Reserve Cabernet was No. 4. 

From the beginning, Groth has been a family business, managed today by second-generation family member Suzanne Groth. 

Groth Vineyards & Winery was founded in 1981 by Dennis and Judy Groth. Dennis gained his fame in fortune in Silicon Valley when he was CFO of early tech phenom Atari (remember 'Pong'). When it was acquired by Time Warner, Dennis went on to President of the Consumer Products Division and President of the International Division.

The Groths purchased the 121-acre vineyard parcel in Oakville, Napa Valley in 1981 and in '82 added a second vineyard of 44 acres located south of Yountville. The Groth estate vineyard was originally planted between 1972 and 1974 by Justin Meyer, who went on to achieve acclaim with Silver Oak.

Those two vineyards remain the primary source of grapes for the Groth portfolio which includes Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. 

Dennis and Judy moved to Napa Valley and have resided in Oakville since 1985. Today, Dennis is Chairman of the Board, and Judy plays an active role in the look and feel of the winery. Their daughter Susan now runs Groth Wines. After college and several years working various jobs in the wine business, she returned to the family business in 1998, working in sales, public relations and marketing. She took the reins as President and CEO in 2017. “It was only after selling other people’s wine that I was able to appreciate how very special Groth Vineyards was.”

The Groth Oakville Estate sits on the valley floor in the heart of the Napa Valley. The Groth family helped Oakville become recognized as one of the world’s preeminent wine regions. Today, the Oakville AVA is home to the largest concentration of the very best Napa Valley producers of Cabernet Sauvignon. Oakville District Cabernet Sauvignon wines are is renowned as full, lush and elegant.

 

Groth Oakville Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2004  

 

Winemaker notes on the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon: "Big and lush with huge gobs of fruit in the aroma and flavor. The texture of the wine is soft and supple, typical of Cabernet Sauvignons grown in our area of the Oakville AVA. Patience during bottle aging will reward the "steward" with an outstanding bottle over the next 10 to 15 years." 

Indeed, at seventeen (now twenty) years, this is likely at its peak and should continue to drink well for another decade. Thankfully, we still hold a couple more bottles of this vintage of the half dozen vintages in our collection (which includes still a Alec birthyear vintage 1990). The fill level was perfect while the cork appearing perfect was a bit soft upon extraction using a 'ahso' two pronged cork puller.  

Dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, smooth, elegant, briary black berry and black raspberry fruits with notes of cassis, dusty cedar and hints of dark chocolate, herbs and creamy oak turning to gripping tannin on a fruit filled finish. 

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/barcode.asp?iWine=328095

https://grothwines.com/ 

@GrothWines

Plumpjack Reserve Napa Chardonnay at Entourage Restaurant Naperville

Plumpjack Reserve Napa Chardonnay 2022 at Entourage Restaurant Naperville 

Son Alec & d-in-law Vivianna gave us a gift card to their latest favorite restaurant Entourage in Naperville, IL. It turns out Alec discovered the GM and Principle of the restaurant is a college buddy of one of his best buds from NYC, AJ, who has been to our home several times for wine and dinners. Hence, we were eager to try their restaurant find, which they highly recommended. 

Entourage features craftfully dry-aged cuts of beef, seafood, sandwiches, and small plate dishes. The founders opened a similar Entourage restaurant in suburban Schaumburg, IL in 2006 that was named “Restaurant of the Year” by a Chicago magazine, and neighboring Vai’s Italian Kitchen which earned best Italian restaurant honors two years in a row.

There is seating in and adjacent the lively bar, and a dining room to the rear with a couple booths, cushioned bench and table seating.

We decided on two seafood dishes for our entrees and hence ordered a bottle of Napa Valley Chardonnay as an accompaniment.

For a starter we had the Roasted Beets and Whipped Goat Cheese Salad with Arugula, Baby Gem, Spicy Pecans, Hot Honey, Blood Orange Vinaigrette and Fennel. Linda loved it but I found the whipped goat cheese uninspiring.

