Guardian Newsprint Cabernet Ste Michelle Rose

Chateau Ste Michelle Rose' and Guardian Cellars 'Newsprint' Cabernet Sauvignon Red Mountain

We joined Ryan and Michelle and the kids for a cookout by the pool as we watched Reid and Marleigh swim. Ryan served this Guardian Cellars 'Newsprint' Cabernet with grilled burgers, sausages and hot dogs. I brought the remains of a Chateau St Michelle Rose'.

Chateau Ste. Michelle Columbia Valley Rosé 2018

We visited Chateau Ste Michelle during our Woodinville Wine Tour and Seattle Culinary and Washington Wine Tour last fall.

The fruits for this label are sourced from the Columbia Valley whose vineyards lie in the rain shadow of the Cascade Mountains and receive just 6-8 inches of rainfall annually, ideal for growing wine grapes. The northerly latitude gives the Washington State Columbia Valley nearly two more hours of sunlight daily during the peak-growing season than California, increasing the region’s ability to ripen fruit.

Salmon colored, light medium bodied, dry simple, elegant easy drinking rosé soft flavorful with subtle aromas of watermelon, raspberry and strawberry with citrus zest and hints of melon with a long crisp finish.

RM 88 points. 

This is a blend of 72% Syrah and 28% Merlot.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3234852

https://www.ste-michelle.com/

We also visited Guardian Cellars' Woodinville tasting room together during our Seattle Culinary and Washington Wine Tour and our Woodinville Wine Experience last fall.

Guardian was founded in 2004 by two Seattle-ites, Jerry Riener, a police officer, and Jennifer Sullivan, a journalist with KOMO News. The two met while Sullivan worked the crime beat for The Seattle Times and Riener was her “confidential source” inside the police department.

An organic chemist by training, Riener had interned at several Woodinville wineries such as Baer, Mark Ryan and Matthews Winery before launching his own label. Guardian Cellars focuses primarily on on Bordeaux-style blends, but they also produce a line called 'Newsprint' that is comprised of single varietal offerings.

Guardian Cellars 'Newsprint' Cabernet Sauvignon Red Mountain 2016

We tasted and Ryan acquired this 2015 Newsprint Cabernet Sauvignon during our visit. It is 100% Cabernet sourced from the Quintessence Vineyard on Red Mountain. Located next to Col Solare and Ambassador Vineyard, Quintessence is the fruit source for many highly acclaimed wines from producers like Lauren Ashton, Duckhorn’s Canvasback, Lachini, Fidelitas, Mark Ryan and DeLille. The vineyard is managed by Marshall Edwards who also manages Obelisco Vineyard on Red Mountain.

This was another as yet undiscovered producer that was suggested as a worthwhile stop in the area. While perhaps not at the level of the premium Long Shadows selections, or the Fidelitas or Mark Ryan premium labels, Guardium produces some very respectable quality wines that represent high QPR - Quality Price Ratio selections. 

Today, Jerry, protege Joel, and the Guardian team produce 16 different wines under the Guardian label and this second label, Newsprint. Last year's production exceeded 10,000 cases. 


WINEMAKER'S NOTES: "Read all about it! This 100% Red Mountain Cabernet packs a whole lot of deliciousness in one heck of an affordable bottle. This wine features ripe fruit with hints of vanilla and wood smoke on the nose. The palate is super juicy, full of ripe dark berry, black cherry and plum jam flavors; these delicious fruits are complemented by a sprinkling of tannins aimed to give great structure to this wine."

This was dark inky blackish garnet colored, medium full bodied, dark black and blue fruits with notes of licorice and hints of creosote turning to abundant tannin on the finish. 

RM 88 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2607686

https://www.guardiancellars.com/ 

@GuardianCellars

Lafage Tessellae Old Vines GSM 2015

Domaine Lafage Tessellae Old Vines GSM 2015

Since we're heading to the south of France to visit friends and the wine country in a couple of weeks, I am exploring wines from the region in preparation for our trip there. We opened this Red Rhone Blend in the style of South Australian "GSM" - Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre from the Côtes du Roussillon appellation which lies in the far southwestern corner of France, between Spain and the Mediterranean. There is abundant sun which is ideal for grape varietals Carignan, Grenache and Cinsault, the region’s traditional varieties, and there are increasingly abundant plantings of Syrah and Mourvèdre.

