Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 1990

Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 1990

With the kids on their honeymoon in Napa Valley, we're still basking in the glow of a spectacular wine weekend celebrating son Alec and daughter-in-law Vivianna's wedding. Continuing the flight of birthyear vintage wines served at the wedding, we opened another 1990 vintage Napa Cab for a grilled steak dinner and butternut squash dinner. We hold nearly three dozen bottles of a total of thirty vintages of Dunn Vineyards cabernet sauvignons, between their two labels, Napa Valley and Howell Mtn, going back four decades. 

Small selection of our extensive
Dunn Vineyards Cabernet collection

With the wildfires ravaging Napa Valley and Howell Mountain, we're remembering our visit to the Dunn Vineyards estate high atop Howell Mountain where we met the legendary Randy Dunn and daughter Kristina who hosted us as hospitality director at the time.

We wishing the Dunns the best of hope they're not too severely affected by the horrific fires. Indeed, all but a couple of the kid's special estate wine tours and tastings at the wineries this week were canceled in light of the fires. 

Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 1990  

This wine got 93 points from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, and 92 points Wine Spectator and a Wine Spectator "Cellar Selection". 

At thirty years of age, the label, fill level and cork were nearly perfect, further testament to the suitability of our wine cellar for long term aging, and to the 1990 vintage. 

The moment I extracted the cork with an ahso, two pronged wine puller, full flavorful aromatics burst from the bottle. 

Dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, bright, concentrated, dense ripe black berry and black currant fruits are accented by notes of floral perfume, tobacco leaf, black olive tapenade and cigar box, turning to firm tangy tannins and notes of cedar on an extended lengthy aromatic finish.  

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/barcode.asp?iWine=490&searchId=68049

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2020/09/dunn-vineyards-napa-valley-cabernet.html

http://www.dunnvineyards.com/

Family Celebration Dinner features Howell Mountain Wine Flight

 Family Celebration Dinner features Howell Mountain Wine Flight

With family gathered in town, we pivot to shift the focus from a family funeral early in the week to the celebration of Sean and Michelle's wedding this weekend. 

Linda prepared a gala dinner of tomahawk rib-eye steaks with her signature delicious twice baked potatoes prefaced with wedge salad with blue cheese, tomatoes and bacon. Prior to dinner we featured a selection of artisan cheeses. 

Tonight we featured wines from Napa Valley Howell Mountain appellation. Jan and Bill toured there with us during our Napa Valley Howell Mountain Wine Experience back in 2008. We featured wines from producers that we visited and tasted during that trip - Dunn Vineyards, Robert Craig, Ladera Vineyards, and Viader, as well as some others. Tom Clark and Laurie Claudon Clark of Clark Claudon was our featured winemaker producer at a special dinner at Pinot Blanc in St Helena during our Napa Valley Wine Experience back in 1999. We'll also open Lamborn Howell Mountain Cabernet this weekend, another featured producer from our 2008 Howell appellation trip.

 The flight: 

Robert Craig Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2001

Dunn Vineyards Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 1987

Viader "V" Proprietary Red 1999 (from magnum)

Clark Claudon Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1996

Ladera Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

Lamborn Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2003-04-05

After dinner, Lucy helped Linda prepare Chocolate Cake with whipped cream and fresh berries. 

Robert Craig Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2001

Best wine of the flight, favored by most, complex, sophisticated, balanced, nicely integrated fruits.

Dunn Vineyards Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 1987

Amazing life left in this release from an otherwise off-vintage. Briary and brambly Howell Mountain fruits, rustic, very nice. Testament to the longevity of this label, passed on several other vintages that still have a decade or more to go!

Viader "V" Proprietary Red 1999 (from magnum)

Bright vibrant, big bold fruits in this single varietal Petite Verdot limited release label. "V" label signature label, tribute to Vivianna!  

Clark Claudon Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1996

Bright vibrant fruits here too with much life left in this vintage release at twenty-five years. 

Ladera Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

The youngest release at fifteen years, this was brash and forward, big bold, dark and brooding fruits, still needs a couple years to settle and integrate further. Settled nicely over the course of the evening after open for ninety minutes.

Lamborn Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2003-04-05

Should've opened the '05 to compare with the Ladera but opted to hold off and do a mini-horizontal tasting of this collection. Needed a few more drinkers to expand the flight selection tonight. Watch for this tasting flight.