I chose the Branzino based on my favor for Meuniére sauce and for whipped potatoes. It too was uninspiring, okay but not great, a bit bland, perhaps because it was served less than hot. 

Linda ordered the Miso Marinated Chilean Seabass with Broccolini, Charred Peppers, Shiitake Mushrooms with Black Truffle Risotto, Yuzu and Sake Butter Sauce. This was extraordinary, delicious in all respects, the fish artfully prepared and served hot, and the Black Truffle Risoto was spectacular. I tried it and loved the Charred Peppers accent which Linda found slightly offputting to the dish. 

The Wood Grilled Branzino Meuniére was served with Yukon Pommes Puree, Baby Tomatoes, Artichoke Brussel Sprouts, Basil and Lemon Caper Sauce.

Entourage service was super, attentive and professional throughout the evening.   

The Entourage winelist offers a thoughtfully and carefully selected winelist of fifteen White wines and 30+ Reds, half of those BTG - By-The-Glass. It is mostly from the US but also offers some selections from Australia, Italy, France and some reds from Spain and whites from Germany.  Five Chardonnays were on offer in a range of five price points.

It includes several notable and some favorite producers including Darioush, Long Shadows, Shafer, (Cabernets), Domaine Drouhin, Foxen and Brave (Pinots), Rombauer, Fontanafredda Barolo, Anaperenna Barossa Shiraz, and Chateau LaNerthe Côtes-du-Rhône (Rose).

Despite our serious disdain for and distrust of the despicable owner producer, hypocrite politician, we order the Plumpjack Reserve Napa Chardonnay, putting politics aside for the evening to enjoy our wine dinner outing.

Plumpjack Reserve Napa Valley Chardonnay 2022

Plumpjack Estate Vineyards and Winery sits on the east end of Oakville Cross Road, just off the Silverado Trail, in southern Napa Valley. It used to be one of our favorite producers and sites to visit in Napa Valley before their ownership became so political, and regretably so radical and divisive. 

We visited the winery several times over the years and hosted their winemaker for a special dinner back in the early 90's. Over the years we acquired an extensive collection of Plumpjack Estate Napa Cabernets, some Merlots and Syrahs, including several vintages of their Cabernet Reserve offering dating back to 1995 through 1997. 

Some of these visits were chronicled in these pages's blogposts - 

Plumpjack Napa Valley Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon

Plumpjack Founders Reserve Cabernet

I mentioned our cellar collection of Plumpjack vintages during our last visit there during a private tasting and they eagerly tried to supplement our collection of those vintages from their library, but at $500 to $700 per bottle, we politely passed. 

We first visited Plumpjack in its earliest days at the PlumpJack Wine Store on Fillmore Street in San Francisco, opened in 1992 by partners that included former San Francisco mayor and current Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, and some of his benefactor supporters. 

Over the years the investment group backing Newsome as their high profile figurehead lead has amassed a collection of premier Napa Valley properties and brands including PlumpJack Estate Winery, CADE Estate Winery, Odette Estate Winery and 13th Vineyard.

They also own and operate the rustic PlumpJack Inn boutique hotel set in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in North Lake Tahoe, and several restaurants including Balboa Cafe in San Francisco, PlumpJack Cafe in Olympic Valley, Wildhawk, a neighborhood bar in San Francisco’s Mission district, and White Rabbit neighborhood bar in the Marina district.

The PlumpJack Winery sits in the heart of Napa Valley's renowned Oakville appellation, surrounded by the 42-acre estate vineyard. Both the winery building and the vineyard date back to the 1800s. The east  boundary of their vineyard lies along the foothills of the Vaca mountain range and yields grapes with the kind of bold fruit character that comes from well-drained hillside soils. To the west, their estate lies in the Napa River flood zone, where the vines take root in rich, deep clay soil yielding grapes with softer, more supple varietal character. From their oldest, rockiest section, the "I" Block, they source their Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, of which we hold a half dozen bottles from several aged vintages.

