Showing posts with label merlot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label merlot. Show all posts

Saturday, February 17, 2024

Gala Family Birthday Celebration features fun novelty namesake wine

Gala Family Birthday Celebration features fun novelty namesake label wine

Son Alec and D-in-law Vivianna hosted a gala family birthday celebration for grand-daughter Marylin's second birthday. 

Family and friends gathered for beef tenderloin, shrimp cocktail, a selection of artisan cheeses and charcuterie, dips, fresh fruit, salads, and, of course, birthday cake and ice cream.


Alec pulled from his wine cellar several white and red wines for the occasion. As is customary in what is becoming somewhat of a tradition, I pulled from our cellar a novelty namesake wine as well. 

Hill Family Estate Vineyards Napa Valley Atlas Peak Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

We featured Hill Family Estate Vineyards in these pages in detail last March in this blogpost - Hill Family Estate Napa Cabernet 2018.
We wrote about how As newlyweds, son Alec and Vivianna visited Hill Family Estate during their forest fire shortened honeymoon in Napa a year ago September. They visited the new Hill Family Estate winery, located just minutes south of Yountville just off Ste Helena Highway 29, the western main artery of Napa Valley. They tasted this wine there and since then have acquired wines as part of their wine club allocations.

Doug Hill founded Hill Family estate vineyards back in 1977 when he acquired his first vineyards. Since then, eleven different vineyard locations have been added to the Hill Family Estate portfolio, mostly in Napa Valley and its environs now covering more than 100 acres in numerous significant sub-appellations within Napa Valley.

For nearly four decades, the fruit was sold to the likes of Far Niente Winery, Silver Oak Cellars, Duckhorn Vineyards, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Caymus Vineyards, Cakebread Cellars and a host of other winery luminaries. Hill Family grapes were considered among the finest grown in the prestigious Napa Valley. 

Around the turn of the century, Ryan and Carly Hill approached their father with the vision to establish the family winery with the family name on it. Hill Family Estate was born in 2001 with the first fruit that would become Hill Family Estate wines. A total of around 980 cases were produced and released in 2004. The new brand was immediately acclaimed and gained national prominence with numerous Awards and industry plaudits. 

Hill Family Estate winemaker Alison Doran joined the team and crafted the inaugural 2001 vintage. Alison was introduced to  Doug while he was growing grapes and she was making wine for Lewis Cellars, another one of our benchmark favorite producers, and the other estate visit tasting the kids attended during their shortened honeymoon. Alison  developed her skill while being mentored by renowned wine expert Andre Tchelistcheff, completing a degree in winemaking at UC Davis and spending time in the legendary  wine region of Alsace, France. Today, Doug and  Alison work closely together selecting the highest quality  grapes and producing ultra premium wines

Today, the Hill Family owns 120 acres of vineyards  with properties on Atlas Peak, in Carneros, Oak Knoll and American Canyon. They are 100% family-farmed, family-owned and  family-operated.Production ranges between 9,000 to 12,000 cases  annually sourced from 12 different estate vineyards allowing them to select the  highest quality fruit for their wines.  

The Hill Family portfolio has grown to over twenty five different labels across the broad range of varietals, blends, and single vineyard designated offerings.  
 
Hill Family Estate opened a tasting facility in downtown Yountville, directly down from the famous French Laundry Restaurant of Chef Thomas Keller and Keller’s Bouchon Restaurant, a classical French bistro also located in Yountville where Ryan Hill was formerly a sommelier.  
 

We've had several Hill Family Estate wines with Alec and Vivianna and I believe this may have been the best label so far. 

We had another one of their special limited release premium labels available to Hill Family Diamond Club members that Alec acquired as part of Alec's club allocation during Father's Day Grilled Steak Wine Dinner last year. 

Winemaker notes - This release was blended from fruit from several Hill Family Napa Valley vineyard sources. The high elevation Baker Vineyard up on Atlas Peak at 1,200 ft. providing intense tannins and color, was blended with vineyards from the valley floor and cooler areas - Windy Flats on the western foothills in Wooden Valley, and Beau Terroir is in the Carneros foothills. Also included in the blend was fruit sourced from Beau Terre, Hansen, and Villagio vineyards on the valley floor. Added to the blend was some Malbec and Merlot to add complexity of aromas on the nose along with fruit and oak spice, and finally some Syrah to add density without astringency.

"Atlas Peak Cabernet Sauvignon is accumulating a well-deserved reputation for intensity and finesse. At 1,500 ft. elevation, the Baker vineyard is a series of different volcanic soil types carved out of heavy chaparral in Foss Valley with a southwestern exposure, featuring several clones and rootstalks selected for their suitability to the thin, rocky soil. 2018 had nice rainfall and a long growing season, with bloom in early June, and veraison around August 14. The Cabernet Sauvignon had big color and big tannins and showed off the potential of the site and to create elegance and complexity. We did an optical sort and used F15 yeast, letting the fermentation reach 97 degrees at its highest point. Atlas Peak is not for everyone. It needs to settle down and evolve for a while in bottle to soften and broaden the structure. But for the collector who wants to see their investment pay off, this wine is ready to age and grow for a long time."

:The 2018 Atlas Peak Cabernet Sauvignon aromas burst out, with many layers of cassis, mocha, sage and blackberry. Mountain tannins underlie the midpalate and persist to the end The palate is dense and focused, with mountain tannins and plenty of structure that will act as scaffolding for this wine to grow in the future."