Robert Craig Napa Valley Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

Robert Craig Napa Valley Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

Our favorite signature summer dinner, we grilled rib-eye steaks 'Pittsburgh' style, served with sweet corn, baked potatoes, and wedge salad with blue cheese, bacon and tomatoes. Our mourning and tribute to stepdad Keith continues and coupled with the remembrance of Robert Craig, I pulled from the cellar this Robert Craig Spring Mountain District Cabernet from 2005. 

 

The 2005 was the inaugural first release for the Robert Craig Spring Mountain label. It was sourced from the picturesque Joan Crowley vineyard perched at 2000 foot elevation along the summit of Spring Mountain, high above the town of St Helena in the Mayacamas Range that forms the western slope of Napa Valley. The incredible site is primarily dry-farmed, reducing vigor and crop yield resulting in small, flavor-packed berries. 

As I have written often in these pages, Robert Craig focused on, specialized in hillside and mountain fruit from leading producing regions of Napa including Mt. Veeder, Howell Mountain, Spring Mountain and Diamond Mountain. Add Mt George and Atlas Peak above the town of Napa and you have the four corners of the Napa Valley. He often referred to it as four mountains and a valley in describing his portfolio of Cabernets.

While Robert Craig Winery owned the majority of their vineyard sources, they buy fruit from select vineyards on the various mountains. They worked with Napa Valley based hillside vineyards generally 1,600 feet or higher. 

Robert started his career up on Mt Veeder, initially developing the William Hill vineyard, and then later, at The Hess Collection as their General Manager. In addition, he helped develop 300 vineyard acres on Mt. Veeder for the movie star comedian Robin Williams estate. Robert Craig sourced Cabernet Sauvignon fruit from there for over two decades for the Mt Veeder designated Cabernet label until Robin's passing and the recent sale of the estate and the Pym Rae vineyard to the French Tesseron wine empire Family. Their recent first release label from that property was priced at $350. Robert often said that Mt Veeder was his favorite of his Cabernets. He was instrumental in forming sub appellations for both Mt. Veeder area and Spring Mountain.

Robert passed away a year ago in September 2019 from complications from Parkinson’s disease. 

The Robert Craig Winery is perched at an elevation of almost 2300 feet high up on Howell Mountain on the north east side of Napa Valley. It is among some of Napa’s highest vineyards. At this elevation they actually see some snow in the winter at times. The location sits above the town of Angwin and their permit at the actual winery limits them to an extremely small number of visitors, as well as only several events per year at the actual winery, hence, they maintain a tasting room in the city of Napa. 

We attended a private tasting there at the Robert Craig Howell Mountain Estate in 2008 and then we attended the Harvest Party at the estate in 2009.

http://www.mcnees.org/winesite/napa/napa-09/napa-09-craig/napa_harvest_09_craig.htm

http://www.mcnees.org/winesite/napa/napa_08/napa_08_craig.htm

My recollection is that I first tasted this Spring Mountain label upon its release during that visit in 2008. It was a comparison tasting against the Mt Veeder and Howell Mountain labels, the Spring Mountain was served from the barrel, and it was my standout favorite, being slightly sweeter than the other two. I remember the allocation for Club members was limited to three bottles. I negotiated a mixed case purchase of twelve bottles of the 05, 06 and 07 vintages, most of which I still hold to this day.  

This brings me to today. Sister Jan and bro-in-law Bill were with us for that private tasting picnic lunch at the estate (above). They will be in town this coming week from SoCal for the family funeral and wedding. And, fellow Pour Boy wine buddy Bill C and Beth were with us at the 2009 Harvest Party when we tasted these wines (below). He and Beth will also be in town next week for son Sean's wedding, so, with this backdrop, I pulled the Spring Mountain label to taste as part of this tribute and in preparation for serving for extended family and friends dinners next week. I also went and purchased the current 2016 release to fill out the collection and replace the bottle we drank.

 

Robert Craig writes of this label; "The Crowley vineyard is a close fit for our mountain Cabernet portfolio from the highest elevations of Napa Valley. Overlooking St. Helena from its perch at 2,000 feet, this vineyard’s rocky volcanic soil, varied hillside exposures, and moderate climate produce densely concentrated winegrapes. Joan Crowley’s low-yield, biodynamically farmed vineyard has provided us with deep, aromatic and structured wines since our first vintage with it in 2005. The mountain is cooled by afternoon breezes from the nearby Pacific Ocean, creating moderate daytime temperatures and cooler nights that allow grapes to ripen slowly without pushing high alcohol and sugars. The heady, deep perfume that is a Spring Mountain District signature is always present in this cabernet that is hard to come by." 