Plumpjack Reserve Napa Valley Chardonnay 2022

This Chardonnay is sourced from grapes grown in two vineyards in Napa Valley – one in the southern Napa Los Carneros appellation near San Pablo Bay, and another in St. Helena in the Central Valley. Just 30 miles apart, Los Carneros can be 10-15° cooler than St. Helena. Due to this difference and other important differences, such as soil type, these two vineyard sites vary significantly in character and expression. When blended, these differences in expression add layer upon layer of flavor to the nose and palate, creating a beautiful and complex Chardonnay.

Winemaker's notes - The 2022 PlumpJack Reserve Chardonnay is a gorgeous, multi-faceted wine. The nose delivers layers of aromas—apple, baked pear, and lemon curd mingle with white peach, apricot, and honeysuckle with a dash of nutmeg and cinnamon just beneath the fruit. The palate is energetic and dynamic, beginning with a rich, mouth-filling texture reminiscent of lemon curd, followed by bright acidity that evokes lemon zest and honey-crisp apples. Finally, the beautiful acidity pulls the wine through the back of the palate, creating a long, structured finish. 

Light straw colored, light medium bodied, crisp, tangy citrus with notes of apple and pear with bright acidity on the lingering finish. 

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4703905

https://plumpjackwinery.com/

We look forward to returning to Entourage, next time to try to Indiana Farm Raised beef with some favorite red wine (s). 

https://entouragerestaurant.com/

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/

 

 

 

Family Easter and Birthday Celebration Dinner features ultra-premium birth-year vintage wines

Family Easter and Birthday Celebration Dinner features ultra-premium birth-year vintage wines

We hosted the family for Easter featuring an Easter Egg hunt for the (grand) kids followed by a gala dinner that also recognized son Alec's birthday. Alec and Linda prepared grilled Salmon and NY Strip Steaks. 

I pulled from the cellar two ultra-premium birth-year vintage wines for the occasion, from son Alec's birth-year who also had a birthday this week. 

At thirty-two years, this was a study in longevity and age-worthiness of two top labels, one from Bordeaux and one from Napa Valley. Amazingly, they were very similar and equivalent in all respects, with similar character and tasting profiles, fill levels, foils, labels, and importantly the corks were all in ideal condition, for their age. The Ducru cork was a bit soft and spongy and starting to erode, but was still intact. The Diamond Creek cork was remarkably tight and well preserved.

This is another testament to the conditions in our wine cellar for aging fine wines. Both had been in our cellar for decades.

Both had good color and body and, while showing their age and perhaps past their prime, were still very much within their approachable drinking window.

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, St. Julien, Bordeaux 1990

Lisa Perrotti-Brown of Robert Parker's Wine Advocated tasted this at the Chateau in August 2020 and gave it a drinking window of 2020 - 2028. 

We hold a vertical collection of this label dating back four decades, including birth-year vintages for each of our kids, and many of our grand-kids, several of which we served at their weddings in large format bottles. 

We had the privilege and honor to visit the Château Ducru Beaucaillou estate during our trip to the St Julien appellation of Bordeaux in 2019.

Château Ducru Beaucaillou is named for the "beautiful pebbles", stones found in its unique wine-growing terroir of the Gironde River estuary. The estate sits on an promontory site with views of the river in the center of a hundred-year-old park. 

The Ducru Beaucaillou Chateau is a majestic, Victorian-style castle, which is one of the great symbols of the Médoc, and residence to the owners to this day. 

The original winery and cellars are in the lower level underneath the residence. A new extensive expanded facility was built in recent years.

For 300 years, six families of owners have owned and managed the Château Ducru Beaucaillou estate. which today is managed by the company Jean Eugène Borie SA, which is owned by Mrs Borie, her daughter Sabine Coiffe and her son Bruno Eugène, CEO since 2003, the third generation of the Borie family to head the estate.

This wine is a traditional left bank Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The wine was aged for around 12 months in two-thirds new oak.