Interesting that Atlas Peak has emerged as a favorite in another wine tasting of several labels from the same vintage release including this gala winemaker tasting event -
Some other wines from this sub-appellation -
I found this dark inky purple garnet colored, full bodied with bold, full round complex expressive ripe black berry, raspberry and black currant fruits with a layer of soft sweet mocha, with notes of spice, floral and hints of cassis on a lingering tongue puckering tangy acidity silky tannin laced finish. 

RM 93 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3881100

https://hillfamilyestate.com/product/2018-napa-valley-cabernet-sauvignon/  

https://hillfamilyestate.com/

https://twitter.com/HFEWine

@HFEWine
Gathering of clan McNees for
family birthday celebration

Nova Wines Napa Valley Marilyn Merlot 2011 

We then opened from our cellar a (almost) namesake wine for grand-daughter Marylin that we have fun with for these occasions. We featured Marilyn Merlot and their portfolio of wines in these pages in earlier blogposts including this one back in 2014 - Marilyn Merlot and Norma Jean Wines - A Study in Branding

The 2011 features a relaxed, playful image of Marilyn Monroe in a green, low-cut blouse, short black skirt and timeless fishnet stockings with black peep-toe pumps. Like the wine, a fashion that never goes out of style.

Winemaker’s Note: The 2011 vintage Marilyn Merlot is the 27th release of this fine wine. It is a straight Merlot this year . The wine was aged in 100% oak barrels, 35% of which were new for this vintage. Aromas of Ripe Strawberry and cherries, primarily thyme and lavender complement the oak components of vanilla and smoke from the wood. Moderate alcohol and good acidity make this wine a good pairing with fine foods. Vineyard loc ations for this wine are from our longtime growers in Yountville and Oakville regions of the Napa V alley. -- John McKay."

:With a resurgence of interest for our 25th/SILVER ANNIVERSARY in 2011, and the sexy Red Dress in 2012, people continue to talk about the quality and collectability of Marilyn Merlot,” says Donna Holder, an owner of Marilyn Wines, "but Marilyn wouldn't have just collected these wines, she would have drunk them." That’s because “the wine lives up to its reputation, plush, soft, and sultry" according to Leslie Sbrocco, author of "Wine for Women". And when they try it, reviewers admit to “surprise” at the high quality."

We have fun with these wines and find them okay for casual sipping on such occasions. 
 
At a dozen years of age, this was dark ruby colored, medium bodied and taking on some of the non-fruit characteristics of a Bordeaux varietal late in its tasting window with earthy woodiness and some smoke and leather setting in taking over from the brambly black berry notes. 

Friday, January 13, 2023

Wine Dinner Features Spring Mountain Wines

Wine Dinner Features Spring Mountain Wines  

We invited colleague Tom C and wife Lisa for an intimate wine dinner. Tom recently won his Sommelier Certificate, so we were eager to get together and share insights and perspectives over some fine wines. Linda prepared beef tenderloin, whipped potatoes and haricot verts. Prior to dinner we served a selection of artisan cheeses, 14 year aged Cheddar, Stilton Blue, Havarti and a Bellavitano. 

We toured our wine cellar and discussed appropriate wines for the evening and landed on Spring Mountain District Napa Cabernets. Tom and Lisa visited there and stayed at the fabulous Spring Mountain Winery Chateau, site of the former Falconcrest TV Series, so the area had special memorable significance for them. 

Of course we love Spring Mountain District wines, and have enjoyed visiting and touring there on many of our Napa Wine Experiences over the years visiting Pride, Fantesca, Keenan and others. We have a respectable collection from which to choose. Indeed, this follows on a Keenan Winery Napa Valley Spring Mountain Cabernet that we enjoyed just the other evening, featured in my most recent blogpost in these pages

After some deliberation we pulled from the cellar for tonight's dinner three selections: Paloma Merlot 2003, Robert Craig Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, and a Fantesca La Petite Soeur Red Bordeaux Blend 2007, which also provided a mini-horizontal comparison tasting of that vintage.


Tom and Lisa brought dessert and a Chateau Rieussec Sauterne. We also opened a Kracher TBA - Trockenberrenauslese for a comparison tasting.

I paired the Paloma Merlot with Fantesca Cabernet back in an earlier Spring Mountain tasting in 2013 which I posted in these pages. 

Paloma Napa Valley Spring Mountain District Merlot 2003

We started with this special 2003 release Paloma Merlot that followed the 2001 release that gained notoriety when the 2001 Paloma Merlot was awarded 95 points and named Wine Spectator's #1 “Wine of the Year” in 2003, out of over 15,000 wines evaluated. 

I reiterate my post about Paloma from last year here.

Paloma is Spanish for “dove”, the estate sits on a steep, tree-lined ridge at the very top of Spring Mountain in the Mayacamas Mountain range that forms the west wall of Napa Valley, sitting between Bald Mountain to the south and Diamond Mountain to the north.

Founded by Barbara and Jim Richards in 1983, seeking a vineyard to highlight the grapes and terroir of their favorite region, they were turned on to the property by winemaker producer friend Dan Duckhorn. Over the next 25 years, Jim and Barbara worked to clear, plant, and cultivate 7,500 Merlot, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon vines. 

The Richardses were transplants from Midland, Texas, where Jim worked as a petroleum geologist -- got the wine bug in the 1980s. He bought the property at the top of Spring Mountain Road in 1983. They planted it in 1985, choosing Merlot because they had tried Dan Duckhorn's Merlot and found it to their liking. Duckhorn, a Napa Valley Merlot pioneer, encouraged them to plant, and even bought their grapes in those early years. 