In addition to Cabernet Sauvignon varietal grapes, Robert Craig also sourced from the Crowley vineyard Bordeaux varietal Petite Verdot.

Robert Craig Napa Valley Spring Mountain District Crowley Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

Fellow Cellartracker RicksPicks (not me, no relation) reviewed this wine on two occasions in 2010 and then in 2011: "Very dark fruit aromas and flavors - blackberry and blueberry with some earthiness dominate. Very rich and viscous mouthfeel. Tastes like ripe mountain fruit -- if there is such a thing. Rather round and full bodied. Lacked structure, but I liked it for its depth and richness."

RicksPicks gave this 90 points each time. 

"Similar to a prior bottle - ripe and rich, dark fruits, soft, lush mouthfeel. Very plush for mountain fruit. Nice, medium, fruity finish. Not a lot of structure, but still very tasty."

 WCC's review of the 2007 - Medium garnet in color. Surprisingly, this evidenced a much brighter profile than I expected. Typically, my experience with Spring Mountain has yielded a rather brooding, mellow profile with time. This was bright and full of raspberry and cherry. Medium bodied with a medium finish highlighted by some pepper notes. A bit unconventional and unexpected but tasty none the less.

Tonight this was bright garnet colored, medium bodied, with bright sprites of ripe black berry, black currant and plum fruits with notes of tobacco leaf, tangy spice, with hints of bitter dark chocolate and smoke with moderate tannins on the lingering  finish. 

RM 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=471314

https://robertcraigwine.com/crowley-vineyard-spring-mountain/

@RobertCraigWine

 

@unwindwine

Long Shadows Pedestal Merlot 2015

 Michel Rolland Crafted Long Shadows Pedestal Merlot 2015 for Grilled Beefsteak Dinner

Son Alec flew in from NYC to attend son Sean's, his brother's bachelor party and we celebrated the reunion with a hearty grilled beefsteak dinner including tomahawk rib-eye steaks. We selected from the cellar this Long Shadows Pedestal crafted by legendary winemaker Michel Rolland for the occasion. 

 Linda prepared beefsteaks prepared in our favorite Pittsburgh-style (charred with hot pink center) with baked potatoes, haricot verts, sweet corn and an iceberg wedge salad with fresh tomatoes and blue cheese. I must say this is a classic midwest summer dinner. During the years that we lived in Silicon Valley, California, I missed good steak, sweet corn and beefy sweet tomatoes! I often say, California (in this case, Washington State) do the grapes, and Indiana/Illinois the beef, corn and tomatoes!

Alec turned us on to the Michel Rolland own-label crafted from fruits from the notable Tokalon Vineyard in Napa Valley - (source for many ultra-premium labels including Opus). He had that wine with soon-to-be father-in-law Frank B. We researched the label and picked up a highly allocated three pack which I shared with fellow Pour Boy Dr Dan, and son Ryan for their cellars. We'll look forward to indulging in that super-premium label. 

Long Shadows Vintners' Collection 

I have written in these pages about Long Shadows, the brand portfolio of several labels, all crafted by world famous winemakers from fruits sourced in the Washington State Columbia Valley. This was the vision of Allen Shoup, former CEO of Chateau St Michelle, champion and evangelist for Washington State wines. He formed the brand and recruited a world famous winemaker for each varietal based label. Michel Rolland, Pomerol vintner and consultant to many of the world’s top wineries, was selected to produce this Right Bank Bordeaux Blend wine. He is the 'Master of Merlot', winemaker to some of the leading Bordeaux labels from the Right Bank where Merlot is the predominant varietal in the blend as well as the Napa based Merlot based Red Blend release cited herein. 

We've long known about the brand and joined their club while visiting their tasting room hospitality center in Woodinville WA during our Seattle Wine / Dine Experience in 2018. We remain Vault Club Members of the allocated portfolio and get a case each quarter of two of the varietal based selections including this Pedestal label.

Long Shadows Pedestal Red Blend (Merlot) 2015

The blend is a Right Bank Bordeaux composition, 75% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon,  8% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc.  The production was 2,365 cases. 

