Marina Cafe Wine Dinner

Fabulous Seafood and Wine dinner at Marina Cafe , Destin (FL)

Visiting, The Cove, our Destin (FL) vacation rental, we dined with neighbors Richard and Victoria at the  Marina Cafe, downtown Destin on Harbor Boulevard on the waterfront overlooking the Destin marina and harbor. 

We arrived shortly before 5PM opening to find a long line of people waiting to get in, an indication of the immense popularity of this local institution, promoted as “the most awarded restaurant in Destin”.. 

Marina Cafe is an upscale steakhouse with an extensive menu offering the local fresh catch seafood, pasta, sushi, wood-fired pizzas, and dishes with Creole, Mediterranean, and Pan-Asian influences, and an extensive wine list.

They offer a variety of dining options, the entire dinning room offers marina/harbor views through the wall of allow to ceiling windows, outdoor seating on the waterside patio, and a wildly popular trendy lounge with full bar. 

During the right season, there are also breathtaking sunset views as well.

Tonight, Thursday, was their “Little Black Dress” night featuring life music in the lounge with classical jazz saxophonist Ike Barkley and vocalist. The line of folks waiting outside streamed in as the doors opened to secure seats. 

From the menu we ordered several seafood selections - The Redfish special, Seared Grouper and the Seabass. 

I ordered the Seared Grouper with oven roasted purple Peruvian potatoes, pineapple rum cream sauce, mango papaya salsa. I have to say it was among the best dinners ever in Destin! 

The others ordered the Pan Seared Red Snapper - blackened red snapper, dirty rice, corn maque choux, creole crawfish cream sauce (above), and the Seared Sea Bass with garlic risotto, garlic braised spinach, lemon burre blanc (below). All the entrees were delicious.  

We took advantage of the BYOB policy and brought our own wine - a red and a white. 

Richard brought this vintage aged St Emilion Grand Cru. 

Château Clos des Prince Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Bordeaux 2014 

Clos des Prince produce this classic Saint-Émilion Grand Cru from their small 7 1/2 acre vineyard located 25 km east of Saint-Émilion, from vines with an average age of 48 years planted to roughly 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. Annual production averages about 12,000 bottles.

Winemaking: The winery uses organic and biodynamic practices. The wine is aged in a mix of new (70%) and one-year-old (30%) barrels. 

This represents the classic style and profile of Saint-Émilion wines with notes of sweet berries and currants transitioning into floral hints. Some profiles highlight more complex undertones of stones, dark fruits, and tangier citrus notes like tangerine.

 

The 2014 Clos des Prince Saint-Émilion Grand Cru is a classic Right Bank red Bordeaux blend, typically 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc.

The 2014 vintage received a score of 88/100 from James Suckling.

Producer/Distributor’s Tasting Notes: “Notes of sweet berries and currants transitioning into floral hints. Some profiles highlight more complex undertones of stones, dark fruits, and tangier citrus notes like tangerine.’

“Palate: Described as having a solid core of fruit supported by superpolished, medium tannins. It generally presents a medium to full body with a focused, delineated structure.”

The 2014 vintage in Saint-Émilion was generally considered a solid, classic year, particularly good for Merlot on the Right Bank. 

At a dozen years, this was likely at the apex of its drinking window, having had an ideal few years to soften and integrate after release, 

Pleasant drinking, dark garnet colored medium full bodied, structured but smooth soft polished sweet dark berry currant fruits with notes of stone minerality, leather, black tea and floral notes with polished structured tannins.

RM 91 points

https://go.cellartracker.com/wine/2162596

Venge Vineyards Brown Ranch Vineyard Los Carneros Napa Valley Chardonnay 2019

We brought from our home cellar one of our favorite Chardonnay’s currently at the apex of its drinking profile, from one of our favorite producers. We’ve written often in these pages how we have fun with this “V” label, that we serve with our daughter-in-law Vivianna. Tonight, we brought this to serve with our friend Victoria! 

We’ve featured this label in numerous blogposts, excerpted here. 

Venge Brown Ranch Chardonnay and Venge Vineyards Napa Valley Brown Ranch Carneros Chardonnay 2019

The name Venge has been synonymous with Napa Valley wines for as long as I have been of drinking age since the '70's, but the Venge family wine affiliation actually goes back much earlier, to when Knud Venge emigrated from Denmark to the United States in the early 1900’s. Knud's son, Per Venge, entered in the wine and spirits business and started Vencom Imports, focusing on importing Western European wines and spirits. Per's son, Nils Venge, started in, then left the family business in the 1960's to study viticulture at UC Davis and set the family name in the California winegrowing community.

