Whitehall Lane Napa Valley Syrah 2016

Whitehall Lane Napa Valley Syrah 2016

We discovered, tasted and acquired this wine during our Whitehall Lane Napa Valle Vineyards and Winery Estate visit and tasting during our Napa Valley Wine Experience 2018 back in August. We opened this for casual midweek sipping with bar-be-que and some artisan cheeses and fruit.

As written in our recent tasting notes when we opened this on release and receipt, "This showed dark inky purple colored and full body with layers of blueberry and currant fruits accented by notes of subdued pepper and hints of cinnamon. I defer to the eloquent and artfully drafted tasting notes from the winemaker below."

"The 2016 Luchtel Vineyard Syrah offers fragrant notes of mixed berry compote, violets, blueberry fritter, white pepper, and baking spices. On the palate, the tannins are soft and supple, while the flavors are showing sweet red currants, stewed black plums, beetroot, rhubarb, and a touch of cinnamon."

RM 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2990406


Whitehall Lane Napa Valley Estate Vineyards and Winery - https://whitehalllane.com/

Del Dotto Connoisseur Series wine comparison for steak dinner

Del Dotto Connoisseur's Series wine comparison for steak dinner

We hosted a wine dinner with colleague Ken and his wife Daniella. Touring our cellar to select some wine to pair with our steak dinner they saw our collection of Del Dotto Vineyards Estate wines, one of the widest held producers in our cellar. They talked of their visit to the Del Dotto Cave Tour and Tasting at the Estate winery in St Helena so we pulled a Del Dotto Cab to consider for our dinner flight.

As I've written often in these pages, the Del Dotto Estate Tasting is an attraction in itself and the experience is one of the standouts in Napa Valley. My blogpost features our last visit there during our Napa Valley Del Dotto Estate Cave Tour and Barrel Tasting in 2017.

We selected two bottles of Del Dotto Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from the 2001 vintage, an Estate and a bottle from their Connoisseur's Series. This provided a comparison tasting of this vintage release aged in barrels comprised of two different oaks, the premise of the Connoisseur's Series. 

Del Dotto Connoisseur Series Cabernet Sauvignon
served at a previous wine tasting

Del Dotto Vineyards and Winery in Napa Valley produce a unique offering featuring a wine aged in different oak barrels with different types of oak sourced from around the world. The premise is that different varieties of oak have specific characteristics that will act upon the wine differently resulting in subtle flavor variations.

The Del Dotto Connoisseur's Series features as many as nine different oaks in which they age the same wine. Oaks barrels are produced with wood sourced from numerous forests around the world including America and France - French Allier, Bertranges, Colbert, Juppilles, Marsannay and Troncas oaks, and American Missouri and Minnesota oaks. Del Dotto also produce a 'D' Barrel (as in David Del Dotto) comprised of staves intermixed from several of the sources of oak. As with the whole collection, the resulting differences are subtle and may not be discernable except to the most discriminating oenphile, but they provide a unique and interesting tasting experience.

Del Dotto Napa Valley Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon 2001

At seventeen years this wine may be past it's prime and won't improve with further aging, but it is still holding its own and may still be at or near the apex of its drinking window, which demonstrates the longevity of Napa Valley Cabernets. While it will not likely improve any further with aging, it may still have a few more years to go at this level.

Medium to full bodied , deep dark ruby color - black berry and tangy black cherry fruits accented by clove spice and a hint cassis and whisper of English toffee on the 'Rutherford Dust' moderate silky tannin finish.

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=485814





Del Dotto Napa Valley Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon Connoisseur Series Colbert French Oak 2001

The same wine as above from the same vintage release except aged in a different oak barrel as described above. Many folks might not recognize a difference between the two, and such differences could be due to bottle variations or differences in provenance (aging and handling history). Never-the-less I sensed slightly more oak in this release than the Estate bottling above, and slightly increased sense of sweetness in the oak. Of course I admit this could be conditioned on the suggestion of the packaging.