Within Côtes du Roussillon, select terraced hillsides above the Agly, Verdouble and du Maury rivers, in the foothills of the Pyrenees, produce the more complex and barrel-aged Côtes du Roussillon-Villages red wines. The better wines are normally produced from vines on the slopes, not in the valley floors.

Appellation rules required blended red wines - the blend allowed is: Carignan (maximum 60%), Syrah, Mourvèdre (minimum 30% combined), Grenache noir, Lladoner. A minimum of three varieties are allowed in the blend.

Roussillon still regards itself as part of Catalonia across the border in Spain, and in wine styles. Whereas the Languedoc region in France is almost entirely dependent on vine-growing, the farmers in Roussillon's fertile valleys, overlooked by the Pyrenees, grow all sorts of fruits. The climate is almost Spanish, and is particularly suitable for growing cherries, plums, peaches, apricots and nectarines.

Domaine Lafage "Tessellae - Old Vines GSM" Côtes du Roussillon 2015

This is a blend of  50% Grenache, 40% Syrah and 10% Mourvedre. It is from a popular producer, Jean-Marc Lafage who is known for producing wines with robust expressive fruit in the GSM varietals (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre). This is from Old Vines - 70-year-old vines and brought up all in concrete tank. This has great QPR - Quality Price Ratio of about $15 at Binny's locally around Chicagoland.

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate gave this wine 93 points and wrote,"A ripe, expansive, full-bodied and undeniably sexy red that has beautiful notes of kirsch liqueur, blueberries, pepper and violets, it has ripe and present tannin, straight up fabulous purity and a great finish. This is another one of those wines where you just have to tell yourself you spent more than you actually did. The wine really is this good. (JD)  (4/2017)"

The folks at K&L Wines in Redwood City, one of my favorite wineshops anywhere, love this wine.

From Keith Mabry | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 1/30/2018 

Like all Lafage wines, there is no shortage of fruit in the GSM. The wine has the sensation of warm raspberry coulis drizzled over a berry compote. It almost sounds like a little much but Lafage excels at creating finesse where fruit lingers. Great acidity, plush velvety tannins and glycerol richness lead you to believe this is a much more expensive wine and gives you the balance you desire. The name Jean-Marc Lafage has become synonymous with cost to quality in our stores. Every wine is inflected with his joyously exuberant style. For wines that you can drink every day that show pure pleasure in the glass, you need look no further than Lafage's harmonious Grenache Syrah Mourvedre blend.

Thomas Smith, K&L Staff Member says, "Seriously, Jean-Marc Larfage is just killing it right now. In addition to being one of the most in-demand consulting winemakers in France, he continues to put out unbelievable values from his region of specialty: the Languedoc and Roussillon. Take for instance the 2015 Tessellae. Farmed from over 100 year-old-vines, this wine is utterly delicious, displaying flavors of raspberry coulis and bing cherries above a darker, medium bodied blackberry fruit. Hints of charcoal, smoke, and well-integrated spice contribute to a nuanced aroma. It is warm, upfront, fruity and an incredibly well-made wine that will work with plenty of different types of cuisines and is good for any night of the week. I would argue that at this moment, Lafage is producing the best value wines anywhere in the world. If you’ve loved the Kerbuccio, Bastide Miraflors, or Arqueta from Domaine Lafage, you should definitely pick up the Tessellae."  K&L Staffer Alex Pross says, "This is my favorite Lafage release to date! The 2015 Tessellae Old Vines GSM has a hauntingly beautiful nose of red cherries, licorice, white pepper and garrigue. On the palate the wine is fresh and lively with great energy and drive. There is copious fruit notes as well as spice with a layered and complex palate. The wine shows excellent integration of its tannins, fruit and alcohol which gives this full-bodied wine a deceptively light on its feet feel. Top Value! Drink from 2018 to 2022 This was dark garnet colored, medium-full bodied, expressive forward black fruits with a bit of that Spanish effect coming through, a bit hot smokey, peppery creosote note accented by spice and hint of cassis.

RM 89 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/barcode.asp?iWine=2658658

https://www.klwines.com/

https://www.domaine-lafage.com/en/?___from_store=fr

Simi Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

Simi Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

For a business dinner at The Clubhouse Restaurant in Oak Brook, IL, my colleague selected from the winelist this Simi Alexander Cabernet. It should be noted this is from Simi Winery and is not to be confused with Simi Valley which is down in southern California north of LA. Simi is located in the northern Alexander Valley in Sonoma County at the northern edge of the town of Healdsburg.