The Venge family planted viticultural roots in 1976 with the purchase of a 17-acre estate in the Oakville District that was planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, establishing them among the winemaking pioneers of Napa Valley.

Buddy, AJ with Nils and Kirk Venge

We met Nils and Dianna Venge on numerous occasions at Napa events and visiting the Venge Vineyards in Oakville during the nineties. We first met their son, Kirk Venge, who engaged in winemaking from an early age while they were developing the Rossini Ranch Vineyards, Winery and caves up in Calistoga. We visited Nils at the Penny Lane Family Reserve Vineyard in Oakville, then drove up to meet Kirk at the Rossini Ranch site in the eastern foothills of Palisade Mountain near Calistoga back in 2002. 

Kirk took over Venge Vineyards in 2008 and has established himself as a talented winemaker making wines in his own style. Kirk has continued the Napa Valley heritage crafting wines from select vineyard sites across Napa and Sonoma Counties worthy of bearing the Venge family name.

We've been collecting Venge wines since their earliest days. We now have fun collecting them with their notable "V" branding to enjoy with our daughter-in-law, Vivianna, as her 'signature' wines, and tonight with friend Victoria. .  

This is a single vineyard designated label sourced from the 30 acre Brown Ranch Vineyard in Carneros, named for the previous cattle rancher owner Nadine Brown. The vineyard is bordered by HdV’s Hyde Vineyard and Beaulieu’s Vineyard No.9 on Old Sonoma Road in the Carneros district, straddling the rolling hills in the southernmost parts of both Sonoma and Napa counties. The cooling winds from the nearby San Pablo Bay, combined with the abundant midday California sunshine, create an ideal environment for producing elegant wines that combine power and finesse, with a perfect balance of crisp acidity and well-ripened fruit.

The property, formerly associated with Saintsbury Winery, was purchased in 2012 by the Renterias. 

The Brown Ranch’s hillside alluvial soils, with Dijon Clone 76 set into the pre-existing rootstock, produces this rich full round Chardonnay, worthy of the iconic Venge name.

Winemaker's notes: The Dijon Clones are modern strains of Chardonnay carefully isolated from grapevine nursery blocks in France. These strains are selected for their incredible ability to produce the best of what the varietal has to offer and therefore have become quite popular with cool climate growers today. The cool and often foggy climate of the Brown Ranch Vineyard, located in central Carneros, Napa, allows for a slow growing season and optimal ripening. This climate aids in the balancing of acidity and lifting tropical aromas in the fruit and thus, in the finished wine. The vines were carefully hand harvested and delivered cool to the winery.

 

Winemaker's Notes: "This wine is stylish and freshly balanced, featuring a light, pale straw presence in the glass with a bouquet of fresh orange citrus, toasted pine nuts, mild allspice, rocky flints, and toasted oak. Crisp, savory pineapple, sweet delicious apple, savory stone fruit, and ripe pear lead into mouthwatering deliciousness. 

The grapes are blended into used French Oak barrels according to a Burgundian style of winemaking, light handed on the usage of new French Oak keeping it to an average of 45%.

This is one of our favorite chardonnays in our cellar right now, produced by Kirk Venge, son of Napa historic and legendary winemaker, Nils Venge. We met Kirk during a visit to Venge Vineyards back in 2005. He has since taken over the family business and developed his own portfolio and brands sourced from several properties across Napa and Sonoma Counties. 

I wrote in more detail about Kirk in a post "Visit to Venge Vineyards and Nils Venge" back in 2021.

This single vineyard designated label is from the 30 acre Brown Ranch (formerly associated with Saintsbury Winery and formerly a cattle grazing ranch taking its name from the former owner, Nadine Brown). The vineyard is bordered by two well known storied vineyards, HdV’s Hyde Vineyard and Beaulieu’s Vineyard No.9 on Old Sonoma Road. 

Sitting down in the Los Carneros region at the bottom of Napa Valley where it converges with the bottom of Sonoma Valley, near the confluence of San Pablo Bay. The cool and often foggy climate effects of the Bay allows for a slow growing season and optimal ripening. This climate aids in the balancing of acidity and lifting tropical aromas in the fruit and the resulting finished wine. 

The property was purchased in 2012 by the Renterias when many of the twenty nine acres of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines were afflicted with a fungi disease, Eutypa (otherwise known as the Dead-arm Dieback) causing trunks or arms of the vines to essentially rot and die. Rather than pulling all of these vines out, their vineyard management team decided to keep the rootstock, cut off the trunk just above the soil and allow a bud from the varietal to grow, training it into a new trunk and then trellising it when it became of size. The Brown Ranch’s hillside alluvial soils, with Dijon Clone 76 set atop pre-existing rootstock, make a Chardonnay that is worthy of producing under the Venge name.