Spring Mountain is a cool spot and its grapes are often harvested late in the season. It's typically cooler in the day and warmer at night there than on the valley floor, and those factors come into play in the even-ripening that Paloma's grapes enjoy. Yet after the first few crops, which produced precious little fruit, the Richardses were concerned that they may have made the wrong decision. "I figured maybe Merlot won't do well at this elevation," recalls Jim, now 72, who speaks with a soft, west Texas accent.

But then, as the vines matured and Barbara cruised through the 15-acre vineyard on her ATV, quality picked up. The wine has earned outstanding marks in five vintages, and the debut 1994 is still awesome, says Foley. By 2000, the Richardses were ready to fly solo. Foley had helped them design a small winery and, Jim says, "I still ask everyone as many questions as I can" to find out how to improve on grape growing and winemaking techniques. The Richardses' son, Sheldon, joined the winery during this time and began learning the ropes.

Paloma was a vineyard back in the last half of the 19th century but was returned to forest around the turn of the century. There still remain old redwood grape stakes and a few old zinfandel vines that survive under amongst the large Douglas fir trees that surround the estate home. One historic vine near the house produces one or two clusters of grapes a year that are put into our Merlot blend for good luck.

In 1991, some of the grapes were sold to Pride to be blended into their Cabernet Sauvignon. Jim worked and learned enology alongside legendary winemaker, Pride’s very own, Bob Foley. In 1996, Paloma released their first-ever vintage, the 1994 Merlot  - 575 cases total. Paloma’s first commercial Syrah was released in 1998.

Paloma built the estate winery in 2000 where they crushed their own fruit that year for the very first time.

Their son, Sheldon, joined the business in August of 2003, just in time for harvest and for the release of the award-winning 2001 Paloma Merlot. The follow-on 2002 and 2006 vintages were also recognized as  the Wine Spectator’s Top 100 at 54 and 65, respectively.

The 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon (Sheldon’s first solo vintage as winemaker), received high praise from James Laube of Wine Spectator in two separate articles written in 2007 and 2009.

Jim and Barbara passed on in 2009 and 2016, but their legacy lives on under the stewardship of son Sheldon as owner and winemaker. 

Paloma reflects the terroir and specific micro-climates of the area and the high altitude Spring Mountain property. The topography of the area has its own weather patterns being among the the coolest, wettest place in the Napa Valley.  High above the Napa Valley and the morning fog, Paloma Vineyard is generally 15 to 20-degrees cooler on hot summer days than the valley floor vineyards. The more moderate temperatures and the volcanic soils are what make Paloma wines so special, adding layers of complexity to the mid-palate and long finishes.

Springs appear throughout the area after a good rain, hence the area’s name. The combination of the summer heat and low pressure from the cool coastal air that approaches the summit from the west lengthens the growing season into late fall. The prolonged hang time – several weeks longer than warmer Napa Valley floor – add resonance and concentration to the resulting small clusters.

The vines are planted on mostly steep, east-facing hillsides. The Sonoma volcanics and Franciscan sandstone soils stress the grapes, forcing them to stay small, with a higher skin-to-grape ratio. The resulting mountain wines tend to be more concentrated and intense, softened by the gradual temperature fluctuations. The wines from the site are bright and bold but with a surprising softness and elegance.

Paloma Napa Valley Spring Mountain Merlot 2003

We love Napa Valley mountain fruit wines with their richness, focus and concentration, and Spring Mountain wines are amongst our favorites. We're long time fans and collectors of Pride Mountain, Fantesca and Robert Craig Spring Mountain Cabernets. 

We still hold several vintages of this label dating back to 1999 and our patience is rewarded tonight enjoying this aged nineteen year old.

Paloma Merlot is a blend of estate grown Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The Cabernet Sauvignon ranges from 14 to 16 percent depending on the vintage. 

Winemaker notes: The wine is a big, world-class red capable of improving with bottle aging for at least 20 years in most vintages. Although the characteristics of the wine vary with each vintage, they have a consistent thread of complex aromas of blackberry fruits, black stone fruits, chocolate, tobacco, spice, and floral notes with a mineral overtone. On the palate, the wine has a silky mouthfeel, is well balanced with flavors of berries, fruit, cocoa, cassis, and spice, and enjoys a long spicy finish. The addition of the Cabernet Sauvignon adds structure, rich fruit, and a subtle increase in tannins." 

This release was awarded 90 points by Wine Spectator and 89 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. 

I first wrote about this wine in September 2013 when I gave this 93 points and wrote that I like this wine: "At ten years old this may be at or approaching its apex as it is drinking better than any of the previous half dozen bottles we've tasted from our case. I was worried at first when decanted as the color seem a bit dark with a slight brown hue but the aromas were pure berry. Medium bodied, silky smooth, elegant and polished with complex layers of raspberry, sweet current, blue and black berry highlights. This tasting was consistent with my last posted tasting notes from a year ago this week (September 2012) when I wrote, "Medium full bodied, smooth polished, complex harmonious symphony of finely integrated aromas and flavors - predominant sweet black currant, red raspberry, milk chocolate, a hint of ripe plum, sweet oak and a bit of burnt sugar caramel on the long smooth polished finish." Based on this tasting, I extended my drinking window in Cellartracker which was listed as drink by 2011 to 2016.

