We hosted the family for a gala Christmas celebration, exchanging of gifts, followed by dinner and an accompaniment of wine pairings.
At grandson Jessie’s request, Linda prepared Beef Wellington, with roasted vegetables and potatoes and pasta.
Prior to dinner we served an extensive selection of artisan cheeses, charcuterie, shrimp cocktail, fresh fruits, salad and sweets with holiday punch bowl.
We served a broad flight of wines beginning with Champagne, vintage Bordeaux and ultra-premium Napa Valley Reds.
We started with two Brut Champagnes, both from special release festive Christmas bottles, one in large format Magnum.
G. H. Mumm Grand Cordon Brut Rose’ NV
Piper Heidesieck Cuvee’ Brut Champagne
I also opened several of these large format bottles for son Alec and Viviana's wedding celebration dinner as featured in this blogpost at the time - Wedding Wines - Birthyear and Big Bottle Extravaganza Continues.
This is a traditional blend of primarily Pinot Noir (for structure) and Pinot Meunier (for fruit), with Chardonnay (for elegance). This is sourced from over 100 Crus (vineyard plots) throughout the Champagne region which provides consistency from vintage to vintage as well we as complexity and depth.
Pale golden colored, medium bodied, creamy, fruity, fine, persistent bubbles highlight notes of fresh pear, apple, almond, hazelnut, brioche, and a touch of spice and lemon citrus with a smooth, balanced finish.
RM 91 points.
https://www.cellartracker.com/w?1279843
Château Figeac St Emilion Grand Cru Classe 1990
This right bank blend is roughly one-third each of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. It was aged in 100% new oak.
This release was rated 96 points by Decanter, 94 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and 90 points by Wine Spectator and Jeb Dunnuck.
Winemaker Notes - “With its pedigree style, Château Figeac epitomises the elegance of the great wines of Bordeaux. Its unique style gradually shows through and develops over time. This great wine displays a distinctive rich nose that has wonderful aromatic complexity. On the palate, the Cabernet Sauvignon reveals lovely floral aromas in the first year then, as the wine ages, great structure on the palate. The Cabernet Franc brings lots of freshness in the tannins, and the Merlot contributes roundness and flesh. The attack on the palate is clean, the texture is silky, and the complexity elegant. The characteristic freshness of Figeac is underpinned by great length of flavor. With its long aging potential, the wine goes on in time to reveal hints of forest floor, leather, cigar-box and licorice – always with its hallmark elegance.”
RM 91 points.
https://go.cellartracker.com/wine/179893
Ryan brought from his home cellar this limited release highly allocated ultra-premium Napa Cabernet.
Seven Apart “Shale” Napa Valley Stags Ridge Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
Seven Apart is from proprietor/producer Don Dady who purchased the Stags Ridge Vineyard in 2018. The property sits up on Pritchard Hill at the southern end of the Vaca Mountain range that forms the eastern wall of Napa Valley.
At 1,400 feet, the vineyard faces the Pritchard Gap, looking to the south with a view to San Francisco Bay. At an elevation above the fog line, the site gets generous sun exposure with afternoon breezes that blow in from the San Francisco Bay to cool down the vineyard. The breeze is said to help balance the sugar levels and acidity of the grapes.
The rocky mountain site is covered with giant rocks that winemaker Andy Erickson says “The soil is more like a cobblestone street. Scattered throughout, some of the rock are so large that we couldn’t install trellising into the ground!” According to him, the soil contributes big, round tannins and concentration to the Seven Apart Shale wine.Winemaker notes - “Seven Apart Shale is beautifully layered,” opens Andy. “It is simultaneously hard, yet also easily pliable rock. This dichotomy of texture is really what we want the namesake wine to capture. It’s layered, but in a soft, gentle way that means you can dig into it easily.”
“While it may seem odd to craft three Cabernet Sauvignons from the same vineyard, that’s also the challenge for me. Even within one vineyard, you might have one section that gives you one unique element and another section that gives you something completely different. I view it as my mission to create unique expressions of our dramatic vineyard site on Atlas Peak,” says Andy.
Seven Apart Shale is more delicate. Andy describes the Seven Apart Shale as being crafted with softer tannins and a subtler aromatic profile.
When they harvest the grapes and collect the individual components from the different vineyard blocks, they let them age for a year separately before they start crafting the blending. The winemaking team taste for specific components that have the elegance and finesse best suited to the Seven Apart Shale style and start forming a blend. Once the envisioned Seven Apart Shale blend is composed, the wine is aged 24 months in the finest French oak.
For the 2018 Seven Apart Shale, Andy and the Seven Apart team selected only 9 barrels to be ‘worthy of this final bottling’. Described as graceful yet powerful, the latest 2018 vintage was produced from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Stags Ridge vineyard.
Winemaker notes - “At first sight, it shows a notable black-purple hue and great density. On the nose are intense aromas of black licorice and cassis, along with savory tones of teak oil, sage, baked bread, and chaparral. The wine brims with intense berry flavors, as well as soy, thyme, and orange blossoms. Along with the voluminous palate impression, the tannins are highly polished, making for a long, velvety finish.”