In any event, the option provides for a comparison tasting and an interesting and fun experience. It might've been more apparent with more selections and variations on which to compare. Perhaps we'll have the occasion for this experience as we still hold a couple more bottles from the Series Collection.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=199930





After dinner we opened this Nittnaus TBA dessert wine with a selection of fudges, artisan cheeses and Seasalt Caramel Chocolate Cake. Staying with the 2001 vintage of the Del Dotto cabs, we chose this vintage release dessert wine as well.

Nittnaus Trockenbeerenauslese Burgenland Austria Premium White Blend 2001

Tea or honey color, full bodied, thick unctuous, bright full aromas and tastes of apricot accented by tones of fig, hints of peach and a layer of leather and smoke.

The apricot fruit aromas are more pronounced than the tasted flavors which were a bit more subdued, giving way to the non-fruit notes of smoke and leather. Delightful and satisfying none-the-less.

RM 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=551992

Northstar Merlot 2008 for Casual Wine and Cheese Sipping

Northstar Merlot 2008 for Casual Wine and Cheese Sipping

For casual sipping wine with some cheese during the midweek, I pulled from the cellar this Northstar Columbia Valley Merlot. We've been drinking this label for more than a decade for reasonable QPR casual sipping for a Bordeaux varietal. We gained increased appreciation for labels such as this from our two trips to Washington State this summer where we explored and discovered several Bordeaux varietals from the Columbia Valley that provide high quality at reasonable prices relative to their California or Old World, French peers.

We passed by or near Northstar Winery during our recent Walla Walla Wine Experience 2018 and will definitely schedule a visit there on our next visit to the area. 

Northstar Columbia Valley Merlot 2008

According to my Cellartracker records for this label, we hold a dozen and half bottles from eight different vintages dating back to the milenium. I normally would pull from the older or oldest vintages in such cases for effective cellar vintage management. Tonight, I simply selected the label and pulled a bottle when I saw I still had multiple bottles from the vintage.

I opened several cheeses and crackers to accompany the wine and found the old aged sharp cheddar to go especially well, as well as he creamy havarti.

Tonight's tasting was fairly consistent with my last tasting note for this wine which was six years ago back in 2012, when I wrote:

"This 2008 is a bit tight and closed, not as smooth, polished and fruit filled as some earlier vintages of this wine that I remember - perhaps due to its age or period in its aging profile. This is medium to full bodied, with dark inky color, this is a bright, balanced wine with notes of black cherry, tobacco, spice box and nut leading to a long, smoky moderate tannin finish."

Tonight's rating, RM 88 points is consistent with what I gave it back at that time.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1210721

https://www.northstarwinery.com/

Italian Village Dinner features Amarone and Brunllo di Montalcina

Team Dinner at Italian Village features Amarone and Brunello di Montalcina

With my management team in town for planning meetings we ended the day with dinner at my usual host site, Italian Village.

As is customary, we dined in our usual private room so we could have an intimate working dinner. And. as usual, friend and Wine Director Jared Gelband selected a couple of ideal wines to complement our authentic Italian dinners.

Several of the group had the trio of vitello with three different preparations. I had my favorite, Veal Marsala entree with the brown mushroom sauce which is a perfect complement to the Amarone Volpolicella red wine.

For our starters and salad course had a Sangiovese based Brunello Di Montalcino from Caprili. As we moved to the entree course we drank an Amarone della Valpolicella from Giuseppe Lonardi.

Caprili Brunello di Montalcino 2013

I asked for a Sangiovese varietal wine which calls for Brunello di Montalcino. Jared served this Caprilli which paired well with our salad and  Anitposto courses.

Brunello di Montalcino is from the area surrounding the town of Montalcino which is located south of Florence in the Tuscany wine region. Brunello is the designation for wine produced with 100% Sangiovese varietal grape.