At nineteen years, the fill level was perfect, as was, importantly, the cork, reflecting the ideal conditions of our cellar for long term aging. Of course, as show, Paloma bottles are painted rather than having glued paper labels. Like I did back in 2013, tonight I once again extended the drinking window for this wine, to 2022, as it is still showing well, holding its own, likely at the peak of its drinking window, perhaps nearing the end such that it might now start to diminish from further again.

This was dark inky purple garnet colored, medium-full bodied, with intense firm concentrated structured rich black currant and blackberry fruits with notes of cedar and nutmeg, black tea, dark mocha and cigar box with firm focused tannins on the gritty lingering finish.

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=109466

https://palomavineyard.com/

https://twitter.com/palomavineyards

We tasted this label on posted tasting notes in Cellartracker back in 2012 and 2013.  

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2022/09/paloma-napa-merlot-2003.html

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2013/09/spring-mtn-classics-fantesca-cab-and.html


Robert Craig Napa Valley Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

This Robert Craig Spring Mountain label was first released in 2005. It was sourced from the picturesque Joan Crowley vineyard perched at 2000 foot elevation along the summit of Spring Mountain, high above the town of St Helena in the Mayacamas Range that forms the western slope of Napa Valley. The site is primarily dry-farmed, reducing vigor and crop yield resulting in small, flavor-packed berries. 

As I have written often in these pages, Robert Craig focused on and specialized in hillside and mountain fruit from leading producing regions of Napa including Mt. Veeder, Howell Mountain, Spring Mountain and Diamond Mountain. Add Mt George and Atlas Peak above the town of Napa and you have the four corners of the Napa Valley. He often referred to it as 'four mountains and a valley' in describing his portfolio of Cabernets. 

We hold a vertical collection of Robert Craig Cabernets going all the way back to their inaugural vintage release in 1993. It is one of the largest producer collections in our cellar across seven different labels and three decades of vintages.

While Robert Craig Winery owned many of their vineyard sources, they bought fruit from select vineyards on the various mountains. They worked with Napa Valley based hillside vineyards generally at altitudes of 1,600 feet or higher. 

Robert started his career up on Mt Veeder, initially developing the William Hill vineyard, and then later, at The Hess Collection as their General Manager. In addition, he helped develop 300 vineyard acres on Mt. Veeder for the movie star comedian Robin Williams estate. Robert Craig sourced Cabernet Sauvignon fruit from there for over two decades for the Mt Veeder designated Cabernet label until Robin's passing and the recent sale of the estate and the Pym Rae vineyard to the French Tesseron wine empire Family. Their recent first release label from that property was priced at $350. Robert often said that Mt Veeder was his favorite of his Cabernets. He was instrumental in forming sub appellations for both Mt. Veeder area and Spring Mountain.

We memorialize Robert who passed away a year ago in September 2019 from complications from Parkinson’s disease in this blogpost - Robert Craig Tribute.

The Robert Craig Winery is perched at an elevation of almost 2300 feet high up on Howell Mountain on the north east side of Napa Valley. It is among some of Napa’s highest vineyards. At this elevation they actually see some snow in the winter at times. The location sits above the town of Angwin and their permit at the actual winery limits them to an extremely small number of visitors, as well as only several events per year at the actual winery, hence, they maintain a tasting room in the city of Napa. 

We attended a several tastings and dinners over the years with Robert and Lynn Craig and sometimes staff when various events. 

Some of the highlight over the years were a private dinner with Robert and Lynn at the CIA back in 1988, another was a private tasting there at the Robert Craig Howell Mountain Estate in 2008, where we also attended the Harvest Party at the estate in 2009.

http://www.mcnees.org/winesite/napa/napa-09/napa-09-craig/napa_harvest_09_craig.htm

http://www.mcnees.org/winesite/napa/napa_08/napa_08_craig.htm

My recollection is that I first tasted this Spring Mountain label upon its release during that visit in 2008. It was a comparison tasting against the Mt Veeder and Howell Mountain labels, the Spring Mountain was served from the barrel, and it was my standout favorite, being slightly sweeter than the other two. I remember the allocation for Club members was limited to three bottles. I negotiated a mixed case purchase of twelve bottles of the 05, 06 and 07 vintages, the remains of which we're enjoying tonight.  

Robert Craig writes of this label; "The Crowley vineyard is a close fit for our mountain Cabernet portfolio from the highest elevations of Napa Valley. Overlooking St. Helena from its perch at 2,000 feet, this vineyard’s rocky volcanic soil, varied hillside exposures, and moderate climate produce densely concentrated winegrapes. Joan Crowley’s low-yield, biodynamically farmed vineyard has provided us with deep, aromatic and structured wines since our first vintage with it in 2005. The mountain is cooled by afternoon breezes from the nearby Pacific Ocean, creating moderate daytime temperatures and cooler nights that allow grapes to ripen slowly without pushing high alcohol and sugars. The heady, deep perfume that is a Spring Mountain District signature is always present in this cabernet that is hard to come by." 

In addition to Cabernet Sauvignon varietal grapes, Robert Craig also sourced from the Crowley vineyard Bordeaux varietal Petite Verdot.

Robert Craig Napa Valley Spring Mountain District Crowley Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2007


This release was awarded 94 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 92 points by Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator, and 17.5/20 by Jancis Robinson.

Parker wrote, "This is a very exciting wine that should drink well for 20-25 years." (RP) 94+  (12/2009)

Production of the 2007 release was a mere 640 cases.

