Vineyard 29, Elan Atlas Peak Napa Cabernet 95 Duo, Fogdog Chardonnay Highlight Beef Tenderloin Surf & Turf Dinner
For a beef tenderloin wine dinner with friends Beth and Bill C, I suggested a (Napa) Cabernet theme following our Shiraz and Bordeaux dinners during last weekend's NYC getaway.
Bill brought a 1995 Vineyard 29 Napa Cabernet. Bill brought this same property's Grace Vineyard label from the '93 vintage to our
OTBN 2013 (Open That Bottle Night) dinner and it was one of my favorites of that evening that featured more than thirty wines.
For a comparison mini-horizontal tasting, I pulled a 1995 Elan from the cellar. This provided an interesting contrast in styles and terroir of two wines showing the same state of their aging profile.
At eighteen years of age these two wines are reaching the end of their drinking window and both, while showing their age, are still drinking well.
The two aged Napa Cabernets were a perfect complement to Linda'a beef tenderloin, green beans and wild rice dinner, as well as the chocolate mousse and selection of artisan cheeses. Prior to dinner we drank
Joseph Phelp's Sonoma County Fogdog Chardonnay 2010 with lobster medallions and artisan cheeses.
Freestone (Joseph Phelps) Fogdog Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 2010
This is an interesting whimsical label from the legendary Joseph Phelps known for Bordeaux varietal wines from Napa Valley. Yet Phelps loved the wines of Burgundy and wanted to craft
wines in that style. Originally he sourced Chardonnay from St. Helena,
then Yountville and later from Carneros.
Through the years,
he continued searching for the ideal spot to grow both
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. He found the perfect
combination of climate, soil and location in Freestone, in the Sonoma Coast appellation AVA, just five miles from the Pacific
Ocean. In 1999, Joseph Phelps Vineyards began developing 100 acres of
vineyards just outside of Freestone.
In 2005, he built a
new winery which was completed in time for the 2007 harvest. Today, 80
acres of Pinot Noir and 20 acres of Chardonnay produce remarkable
estate-grown wines bearing the Joseph Phelps name.
The moniker 'fogdog' refers to 'a bright or clear spot that appears in the breaking fog'. Being just five miles from the coast, the fog rolls in from the ocean and graces the vineyards early in the day before being burned off by the late morning sun.
We've had the Fogdog Pinot Noir on several occasions, most recently during
last weekend during our New York/Hoboken getaway, but this was our first encounter with the Chardonnay.
Winemaker Notes:
This wine has a very expressive floral bouquet with notes of baking
spices, wet stone and toasted vanilla bean. There is a hint of
mid-palate sweetness that nicely buffers the core of acidity and
complements the array of pear tart, white peach, green apple and
lemongrass flavors.
Sonoma Coast Chardonnay sourced from the Dutton Ranch Mill Station
Vineyard (67%) and the Freestone estate vineyards (33%).
The 2010 Chardonnay growing season was slow and cool, producing
excellent fruit quality with uniform sugar and acid levels, despite the
late season weather challenges, making for excellent natural winemaking
conditions. The finished wines are balanced and fresh with a distinctly
Freestone spice element.
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1342737
http://www.josephphelps.com/visit-us-sonoma-coast/
Vineyard '29' Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1995
Vineyard 29 derived its name from the estate's physical
address, located at 2929 Highway 29, just north of the town of St.
Helena. The estate is located on the eastern-facing slope of the Mayacamas
mountains that form the western boundary of Napa Valley. The property has had several owners over the last two decades. During the 1995 vintage year it was owned by Tom Paine and Teresa Norton who were partners in the international human resource consulting firm, Hewitt and
Associates. They purchased the 28-acre property (not 29?) in St. Helena
in 1988 and moved there in 1989.
They hired David Abreu as vineyard manager, a third generation rancher in St.
Helena, a graduate in viticulture and enology from University of
California at Davis, and founder of Abreu Vineyards and David Abreu Vineyard Mangement.
David planted the Grace Family vineyard with the Bosche clone of Cabernet Sauvignon in the Bordeaux style, with five feet
between rows and four feet between plants, resulting in about 2,000
vines per acre as opposed to the 500-600 vines found in most vineyards.
By 1993, Vineyard 29 was comprised of four acres and more than 8,000
vines. Vineyard 29 was in partnership with Grace Family Vineyard until 1998,
using their facilities. Dick Grace hired Heidi Peterson Barrett of Dalla
Valle and Screaming Eagle fame in 1995 and she also made the Vineyard 29
wine until 1998.
After nearly a decade of producing highly acclaimed vintages, Tom and
Teresa sold the property in 2000 to Chuck and Anne McMinn, who constructed a
state-of-the-art, gravity-flow winery and cellars on the property.
Vineyard 29 produces classic, rich, concentrated Cabernet
Sauvignon, attributable and distinctive to its terrior of its
eastern-facing slope where the grapes receive the most direct sunlight during
the early morning hours when the heat is less intense. Afternoon
sunlight falls indirectly on the vineyard, allowing for slightly cooler
afternoon exposure. This pattern of exposure is ideal as the grapes can
ripen with well-structured tannins. The slope ensures perfect
drainage, creating the perfect amount of vine stress to yield highly
concentrated fruit. In addition, the close spacing, a more expensive way
to farm, stresses the vines so the yield is lower and the grapes more
intense. The wine was aged in 100% new oak.
This wine is dark ruby colored, medium bodied, elegant with good depth, concentrated vibrant expressive spicy black cherry
and black berry fruits with a layer of leather, cassis, oak and cigar box that likely have come on and are indications of its age, with smooth nicely integrated fine-grained tannins on a long flavorful finish.
RM 92 points.
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=286122
http://www.vineyard29.com/
Elan
Vineyards Atlas Peak, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1995
We first tasted and picked up
this wine from the producers Richard & Linda Elliott-Smith during our
1998 Napa Wine Experience. We're getting towards the end of a case we acquiered back then.
During our
Napa Cab 95 Vintage Horizontal Tasting back in August, of the five eighteen year old '95 Napa Cab's tasted, this was the one
showed the most diminution from age. I think its Bordeaux style renders more earthiness and leather with more muted fruits.
Full bodied, with firm
but well integrated tannins, the black berry and black cherry fruits
are falling off a bit and giving way to tones of leather and tobacco,
accented by anise, cedar and oak.
RM 89 points.
As is often the case, I selected and 'blind' tasted this vintage without checking any tasting or cellaring notes beforehand, but I seemed to recall this vintage was reaching end of its apex and was due to be consumed. Afterwards, I checked, and unlike some earlier tasting notes of this vintage, this 2000 was especially vibrant and expressive, bursting with floral aromas and intense full raspberry flavors, without showing the age diminution found in some other bottles. Perhaps it vibrancy was due to it came out of a just opened case and had more consistent and appropriately stable provenance (storage). 