Simi has been producing Sonoma County wines since Guiseppe Simi arrived from Tuscany to develop the vineyards and winery. The property was in the Simi family until Isabelle Simi retired and sold the winery to Alexander Valley grape grower, Russell Green in 1970. Notable winemaker Zelma Long joined SIMI in 1979 and direct major renovation of the winery's fermentation and barrel rooms.

Today winemaking is overseen by Melissa Stackhouse from UC Davis, Meiomi, J Vineyards & Winery, and La Crema, and Lisa Evich who worked previously at Pine Ridge.

Since the 80's Simi has expanded vineyard ownership acquiring the Landslide Vineyard in Sonoma County and 100 acres in the Russian River Valley which they developed into Goldfields Vineyard with Chardonnay.

Simi Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

Decent for the modest price-point of this entry level Cabernet. Simi also offer three other premium vineyard designated select and a reserve Cabernets.

Dark garnet colored, medium bodied, a bit flabby, slightly astringent cherry fruits accented by cinnamon spice and hints of cedar on a modest tannin finish. Tasted from winelist at Clubhouse in Oak Brook, IL.

RM 87 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3164749

https://www.simiwinery.com/ 

Mondavi Napa Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

For a weeknight grilled steak dinner, I pulled from the cellar this aged Napa Cabernet to accompany Sean's grilled steak and potato wedges with garden herbs and garlic.

Robert Mondavi have an extensive portfolio of wine labels and its easy to get lost in the numerous offerings. The Oakville label is a single appellation designated label that has proven to be a premium offering to their California and Napa labels which may source grapes from a far broader geography, but below the ultra-premium 'Reserve' label.

The Mondavi Oakville may represent one of the best QPR - Quality to Price Ratio in the Mondavi line as it often equals or beats the Reserve flagship label for a fraction of the price. While almost double the price of the Estate Napa Cab, the Oakville consistently is distinctive and represents the best that the appellation has to offer in this price range and is generally available based on production of over 10,000 bottles. In good years, Mondavi does a great job obtaining this quality in such a quantity production.

In 2004, the Oakville designated Mondavi Cabernet was especially good and I acquired a fair amount of it for cellaring for enjoyment over a period of years. My records indicate this was the last bottle from that collection. My Journal of tasting notes for this wine has a half dozen earlier entries dating back to 2007 with the last one being in 2012. My blogpost of that tasting talks more about the Mondavi Oakville label. The label pictured is from that tasting. That evening we dined at Metisse Restaurant on the shore in Belmar, NJ, a melancholy memory as Metisse was destroyed in Hurricane Sandy. Such is how wine makes memories that touch our lives.

My last tasting note for this wine was in 2017. I wrote then how I was pleasantly surprised in how well this wine is showing after thirteen years as it was as good as I remember. Tonight I had the same observation now at fifteen years. As I wrote in that last blogpost, this is showing signs of aging but is developing character, complexity and depth as some of the fruits give way to a tone of earthiness and leather, but taking on a full floral layer on the finish. It was a perfect accompaniment to the grilled steak.

Like the previous tasting, the 2004 presented dark garnet ruby red color, medium to full firm body with intense concentrated but smooth and polished flavors of sweet ripe currant and blackberry, dusty herb, and cedary oak with hints of anise and dark mocha on the sharp moderate tannin lingering finish.

Like the previous earlier tasting, I reduced my rating by a point to RM 90 points, reduced one from earlier tasting when I reduced it from 92 to 91. Wine Spectator gave this wine 93 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=224276

https://www.robertmondaviwinery.com/

Beaucanon Trifecta Napa Valley Red Blend

Beaucanon Estate Louis de Coninck Trifecta Napa Valley Red Blend

I stopped in Ambassador Wines in NYC on Second Avenue at 54th and met owner Louis Phillips.

For a special dinner I picked up this Napa Valley Bordeaux Red Blend from Beaucanon Estate by winemaker Louis de Coninck, Trifecta is a blend compiled of four estate grown Bordeaux varietals.

The Beaucanon Estate Longwood Ranch sits at the south eastern corner of the Oak Knoll AVA (American Viticultural Area) in Napa Valley where it meets the Atlas Peak AVA in southeastern Napa Valley.  

The original historic property dates back to the origins of Napa Valley, part of the Yajome land Grant that belonged to Captain Salvador Vallejo, brother of General Mariano Vallejo, founder of Sonoma and military commander and director of colonization on the northern frontier. The Grant covered over 6000 acres and was first given to Damaso Rodriquez, a retired ensign from the first Calvary division of the Company of San Francisco which petitioned the Mexican government in 1838.