The grapes for the 2015 Pedestal were sourced from several top, notable Columbia Valley vineyards, the Wahluke Slope’s Weinbau and Stone Tree Vineyards dominate the blend and give Pedestal its aromatics, bright fruit, texture and fine tannins. Conner Lee Vineyard adds richness, and Dionysus Vineyard grapes build complexity in the wine.

The winemaker's notes for this release sum it up perfectly: "The 2015 Pedestal offers vibrant aromas of black cherry and ripe blackberries with accents of vanilla and freshly roasted coffee. Expressive and lively on entry, with a richly textured mid-palate and layers of huckleberry, bittersweet chocolate and oak spice that stretch across a lengthy finish." 

I note that at five years, this is still early in its tasting window and should continue to age gracefully for a few more years to integrate more and gain more balance and lose some of its still youthful astringency. It is dark inky garnet colored, medium full bodied, strong aromatics erupt from the bottle upon releasing the cork, bright tangy astringent black berry fruits with sprites of bittersweet dark mocha chocolate, spicy oak and notes of vanilla tobacco and expresso on the lengthy soft tannin finish.

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2777749

http://www.longshadows.com 

@LongShadowsWine

 

 

Big Red Flight highlights grilled steak dinner

Big Red Bordeaux Blend Flight highlights grilled steak dinner

We visited fellow Pour Boy Dr Dan and Linda and they served a wonderful dinner of grilled steaks, baked potatoes, asparagus, cheese stuffed peppers and portabello mushrooms. Dan served a spectacular flight of red wines to accompany the dinner including two Bordeaux and a Sonoma Bordeaux Blend.

Continuing our tastings of Bordeaux wines on the anniversary of our trip there a year ago this week, we started the red flight with a St Emilion Château Troplong Mondot, followed by Château Lascombs Margaux, and closing out with Les Pavots from Peter Michael.

Before dinner with a selection of artisan cheeses, olives, nuts and tapenade, I took an Andretti Montonta Reserve Napa Valley Chardonnay. One of the standout cheeses was a English Shropshire Blue Cheddar.

Château Troplong Mondot Grand Cru Classe' St Emilion Bordeaux 2005

What a treat to experience this vintage release that was awarded 100 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate.

The 2005 Troplong Mondot is a blend of 90% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon.

There was irony in drinking this amidst the Coronavirus pandemic as years earlier Robert Parker had written in his review/notes: "It was emotional tasting this wine, thinking of the late Christine Valette, who made this compelling wine while battling with considerable courage against an insidious disease. It is a great effort and a superstar of the vintage. ... it is a tour de force, and a great tribute to an incredible woman. Kudos to the late Christine Valette!"

Vinous rated this 98 points, Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar and Wine Spectator both gave it 96 points.

Dense dark garnet inky purple colored, full-bodied, powerful aromatics explode from the bottle upon releasing the cork, complex yet elegant and smooth, rich intense flavors of blackberry and black raspberry with layers of cassis, mocha, spice and notes of tobacco, a hint of truffle and some subtle background oak with silky smooth tannins on the long polished finish.

RM 96 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=216871

https://www.troplong-mondot.com/en/

@Troplong_Mondot

Château Lascombes Grand Cru Classe' Margaux Bordeaux 2010

This release was awarded 94 points by James Suckling, 92 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and Wine Enthusiast, and 91 points by Wine Spectator, Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar and Connoisser's Guide. 

This was a special treat to taste this label as a year ago this week in our trip to the Medoc, we stayed in Chambres de Marguax, literally across the lane from Château Lascombes. We walked around the property almost daily in a strolls around the commune or enroute to or from dinner in the village.

At ten years of age, this was a bit tight and closed, perhaps going through a period in this stage, deep dark garnet in color, medium to full-bodied, blackcurrant and blackberry fruits with notes of black tea, fresh herbs, and black olives with hints of clove spice, cedar and licorice, turning to chewy tannins on the finish.

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1124602

 

https://www.chateau-lascombes.com/ 

https://twitter.com/lascombes_

Peter Michael Les Pavots Knights Valley Bordeaux Blend 2012

Peter Michael produces one of the premiere ultra-premium Bordeaux Blends from Napa Sonoma. This is the flagship wine of the Peter Michael portfolio that is highly allocated directly from the winery with occasional limited quantities in distribution. 