This label release was rated 94 points by Vinous, 93 pints by James Suckling,
Dark purple/ruby colored, full bodied, deep rich, round, powerful, expressive concentrated but finely integrated bright vibrant ripe blackberry, black cherry and black currant fruits accent by clove spice, graphite, mint, cedar, rose petals and cassis licorice with firm but silky polished tannins on the lingering finish.
RM 95 points.
https://go.cellartracker.com/wine/3905517
https://sevenapart.com/behind-the-bottle-1-seven-apart-shale-cabernet-sauvignon/
https://www.cellartracker.com/w?3975575
We dove back into our cellar to find a suitable pairing with the Seven Apart and pulled this 100 point Napa Valley Bordeaux varietal blend from the same vintage.
Continuum Napa Valley Proprietary Red Blend 2018
Like the Seven Apart, this is 100% estate grown and made, sourced from a single vineyard, the Continuum Sage Mountain Vineyard, high up on Pritchard Hill in the Vaca Range along the eastern ridge high above the town of Oakville.
The first three vintages of Continuum, from 2005 to 2007, were sourced primarily from Marjorie’s Vineyard within the historic To Kalon Vineyard in Oakville, located on the valley floor near the Robert Mondavi estate, representing the family’s past, plus some fruit from Stags Leap District.
Before this acquisition, the property had been a conventionally farmed, rocky 70 acre vineyard that needed extensive work; Tim brought in former Mondavi colleagues to re-graft, replant, and convert it toward organic and biodynamic practices.
Following early vintages sourcing fruit from To Kalon and Stags Leap, the 2008 vintage was the first that included some fruit from the new estate site. From the 2012 vintage onward, Continuum has been sourced exclusively from Sage Mountain Vineyard on Pritchard Hill, making it a true single-estate wine rather than a blend of purchased valley-floor fruit.
Having developed and transformed the property and vineyard, they build winery facilities, completed in 2013, establishing the ability for the first time, the family were able to grow, produce, and bottle from a single estate the product of a singular site. The year 2013 also marked Tim Mondavi’s 40th year making wine as well as the 100th anniversary of Robert’s birth.
Winemakers notes - “The 2018 growing season was a winemaker’s dream given the overall cooler weather patterns paired with ample sunshine. The spring brought timely, abundant rainfall nourishing the earth and setting the stage for a healthy crop. Moderately cool temperatures post veraison allowed the fruit an extended hang time, retaining vibrancy and evolving character complexity. Berry size was smaller than average though berry count was up given the bountiful rain. Crop size was generous for the estate at 2.4 tons per acre-still quite small by any measure. Harvest began 135 days from bloom on September 27th, and continued at an unforced and purposeful pace, thanks to record cool weather in August and September. Harvest concluded on October 22nd.’
Wine Production - “Continuum is 100% estate grown, produced and bottled. All fruit is selectively hand-harvested at night. The fruit is then sorted before and after de-stemming, and gravity fed into French oak or concrete tanks. A three-day cold soak is followed by fermentation, receiving three to four pump overs daily, and délestage two to three times in total during the most active period. The wine remains on skins in tank for 20 to 40 days. All lots are then drained, basket pressed, and transferred with lees for malolactic fermentation and aging. In 2018, Continuum spent 22 months in barrel. 63 percent of French oak barrels were new and 35 percent were once used.A single concrete amphora was also used for aging.The wine clarified slowly and settled naturally in our cold barrel room, was racked sparingly and bottled without fining or filtration.Each vineyard lot was tasted and carefully considered many times to assemble the 2018 blend.”
Winemaker Notes - The 2018 Continuum shows energy and verve. The wine expresses purity and precision, with high tone aromatics of red and blue fruit, deep plum and rose oil. This vintage shows an approachable nerve of the land in the refined mineral quality on the palate. The surrounding native vegetation of bay and sage is evidenced in an earthy, savory profile. This is a shimmering, silky and harmoniously integrated wine with densely packed fine grain tannins.”
This was rated a perfect 100 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Wilfred Wong of Wine.com, and James Suckling, 99 by Wine Independent, 98 points by Vinous, 97 points by Jeb Dunnuck and Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, and 94 points by Wine Spectator.
Deep garnet-purple colored, full bodied, dense, concentrated, complex yet smooth, polished and elegant, integrated and balanced ripe red and black fruits, blackberry, blackcurrant and black cherry fruits with notes of mocha, cassis, graphite, black tea and dusty rose with gentle silky smooth fine grained tannins in the long finish.
RM 96 points.
https://go.cellartracker.com/wine/3778487
Hall Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2018This was rated 93 points by Wine Spectator.
Dark garnet colored medium to full bodied, dense concentrated black berry and plum fruits with notes of cassis, dark licorice, tobacco leaf, black tea, black olive and pain grille’ with smooth polished tannins on the finish.