Dark garnet brick colored, medium-full bodied, complex and rich blackberry and plum fruits with notes of earth, tree bark, tobacco, tapenade, black tea and leather on a lingering moderate tannin acidic finish. 

RM 91 points. 

This was awarded 91 points by Robert Parker 's Wine Advocate.

 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=10531

 

https://chateau-ducru-beaucaillou.com/en

 

@DucruB 

Diamond Creek Vineyards "Gravelly Meadow" Vineyard, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1990

A trip to Napa Valley Diamond Mountain by the serious wine enthusiast or collector would not be complete without a visit to the legendary Diamond Creek Vineyards. 

Diamond Creek was founded in 1968 by the late Al Brounstein, and wife 'Boots' (pictured below), a visionary pioneer who defied conventions of the time by planting Bordeaux varietals on secluded Diamond Mountain in the Mayacamas Range at the north remote end of Napa Valley.

Diamond Creek is a case study in terroir - the estate is segregated into four distinct vineyards, each with its own micro-climate, soil type and geography that are revealed in their single vineyard designated Cabernet Sauvignon wines named for the four distinctly different origination vineyards. 

The vineyards of Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignon are Gravelly Meadow (5 acres - center left), Red Rock Terrace (7 acres front), Volcanic Hill (8 acres opposite), and Lake (¾ acre). There is also one acre planted to Petit Verdot. 

This is another producer of whom we hold a vertical collection spanning more than two decades. Our collection includes all of the vineyards, many in horizontal collections of the three primary vineyards from a vintage.

The vineyards,  pictured here, are amazingly co-located close to each other yet have distinctive individual characteristics that are revealed in their wines, based on their proximity to the slope approaching the creek that cascades down the mountain, dividing the property. The chateau and tasting room offer a magnificent setting and view of the vineyards on the slope and meadow below and of the opposing hillside.

We visited the estate in 2017 for the Diamond Creek Open House and 2015 Vintage Release Tasting, shown here with Matriarch, proprietor and founder Boots Brownstein. 

We also visited the estate and did a private food and wine pairing tasting back in 2011 as part of our Diamond Mountain Wine Experience - Diamond Creek Vineyards visit and tasting.

In 2020, 52 years after its founding, Diamond Creek was acquired by the Rouzaud family of world-renowned Maison Louis Roederer, whose roots in wine date to the 1700s. The relationship between the Rouzaud and Brounstein families stretched back three decades, with an admiration and mutual respect for one another born of a common love for wine and its role in history, culture and life.  

Like the 1990 vintage Bordeaux above, this too was in ideal condition, with no obvious signs of diminution from age. The fill level, foil, label and cork were as good as to be expected at three decades. 

Dark garnet colored, medium-full bodied, concentrated, rich, complex yet elegant blackberry and black cherry fruits with notes of deep, perfumed, herbaceousness with concentrated currant, cedar and flavors of tea, leather and tobacco on a long, smooth finish.

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=38034

https://diamondcreekvineyards.com/

Far Niente Napa Valley Chardonnay 2011

For the grilled salmon, we also served this hearty robust Napa Valley Chardonnay from a legendary producer. 

The Far Niente estate sits along St Helena Highway in the heart of Oakville. Far Niente's history dates back to 1885 when the estate was first established by pioneer John Benson a forty-niner of the California gold rush and uncle of the famous American impressionist painter, Winslow Homer. Benson hired notable architect Hamden McIntyre to design the historic winery in western Oakville which today is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was restored to its original prestige by the Nickel family in 1979.

Far Niente prospered up until the onset of Prohibition in 1919 when it was closed and sat neglected for 60 years until 1980, when Gil Nickel bought and restored the winery and neighboring vineyard over three years. He preserved the Far Niente name which in Italian translates to ‘without a care.’ 

 

Far Niente constructed wine caves, the first to be constructed in North America since the turn of the century, spawning a whole new standard in California wine country. Over the next 20 years, the winery conducted four more expansions of the caves, bringing the total area to 40,000 square feet.

