From the Cellars and Vineyards of Napa and Sonoma (Part 1)

I invited family members from Canada and Scotland to join Robert and me in Napa Valley, California for five days. None of my family members had been to California wine country before so I wanted to give them a taste of wines that generally do not escape our borders.

Our first stop was Saddleback Cellars, the proprietor of which is Nils Venge, one of California’s hottest consulting winemakers. Nils has been making wine under his own label and for others for a very long time. He’s an unpretentious kind of guy who likes nothing more than kicking back with a well-crafted wine and some good country music blaring from the speakers, but he takes wine-making very seriously and consistently creates some of the best value wines in what is typically a very pricey neighborhood, the Oakville floor.

The tendency on the floor is focus on the big reds, the high-priced cabs this part of Napa is so famous for. Nils does offer the best of Napa fruit in his cabs, merlots, and zinfandels but he is equally attentive to the whites in his Saddleback Cellars range, and we tasted a very lovely ’07 Viognier and very impressive ’07 Napa Chardonnay. Nils also does a nice, crisp Pinot Blanc, offering aromatics of green apple, melon, and honeysuckle, which we have tasted and enjoyed over multiple vintages and consider to be one of our favorite hot weather whites.

We were tempted to linger at the picnic tables bordering the edge of the vines but we had another appointment down the road at Gargiulo Vineyards. Jeff Gargiulo and his team have been making estate wines in Oakville since 2000 with fruit from two properties—the Money Road ranch and 575 OVX. Kristof Anderson joined as winemaker in 2003 and uses gravity-fed techniques to gently coerce the best flavors and aromas from the grape. We tasted the ’06 Aprile Sangiovese/cab blend, Money Road Cabernet, and the 575 OVX G Major Seven Study, a Bordeaux-style blend which was my favorite of the bunch with bramble, blackberry, cassis, and vanilla on the nose and a smooth, well-balanced finish.

It was obvious this was going to be a music-themed week when Grammy winning artist/songwriter Billy Dean passed by the tasting room on his way to the recording studio (which sits among the vines) and our hosts asked him if would play us a song. He set down his glass of chardonnay, grabbed a guitar from Jeff Gargiulo’s displayed collection, sat down, and played his song “ The Penny” much to the delight of all.

Can you think of a better way to start a week in Napa and Sonoma?

Check back next week for Part 2 of our adventures in Napa and Sonoma.

Time for the 2000

It our effort to clean out the cellar (see my article Free Your Cellar Captives on the Love that Grape! Website) we recently tasted two 2000 vintages: A Oregon pinot noir and a Bordeaux.

2000 Chateau Lagrange Saint-Julien Grand Cru
This wine had a very pretty dark purple color, and on the nose I got blackberry, tar, smoke, leather, and clove. On the palate I tasted bright sour cherry, earth, and wood with some good acid and long heart-warming finish. This is certainly primed for drinking but the structure tells me you can hold it for a few more years, too.

2000 Torii Mor Oregon Pinot Noir
This wine did not taste quite as I expected it would. I think this may have been the last year Patty Green was making this wine so maybe she was saving her best efforts for her new label, I don’t know. There was some cherry there but it seemed a bit fruit-robbed. The oak and tannins where present on the palate and in the finish, but the roundness had gone, leading me to think we had waited too long to drink this wine. I’m going to pull some 2000 Patty Green single vineyard pinots out of the cellar to see how they compare. If this wine is any indication, it’s time to drink our 2000 Oregon pinot noirs.

Chateau Montelena Estate Cab '93 and '98

Robert and I have been fans of Chateau Montelena Estate cabs since our first trip to Napa back in '96. It's quite possible we bought the '93 back then and carried it home with us to our newly- built cellar.

Unfortunately when we opened the '93 for dinner with another couple (also fans of ch. Montelena cab) the first look and sniff told us we had waited to long to enjoy what we clearly fell in love with back in '96. The rim was clear and the wine looked and smelled oxidized. Our palates confirmed it--this former beauty was past her prime. Too bad.

Luckily we also had the '98 on hand and it was just what we expected--round, layered, with heady, lovely nose so characteristic of this cab.

But one bottle was not enough for dinner so we finished with a '05 Turnbull Estate cab which nicely contrasted newer Napa fruit with old and was a perfect pairing for upside-down pear and walnut cake and strawberries with whipped cream. Yummy!

Beyond Venice—On the Wine Road

Recently hubby Robert and I took three days ahead of a cruise out of Venice to drive two and a half hours north east of Venice to the vineyards of Valpolicella, home of Amarone.

This was our first taste of this area which is steeped in traditional wine making and culture. Our home base was a B & B just west of the city of Verona—Casa Villa D’Arco, a beautifully restored villa in the tiny village of Corno. Our hosts were Roberto and Vittoria Girelli, a gracious and tireless couple who offer three rooms, a sitting room, garden, and recommendations to guests, along with the best organic and homemade breakfast goodies we have tasted in Italy.

In the middle of a heat wave we plied the wine road in search of our favorite vineyards. Tommasi was our first stop. They prefer you call or email ahead, but they accommodated us with a quick taste of their ’05 Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico and Ca’ Florian single vineyard. We also tasted their ’03 Il Sestante Vigneto “Monte Masua” and their ’06 Fiorato Recioto Della Valpolicella, the region’s traditional sweet red wine.

This tasting prepped our palate for tastings at the Allegrini showroom and a tour of the villa and winery at Serego Alighieri, former home of Dante, where we tasted a flight of Amarone Classico and one white wine, a blend of Sauvignon Bianco and Garganega. Serego Alighieri is in partnership with Italian wine giant Masi, so you are able to taste wines from both producers in the wine shop. Wine tastings at both Allegrini and Serego Alighieri are priced depending on what you want to taste. A more detailed review of these wineries and tasting rooms will be posted soon on the Love that Grape website.

In Valpolicella it is best that you book appointments well in advance. We visited during the start of the vendemmia (grape harvest) where the winemakers were hurrying a harvest of their white grapes, afraid of prolonged heat exposure. It was a busy time where split-second decisions were being made regarding harvesting. Despite a nail-biting growth season which included hail, sleet, and a late summer heat wave, winemakers felt very optimistic about the 2009 vintage. We will see. The 2009 vintage Amarone will, in most cases, be released in 2013.

If you want to taste the best of Valpolicella now, it was suggested to us that we taste ’97 and 2000 vintages. Give us your recommendations and suggestions.

Making a List, Checking it Twice

Heading out for a vacation that will include visits to Canada, Croatia, Italy, Turkey, and Greece.

What am I packing?

Here's a list of the must haves:

• Quick dry undies
• Picnic baggie: includes cheese knife, wine screw, plastic utensils, tea towel/tablecloth
• Camera
• Passport
• The Wine Century Club application/checklist
• Map for Italy
• Manila envelope for trip confirmations, vouchers, etc.
• Guide book recommendations condensed to two printed pages
• Bill Clinton on speed dial in case we get lost (just kidding)

What do you pack for a wine soaked trip?

A Washington State Wine Bargain

I picked up a bottle of 2007 Hogue Columbia Valley Cab because it was on sale and I needed some daily drinkers for summer barbeques. I bought one bottle as a test and came back for six more.

Why?

It was lovely big cherry, unctuous, and silky on the palate and it tasted like something you would spend $20.oo or more for. With the case discount I was able to purchase this wine for under $9 at Krogers.

It's a screwtop but don't let that scare you. Maybe that will keep Uncle George from drinking all your wine at the family cookout.