It was back around 1860 when the Longwood name was first associated with the site known for the long row of old-growth oaks that still boarder Milliken Creek flowing through property down at the bottom of Silverado Trail. Later in 1912 Longwood was know for ample prune orchards and a 60 acres market owned by a prosperous dairyman name William Watt, ancestor to Kathryn Hall of Hall Wines in Rutherford and St Helena who produce a line of Walt Wines in his honor. 

The first winery was built in 1987 just outside of St. Helena. an impressive facility where they produce almost 30,000 cases of wine annually. After seven years at this facility, Louis de Coninck transitioned to the Longwood Ranch vineyard. There, a historic barn has been outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment where they produce only 12,000 cases annually of carefully crafted wine. 

Beaucanon Estate wines reflects the terrior of the soil type known as alluvium fan which exhibits gravely deposits, clay and silt that encourages the vines to grow deep strong root structures.  Deeply rooted vines produce high quality concentrated fruit for Beaucanon Estate select winemaker signature wines.

Louis de Coninck, the winemaker, carries on the wine making history of the family, 9 generations of wine merchants originally from the right bank in Bordeaux that can be traced back to 1740. Trained from age 18 in Saint Emilion, he joined his father Jacques in Napa Valley.  His crafts wines that reflect the terrior of Napa Valley, displaying finesse, complexity, structure, mouth-feel and the bright expressive flavors of Napa Valley fruit.  Like all great winemakers, Louis excels at highlighting the natural characteristics of perfectly ripe fruit and the distinctive "terroir" of the vineyard sites.

Beaucanon Estate Louis de Conick, Trifecta Napa Valley Red Blend 2013

Dark inky blackish garnet colored, full bodied, tight, concentrated dark dense flavors of blackberry and black currant fruits accented by a layer of black tea, notes of creosote, cassis and licorice  with hints of smoke with a lingering moderate tannin finish.

This is a blend of the Bordeaux varietals Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. This composition results in the concentrated dense firm inky structured wine. Cabernet Sauvignon provides firm and structured backbone, Cabernet Franc highlights of spice, Petit Verdot dark color and firm dense structure, and Malbec contribute to the dark inky dark color and robust tannins. 

Conspicuously missing in the blend is Merlot, the most common Bordeaux varietal, which is typically used to  provide softness in the blend when compared with the sterner, later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon, which tends to be firmer and higher in tannin. The result is a firmly structured  'tight' wine.

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2843902

http://www.beaucanonestate.com/trifecta.html

Ambassador Wines @AmbassadorNY

Chateau Buena Vista Napa Cabernet

Buena Vista Chateau Buena Vista Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

Alec picked this up at the local wineshop in Westport, CT. From the legendary Buena Vista Winery with arguably one of the more colorful histories of the wineries in California with its founder, the self-proclaimed “Count of Buena Vista,” Agoston Haraszthy, an eccentric pioneer of California wines.

Founded in 1857, Buena Vista was one of California’s first premium wineries. The legendary brand is being re-born today under the vision of owner Jean-Charles Boisset. Just outside the town of Sonoma, the original winery is now a California Historic Landmark.

The Count immigrated from Europe in 1840 in pursuit of opportunity in the burgeoning American West. Following the spirit of the forty-niners in search of gold in the hills of Northern California, Haraszthy sought “purple gold” – the perfect ‘terroir’ where he could grow grapes to make exceptional wine. He ultimately settled in Sonoma, birthplace of California and capital of the short-lived California Republic, where he founded Buena Vista Winery in 1857.

In the 1860’s Buena Vista covered more than 6,000 acres that ran up into the foothills and past the Mayacamas Mountain range into what is today Napa County.

In 1861, founder Count Haraszthy journeyed to Europe in search of the finest grapevines. In Bordeaux, he obtained Cabernet Sauvignon and brought choice cuttings back to California where he planted them at Buena Vista, thereby bringing Cabernet Sauvignon to the Napa Valley.

The inaugural release of this new label offering, Chateau Buena Vista Cabernet Sauvignon, was in 2013 as Buena Vista returned to Napa Valley. In recent history, Buena Vista has generally been considered and known for Sonoma Valley wines, based on its popular historic winery and cellar near downtown Sonoma.