Since 1980, Brunello di Montalcino has been designated DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) status, which refers to quality controls and guaranteed designation of origin. This is akin to the American AVA with regards to to place of origin, and the French AOC - Appellation Origin Controlee system which regulates quality. DOCG labelled wines are analyzed and tasted by government–licensed personnel before being bottled. To prevent later manipulation, DOCG wine bottles are sealed with a numbered governmental seal across the cap or cork.


This was garnet colored, medium bodied, lighter than I expected, slightly astringent with bright acidity, bright red fruits accented by notes of spice, minerals, leather dusty earthiness and hints of smoke with fine tannins on the lingering finish.

RM 88 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2607727
 

Giuseppe Lonardi Amarone della Valpolicella

Corte Lonardi is a small winery located in Marano, in the heart of Valpolicella. The owner, Silvia Lonardi is the daughter of founder and namesake Giuseppe Lonardi whose life was immersed in wine and cuisine, growing up in the vineyards and the family owned tavern.

Silvia’s great-grandfather Giuseppe, was a restaurateur, as was her grandfather Aldo. Giuseppe began producing wine in the early 80s with his friend and winemaker Roberto Ferrarini.

Today Silvia produces high-quality wines which reveal the terroir of the Valpolicella region and the soil of the Marano hills 1000 feet above sea level above the Marano di Valpolicella valley. Valpolicella is in the province of Verona, within the large Veneto region near Venice in northeastern Italy.

Amarone della Valpolicella, also known as Amarone for short, is a red wine blended from the Corvina (45–95%, of which up to 50% could be substituted with Corvinone), Rondinella (5–30%) and other approved red grape varieties (up to 25%). 

In Italian, the name Amarone literally means "the Great Bitter" which distinguished it from Recioto and Repasso wines produced in the same region, which tend to lighter and slightly sweeter in taste.

What distinguishes Amarone from other wines is that the grapes are partially dried for approximately  90 days before pressing, which results in higher degree of residual sweetness and lower acidity. The resulting wines allows long aging and have a distinctive flavor profile described as full, warm, velvety notes and notes of ripe fruit and woodland tones. Amarones are often consumed ten to fifteen years after harvest.

Volpolicella wines are designated DOCG status.

Giuseppe Lonardi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico DOCG 2011

This was bright deep garnet colored, full rich concentrated ripe sweet red fruits accented by notes of leather and tobacco leaf with hints of forest on the firm but polished finish.

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2114460

http://www.lonardivini.it/wines/?lang=en

http://www.italianvillage-chicago.com/

Mouton Rothschild Wine Label Art Series

Mouton Rothschild Wine Label Art Series

A study in wine branding and marketing at some point invites a discussion of art label series featuring original or reproductions of notable art or artists on the wine labels. No wine producer in the world captures the imagination or attention of wine collectors and wine art enthusiasts more than Mouton Rothschild with their annual artist series artist featured wine label.

Each year a renowned artist is commissioned to do the artwork for that vintage. The featured artist is said to be paid ten cases of various vintages of the classic Chateau Mouton Rothschild for their work. Every collector dreams of collecting a 'vertical' collection (wines of multiple vintages of the same wine) of the classic premium First Growth Bordeaux to display the 'artwork' of Mouton.

Mouton Rothschild Artist Labels have been produced by the world's most famous contemporary artists, Chagall (1970, Dali (1958), Picasso (1973), Miro (1969), Andy Warhol (1975), as well as other luminaries such as Prince Charles (2004) and Hollywood director John Huston (1982). Many other producers have established artist series, but there is only one Mouton Rothschild.

In 1945, Baron Philippe de Rothschild conceived the original idea of crowning the Mouton label with a work of art created for this purpose by famous artists; these have included paintings by Miró, Chagall, Braque, Picasso, Warhol, Bacon, Balthus, amongst others.