Peter Michael is a huge and regretable lost opportunity for me as I spent fifteen years as a senior executive with an international company headquartered in Peter Michael's home town in Newbury, Berkshire, England. Peter Michael today owns hotels, resorts, golf club and restaurants in the town. I was ten years ahead of all of this development and missed potential engagement during my almost two hundred trips to the area. I regret not getting to meet and know Peter in those early years.  His wine operations started about the time I left that position and relationship just before the turn of the century.

Les Pavots is sourced primarily from the vineyard of the same name on the slopes of Mount St. Helena in Knights Valley in Sonoma County. The vineyard spans 49 acres ascending to an elevation of nearly 1,400 feet with Merlot and Cabernet Franc Bordeaux varietals growing on the cool upper slopes and Cabernet Sauvignon just below.

The blend of Bordeaux varietals is 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc, 11% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot.

This release was awarded 96-98 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate,  97 points by James Suckling and 95 points by Wine Spectator.

Winemaker notes for this vintage: "Deep dark color with saturated ruby color and vermillion nuance, 2012 Les Pavots reveals a deep bouquet of Cacao powder, fudge cookies, black cherry, blueberry and blackberry, licorice, with nuances of cedar, cigar box, black tea, graphite, vanilla, a stylish ‘garrigue’ touch and black truffle. Extremely full-bodied, the wine offers the same rich, ripe fruit impressions on the palate. The mouth feel is dense and round, with elegant tannins, which lead to a long finish. Complex, the 2012 Les Pavots will age gracefully for two decades and provides a classic presentation of our estate’s terroir."

Dark inky/purple-colored, big bold, full-bodied, complex, rich, ripe dense round dark black cherry, black berry brambley fruits with nuances of spice, cedar, cigar box, black tea with hints of licorice, graphite and black truffle turning to bold tangy tannins on a long finish.

RM 94 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1684672

https://petermichaelwinery.com/wines/les-pavots/

Andretti Montonta Reserve Napa Valley Carneros Chardonnay 2014

 

We tasted and acquired this wine at the Estate winery during our Napa Valley Wine Experience 2018. 

 

The Montona series is the premium Reserve brand available at the winery and to Club members. It is named for the Croatian village, birthplace of Andretti. 

 

We have fun with this brand with Dr Dan, a fellow Hoosier and Indy 500 Race enthusiast, supporting legendary driver and car/team owner Mario Andretti.

 

This was suprisingly good, better than expected. 

 

The golden honey color has a slight rust hue that was initially disarming but the wine was fine, medium bodied, nicely balanced and polished with integrated bright expressive notes of peach, apricot and citrus fruits with notes of vanilla and soft oak on the sinewy finish. 

RM 91 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2916387

 

https://andrettiwinery.com/

 

@AndrettiWine 

Covid Curve Rebound Wine Dinner

Covid Curve Rebound Wine Dinner

After three months shut in due to Coronavirus, we hosted a wine dinner with neighbors Mark and Shirley and wine buddy fellow 'Pour Boy' Dr Dan and Linda.

Linda prepared grilled Ahi Tuna steaks and filets of beef for the ladies and prime rib-eye steaks for the men, along with a wedge salad with ceasar and blue cheese, a special preparation of potatoes-au-gratin with herbs, and grilled asparagus.

Prior to dinner we served a selection of artisan cheeses and olives - Old Amsterdam Gouda,  Gouda Farmhouse Truffle, Danish Harvarti and Campo de Montalban Spain Mixed Milk.

With the salad and cheese course we served Lansom Rose NV Champagne and a Villa Andretti California Chardonnay 2017. This is the every day collection of Andretti wines sourced partly from the estate, but also blended with grapes sourced from across Northern California.

The cheeses paired perfectly with the Champagne and the modest Chardonnay. The hearty bolder Old Amsterdam, one of my favorites, accompanied the reds as well as the whites.

As we moved to the Ahi Tuna course we opened a Gary Farrell Russian River Valley Pinot Noir.

Gary Farrell "Russian River Selection" Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2015

We visited the Gary Farrell estate and winery in the Russian River Valley in Sonoma County during or Napa / Sonoma Wine Experience in 2017.

This was ideal with the grilled marinated Ahi Tuna steak.

This was sourced from vineyards throughout the Russian River Valley, including Hallberg and Galante in the cooler Green Valley AVA. It got 94 points from Wine Enthusiast.