This new addition to the Buena Vista portfolio is packaged in a large oversize heavy bottle of a premium wine but is moderately priced for a Napa Valley Estate Cabernet thereby offering good QPR (Quality Price Ratio).

Buena Vista Chateau Buena Vista Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

This 2016 release was sourced from Oak Knoll to St. Helena, from vineyards along Napa Valley’s eastern slope. The backbone of this is grapes from 10 acres of the Bartalucci Vineyard just south of St Helena, in Napa Valley near Raymond vineyards, a recent acquisition for Boisset. 

We tasted this opposite the Trifecta Bordeaux Blend that I brought for the occasion which made an interesting and fun comparison. Compared to the Chateau Buena Vista, the Trifecta was darker, bigger and tighter yet slightly more harmonious and integrated despite being a blend of four varietals compared to the Cabernet Sauvignon.

Bright garnet colored, medium full bodied, rich and opulent with intense structure, slightly obtuse, rich aromas of black berry, black cherry and black currant with a touch of spice and licorice, fine-grained tannins are soft with a full-bodied mouthfeel and a long, lingering finish.

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3304073

https://buenavistawinery.com/

Birthyear Silver Oak and Freemark Abbey Bosche'

Birthyear Silver Oak and Freemark Abbey Bosche' wines to honor Alec and Viv's engagement

Son Alec and fiance Vivianna are engaged to be married in June of 2020. We traveled to Conneticut to visit our future in-laws, and the wedding venues. To celebrate the occasion, I took two birthyear wines from our cellar to commemorate the kids and their engagement.

We've collected numerous birthyear wines for son Alec. We also have a deep enough cellar so as to hold some wines from the birthyear of fiance and future daughter-in-law, Viviana. This was an occasion to do a combination tasting of wine from each vintage.

Silver Oak and Freemark Abbey are two of our favorite producers, from whom we hold several vintages and labels, however we don't necessarily hold labels of the same vintage from each. This provided an evening of celebration, and a comparison tasting or two Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon vintage wines of almost equal age, from two sequential vintages.

Silver Oak Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1990

We have some special large format (six liter Imperials) birthyear bottles of Silver Oak (Bonny's Vineyard) for the gala event next year, so this is a warm up for the occasion with the Estate bottled label from the greater region, albeit not the extraordinary rare single vineyard designated label. We also served Silver Oak Bonny's Vineyard from the 1982 vintage at our eldest son Ryan's wedding, as well as several other birthyear special wines.

Our twenty nine year old bottle was well preserved with a perfect label and foil with a fill level half way in the neck, reduced less about 3/8 inches from being perfect fill. The cork was almost perfect although it did break in half on opening being slightly dry, but I used a conventional corkscrew. Were I at home, I most certainly would've used my customary two pronged cork puller, which I am confident would have extracted both corks in whole.

Dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, this had bright ruby garnet color, very slight bricking at the rim, with the black cherry and black berry fruits having given way to the predominant signature nose and flavor of infused sweet oak layer for which the brand is known and famous.

The black cherry and black berry fruit was subdued, somewhat Bordeaux like with accent by notes of spice, black tea and tobacco leaf with tangy acidity and soft moderate tannins on the lingering tangy finish.

While past its prime, apex of its drinking window, this will not improve any further with aging, but is holding its own and will likely remain at this level of its drinking window for a couple more years. I didn't decant this but served it straight from the bottle. I might do the same again the next time.

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/notes.asp?iWine=20741

https://www.silveroak.com/

Freemark Abbey Bosche' Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1991

This is one of our favorite labels of which we hold numerous vintages dating back several decades. We acquired a case of this single vineyard designated label back around this period from the producer and picked up select bottles from nearby vintages to fill out our horizontal collection.

We picked up some of these bottles during our visit to the Estate over the years including select bottles from their library collection for special occasions.  We're longtime fans of Freemark Abbey, witness by the fact we hold bottles going back to the early eighties. Our Freemark Abbey experience highlights include our visit to the winery during our Napa Wine Experience 2009, when wine buddy and fellow 'Pour Boy' Bill and I had a fun time touring their library cellar with Cellar Manager Barry Dodd (Bill and Barry, right).

That day, we purchased two aged vintage selections - 1974 and 1978 commemorating our anniversary years, which we tasted that evening across the road at Graystoke Manor at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) in St Helena.

Another notable point about this vintage is the poignant reflection on the rear label. It states' "this vintage is made in tribute to the life of John Bosche' (1909-1991). With dedication and drive he contributed to the Napa Valley wine growing industry for over thirty-five years.

