Jack's Masterpiece Father Son (s) Celebration Tasting

Hall Jack's Masterpiece, Signorello Padrone for Father Son (s) Celebration Tasting

For eldest son Ryan's birthday we pulled from our cellar a special bottling label crafted and dedicated as a tribute to Father's Day and father-sons. We were joined by youngest son Alec who also brought a Napa Cabernet to share and compare. 

Ryan had open from his cellar a Signorello Padrone Napa Valley Oak Knoll District Cabernet Sauvignon 2013. Alec brought a Cliff Lede Stags Leap District Cabernet, the Lede estate is a line of sight neighbor to Signorello, just down and across Silverado Trail, but across the geographic boundary, the foothill rise that separates the Stags Leap from Oak Knoll appellations.

To top off the tasting flight, I brought Hall Vineyards Jack's Masterpiece Napa Valley Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon, another 2013 for a horizontal comparison with the Padrone. 

All these wines were spectacular with the fudge chocolate that Linda brought along - a perfect pairing that accentuated the enjoyment of it all. 

 

Signorello Padrone Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

Our visit to the Signorello Napa Valley Estate Vineyard & Winery was one of the highlights of our Napa Valley wine Experience in 2013. 

This is a poignant memory as the magnificent Estate was destroyed by the Atlas Fire that ravaged the hills of Napa Valley and engulfed much of sections of Sonoma and Napa County in August, 2017. 

The fire came down the foothills to the property that sat up the hill back from the highway. The fire had winds that reportedly topped 70 mph on Atlas Peak that swept the flames down to the Silverado Trail area near Soda Canyon and destroyed the Signorello winery production facilities, offices, hospitality space and the Signorello family home. 

We viewed the devastation during our Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley visits in 2017 and Napa Wine Experience 2018. It was amazing how Signorello was destroyed, yet adjacent wineries such as Darioush were untouched. Notably, son Alec's and Vivianna's honeymoon to Napa Valley was cut short last year due to the ravishing Glass Fire that forced cancellation of a half dozen of their winery visits.  Signorello has become a symbol of the survival and recovery, and resurgence, the spirit of Napa (and Sonoma) wine producers.

The Signorello Napa Valley Estate Vineyard & Winery site sits on the base of the eastern slope of the Vaca Mountains overlooking Napa Valley near the bottom of Silverado Trail in the Oak Knoll Appellation of Napa Valley. At the very southern end of Napa Valley and the Silverado Trail, the estate has 43 acres of vineyards, including some of the oldest Chardonnay and Cabernet vines in all of Napa Valley with 40-year-old vines.  

Meeting the cousins at Signorello Estate
overlooking vineyards and valley floor.

Signorello is coming back, the Napa County Planning Commission approved their plan to increase annual production from 20,000 gallons to 50,000 gallons and annual visitation from 6,637 guests to 20,221 guests. 

The plans include construction of a 15,906-square-foot cave, increasing parking from 10 to 17 spaces and employees from four to 20.

 The Signorello family bought the Silverado Trail property in 1977, initially growing grapes that they sold to other wineries; they started producing their own wine in 1985.

Signorello Padrone Napa Valley Proprietary Red Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

Padrone is Signorello's flagship wine, produced in honor of Ray Signorello Sr., the patriarch of the family and founder of the estate. Grapes for this complex proprietary red wine are sourced from two extremely rocky parts of the estate vineyard with minimal yields of only 1.3 tons per acre.  

 

Ray Signorello first made this wine in 1997, although the first vintage for Signorello was back in 1985. Most of the vineyard is between 30 and 40 years of age. 

 

This label was rated 96+ points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. 

 

This wine is a selection of the best lots chosen from the top rank 2013 vintage. The wine is sensational long, rich, complex and should age for 30 or more years.

 

The 2013 Padrone Proprietary Red Wine is a blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc. This is aged in 100% new French oak.

 

Despite decanting and aerating a couple times, this was a brooding bruiser, a big bold concentrated and structured wine with a firm tannic backbone, this will age for another two decades or more and may be more approachable after a few more years of aging.