Similarly, this Brown's Ranch chardonnay produced from uniquely afflicted vines is rich, full, round and forward yet stylish and balanced.

Winemakers notes: "A light, pale straw presence in the glass with a bouquet of fresh orange citrus, toasted pine nuts, mild allspice, rocky flints, and toasted oak. Crisp, savory pineapple, sweet delicious apple, savory stone fruit, and ripe pear lead into mouthwatering deliciousness."
 
The Dijon Clones are modern strains of Chardonnay carefully isolated from grapevine nursery blocks in France. These strains are selected for their incredible ability to produce the best of what the varietal has to offer and therefore have become quite popular with cool climate growers today.  

The wine is produced according to a Burgundian practice of winemaking wherein the grapes are traditionally whole cluster pressed and allowed to cold settle prior to filling once used French Oak barrels. Venge says their 'light handed usage of new French Oak, keeping it to an average of 45% of their Chardonnay, with gentle stirring of the lees in the early stages of ageing, further develops refined richness and length of body, while keeping the wine clean and fresh'. The wine is aged for 15 months. 65% native malolactic fermentation to build complexity and body, without compromising the structural integrity of the wine.

Bottled unfiltered, 395 cases were produced.

Consistent with our tasting note published back in 2022; This is one of our favorite chardonnays in our cellar that is drinking very well right now. Golden straw colored, medium full bodied, rich, round flavorful apple and pear fruits with layers of notes of caramel crème brûlée, mineral and citrus mineral and citrus with spicy oak grapefruit, ginger and a touch of peach and almond nut cream, with bright acidity, depth and balance on a full long finish. 

RM 92 points.  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3884491

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2022/07/venge-vineyards-napa-valley-brown-ranch.html

https://www.vengevineyards.com/

https://twitter.com/VengeVineyards

@VengeVineyards 

https://marinacafe.com/

Big Red Wines for Christmas & Birthday Celebration

Big Red Wines for Christmas Lights Tour and Birthday Celebration Gathering 

Alec and Vivianna hosted a gala second birthday celebration for daughter/grand-daughter Millie, that included for the second year, a bus tour of neighborhood Christmas holiday decoration light displays. 

Highlights of the Napeville Christmas Lights tour including the “Believe” house and the Taylor Swift Tribute display. 

The gathering provided an opportunity to share a broad selection of festive food and wines. 

Alec served a flight of whites and reds ….

Alec served a favorite label, Venge Vineyards Scout’s Honor from a large format magnum, paired with another Venge, Stagecoach Vineyard Shiraz, that I brought from our home cellar. 

We have fun with the Venge branded portfolio of wines with their prominent “V” on the label, in regards to daughter-in-law Vivianna! 

Venge Vineyards Napa Valley Scout’s Honor Red Blend 2018

This is a mainstay of our cellar that we keep on hand for such occasions. We have a half dozen vintages of this label in our cellar, drinking and cycling the oldest, replacing it as we go with the latest current release. This is the latest, most current release in which they introduced the new branding of a painted wine bottle as opposed to the more traditional and modest glued paper label. This was our first tasting of this vintage release that just appeared in distribution in Chicagoland in recent weeks and is slated for general distribution this winter. 

This wine is based on a tradition of producing a full bodied, robust, fruit filled red wine based on old-vine Zinfandel and blended with dry-farmed Petite Sirah, old-vine Charbono, and finished with mountain vineyard Syrah. 

The result is an unpretentious, generous mouthful of red wine that we recommend be opened and enjoyed immediately upon release.

This is unique Red Blend is always a crowd pleaser! 

The blend for this release is 63% Zinfandel, 16% Charbono, 12% Petite Sirah, and 9% Syrah; aged in 50% new American Oak and the balance in once-used tight grained French Oak for 14 Months.

Grapes were farmed and harvested from four single vineyards in Napa Valley. The Zinfandel was picked from two, old-vine (60 to 100+ years old), dry-farmed vineyard sources: Venge’s newly acquired “Signal Fire Vineyard” estate, and the Frediani Vineyard—both located in the heart of Calistoga. The Charbono is from old, dry-farmed vines (60 to 100+ years old) also planted in the Frediani Vineyard. Robbie Mondavi’s Oso Vineyard located on Howell Mountain supplies the Petite Sirah; the Syrah from  Napa’s finest, from Stagecoach Vineyard, high in the mountains of the Atlas Peak AVA.

The Winemaker notes sum it up perfectly: "The result is an unpretentious, generous mouthful of red wine that we recommend be opened and enjoyed immediately upon release.' 