Since then, only 4 vintages have not had Artist's labels: 1953 which celebrated the initial purchase of the Mouton property, 1977 when the Queen Mother stayed at Mouton and the Baron dedicated that year's vintage to her, 2000 where the label is enameled in gold with a reproduction of Jakob Schenauer's Augsburg Ram (below), and 2003 which is devoted to Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild depicted in a period photograph celebrating the 150th anniversary of the 1853 acquisition of the Mouton estate by the family. These are all shown on my legacy McNees.org/WineSite Mouton Rothschild Art Label Library.

The official library is presented on the original Mouton Rothschild Official Label Art Site.

My Winesite Label Library lists the Mouton Rothschild Label Library Series Artists and associated works by the artists for reference or to aid in further exploration or research of the library and its history: 

Alpha Listing of Mouton Rothschild Label Artists

Chronological list of Mouton Rothschild artists with links to Wikipedia profiles and other artwork by Mouton Rothschild selected artists.

Mouton Rothschild Label Library

2019	Olafur Eliasson

Stolpman Santa Ynez Valley Hilltops Syrah 2011

Stolpman Santa Ynez Valley Hilltops Estate Syrah 2011

A couple years ago we were planning a trip to the Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, and Santa Ynez Valleys' wine districts along the South Central California coast. In preparation for the trip we embarked on exploration of wines from the region and acquired several labels from the various appellations to taste so as to establish a baseline of knowledge and understanding of the varietals, styles and terroir effects of the different areas.

Back at that time, niece Jenna was attending UC Santa Barbara and we were hoping for a dual purpose visit and wine trip. In any event, for various reasons our plans were disrupted and we canceled/postponed our trip. This label is one from that collection. We still hope to visit the area at some point to explore another wine region and it's wines. Stay tuned for such a trip report.

This weekend would've been an ideal time to visit as the Big Ten sends three out of the four teams to the NCAA Final Four College Cup soccer tournament in Santa Barbara. Our Indiana Hoosiers are favored to win their ninth National Championship after they defeated Notre Dame Friday night to advance to their twentieth College Cup. They will play University of Maryland. Tonight, Michigan State advanced to the semi-final to represent a command performance by the Big Ten.

We opened this for casual but serious sipping with some artisan cheeses while watching weekend sports, including the NCAA Soccer Tournament.

This was ideal with ten year old Aged Sharp Cheddar as well as creamy Havarti, with fresh berries and pear fruits. Neutral soda crackers were more suited to reveal the native flavors of the wine, cheese and fruits, as opposed to butter crackers or others with overt tastes.

Tonight's tasting was consistent with our earlier tasting of this label back in 2015.

Dark red-ruby, full bodied, aromas of floral and mocha, complex, concentrated big, forward black and blue fruits, tones of anise/licorice, hints of mocha chocolate and herbs, turning to a very long soft savory fruit filled finish.

RM 91 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1652929

http://www.stolpmanvineyards.com

Stolpman Santa Ynez Valley Hilltops Estate Syrah 2011

A couple years ago we were planning a trip to the Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, and Santa Ynez Valleys' wine districts along the South Central California coast. In preparation for the trip we embarked on exploration of wines from the region and acquired several labels from the various appellations to taste so as to establish a baseline of knowledge and understanding of the varietals, styles and terroir effects of the different areas.

Back at that time, niece Jenna was attending UC Santa Barbara and we were hoping for a dual purpose visit and wine trip. In any event, for various reasons our plans were disrupted and we canceled/postponed our trip. This label is one from that collection. We still hope to visit the area at some point to explore another wine region and it's wines. Stay tuned for such a trip report.

This weekend would've been an ideal time to visit as the Big Ten sends three out of the four teams to the NCAA Final Four College Cup soccer tournament in Santa Barbara. Our Indiana Hoosiers are favored to win their ninth National Championship after they defeated Notre Dame Friday night to advance to their twentieth College Cup. They will play University of Maryland. Tonight, Michigan State advanced to the semi-final to represent a command performance by the Big Ten.