Far Niente is consistently recognized as a benchmark producer of Napa Valley Chardonnay and Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. 

The Far Niente Estate Bottled Napa Valley Chardonnay is crafted in a blend sourced from superb vineyards, many of which are located in Coombsville, the cool growing region in the rolling hills east of Napa that they've been growing for over 40 years. The climate there is similar to the other source site in the popular Chardonnay appellation of Carneros in south west Napa Valley, but with less wind and deeper, well-drained gravelly loam and volcanic ash soils. The winery states, "the combination of these spectacular vineyards results in the subtle, tropical flavors, complex aromas and uncommon richness that we have long associated with Far Niente Chardonnay."

Winemaker Notes: The 2011 Far Niente Chardonnay opens with delicate aromas of citrus blossom, honeydew melon, pear, flint and toasted almonds. The entry is silky with pear and citrus flavors. Refreshing acidity leads to a juicy finish, layered with toasted oak.

Butter colored, medium bodied, bold full but nicely balanced flavors of citrus, pear and melon with notes of floral and almond on a pleasantly dry moderately acid finish. 

 

RM 92 points.  

 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1347669

https://farniente.com/

 

@farnientewinery

 

Merryvale Silhouette Napa Chardonnay with Chicken Tetrazzini

Merryvale Silhouette Napa Valley Chardonnay with Chicken Tetrazzini

Linda prepared a delicious hearty rich Chicken Tetrazzini so I pulled from the cellar a big full bodied Napa Chardonnay as an accompaniment.

This ultra-premium label is from the premier Profile collection of Merryvale, who crafted the first Profile red blend in 1983, from the finest Napa Valley fruit of the vintage. The proprietary Profile brand name first appeared on labels with the 1987 vintage.

For the next 25 years, Profile was the flagship Bordeaux-style red blend of Merryvale Vineyards, branded as part of the larger winery’s portfolio. With the release of the 2012 vintage, Profile revealed a new contemporary look with this label that honors their historic legacy, featuring glass etched silhouettes of the modern-day proprietors — René and Laurence Schlatter, who took the helm from the founder, René’s father Jack in 2008.

It all started in the early 1990s when visionary partners Swiss-born Jack Schlatter and winemaker Bob Levy sought out vineyard sites of exceptional quality and character from which to craft wines.

The Swiss-born Schlatter family became sole proprietors of the brand in the mid-1990s, when Jack Schlatter and his son René acquired this historic hillside site and worked closely with viticulturist David Abreu to replant and redesign the vineyard from the ground up. Beginning in 1997, they planted 25 acres with 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot, and 5% Cabernet Franc.

In 2004, the family acquired a parcel of the historic Stanly Ranch property in Carneros, with the goal of producing world-class Chardonnay worthy of joining the Profile Collection. That second estate vineyard now provides the luminous fruit used to craft into the Silhouette label.

Jack Schlatter spent his earlier career selling cotton in Hong Kong and tasting coffee in Brazil, but his favorite passion was great wine. After spending much of his life working hard in industries that held no particular excitement for him, he shifted gears to invest in a business he actually loved when a real estate deal introduced him to Bill Harlan and the other Merryvale founders.

Jack joined the Merryvale founders as a partner in 1991, building the winery’s international presence with his established import/export connections. A few years later in 1996, Jack and his family became the sole owners of the winery, and the Schlatters began to create a family estate. Twenty years later, the Profile Estate Vineyard and Stanly Ranch Estate Vineyard are the foundation of Merryvale.

Jack turned the CEO duties over to son René in 2008 and now offers counsel and support for the family business from his home in Vevey, Switzerland where he lives with his wife, Lilo.

Proprietors René and Laurence Schlatter grew up in the same small town near Geneva, Switzerland, but never met until Laurence’s brother introduced them at the Merryvale tasting room in St. Helena.