"This vintage has a gorgeous, concentrated assemblage of violets, anise, honeysuckle, blue herbs, and a touch of vanillin. The palate is pure richness with loads black fruits and currants, pepper spice, and an enveloping masculinity of char and tannins from the Syrah, Charbono and Petite Sirah. A seamless balance and mouth coating deliciousness lead to a wine that is quite pleasing to the senses. Cellared correctly it will age for 5 to 8 years."

Everyone loved this wine, especially with the tangy BBQ ribs. 

RM 92 points.  

https://www.vengevineyards.com/ 

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?3525137

I took from our home cellar another Venge “V” wine - a favorite label that we all enjoyed together last month as part of another family celebration that was featured in this blogpost, Venge Stagecoach Vineyard Lot 1-4 Shiraz, which is excerpted here.

Venge Napa Valley Stagecoach Vineyard Lot 1-4 Shiraz 2015

As we did when we visited our newest grand-daughter, Ryleigh, home from the hospital/delivery, and took from our cellar this big bold ‘sipping’ wine to enjoy with artisan cheeses, for the occasion. Shown below, proud grand-mothers and the new grand-baby.

We took one of our Venge Vineyards wines, with their signature “V” branding, that we have fun with daughter-in-law Viviana, now able to drink again after her maternity abstention. 

Venge Vineyards up in Calistoga, Napa Valley, is owned by Kirk Venge, son of legendary Nils Venge, whose family emigrated from Denmark four generations ago. Originally in wine and spirits importing, the family became winemakers in the 1960s, when Nils studied viticulture at the University of California at Davis. By the 1970s Nils was producing wine in the Oakville district of Napa Valley. He started Saddleback Cellars and became one of the valley’s leading winemakers. 

We visited Nils at Saddleback and at other wineries, several times during the nineties. One of our more memorable days, featured in this blogpost, Visit to Venge Vineyards and Nils Venge, we toured Saddleback, then lunched together at Tre Vigne in St Helena, then we drove up to Calistoga to meet Kirk at the new Rossini Ranch location where they were digging wine caves. 

The old Rossini Winery in Bell Canyon, had a historic stone building that dated back to 1891. The Venge’s purchased this property in the mid 1990s and completely restored this old ‘ghost’ winery which had sat vacant from prohibition until their purchase. 

They produced their wines there until they sold the winery in 2008 to the Foley Wine Group, (although they kept the rights to the Venge brand and name). Nils sold that property to vintner William Foley and it is now home to Merus Vineyards. 

After selling the Rossini property, Kirk acquired their Calistoga property including the Bone Ash Vineyards, as well as taking over the Venge Vineyards brand from Nils. They built a new winery that was completed two years later. In the fall of 2020, the winery survived a very close encounter with flames from the Glass Fire burning right onto the property and almost up to the winery itself. 

Venge wines are popular and highly allocated, the most premium labels exclusively to their wine club, appropriately titled “In Venge Veritas” and now is called the Wine Guild; it is limited to 1,000 members and is at capacity, subject to a waiting list. 

We hold numerous Venge labels spanning a dozen vintages, including a few dating back to the early days when Nil’s was still principle. We acquired a mixed case of several vintages, from 2013 through 2017, of this limited release label at auction. 

This vineyard and Lot specific designated label is sourced from the notably Stagecoach Vineyard that sits high in the Vaca range on the east side of Nape Valley, high above Oakville and St Helena, about eight miles up Soda Canyon Road sitting about 1,800 feet above the valley floor. This was considered some of the last frontier of the Napa Valley – a wilder, more rugged country, fragrant with wild herbs and dotted with rare native plants.

The Stagecoach site rugged terrain first made history when gentleman bandit Charles Earl Bowles, known as Black Bart, robbed the daily stagecoach that travelled over the hill from St. Helena to Monticello. The hills were planted to vinis vinifera (wine grape vines) by early German settlers in the late 1800’s. They were abandoned during Prohibition and the remote ground lay fallow until 1995 when Dr. Jan Krupp purchased the 1,100+ acres that stretches from the southern edge of Pritchard Hill overlooking Oakville to the westernmost regions of the Atlas Peak Appellation. 

Today, nearly 600 acres of the vast site are planted to various varieties, most notably stagecoach is Cabernet-focused however Syrah is planted in the highest elevations. Venge has a long-term contract on the I-4 Block, that sits on the highest peak of the vineyard, adjacent Pritchard Hill. It is considered one of the most ideal areas for growing mountain Syrah.

The property was acquired in 2016 by the E. & J. Gallo Winery. Today the 600+ acres of Stagecoach vineyard planted to vines, is the largest contiguous vineyard in the Napa Valley. The 1,300+ acres of rocky, volcanic terroir extends from the south-eastern of Pritchard Hill area overlooking Oakville and Yountville to the westernmost regions of the Atlas Peak appellation.