Dark blackish garnet colored, full bodied, complex, dense contrated powerful blackberry, black current and black cherry fruits (note the redundant 'black' fruits), with tones of bittersweet dark mocha chocolate, graphite, what Anthony Galonni of Wine Advocate refers to as 'scorched earth', creme de casis licorice, leather and hints of mint with a long tongue puckering tannin laced finish. 

RM 94 points.
 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2456066

 

https://www.signorelloestate.com/ 

 

https://twitter.com/SigVin 

@SigVin

 

Hall's Jack's Masterpiece Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

This special bottling is crafted from select grapes from the HALL Wines vineyards from their 500-hundred acre estate in the Rutherford Hills of Napa Valley and ten estate vineyards across the valley. 

This is a fun label and appropriate for the occasion. It is a special blend produced annually by Hall President Mike Reynolds dating back to when he was head winemaker there. The label features an original painting done by his son, Jack, who was eighteen months old at the time, who painted the picture and presented it to his father on Father's Day. 

As I have written in earlier posts, this is another very special wine for a several reasons; it is devoted to family, it is based on artwork, and it is a birthyear vintage for two of our grandkids. Our dearly beloved Lucy was an artist, our daughter Erin was educated in Art, Art History and Fine Arts, and taught art for several years, and Linda is a budding artist and studied and taught art history.

 With the current market price at $230  (Cellartracker average value), this is what one might call a 'special occasion' wine, set aside for celebrations such as this. We featured this wine for our Gala Family Christmas celebration wine dinner last year, and previously for a Covid Shutin virtual family dinner.

Our tastings at the Rutherford site have been highlights of several of our Napa Valley Wine Experiences such as this on back in 2013. We tasted this wine during with Kathryn Hall during the release tour tasting for Club Members in Chicago in 2018. Ryan also tasted and acquired this wine during a visit to the magnificent Hall Rutherford cave tasting room. We acquired this label as part of our Hall wine club allocations.

Son Alec selected Hall's Excellenz from their super premium collection for special gifting to clients for the holiday a year ago.

This vintage selection is also the birthyear of Ryan's daughter Marleigh and cousin Richie, eldest son of our daughter Erin. 

This was awarded 99 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 95 points from Wine Spectator and 93 points from Vinous.

This is a premium blend, selected from the finest grapes from Hall's finest vineyards. All the pundits say it needs several years to shed its 'formidable tannic heft', and that it has three decades or more of longevity. 

From their reviews: "opaque purple color, opulent, full-bodied mouthfeel, deep, plush texture, dark, powerful and explosive, blueberry and blackberry fruits, blackberry jam, dark berry flavors, mocha-scented oak and notes of blackberry, licorice, hazelnut and brownie, espresso, chocolate, leather and super-sweet tannins.

This was clearly WOTN (Wine of the Night) - dark garnet with inky purple hues, full bodied, black and blue berry fruits - smooth, silky, velvety, polished, elegeant - a symphony of flavors, mocha, cognac, toasty oak, creme de cassis, tobacco and leather .. a long sensuous finish ... 

RM 96 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2289051

https://www.hallwines.com/ 

https://twitter.com/HALLWines

@HALLWines 

Cliff Lede Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

This is a perennial favorite that we collect as members (Ryan) of their wineclub. We've visited the Stag's Leap District estate during numerous visits to Napa Valley. 

Alec is carrying on the tradition to the next generation with this label. 

It was fun to taste the next new vintage release of this label that we have collected and enjoyed for more than a decade. Alas, tonight it wasn't a fair fight against these two stellar, spectacular ultra-premium labels. It was a shadow of the Signorello with a similar profile and character but lacking in comparative depth or breadth. We'll save a proper review when we can taste this in an appropriate setting and pairing that will reveal its potential.  

Mentioned links:

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2013/04/signorello-napa-valley-estate-vineyard.html

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2013/04/hall-napa-valley-rutherford-estate.html 

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2018/09/kathryn-hall-vertical-tasting-hall-wine.html

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2020/12/gala-family-christmas-celebration-wine.html

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2020/03/calera-ryan-vineyard-jacks-masterpiece.html

Stringer Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Stagecoach Vineyard 2017

 Stringer Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Stagecoach Vineyard 2017

Son Alec dropped in and brought this Napa Cabernet to share and compare with the Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 that we had open. He obtained this wine through a wine club source from whom he has acquired several great wine finds.  