Today, the Bosche' family continues his tradition of grape growing at the meticulously cared for vineyard near the town of Rutherford. Freemark Abbey has proudly produced outstanding Cabernet Bosche' wines since 1970." Signed Ted Edwards, Partner and Winemaker.

 Tonight, this wine showed more fruit and was aging more gracefully than the similarly aged, one year older Silver Oak. It showed better than recollections recorded at earlier tastings.

Like the Silver Oak, our twenty eight year old bottle was well preserved with a perfect label and foil with a fill level half way in the neck, reduced less about 3/8 inches from being perfect fill only a mm lower than the Silver Oak. Like the Silver Oak, the cork was almost perfect although it did break in half on opening being slightly dry, but I used a conventional corkscrew. Were I at home, I most certainly would've used my customary two pronged cork puller, which I am confident would have extracted both corks in whole.

Tasted at Freemark Abbey vertical tasting - http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2012/12/freemark-abbey-cab-vintage-horizontal.html.

In 2012 I wrote, "This bottle was suprisingly lean and austere, not what I recall from this Napa vintage generally, but revealed such against the '92 which showed markedly differently. Garnet colored with a brickish rim, this was light bodied with properly balanced but slightly tart black cherry and black berry fruits accented by tobacco, tea, cigar box and leather on a short modest short finish." Perhaps bottle variation relative to tonight's tasting?

Tonight this showed best of the tasting: Bright garnet colored, medium full bodied, full forward vibrant red berry and cherry fruits accented by tangy spice, tea, hints of cedar and notes of cigar box with moderate tannins on a long lingering finish.

RM 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/notes.asp?iWine=249611

https://www.freemarkabbey.com/

Frank Family Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

Frank Family Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

Visiting future in-laws Frank and Mary-Lisa, we were served Frank's and family signature family wine, Frank Family Vineyards Napa Valley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. We had a delightful weekend visiting, boating, and touring the venues for Alec and Vivianna's gala wedding weekend next summer.

A wonderful close knit family, it is only fitting their signature wine is not only a whimsical namesake, but also sourced from a family winery with vineyards named for their offspring.

Frank Family Vineyards estate up in Calistoga is housed in an 1884 stone cellar—the third-oldest building in Napa Valley.  They did a massive renovation of the original Kornell Champagne Cellars and the 19th-century Larkmead before that. The site is one of the most beautiful and interesting in Napa Valley. Ironically, it is one of the first wineries we visited during our very first Napa Valley wine visit back in the seventies!

The winery and tasting room were totally reimagined a few years ago for their 25th anniversary. The Hollywood Room is a tribute to founder Rich Frank, past president of Disney Corporation and wife Leslie’s career as an Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist and Hollywood reporter. On display are the couple’s two Emmys. Frank is known as one of the guys who green-lit Aladdin and The Lion King, but it’s Frank’s penchant for hospitality, not his Hollywood credential that is behind Frank Family Vineyards being named “Best Napa Winery” eight years running by Bay Area A-List.

Frank Family flagship wine, Frank Family Patriarch Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 ($225)  was named one of the world's 30 best wines according to Vivino’s latest 2019 Wine Style Award, which celebrates the best 1,640 wines across 164 different styles based on 40 million reviews and 120 million ratings on the wine app and website.

Frank Family Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

This is a Bordeaux Blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot, and 1% Cabernet Franc, all sourced from the Frank Family Estate vineyards.
 
The 206 acre S&J Vineyard is located east of the Vaca Mountain range in Napa’s Capell Valley. Purchased in 2000, it is named for Darryl Frank’s children, Stella and Jeremy. It is planted to 58 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, along with 9 acres of Petite Sirah and 9 acres of Zinfandel.

The Benjamin Vineyard is located east of Conn Creek Road in the heart of the Rutherford AVA,  acquired in 2012, it is 87-acres formerly known as Wood Ranch, and was renamed for Paul Frank’s son. It is planted with 50 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, 8 acres of Petit Verdot, and 2 acres each of Zinfandel, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot.

Dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, elegantly balanced and nicely integrated flavors of flavors of blackberry, black raspberry and black cherry with notes of crème de cassis, espresso and hints of vanilla bean, toast, spice and cedar turning to smooth yet firm tannic structure, with subtle gripping tannins on a long and expressive spiced fruit lingering finish.

RM 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2938375

https://www.frankfamilyvineyards.com/