Over 80 Wineries source grapes from Stagecoach Vineyard, with over 30 wineries featuring the Stagecoach name on their labels, and over 25 produce vineyard designated labels specifying the  Stagecoach Vineyard. 

View Regional Map of Stagecoach VIneyard site, from the vineyard owner.

Venge Napa Valley, Atlas Peak, Stagecoach Vineyard “Block I-4” Syrah 2015

We hold a half dozen vintages of the Venge Single Vineyard designated labels. This particular vintage is from the year that the new parents, Alec and Vivianna first met. 

This single vineyard, select block designated label is 100% Syrah from the iconic vineyard high up in the Vaca range near Atlas Peak. 

Winemakers notes for this label - “Goodness, this is pure, volcanic mountain Syrah at its finest! This wine possesses a bold, deep, dark color that opens the door to an array of black fruit aromatics. Cassis, blackberry, warm toasted bread and French Oak vanillin all fill the glass with purpose. While still young and in development, the palate shows superior promise with minerals, tongue swirling acidity, cherry and black plum. The tannins are firm and support the back palate for several moments beyond the initial taste. If cellared correctly, this wine will continue to improve for over a decade. Limited production runs make this single-vineyard Syrah all the more precious”. 

This was produced according to the “Method, Pellenc Destemmed Via Gravity to Open Top Fermenters, 5-Day Whole Berry Cold Soak, Slow Cellar Temp Fermentation Over 19 Days On Skins, 100% Carbonic Native Primary and Secondary Fermentation, Free Run and Press Fractions Combined to Build Structure and Durability”.

This was aged in 100% French Oak, 60% New Francois Frères, then bottled Unfiltered

Typical annual production for this label is about 400 Cases

Various releases of this label were rated 95 points by The Wine Independent and 94 points by Jeb Dunnuck, 93 from The Wine Enthusiast and 92 from Wine Spectator. Wine Advocate gave the 2011 release 96 points, while the 2010 got 94 points from The Wine Enthusiast.

This was dark inky purple colored, full bodied, rich, dense concentrated, super sweet ripe black berry and plum and blue fruits, with notes of cassis, bacon fat, clove spice, cigar box and tobacco leaf on the full round tannin lingering finish. 

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?3223878

https://www.stagecoachvineyard.com/map/index.php

https://x.com/vengevineyards   @VengeVineyards

View Regional Map of Stagecoach VIneyard site, from the vineyard owner. 

Gia-Mia Carry-out with duo of Big Reds

Gia-Mia Carry-out with medley of red wines 

We visited kids and new grandbaby and took carry out dinner from Gia-Mia Restaurant (Naperville). 

For wine pairing with the hearty zesty Italian fare I brought from our home cellar a robust red wine from Venge Vineyards. I’ve written regularly in these pages the fun we have with this label and their prominent “V” branding, a signature brand for our daughter-in-law Vivianna. 

Tonight, we took Venge Scout’s Honor, their unique big red Zinfandel based blend. As part of proper cellar inventory management, I took the oldest vintage release of this label from the half dozen vintages we hold and maintain for such occasions. We wrote about the producer and this label as part of previous tastings of this label from earlier vintages in these blogposts -  

Venge Vineyard "Scout's Honor" Napa Valley Red Blend 2017

Venge Vineyard "Scout's Honor" Napa Red 2015.

Venge Vineyards Scouts Honor Red Blend 2018

First produced in 1996, this wine is dedicated in memory of the Venge family beloved, yellow Labrador Retriever, Scout. Rescued in 1989 from the Napa County Animal Adoption Center, he welcomed visitors to the winery for seven years. I recall the vineyard dog Scout from our earliest visits to the winery and estate vineyards. 

This unique Zinfandel-dominated Proprietary Red Blend is 63% Zinfandel, 16% Charbono, 12% Petite Sirah, and the remaining 9% Syrah. 

This is sourced from many old vine vineyard sites across Napa Valley and Sonoma County, that are managed by families who have been farming for over 100 years and who own and work the vineyards themselves.