From their website, Stringer Cellars is a family owned and operated winery making wine from premier vineyard sites throughout California.

Inspired by a family trip to Napa Valley, Casey Stringer from Wisconsin developed an interest in wine and set a course to pursue a career in the industry. He picked up a job at a local wine shop to begin learning all he could while father Chip began collecting wines both from Napa and around the world.

Casey went to college in California, in Santa Barbara and got a job as a cellar hand at a local winery where he soon realized that he wanted to spend his time in the cellar and vineyards. Throughout his twenties, he traveled both near and abroad seeking different experiences in winemaking. He worked and gained experience at Robert Sinskey Vineyards in Napa, Archery Summit in Oregon and a few wineries in Central Otago and Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand, where he attended school for a formal winemaking education. Upon returning to California, Casey worked in the cellar at the esteemed Santa Ynez cult winery Jonata.

Stringer Cellars started in Windsor, California but now makes their wine high up on Atlas Peak in the Napa Valley, and at winery in the heart of Sonoma County. It’s a family affair with Casey as lead winemaker, father Chip oversees operations with his vast experience running a family specialty manufacturing business back in Wisconsin, brothers Andrew and Tim tending to marketing and sales and wife, Brooke often found pouring tastings behind the bar. 

Stringer's winemaking philosophy is to use the finest grapes he can find from the best vineyard sites in California, to carefully produce small lot wines with minimalist winemaking techniques, allowing the fruit and individual vineyards to shine through in each label release.

Stringer Cellars sources grapes from a wide range of prestigious vineyards throughout California seeking the finest fruit possible. Below are the vineyards sources for the Stringer portfolio of wines:

• Stagecoach Vineyard, Pritchard Hill Region Napa Valley, California
• Williamson Vineyard, Oak Knoll District AVA Napa Valley, California
• Pelissa Vineyard, Oakville AVA Napa Valley, California
• Ghost Block Vineyard, Yountville AVA Napa Valley, California
• Harrison Clarke Vineyard, Ballard Canyon AVA Santa Ynez Valley, California
• John Sebastiano Vineyard, Sta. Rita Hills AVA Santa Barbara County, California
• Linda Vista Vineyard, Oak Knoll District AVA Napa Valley, California
• Shokrian Vineyard, Santa Barbara County AVA Los Alamos, California
• Kick Ranch Vineyard, Fountain Grove District AVA Santa Rosa, California
• Alder Springs Vineyard, Mendocino Laytonville, California 

From these sources Stringer producer a portfolio of branded wines, Cabernet, Chardonnay, Grenache, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah, and of course Blends that are combined from multiple sources. 

 

Stringer also produce a more modestly priced affordable second brand, 'Metal Bender', named in honor of the Stringer Family’s manufacturing business in Wisconsin. The business stamps, machines and fabricates metal into components used in industries throughout America. They are “Metal Benders”.  

Since 1972, they have been producing special washers and metal stampings for fastener distributors and original equipment manufacturers.  They serve numerous industries including agriculture, lawn and garden, heavy truck, construction hardware, automotive, engine and transmission, construction equipment and consumer products.

 

Stringer Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Stagecoach Vineyard 2017

 

This 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from three Cabernet Vineyards: 35% from the Pelissa Vineyard in Oakville, 42% from Stagecoach and 16% from the Williamson Vineyards in Oak Noll. The remainder of the blend is 7% Petite Sirah from Calistoga.

 

The Stagecoach vineyards sites at 1,800 feet elevation in the eastern Vaca Mountains of Napa Valley.  Stagecoach Vineyard extends from the Atlas Peak AVA all the way north to the Pritchard Hill region. 

This Stagecoach Vineyard Cabernet is clone 337 from Block C3A in the Pritchard Hill region of the vineyard.  This region of Napa is characterized by red volcanic rock and large diurnal shifts which are ideal for ripening Cabernet Sauvignon.