Merryvale Winemaker Andrew Wright grew up in the Sonoran Desert. His interest in wine arose when he visited the Finger Lakes wine region of upstate New York while on a post-college road trip. From that point on, he devoured volumes of wine literature and the wines they described, expanding his palate and shaping his philosophies.

Andrew began his winemaking career planting vines in the high desert outside of Sonoita, Arizona. He moved to Napa Valley in 2012, where he worked in the vineyards and cellars of Harlan and Bond Estates, Promontory and The Napa Valley Reserve, as well as Fruition Sciences where Merryvale was a client, eventually taking on winemaking duties there.

This Silhouette is Merryvale's flagship white wine, crafted to the same exacting standards as Profile, crafted from only the best lots from their top vineyards each year.

Striving to create a white wine of the 'utmost integrity, depth and grace', Silhouette is limited production old-world style crafted from the finest Chardonnay grapes of each vintage.

This is sourced (90%) from the best Chardonnay block in the historic Stanly Ranch Estate Vineyard on the Napa side of the Carneros AVA, plus some fruit (10%) from Hyde Vineyard, down at the bottom of Napa Valley where the Mayacamas range foothills meets the flat shorelands of San Pablo Bay.

Producer's Tasting Notes - "Silhouette is everything we love about great Chardonnay— bright, fresh, full, complex, long and delicious. Barrel fermented with native yeasts in the classic Burgundian style, the wine is unctuous and full while expressing the bright acidity of the cool Carneros appellation. Lemon curd, hazelnuts, orange blossoms, and jasmine delight aromatically and on the palate as the wine evolves in the glass. This is a complex Chardonnay, with layers of flavor dancing on the taut line of natural acidity. The long, balanced finish both satisfies and entices—this is a deeply enjoyable wine. An excellent food companion, the wine is also stunning on its own and will continue to evolve over the next 10+ years."

It aged 16 months with the full lees in 40% new French oak, Burgundy barrels from Tronçais, Jupilles and Fontainebleau forests in central France, with light toast.

700 cases were produced.

This was rated 95 points by Jeb Dunnuck of jebdunnuck.com, and 92 each points from Lisa Perrotti-Brown of robertparker.com, Kim Marcus from Wine Spectator, James Suckling, and Wine Enthusiast. 

Producer Notes - "Silhouette is a captivating wine. The outstanding quality of the fruit allows for long native fermentations where we carefully monitor its progress. We are striving for the best expression of Chardonnay; an exercise of balance with one goal in mind: finesse, refinement and complexity. Our intent is to surprise you with this unique, exquisite and noble wine that has the potential to age for 10 years or more."

"The 2017 Silhouette Chardonnay has an intense nose filled with exotic fruit notes including pineapple, stone fruit and tangerine, and a fragrant vanilla finish. The mouth is very round with a nice sweetness and very clean minerality. The wine is dense and ample with a touch of sweetness and citrus (yuzu) finish. A very balanced and elegant wine with a stylish touch of oak and a beautiful finish."

Each vintage, their very best Chardonnay fruit goes into the Silhouette bottling. For the 2017 vintage, the wine is comprised primarily of grapes grown on thee Stanly Ranch Estate Vineyard with a small percentage from the neighboring Hyde Vineyard in Carneros.

The result is a 'beautiful wine with great acidity and drinkability' that Merryvale says is one of the best Chardonnays that they have made.

Silhouette is packaged in a heavy oversize bottle with etched glass markings featuring the silhouettes of each of the proprietors on each side, requiring turning the bottle or multiple images to see them both.

Light straw colored, medium to full bodied, concentrated, rich, round, intense almost obtuse, forward green apple, tropical and stone fruits, notes of guava, pineapple and hints of melon, peach, and nuts, with a long racy acidic finish. Definitely needs some rich seafood or pasta with sauces to balance the acidity and intensity. 

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3814485

https://profile-collection.com/silhouette/

https://profile-collection.com/wine/2017-silhouette/