Ruby colored, medium bodied, smooth, nicely balanced, polished, dusty rose with fruits of black berry, black cherries, raspberries, smoky earthy, floral notes with crisp acidity, youthful tannins and oak. 

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2798671

The dinner entree beef course was highlighted by a selection of Bordeaux and Bordeaux varietals starting with a Howell Mountain Napa Cabernet.

Château Clinet Pomerol Bordeaux 2010

Dan brought this Right Bank Bordeaux from his cellar. 

We have had the pleasure of meeting Château Clinet owner Ronan Laborde at the UGCB annual release tour Chicago wine spectacle yearly for the last five years or so. Clinet is one of our favorite Right Bank Bordeaux selections that we hold in our cellar dating back more two decades. 

We've enjoyed this label at several of our special wine events and dinners. A visit to the Chateau was one of the highlights of Ernie's visit to Bordeaux during his trip several years ago. Dr Dan brought this 2010 vintage release as a benchmark wine against which to compare the other labels of the evening. 

The 2010 release was awarded 97 points by James Suckling, 96 points by Jeb Dunnuck and Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 95 points by Wine Spectator, 92-94 points by Wine Enthusiast and 93 points by Stephen Tanzer. 

This is what Ronan calls a classic (Right Bank) Bordeaux Blend of 85% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc. 

At ten years of age, this is likely at the apex of its drinking window but will age gracefully for a couple more decades.  A Merlot based blend, this was much more complex and multi-dimensional than the 'narrower' and 'deeper', more single dimensional Cabernets. Hence this was ideal as a transition from the Ahi to the beef steaks, and between the softer, lighter Pinot Noir, but before the bigger, bolder, more single dimensional Cabernets. 

Dark inky purple  colored, full-bodied, concentrated and firmly structured, yet smooth, polished and elegant with layers of dark plum blackberry and black currant fruits accented by coffee bean, mocha, and hints of oak with silky polished tannins on a tongue puckering chewy finish.

RM 94 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1129755

Camiana Blue Hall Vineyards Napa Valley Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

http://www.mcnees.org/winesite/labels/labels_California/lbl-CA-Camiana-Napa-Howell-Mtn-Cab-2004-remc.jpg

From Blue Hall Vineyard,  a 5 acre site on Howell Mountain owned by two medical doctors, Andrew Zolopa & Annie Talbot. Andrew was instrumental in starting the HIV program at Stanford University in 1994 and was a professor at the Stanford School of Medicine for twenty years.

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

In 2000-01, Zolopa oversaw the planting of a vineyard divided into two farming blocks by a creek that ran across the property. It was planted by the Pina's a long time Napa family who continued to manage the five acre vineyard of which 3 acres was planted entirely to Cabernet Sauvignon.

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

In 2004, they produced their first wine, a 100% estate grown Cabernet Sauvignon. Andrew named the wine “Camiana" after his daughters Camille and Juliana. They appointed Ted Osborne as winemaker, who was self taught building on experience working at Passing Clouds in Australia, Rupert & Rothschild in South Africa, and Chateau du Seuil in Bordeaux. Coming to America, he put in time working for two well-known Napa wineries, Cakebread and Storybook Mountain, the northern most winery in the Napa Valley. 

Blue Hall’s first vintage was 2004 with only 80 cases made, which they held until after their first commercial release in 2005. While the 2004 was technically their first vintage, it was released after the 2005 as a library wine. 

Their 2004 despite the additional year in the bottle was their “biggest” wine out of their first few vintages. They produced the label annually until 2013, their last vintage produced.

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

Bill's tasting notes for this vintage release from his Cellartracker post back in 2015 says, "What a treat! Tasted side by side with the 2005 Camiana and we could not tell the difference between the two aside from additional sediment in the '04. Deep garnet in the glass, big black fruit with a touch of sweetness. Silky smooth tannins and a long, lingering finish. Beautiful Howell Mountain product. We were impressed by this small vineyard when we bought some '07 on sale 3 or 4 years ago. The big, bold, fruit forward style convinced us to try some earlier vintages. This was not terribly expensive at $45 a bottle. Great value and the '04 and '05 were absolutely at peak."

wconnolly - 92 Points

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1208115

Andretti Montona Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

In recognition for Mark's career in the auto industry and Dan's long time interest in the Indy 500, I served this Ultra-Premium label from the Mario Andretti winery, named for his birthplace village, Montona. Mario Andretti partners with his auto team sponsor Joe Antonini, former chairman and CEO of KMart, producing wines sourced from the Laird Estate in Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley.