 

The 2017 was aged twenty months in 80% New French Oak.

This 2017 label release was awarded 97 points at the American Fine Wine Competition, 96 points by Decanter Magazine and 91 points by Connoisseur Guide to California Wine.

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Stagecoach Vineyard was sourced from a larger vineyard on Pritchard Hill and was awarded 93 points by Jeb Dunnuck in Jan 2021.

 

Dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, firm structured backbone, deep densely concentrated extracted black fruits, black cherry and tart black cherry, bright vibrant notes of cassis and spice with subtle vanilla and oak tones turning to a tangy lingering tannin finish. Needs some time to settle and integrate further to achieve more balance. 

 

RM 91 points. 

 

I've written in these pages the challenges or limitations in collecting wines from private label producers that lack their own estate vineyards since they are at the mercy of their sourcing agreements with suppliers. If such arrangements change, labels can be 'one and done', or with terms limited to the length of supply. 

 

If one's objective is to enjoy and study and follow the 'terroir' of a wine, all the elements that embody 'place' - terrain, soil, climate, over time as represented in different vintages, that can only be assured through estate wines, (produced from owned estate vineyards), or from stable long term supplier agreements. 

 

Of course there are some legendary labels and producers such as Freemark Abbey Bosche Vineyard Cabernet, and the collection from Lewis Cellars that have received high acclaim and long term vertical releases of their labels due to their long term supplier agreements.  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3491036

https://www.stringercellars.com/product/detail/2S17CSST/

https://www.stringercellars.com/

Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

With daughter-in-law Vivianna out of town, Alec joined us for a taste of this Alexander Valley Cabernet that we opened for our beef roast dinner. From the 2007 vintage, at fourteen years, I thought this would be at an ideal age, at the apex of its drinking window. Wine Spectator rated the 2007 vintage 97 points, a top vintage, a "Textbook year; small crop, ideal ripening, wines defined by complexity and plush tannins". 

We found this lackluster and short of expectations, hopefully perhaps due to bottle variation or result of poor handling - too often bottles may be subject to excessive heat during shipping, or other undesirable conditions. Our records show we acquired this bottle back in 2012. In any event, this bottle was mediocre and reflected sentiments and experiences of several fellow Cellartrackers. 

This was a bit disappointing as we were reminiscing over our Silver Oak Cooperage experience of last month when we visited the Oak Cooperage in Higbee, Missouri where the Silver Oak barrels are crafted from native Missouri white oak. It was a highlight of our Missouri Wine Experience.

Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

Silver Oak writes of this vintage release, "Our 2007 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon has a beautiful purple hue with very few signs of age. It displays a spicy freshness with violet nuances aromatically and enters the palate with a broad and dense dose of blackberry fruit. It remains full across the mid-palate and very structured, with strong tannins that will still need time to resolve. Given proper cellaring, this wine should improve through 2032."

11/5/2021 - Bodyfxr wrote: 87 points. Decanted and drank over the course of an evening and then the next night. This wine is past its prime and is on a down hill roll. The drinking window goes until next year. Fruit is flat and the secondary notes are out of balance with oak dominating the profile

5/15/2021 - Trolson wrote: 88 Points Disappointed. Lacked both nose and body. Maybe cellared too long.

 

Garnet colored, slightly opaque, medium bodied, somewhat flabby blackberry fruits with notes of spice, hints of green pepper and olive tapenade and slightly funky wet wood and earth which burned off after an hour, with tangy tannins on the moderate finish. 

 

We tried it again a couple evening later and the results were the same - acceptable modest sipping, but uninspiring. 

RM 88 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1176173

https://silveroak.com/wines/2007-alexander-valley-cabernet-sauvignon/

https://twitter.com/SilverOak

@SilverOak 

 

 

 

Tribute to Dean Derby - Spring Valley Vineyard

Tribute to Dean Derby - Spring Valley Vineyard - Derby Cabernet Sauvignon

We were saddened to read the announcement from Spring Valley Vineyard of the passing of Dean Derby, patriarch owner proprietor of the family owned and operated SVV in Walla Walla, Washington.