Winemaker notes on Spring Mountain and the Crowley vineyard.
The Crowley vineyard is a close fit for our mountain Cabernet portfolio from the highest elevations of Napa Valley. Overlooking St. Helena from its perch at 2,000 feet, this vineyard’s rocky volcanic soil, varied hillside exposures, and moderate climate produce densely concentrated wine grapes. The mountain is cooled by afternoon breezes from the nearby Pacific Ocean, creating moderate daytime temperatures and cooler nights that allow grapes to ripen slowly without pushing high alcohol and sugars. for a sense of place that establishes a wine’s unique identity, is the perfect concept to describe the qualities of Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignons.  

Dark garnet purple colored, full-bodied, complex, dense concentrated full and round blackberry, wild berry and plum fruits with notes of spice, smoked meat and cassis with a lingering smooth polished finish.

RM 93 points. 

In 2009 Robert Parker wrote that this is a very exciting wine that should drink well for 20-25 years. Wine Enthusiast said this this is a good wine to seek out for the cellar. The producer comments on the 2019 vintage release of this label - "That is to say, it is one of the highest quality red wines to be produced anywhere in the Napa Valley at any price."

 https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=863547

https://robertcraigwine.com/

https://twitter.com/RobertCraigWine

@RobertCraigWine

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2019/09/robert-craig-tribute.html

Fantesca La Petite Soeur Red Bordeaux Blend 2007

Fantesca Estate and Winery is one of our favorite Napa Valley producers. We hold a vertical collection of more than a dozen and half vintages of their estate Cabernet Sauvignon. Fantesca was conceived and founded by Duane and Susan Hoff, who moved on from their careers as executives at Best Buy Corporation to Napa Valley winery and vineyard proprietors when they acquired this historic Spring Mountain District estate. The vineyards, winery and home sit above St Helena on the lower reaches of Spring Mountain in the Mayacamas Range between Mt Veeder and Diamond Mountain. 

We visited their spectacular mountainside estate during our Napa Wine Experiences in 2007 and in 2009.

We hosted Duane here at our home during his initial release promotional tour visit to Chicago back in 2004. 

Duane Hoff pouring 2002 vintage while visiting Rick & Linda
in Chicago during 2004 vintage release marketing outreach.


Their's is a story book tale that started when Minneapolis natives, Susan and Duane Hoff were college sweethearts and entrepreneurs at heart, who both had meteoric careers at Best Buy Corporation, from the earliest startup days to corporate leadership roles. They left Best Buy and moved their family to Napa Valley in 2004 upon acquiring and founding Fantesca Estate and Winery. Today, Susan and Duane enjoy growing a business with their adult children – one of whom is an aspiring winemaker, and the other, a budding biotech entrepreneur.

Fantesca Spring Mountain District
Vineyards

Initial the early year 2002-2007 vintages from the estate were managed by winemakers Nils and Kirk Venge; then in 2008 they teamed up with legendary winemaker Heidi Barrett. The celebrated winemaker has been referred to as “The Wine Diva of Napa” and as “The First Lady of Wine.” She gained fame and recognition producing exceptional high quality wines that she produced for famous labels.

In addition to Fantesca, her current portfolio includes Amuse Bouche, Paradigm, Lamborn, Kenzo Estate, Au Sommet, Vin Perdu and her own labels, La Sirena and Barrett & Barrett. She has worked previously with Screaming Eagle, Dalla Valle, Jones Family, Grace Family, Vineyard 29, David Arthur, Barbour Vineyards and Showket.

Heidi grew up in a winemaking family in the Napa Valley and attended UC Davis, where she received a B.S. in fermentation science. After several harvests in Napa Valley and abroad, Heidi became the winemaker at Buehler Vineyards at age 25. It was at Buehler that she began attracting recognition by greatly improving the wines. After five years with Buehler, she moved on as an independent winemaker — and was quickly hired by Gustav Dalla Valle of Dalla Valle Vineyards.

Heidi made her mark at Dalla Valle creating powerful yet elegant Cabernets, including the cult wine “Maya,” a Cabernet blend awarded 100 points by Robert Parker for the 1992 and 1993 vintages.

In 1992 Heidi began crafting wine for Screaming Eagle and again received two perfect 100-point scores, for the 1992 and 1997 vintages. At the Napa Valley Wine Auction of 2000, a 6-liter bottle of Heidi’s 1992 Screaming Eagle Cabernet set a world record for the highest price ever paid for a single bottle of wine at $500,000. The following year, a vertical offering of this cult wine went for $650,000.

From their initial ten acre vineyard, they produced ultra-premium 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, and there is an acre planted in Petit Verdot. They also sourced grapes from the Sonoma County Russian River Valley to produce a bright crisp full flavored Burgundian Chardonnay, the first ever by Heidi Barrett.

Recently, Fantesca have brought on Master Sommelier DLynn Proctor as wine ambassador and evangelist. I met DLynn when he hosted a Penfolds Tasting that featured Legendary Grange at our local Binny's back in 2014, when he was Penfold's Ambassador and Education Director for that icnonic Australian producer. 

What fun to meet DLynn in person (right) having enjoyed watching his pursuit of his Master Sommelier Certification in the entertaining documentary movie SOMM which is a feature on Netflix. We saw DLynn on the Amazon Prime Somm III documentary the other night prominantly wearing this Fantesca jacket.

Fantesca products make for festive serving features or as elegant gifts as are lavishly packaged in stylish heavy etched glass bottles with painted 'labels', or in original wood cases.