Founded in 1996, their winemaker is Bob Pepi, son of Robert Pepi, founder of Pepi Winery. Ironically, working for these two notable Italians, Pepi is credited with bringing the Italian varietal Sangiovese grape to NapaValley.

We discovered this wine during our visit to the Andretti Winery in Oak Knoll District of southeast Napa Valley during our Napa Valley Wine Experience in 2018.  As a result of our visit, we joined their wine club and received allocations of this premium Reserve collection. 

This label was better than earlier tastings suggesting it needed a bit more time to settle and mature in the bottle.  It is sourced from select grapes from the Andretti Winery estate as well as from contract grower sources.

Dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, concentrated forward black berry fruits were accented by a layer of dark mocha chocolate with notes of tobacco are spice with mouth filling tannins on a long finish. 

RM 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/barcode.asp?iWine=3159347

After dinner there was a selection of chocolate centric desserts, Linda's flowerless chocolate cake with fresh berries, Shirley's chocolate cheese cake, and Dan and Linda brought a chocolate cake.

The dessert course was highlighted by a mini-horizontal duo of 1996 vintage Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons from Nils Venge Saddleback Vineyards and Winery and Paradigm Oakville.


Nils Venge Saddleback Oakville Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1996

We first met Nils at Del Dotto when he was their winemaker while also managing his Penny Lane Vineyard over at his Saddleback Cellars during our Napa visits in the mid and late nineties.  We discovered and acquired this wine during one of those visits to the Winery.   

Tasting Venge Penny Lane Family Reserve Cabernet w/ AJ
and Nils Venge at Tra Vigne in St Helena

Nils Venge is a bit of a legend in Napa Valley. In addition to having been consulting winemaker to many top producers including Groth, Del Dotto and Plumpjack, he has his Venge and Saddleback family labels, and with son Kirk is coming out with wines from their property Rossini Ranch. He and Kirk worked with Dwayne and Susan Hoff at Fantesca in their early releases. We hear Nils has retired and ownership and the operations is now run by son Kirk.

We met with Nils at the Estate and during our Napa Wine Experience in 2002  (below) which featured Venge Vineyards and Nils and Kirk Venge's Rossini Ranch.

During that visit we had a wine luncheon with Nils Venge back at our then favorite Napa Valley dining establishment, Travigne. Sadly, it has been taken over and re-purposed. The staff moved on to the old Factory Outlet site up near Calistoga where they have opened a winery and eatery, one of the highlights of our Napa Wine Experience 2018. 

We did this same mini-horizontal wine tasting during a holiday dinner back in 2018 when we compared 1996 vintages Cabernet Sauvginon releases of Saddleback opposite a Paradigm Oakville.

At that time we also compared the two Saddleback vintages, the Nils 2006 special release above oppsite the 1996 Saddleback Oakville Napa Cabernet.

At the time, I wrote of the '96, "Initially a bit tight and closed, we decanted and aerated this bottle and it opened a bit more and reveal its native character and fruits over the course of the next hour.'

The two Saddleback wines had remarkable similarity, being potentially the same wine but ten years removed. They showed the same basic profile and character but the '96 showed darker blackish garnet with slight hints of gray color, the same fruit profile albeit slightly subdued, accented by the same notes above of smoke, dusty leather, earth and tea.

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=73478

Like that night, tonight we did the same comparison of the '96 Oakville Napa Cab above, we also opened this Paradigm Cabernet from the same appellation and same vintage.

Paradigm Napa Valley Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 1996

Tonight was a replay of that tasting back in 2018', "This provided an interesting comparison with the other '96 Oakville Cabernet sitting side by side. This wine had the same color and body as above. We also decanted and aerated this bottle which accentuated its bouquet and flavors which emerged further after about thirty minutes. The Paradigm showed fewer aromatics and more subdued fruit than the Saddleback above, but opened a bit more over the next hour.'

We tasted and acquired this wine during a winery visit back in 1999. 

 Tonight was a different experience than as reflected in my tasting notes for this label from back in 2009 when I wrote. "This wine is showing its age, probably beyond its apex, or any chance for improvement, but still within the drinking window. Showing some diminution of fruit, giving way to non-fruit charcoal and earth tones, yet, revealed some of its native fruit character at some point during the evening.'