According to their memo sent to wineclub members yesterday morning, "Spring Valley was built on the strong foundation of grit, authenticity, hard work, love for this land, and love for family. Papa Dean was the epitome of these values, and raised our family with the same strong foundation.' 

"Papa Dean passed away peacefully at home with family by his side Early morning on Friday, October 29. We will miss his larger than life smile (shaded by his cowboy hat), his storytelling, and so much more, but the memories we have of him will be shared forever.'

"Please raise a glass of Spring Valley with your family or friends, and cheers to my Papa Dean, a man who lived an amazing life and whose legacy will live forever!"

So, last night we opened a Derby Spring Valley Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, namesake wine named for Dean Derby, and toasted Dean and our fond memory of meeting him.

I've written in these pages, and sent out an email to our wineclub that, one of the highlights of our trip to Walla Walla was when we had the pleasure of meeting Dean Derby during our visit to the vineyards during our Walla Walla Wine Experience in 2019. 

We ran into Dean Derby patriarch, husband to Shari Corkrum Derby, ancestor and co-owners of the family business.

As I wrote in that earlier blogpost, we drove north from Walla Walla, out Middle Waitsburg Road, around the Walla Walla airport, to Corkrum Road, aptly named for the early ancestors of the Spring Valley producer's family, to the winery and vineyard site. 

There we ran into Dean Derby patriarch, husband to Shari Corkrum Derby, ancestor and co-owners of the family business. What a treat and honor to meet Mr. Derby and what a delightful visit we had.

We encountered him on the driveway to his farm. As he approached us, I yelled out that we came out to see the site, that we were big fans of his wine. “We admire your artwork,” I said upon encountering him on the country farm. “It’s not my work, it’s the Lords!”, he exclaimed! What a delightful man, he was.

 

Linda followed up and appended my email with a note: "What an incredibly welcoming man he was. We were heading north to Spokane for a later flight and decided to go cross country near to where Rick thought was the Spring Valley Farm. It was beautiful. We were encountered by a man and his dog in a John Deere 4X4 who then engaged with his humble story of the farm not disclosing who he was nor what he did. Rick asked directly if this was his farm…the rest is now his personal eternal history as a man of God." 

Dean Derby moved to Walla Walla where he met Shari in the 6th grade at Sharpstein Grade School. Shari and Dean graduated from Walla Walla High School and attended the University of Washington in Seattle. Shari Corkrum and Dean Derby were married in 1954 and had two children, DeAnn Derby and Devin Corkrum Derby.

Dean Derby was football captain for UW. He still holds the record for longest run from scrimmage for a touchdown at Husky Stadium (92 yards against Illinois).

Dean was drafted into the NFL as the 1st pick of the 4th round by the Los Angeles Rams, then traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers for the 1st league game in September 1957. He was named All Pro Defensive Cornerback and played 4+ years with the Steelers and 1+ years for the Minnesota Vikings.

Dean and Shari planted wine grapes on the ranch in Spring Valley in 1993. The first wine – URIAH, a Merlot-based red blend was released in 2001. 

The Spring Valley Vineyards from a distance down Corkrum Road. 

The Spring Valley Vineyards adjacent to the farmstead site

 The Spring Valley Vineyards adjacent to the farmstead site

Toast to Dean, indeed. I am sure he will be missed immensely by family, friends and many of us distant followers. May he rest in peace. 

Spring Valley Vineyards Wines Portfolio
labels named for Corkrum Family Members

The Derby's devotion to family was profoundly apparent in their naming each of their wines for a member of the family. I write about their branding and the portfolio of the wines in many of my blogposts in these pages. 

We acquired one of the horizontal vintage release collections that featured a bottle of each of the labels that feature a family member. We've also had fun gifting this collectable OWC - Original Wood Case boxed set to folks on special family oriented occasions. 

Thank you, Kate Derby Raymond for thinking of us and reaching out and sharing the sad news. 

Linked referenced in this blog:

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2018/10/spring-valley-vineyards-tasting-and.html

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2019/11/spring-valley-vineyards-nina-syrah-2017.html

https://www.springvalleyvineyard.com/