In 2007 Fantesca released Le Petit Soeur, so named as Fantesca's 'little sister'. This Bordeaux Blend label is the unique small limited production blend that Heidi crafted for Fantesca initially to incorporate their their Cabernet and Petit Verdot for Fantesca family and friends. This 2007 release is a classic Bordeaux Blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Petit Syrah of which 194 cases were produced. We acquired this label as part of our wine club allocation back in those early years.

I posted a tasting note of this label to Cellartracker back in 2010. At that time I gave it 91 points. 

At fifteen years of age this has integrated nicely and evolved into an interesting sophisticated blend, probably at the apex or peak of its drinking profile and window, and not likely to improve any further with more aging, but likely to age gracefully for several more years.

Dark garnet and purple colored, medium to full bodied, nicely balanced blackberry and dark cherry fruits with notes of tobacco, black tea, spice, hint of clove and cedar with moderate smooth tannins on a tangy finish.

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1045246

http://www.fantesca.com

https://twitter.com/FantescaWine

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Team Dinner and Go-to CasalFerro Wines at Italian Village Chicago

Team Dinner and Go-to CasalFerro Wines at Italian Village Chicago

With my tech leadership team in town for a week closing out the year, and final planning for the year ahead and the next chapter in our strategic plan, we dined at our usual go-to eatery and enjoyed some of our favored go-to wines with dinner. 

Tonight was a repeat of several earlier such team dinners we've had at Italian Village.  I last wrote about this wine in a blogpost, Team dinner at Italian Village Chicago in November last year.

Team working dinner at Italian Village Chicago features Super Tuscan and Bolgheri Chianti Classico

 
I've written in previous blogposts about our wine and dinners, about Italian Village, Chicago's oldest, longest running continuously family operated Italian restaurant in Chicago. 
 
As is our custom, tonight, we dined in one of the private tables/rooms in the Village, one of the three restaurants on the premises, a perfect setting for an intimate or business dinner.
 
Part of this ritual is hooking up with friend and wine-buddy IV Wine Director and buddy Jared Gelband and Gerry Castillo, IV Vivere restaurant 'floor manager', who has become our 'designated' server when we come in, all shown together below. 

 
From producer dinner, wine buddy Dr Dan,
Gerry, me and Jared.

With dinner, tonight I selected these two wines from the winelist, from the same producer, Baron Ricasoli, composed of the same varietal and vineyard sources.
 
This is a label I know well and have collected over the years, one of the small selection of Italians in my cellar collection, which tends to be French and American.


When I picked these two wines from the extensive, vast Italian Village winelist, I didn't realize we've enjoyed each of them before, but never together in a mini-vertical comparison tasting. I don't think I had realized the 'vertical' aspects of the two labels, being the varietal from the common  estate sources.

Jared shared with us how he visited the
Baron Ricasoli estate and staying in the magnificent Brolio Castle located within the town of Gaiole during his last wine country producer tour, He talked about meeting the proprietors who represented the 32nd generation of the family to manage the estate, and and explained how the similarity between the two labels and how they used to blend Merlot in this earlier release. 

The 2000 vintage release was classic Chianti Classico native Sangiovese accented with a bit of Merlot, which has since been dropped in later releases to focus on and showcase the estate Merlot, as in the other label below.

Barone Ricasoli Casalferro (Sangiovese) Toscana IGT 2000

We also had this label back in the early 2020 which I featured in a blogpost Ricasoli CasalFerro & Livio Fellugo Saso, at the time.  
 
This 2000 vintage release is a blend of 75% Sangiovese and 25% Merlot. It was aged in small french oak barrels for 18 months which along with the Merlot in the blend, softens the tannins. 
 
The grapes were sourced from estate vineyards set 350 – 400 meters above sea level, mainly from the vineyard of the same name with southwest exposure, with a predominance of calcareous sandstone and Alberese stone.

Today production of this label is 135,000 bottles in a prodigious vintage year.

Wine Spectator awarded this vintage release 90 points.

At twenty-one years, this was starting to show its age and is reaching the end of its drinking window. The fill level, foil and cork (shown left) were ideal for the age. 

While past its prime, this wine was an ideal pairing with our entree selections, my Butternut Squash with Fig puree and mushrooms, the Filet of Beef, and the Lamb Chops, a new Italian Village Chef Jose Specialty.

While this was initially a bit funky with some barnyard earthiness which burned off after decanting and aerating back and forth three times, it was better than our previous tasting, due likely to bottle variation over two decades of aging. 

This was dark garnet colored with a bit of browning on the rim, medium full bodied, powerful full and forward black fruits are starting to give way to notes of cedar, black tea, olive tapenade, leather and hints of creosote on the deep, full, lingering tannic finish.

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=17527

https://www.ricasoli.com/en/product/casalferro-2000/ 

@ricasoli_1141

We lasted tasted this other wine during a similar team dinner back in the fall of last year when I wrote about Italian Village Wine & Dine Chicago.

Tonight, members of our group selected for our entrees the beefsteak, the lamb chops, and I chose the butternut squash with fig puree and mushrooms - all perfectly complemented by the combination of these two wines.  

Baron Ricasoli Cassalferro Castello di Brolio 2015

Ricasoli is the most representative wine producer in the Chianti Classico area Italian wine region. The estate covers the 1,200 hectares of property include almost 240 hectares of vineyards and 26 of olive groves covering rolling hills and picturesque valleys with thick woodlands of oaks and chestnuts.

Since taking over in 1993, Baron Francesco Ricasoli has been guiding this central Tuscan company according to the principles of his renowned ancestors, producing wines that showcase the distinctive terroir of the soil types, the climate and clonal selections of the Brolio Sangiovese. He has also totally renovated and completely mapped the vineyards.