We opened this for casual but serious sipping with some artisan cheeses while watching weekend sports, including the NCAA Soccer Tournament.

This was ideal with ten year old Aged Sharp Cheddar as well as creamy Havarti, with fresh berries and pear fruits. Neutral soda crackers were more suited to reveal the native flavors of the wine, cheese and fruits, as opposed to butter crackers or others with overt tastes.

Tonight's tasting was consistent with our earlier tasting of this label back in 2015.

Dark red-ruby, full bodied, aromas of floral and mocha, complex, concentrated big, forward black and blue fruits, tones of anise/licorice, hints of mocha chocolate and herbs, turning to a very long soft savory fruit filled finish.

RM 91 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1652929

http://www.stolpmanvineyards.com

Montagna Estate Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

Montagna Estate Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

As I wrote a while back when we first discovered this label, "We've seen the Montagna Napa Valley label but didn't connect it to the property we passed on Long Ranch Road on our way up to David Arthur vineyards at 1100 feet high atop Pritchard Hill in the Vaca Mountain range overlooking Napa Valley from the east. Interesting that Montagna is the project of Bob Long, one of the founders of David Arthur with his brother David.

Pritchard Hill Vineyards at David Arthur
high atop Long Ranch Road

It is said that these vineyards are part of the nine hundred acre parcel purchased by their parents back in the mid-sixties and seventies. We were already big fans of Pritchard Hill Cabernet and our visit to David Arthur was one of the highlights of our Napa Valley Wine Experience 2013. We visited Chappellet Vineyards during our Napa Wine Experience in 2009.

According to published reports, in May 2015, the 80-acre Montagna property on Pritchard Hill owned by Bob Long, with 32 acres planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, was put up for sale for an asking price of $55 million. Included in and contributing to that astronomical price is the fact the property also included more than 20,000 feet of caves, a 50,000-gallon winery permit, a hospitality area and a potential home site. The fact that the vineyard was already planted and the property already has a winery permit are also huge factors in valuing the property given the anti-development sentiments in Napa Valley that challenge any potential development.

Pritchard Hill is becoming one of the most exclusive sub-areas in Napa Valley. It is planted with about 350 acres of vines and is home to some of Napa's most extraordinary premium and super premium labels - Bryant Family, Chappellet, Colgin, Continuum, David Arthur and Ovid.

Montagna proprietor Bob Long and his family have been involved in the development of Pritchard Hill properties since the 1960’s. It is among the best terroir in Napa to not have a sub appellation designation.

Montagna is so named as it means 'mountain' in Italian. Fourteen acres of the Estate are planted in Bordeaux varietals Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. An adjoining 18 acres are planted in Cabernet Sauvignon on the site of original vineyard of David Arthur’s flagship premium label “Elevation”, named for its Elevation at 1147 feet above sea level.

I got this wine from fellow Pour Boy wine buddy Dr Dan who acquired a case. He introduced me to this wine when he brought a bottle BYOB to our dinner at Folklore Argentine Grill steak house in Wicker Park in Chicago before a Hawks game.

This evening's tasting was consistent with earlier tasting notes when I wrote, "This was dark garnet colored, medium to full bodied, earth and leather predominate almost like a left bank Bordeaux, giving way to black cherry, black currant and black berry fruits accented by spice, cigar box and hints of cedar with firm lingering tannins".

I held half the bottle and opened it the next evening and found even more pronounced fruits had taken over and the earth and leather were more subdued.

Selecting this as a Ricks Pick in an earlier tasting, I wrote: "This was simply terrific - big and bold with great depth, complexity, richness and concentration. Very much in the style of a traditional Napa cabernet with ripe, rich cassis and other dark fruits, a big, firm structure, full-body, velvety, smooth texture and a long finish. Adds aromas of tobacco and leather, and the fruits turn even darker after about an hour. This is an "in-your-face" style that somehow reminds me of many of the big Napa cabernets of the mid-to late 80's and 90's."

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1641170