"I opened, decanted and then rebottled and recorked this wine an hour before setting out for the restaurant. Upon decanting it released huge aroma's of berry fruits and some floral. After opening for serving the fruit was a bit muted for almost an hour before revealing black berry and hints of sweet black raspberry, giving way to a layer of charcoal, anise and spice. Tannins were moderate on the lingering finish. This wine is still showing okay but should be consumed over the next few years."

Tonight, this was bright vibrant and fruit filled from the beginning, showing well with great aging potential as it nears its 25th year since release.  A fun and rewarding tasting experience indeed.

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2014/08/vintage-napa-reds-vs-bold-barolo.html

Coronavirus Virtual Family Dinner and Birthday Celebration

Coronavirus Virtual Family Dinner and Birthday Celebration

Its hard to believe we're entering week four of the Coronavirus shut-in. On this weekend, we were supposed to be watching NCAA March Madness.

For the third straight weekend, the dispersed shut-in family conducted another COVID shut-in virtual family dinner and wine tasting, and like we did the weekend before, sharing videos texts and photos of their selections.

Most importantly, this was son Alec's Thirtieth Birthday so we did a virtual internet celebration highlighted by a lengthy tribute video produced by Vivianna from dozens of clips submitted by family and friends widely dispersed from France, New York, Florida, Illinois to California. 

For the gala birthday celebration dinner, Vivianna and Alec, shut-in on the Conneticut seashore, prepared aged prime steaks and lobster tails.

Before dinner, there was a fabulous feast of the French Edition of Pairing Perfection, a selection of artisan cheeses from Murray's Cheese on Bleeker Street in the West Village. This is one of Alec and Viv's favorite Manhattan dining sites, within sight of brother Frankie's apartment, and a memorable site of several family dinners that we have featured in these pages.

@murrayscheese #murraysathome

The cheese selection consisted of Murray's Perfect Pairing, French Edition, Bucheron with Murray's Wildflower Honey, Morbier with Tres Petits Cornichon, Comte Sainte Antoine & Jambon Bayonne, and lastly, Murray's Forme d' Amber with Murray's Dried Cherries.

For their cheese wine accompaniment they drank Matthias et Emile Roblin Sancerre Origine Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2018.

With the steak they drank Long Shadows Vintner's Collection Sequel Syrah, crafted by Penfold's Grange legendary winemaker John Duvall. 

Long Shadows Vintner's Collection Sequel Columbia Valley Syrah 2016

We source this label as Vault Key members of the wine club, but Alec found it and obtained more special order via the local wineshop there in Westport.

Back in Illinois, son Ryan and Michelle prepared Leg of Lamb, medium rare, in a homemade rosemary red wine vinegar marinade, with Turmeric Basmati Rice with fresh garlic and onion, green beans and lemon honey vinagrette and feta.

For their wine selection Ryan served FEL Donnelly Anderson Valley Creek Pinot Noir 2017 from producer Cliff Lede.

Erin and Johnny and the family ordered in Mediterranean fare from a new local restaurant in nearby LaGrange.

Lastly, Linda prepared a chicken Marsala with asparagus and fresh tomotoes, Angeli's style.

For our wine selection we finished the remains of the Tablas Creek Vineyard 2013 Côtes de Tablas Blanc. I featured this wine in Tablas Creek Vineyard in an earlier blogpost the other night.

Tablas Creek Vineyards Estate Grown Côtes de Tablas Blanc 2013

The Tablas Creek Vineyard 2013 Côtes de Tablas Blanc is a blend of four estate-grown white Rhône varietals - 39% Viognier, 29% Grenache Blanc and 20% Marsanne and 12% Roussanne. 

This release was awarded 90 points by Jeb Dunnuck of The Wine Advocate and Antonio Galloni of Vinous.

Winemaker notes: The wine, like most wines of the Southern Rhône, is a blend of varietals, featuring the floral aromatics and stone fruit of Viognier, the crisp acids and rich mouthfeel of Grenache Blanc, and the structure and minerality of Marsanne and Roussanne.

This was straw colored, medium bodied, creamy notes of citrus, floral, hint of lime and minerality. 

RM 88 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1906632

 

https://tablascreek.com/ 
 

@TablasCreek