This label, Casalferro,  was  first  produced  in  1993  when  Francesco  Ricasoli  became  president  of  the company. This is 100% Merlot produced only during the best years. Casalferro is sourced from the vineyard  of  the  same  name  located  at  400  meters  above  sea  level  and  facing  south.  
The  brown  clay  loam  soil  with  little  organic  content  contributes  to  the  exclusive  personality  of  this  great Chianti Merlot.

This release was awarded 95 points by James Suckling, 93 points by Wine Spectator, and 92 points by Robert Parker Wine Advocate.  

Bright Ruby colored, medium bodied, expressive black berry and black cherry fruits with tones of leather, anise licorice and dark cocoa and herbs, medium plus acidity and medium plus tannins on a long finish. I agree with one review that wrote that this tastes more like a Sangiovese than a Merlot from the New World, or the Right Bank.

RM 90 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2869770

https://www.ricasoli.com/en/product/casalferro-2015/

https://twitter.com/ricasoli_1141 

@ricasoli_1141

https://italianvillage-chicago.com/

https://twitter.com/italianvlg

@italianvlg

https://twitter.com/jzgwine

@jzgwine

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Harry & David Southern Oregon Merlot 2012

Harry & David Vineyards Southern Oregon Merlot gift basket selection

Harry & David is a on-line catalogue corporate gift site that packages a broad selection of gift boxes and baskets to send to clients, customers, and special folks. The gifts can be composed from a broad selection of gourmet foods, baked goods, cheese, fruit, chocolates and wine, or combinations thereof. The wine selection offerings consist of reds or whites or combinations thereof, of mostly Oregon wines. 

We received this bottle in such a gift box from a valued vendor years ago and have held it ever since, tucked away in the cellar, waiting for an appropriate time to drink it, or 're-gift' it. The Oregon reds available are Pinot Noir, a red blend, a Cabernet Sauvignon, or this Southern Oregon designated Merlot. This label has been offered consistently going back a decade to the 2010 vintage, sans 2011. 

According to their site," the Harry & David wine team works with growers and winemakers across the 'three prominent valleys' of Oregon to deliver the range of wines to their exacting standards". The wines are private labeled Harry & David Vineyards, which is carefully worded but more than a bit misleading since they are all outsourced to suppliers. The wine gift offerings are paired with a vast broad selection of wines, cheeses, meat, bakery goods, chocolates and more in price ranges from under $30 to several hundreds of dollars. 

According to the rear wine label, the brothers Harry and David started growing and shipping their "extraordinary homegrown (Oregon) pears" seventy five years ago and continuously expanded the business and "gourmet gift offerings to celebrate every occasion" ever since. And, "every occasion needs wine."

The promotion listing on the annual five day long Oregon Wine Experience charity fund raising event that is supported by all the leading winemakers and producers across the state and includes Harry & David. It says; "The Medford-based gourmet foods company, which has been selling gift baskets filled with locally produced fruit and snacks since 1934, has hired winemaker Linda Donovan of Pallet Wine Co. in Medford to make nine different wines from grapes grown mostly in the Rogue Valley. The wines will include Chardonnay, Merlot and Pinot Noir. The company has long sold wines from Oregon, California and imports in stores and it ships wines through the wine.com website. The Harry & David Vineyards label has the name of the grape-growing region printed across the top."

Pallet Wine Company Pallet "was built to provide a central winemaking destination for the quickly expanding Southern Oregon wine regions and focus on custom winemaking for growers who wish to pursue selling their own brand, and virtual brand owners who desire consistent and high quality wines vintage to vintage."

Cellartracker, the wine cellar management tool that I have been using for nearly a decade, says it has grown exorbitantly "to hundreds of thousands of collectors tracking more than 141 million bottles. CellarTracker has also grown to become the largest database of community tasting notes with more than 9 million such notes as of late 2021. Every year more than 10 million visitors come to the site to read reviews and garner wine recommendations."

Notably, they list nine vintages of this label with one or fewer tasting notes each totaling less than a half dozen tasting notes in total - the fewest I have ever seen for a label across such a range of vintages.  

 Our expectations for this wine were pretty low, but I must admit it exceeded them, actually proving to be reasonable every day casual sipping. It would meet the expectations for a large majority of consumers for such an every day wine, meeting the objective of a gifted wine, which of course would not want to disappoint. This is a testament to the care they take in selecting their wine offerings within their margin limits for their price-points.

This was ruby colored, light-medium bodied, rather austere simple easy drinking with notes of cherry and berry fruits, spice and hints of vanilla, smoke and pepper.

RM 85 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1900720

https://www.harryanddavid.com/

https://www.harryanddavid.com/h/gourmet-foods/wine/best-sellers 

https://twitter.com/HarryandDavid



Sunday, September 18, 2022

Paloma Napa Merlot 2003

Paloma Vineyards Napa Valley Spring Mountain Merlot 2003

Sunday evening dinner feasting on leftover NY Strip Steak from Friday evening's dinner, I opened from the cellar this premium Merlot as a perfect accompaniment. 

This 2003 release Paloma Merlot follows the 2001 release that gained notoriety when the 2001 Paloma Merlot was awarded Wine Spectator's #1 “Wine of the Year” in 2003, out of over 15,000 wines evaluated. 

Paloma is Spanish for “dove”, the estate sits on a steep, tree-lined ridge at the very top of Spring Mountain in the Mayacamas Mountain range that forms the west wall of Napa Valley, sitting between Bald Mountain to the south and Diamond Mountain to the north.