The Vineyard sources included: 

    Signal Fire Vineyard, Venge’s Calistoga Estate, Napa Valley (Old Vines | 70+ Years)

    Frediani Vineyards, Calistoga, Napa Valley (Old Vines | 100+ Years)

    Luvisi Vineyard, Calistoga, Napa Valley (Old Vines | 100+ Years)

    Moss Creek Vineyard, Capell Valley, Napa Valley (Old Vines | 50+ Years)

    Korte Ranch Vineyard, Saint Helena, Napa Valley (Old Vines |70+ Years)

    Monte Rosso Vineyard, Moon Mountain, Sonoma County (Old Vines |100+ Years)

    Grist Vineyard, Bradford Mountain, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County (Old Vines | 50+ Years),

    Kick Ranch Vineyard, Rincon Valley, Fountain Grove, Sonoma County

The unique dual AVA (Napa Valley plus Sonoma County) listing of this wine allows Venge to continue to produce a high-quality red blend in volume from year to year. Napa Valley, old-vine vineyards are becoming very scarce commodities as they are being replanted to Bordeaux varieties or purchased by competing interests. 

So, Venge have ended up including Sonoma County fruit sources from their sister winery, in Russian River Valley, where delicious, old-vine crops are abundant and contribute complexity and expressive, concentrated flavors in the resulting wine.  

Note it is labeled ‘Napa Valley’ which means the majority, more than 75%, to be precise, of the contents are sourced from Napa Valley. 

Winemaker Notes - “The small, individual lots of fruit were destemmed into a combination of stainless steel tanks and open top fermenters, where whole-berry fermentation took place for an average of 20 days. The wine was barrel aged for 14 months in 50% new American Oak and the balance in once used tight grain French Oak. No conventional pumps were used in the making of this wine. Only diaphragm air pumps, forced air pressure movement, or bulldogging, and transfers by gravity were employed to preserve the pure fruit integrity in the wine.”

This release was rated 92 points (and ‘Editors’ Choice’) by Wine Enthusiast, and Jeb Dunnuck, and 91 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate.

Consistent with earlier tasting (s) …  Deep garnet-purple color, full-bodied, rich, forward, bright vibrant expressive ripe plum, jammy blackberry and cherry fruits with cedar, spice, cigar box and earthy balsamic notes with vanilla and oak turning to soft tannins on the round finish.

RM 91 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3525137

http://www.vengevineyards.com/

@VengeVineyards 

Alec then pulled from his cellar this rare limited release big red Napa Cabernet. 

Scarlet Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

I have the 2013 release of this label in our cellar which I wrote about in this blogpost back in 2016, McGah Family Vineyards Scarlet (excerpted below), so I was eager to try another release from this producer. 

McGah Family Vineyards Scarlet

We first discovered this McGah Family Vineyards Scarlet when it was a highlight of a Vin Chicago Naperville Weekly Wine Tasting where we tasted and acquired an earlier release of this wine.

Vin Chicago is a City (Chicago) wine merchant who back in 2016, had a Naperville and some other suburban locations (since closed), who would host a weekly wine tasting at their local store (s). They regularly featured premium and ultra-premium wines such as this one. While the store only had one case of this premium McGah Family Vineyards Scarlett, yet, they still opened it for tasting from which I acquired the last remaining couple of bottles. That 2013 release was awarded 95 points by Wine Advocate. 

Having loved that release, I was excited and eager to try this more recent release of this limited production boutique label. Alec acquired this as an after market auction purchase. 

McGah Family Vineyards "Scarlett" Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon

The McGah Family own and operated 64 acres of vineyards in the storied Rutherford appellation on the east side of the central valley near Silverado Trail, where the proprietors reside to this day. 

For four generations, the McGah Family have sold fruit to other producers, and also produce Scarlett Wines under this rebranded label which was named after the producer/founder's daughter. 

The McGah Family were most notably known for co-founding the Bay Area Oakland Raiders NFL team.  Sherratt Reicher was grandson of E.J. McGah, former Boston Red Sox player and second generation Oakland Raiders owner. 

Following a sports career as defensive assistant and scout for the Raiders, he formed the Hudson Companies in 2002 that included Scarlett Wines and McGah Family Vineyards in its portfolio. The McGah family maintained its ownership in the Raiders until 2005. 

Scarlett "McGah Family Vineyards" Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 

This is estate sourced, 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Petit Verdot. It was barrel aged in 85% new French oak consisting of Darnajou, Taransaud, Marcel Cadet, Remond, Trueil, and Sylvain barrels.

Winemaker notes - “The 2018 McGah Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is a brooding, complex, and beautiful Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon that can only be made in this storied appellation. The uplifting aromatics showcase multiple layers of black cassis, red fruits, and earthy components known for this terroir. The mid palate is perfectly balanced with abundant blue, red and black fruits, followed by a full-bodied mouthfeel that hovers across the spectrum of the palate. Perfectly integrated structure and polished tannins lead to a detailed and long finish that carries the signature Rutherford dust component that our wines are known for. A blend from five of our Cabernet Sauvignon blocks on the estate, this wine showcases the unparalleled terroir of the McGah Vineyard. Allow 2-3 years for the tannins and fruit to come together or enjoy it in its prime 5-10 years out.” - Mike Smith, Winemaker

This 2018 release was rated 93 points by International Wine Review and Jeb Dunnuck, 

Dark inky, blackish purple colored, full bodied, dense rich and concentrated yet smooth and polished, complex core of sweet black raspberry and black currant fruits accented by cassis, mocha, graphite, touch of vanilla and sweet spicy oak with smooth polished tannins and mouthfeel on the lingering finish.  

RM 94 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3286306

http://www.scarlettwines.com/

Venge Stagecoach Vineyard Lot 1-4 Shiraz

Venge Napa Valley Stagecoach Vineyard Lot 1-4 Shiraz 2015

We visited our newest grand-daughter, Ryleigh, home from the hospital/delivery, and took from our cellar this big bold ‘sipping’ wine to enjoy with artisan cheeses, for the occasion. Shown below, proud grand-mothers and the new grand-baby.

We took one of our Venge Vineyards wines, with their signature “V” branding, that we have fun with daughter-in-law Viviana, now able to drink again after her maternity abstention. 

Venge Vineyards up in Calistoga, Napa Valley, is owned by Kirk Venge, son of legendary Nils Venge, whose family emigrated from Denmark four generations ago. Originally in wine and spirits importing, the family became winemakers in the 1960s, when Nils studied viticulture at the University of California at Davis. By the 1970s Nils was producing wine in the Oakville district of Napa Valley. He started Saddleback Cellars and became one of the valley’s leading winemakers. 

We visited Nils at Saddleback and at other wineries, several times during the nineties. One of our more memorable days, featured in this blogpost, Visit to Venge Vineyards and Nils Venge, we toured Saddleback, then lunched together at Tre Vigne in St Helena, then we drove up to Calistoga to meet Kirk at the new Rossini Ranch location where they were digging wine caves. 

The old Rossini Winery in Bell Canyon, had a historic stone building that dated back to 1891. The Venge’s purchased this property in the mid 1990s and completely restored this old ‘ghost’ winery which had sat vacant from prohibition until their purchase. 

They produced their wines there until they sold the winery in 2008 to the Foley Wine Group, (although they kept the rights to the Venge brand and name). Nils sold that property to vintner William Foley and it is now home to Merus Vineyards. 

After selling the Rossini property, Kirk acquired their Calistoga property including the Bone Ash Vineyards, as well as taking over the Venge Vineyards brand from Nils. They built a new winery that was completed two years later. In the fall of 2020, the winery survived a very close encounter with flames from the Glass Fire burning right onto the property and almost up to the winery itself. 

Venge wines are popular and highly allocated, the most premium labels exclusively to their wine club, appropriately titled “In Venge Veritas” and now is called the Wine Guild; it is limited to 1,000 members and is at capacity, subject to a waiting list. 

We hold numerous Venge labels spanning a dozen vintages, including a few dating back to the early days when Nil’s was still principle. We acquired a mixed case of several vintages, from 2013 through 2017, of this limited release label at auction. 

This vineyard and Lot specific designated label is sourced from the notably Stagecoach Vineyard that sits high in the Vaca range on the east side of Nape Valley, high above Oakville and St Helena, about eight miles up Soda Canyon Road sitting about 1,800 feet above the valley floor. This was considered some of the last frontier of the Napa Valley – a wilder, more rugged country, fragrant with wild herbs and dotted with rare native plants.

The Stagecoach site rugged terrain first made history when gentleman bandit Charles Earl Bowles, known as Black Bart, robbed the daily stagecoach that travelled over the hill from St. Helena to Monticello. The hills were planted to vinis vinifera (wine grape vines) by early German settlers in the late 1800’s. They were abandoned during Prohibition and the remote ground lay fallow until 1995 when Dr. Jan Krupp purchased the 1,100+ acres that stretches from the southern edge of Pritchard Hill overlooking Oakville to the westernmost regions of the Atlas Peak Appellation. 

Today, nearly 600 acres of the vast site are planted to various varieties, most notably stagecoach is Cabernet-focused however Syrah is planted in the highest elevations. Venge has a long-term contract on the I-4 Block, that sits on the highest peak of the vineyard, adjacent Pritchard Hill. It is considered one of the most ideal areas for growing mountain Syrah.

The property was acquired in 2016 by the E. & J. Gallo Winery. Today the 600+ acres of Stagecoach vineyard planted to vines, is the largest contiguous vineyard in the Napa Valley. The 1,300+ acres of rocky, volcanic terroir extends from the south-eastern of Pritchard Hill area overlooking Oakville and Yountville to the westernmost regions of the Atlas Peak appellation.