Founded by Barbara and Jim Richards in 1983, seeking a vineyard to highlight the grapes and terroir of their favorite region, they were turned on to the property by winemaker producer friend Dan Duckhorn. Over the next 25 years, Jim and Barbara worked to clear, plant, and cultivate 7,500 Merlot, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon vines. 

Paloma was a vineyard back in the last half of the 19th century but was returned to forest around the turn of the century. There still remain old redwood grape stakes and a few old zinfandel vines that survive under amongst the large Douglas fir trees that surround the estate home. One historic vine near the house produces one or two clusters of grapes a year that are put into our Merlot blend for good luck.

In 1991, some of the grapes were sold to Pride to be blended into their Cabernet Sauvignon. Jim worked and learned enology alongside legendary winemaker, Pride’s very own, Bob Foley. In 1996, Paloma released their first-ever vintage, the 1994 Merlot  - 575 cases total. Paloma’s first commercial Syrah was released in 1998.

Paloma built the estate winery in 2000 where they crushed their own fruit that year for the very first time.

The 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon (Sheldon’s first solo vintage), received high praise from James Laube of Wine Spectator in two separate articles written in 2007 and 2009.

Their son, Sheldon, joined the business in August of 2003, just in time for harvest and for the release of the award-winning 2001 Paloma Merlot. The follow-on 2002 and 2006 vintages were also recognized as  the Wine Spectator’s Top 100 at 54 and 65, respectively.

Jim and Barbara passed on in 2009 and 2016, but their legacy lives on under the stewardship of son Sheldon as owner and winemaker. 

Paloma reflects the terroir and specific micro-climates of the area and the high altitude Spring Mountain property. The topography of the area has its own weather patterns being among the the coolest, wettest place in the Napa Valley.  High above the Napa Valley and the morning fog, Paloma Vineyard is generally 15 to 20-degrees cooler on hot summer days than the valley floor vineyards. The more moderate temperatures and the volcanic soils are what make Paloma wines so special, adding layers of complexity to the mid-palate and long finishes.

Springs appear throughout the area after a good rain, hence the area’s name. The combination of the summer heat and low pressure from the cool coastal air that approaches the summit from the west lengthens the growing season into late fall. The prolonged hang time – several weeks longer than warmer Napa Valley floor – add resonance and concentration to the resulting small clusters.

The vines are planted on mostly steep, east-facing hillsides. The Sonoma volcanics and Franciscan sandstone soils stress the grapes, forcing them to stay small, with a higher skin-to-grape ratio. The resulting mountain wines tend to be more concentrated and intense, softened by the gradual temperature fluctuations. The wines from the site are bright and bold but with a surprising softness and elegance.

Paloma Napa Valley Spring Mountain Merlot 2003

We love Napa Valley mountain fruit wines with their richness, focus and concentration, and Spring Mountain wines are amongst our favorites. We're long time fans and collectors of Pride Mountain, Fantesca and Robert Craig Spring Mountain Cabernets. 

We still hold several vintages of this label dating back to 1999 and our patience is rewarded tonight enjoying this aged nineteen year old.

Paloma Merlot is a blend of estate grown Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The Cabernet Sauvignon ranges from 14 to 16 percent depending on the vintage. 

Winemaker notes: The wine is a big, world-class red capable of improving with bottle aging for at least 20 years in most vintages. Although the characteristics of the wine vary with each vintage, they have a consistent thread of complex aromas of blackberry fruits, black stone fruits, chocolate, tobacco, spice, and floral notes with a mineral overtone. On the palate, the wine has a silky mouthfeel, is well balanced with flavors of berries, fruit, cocoa, cassis, and spice, and enjoys a long spicy finish. The addition of the Cabernet Sauvignon adds structure, rich fruit, and a subtle increase in tannins." 

This release was awarded 90 points by Wine Spectator and 89 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. 

I first wrote about this wine in September 2013 when I gave this 93 points and wrote that I like this wine: "At ten years old this may be at or approaching its apex as it is drinking better than any of the previous half dozen bottles we've tasted from our case. I was worried at first when decanted as the color seem a bit dark with a slight brown hue but the aromas were pure berry. Medium bodied, silky smooth, elegant and polished with complex layers of raspberry, sweet current, blue and black berry highlights. This tasting was consistent with my last posted tasting notes from a year ago this week (September 2012) when I wrote, "Medium full bodied, smooth polished, complex harmonious symphony of finely integrated aromas and flavors - predominant sweet black currant, red raspberry, milk chocolate, a hint of ripe plum, sweet oak and a bit of burnt sugar caramel on the long smooth polished finish." Based on this tasting, I extended my drinking window in Cellartracker which was listed as drink by 2011 to 2016.

At nineteen years, the fill level was perfect, as was, importantly, the cork, reflecting the ideal conditions of our cellar for long term aging. Of course, as show, Paloma bottles are painted rather than having glued paper labels. Like I did back in 2013, tonight I once again extended the drinking window for this wine, to 2022, as it is still showing well, holding its own, likely at the peak of its drinking window, perhaps nearing the end such that it might now start to diminish from further again.

This was dark inky purple garnet colored, medium-full bodied, with intense firm concentrated structured rich black currant and blackberry fruits with notes of cedar and nutmeg, black tea, dark mocha and cigar box with firm focused tannins on the gritty lingering finish.

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=109466

https://palomavineyard.com/

https://twitter.com/palomavineyards