Over 80 Wineries source grapes from Stagecoach Vineyard, with over 30 wineries featuring the Stagecoach name on their labels, and over 25 produce vineyard designated labels specifying the  Stagecoach Vineyard. 

View Regional Map of Stagecoach VIneyard site, from the vineyard owner.

Venge Napa Valley, Atlas Peak, Stagecoach Vineyard “Block I-4” Syrah 2015

We hold a half dozen vintages of the Venge Single Vineyard designated labels. This particular vintage is from the year that the new parents, Alec and Vivianna first met. 

This single vineyard, select block designated label is 100% Syrah from the iconic vineyard high up in the Vaca range near Atlas Peak. 

Winemakers notes for this label - “Goodness, this is pure, volcanic mountain Syrah at its finest! This wine possesses a bold, deep, dark color that opens the door to an array of black fruit aromatics. Cassis, blackberry, warm toasted bread and French Oak vanillin all fill the glass with purpose. While still young and in development, the palate shows superior promise with minerals, tongue swirling acidity, cherry and black plum. The tannins are firm and support the back palate for several moments beyond the initial taste. If cellared correctly, this wine will continue to improve for over a decade. Limited production runs make this single-vineyard Syrah all the more precious”.

This was produced according to the “Method, Pellenc Destemmed Via Gravity to Open Top Fermenters, 5-Day Whole Berry Cold Soak, Slow Cellar Temp Fermentation Over 19 Days On Skins, 100% Carbonic Native Primary and Secondary Fermentation, Free Run and Press Fractions Combined to Build Structure and Durability”.

This was aged in 100% French Oak, 60% New Francois Frères, then bottled Unfiltered

Typical annual production for this label is about 400 Cases

Various releases of this label were rated 95 points by The Wine Independent and 94 points by Jeb Dunnuck, 93 from The Wine Enthusiast and 92 from Wine Spectator. Wine Advocate gave the 2011 release 96 points, while the 2010 got 94 points from The Wine Enthusiast.

This was dark inky purple colored, full bodied, rich, dense concentrated, super sweet ripe black berry and plum and blue fruits, with notes of cassis, bacon fat, clove spice, cigar box and tobacco leaf on the full round tannin lingering finish. 

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?3223878

https://www.stagecoachvineyard.com/map/index.php

View Regional Map of Stagecoach VIneyard site, from the vineyard owner. 

		327
	Cabernet Franc	332
	Cabernet Franc	628
	Cabernet Franc	Sanders
	Cabernet Sauvignon	2
	Cabernet Sauvignon	4
	Cabernet Sauvignon	7
	Cabernet Sauvignon	8
	Cabernet Sauvignon	15
	Cabernet Sauvignon	169
	Cabernet Sauvignon	191
	Cabernet Sauvignon	337
	Cabernet Sauvignon	341
	Cabernet Sauvignon	412
	Cabernet Sauvignon	685
	Cabernet Sauvignon	5197
	Cabernet Sauvignon	29 (Niebaum-Coppola)
	Cabernet Sauvignon	30 (See) + rootstock
	Cabernet Sauvignon	31 (Mondavi – To Kalon) + root stocks
	Cabernet Sauvignon	685/31
	Cabernet Sauvignon	See
	Cabernet Sauvignon	Weimer
	Chardonnay	15
	Chardonnay	17
	Chardonnay	Wente
	Grenache	Alban
	Malbec	8
	Malbec	9
	Malbec	19
	Malbec	595
	Malbec	596
	Malbec	598
	Marsanne	575
	Marsanne	Tablas Creek
	Merlot	3
	Merlot	6
	Merlot	181
	Merlot	314
	Merlot	343
	Merlot	347
	Petite Sirah	4
	Petit Verdot	2
	Petit Verdot	400
	Petit Verdot	1058
	Roussanne	468
	Sangiovese	PEPI
	Sauvignon Blanc	1
	Sauvignon Blanc	6
	Sauvignon Blanc	18
	Sauvignon Blanc	28
	Sauvignon Blanc	30
	Syrah	7
	Syrah	174
	Syrah	383
	Syrah	470
	Syrah	525
	Syrah	877
	Syrah	Alban
	Syrah	TC-A (99)
	Tempranillo	Pasquera
	Tempranillo	RD
	Viognier	1
	Viognier	642
Viognier Pride Zinfandel Aldo/Crane It is here that our founders excavated over a billion pounds of basalt, andesite, and tufa boulders to create a remarkable property – Stagecoach Vineyard. Over the past two decades, over 600 acres of vines have been planted in 204 unique blocks. We divide Stagecoach into four sections because of their distinct terroir: Pritchard Hill, Heart of the Vineyard, Bordeaux Region, and Atlas Peak Region.