Napa Part I.
Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 4:55 pm
Back to reality. A great week in wine country with a fabulous meeting thrown in for good measure.
Two days of wine touring and one sightseeing along the coast. It was fun seeing the whales frolicking off Bodega Head. Way out of season but that may give an indication of what a crazy Summer the wine growers are dealing with. There is a real fear in Napa/Sonoma of what 2010 will bring. Coldest temperatures in over 40 years. Grapes are along way from being ripe and many fear significant crop losses. Many have done a severe green harvest dropping 20-30% of the fruit on the ground. Severe cropping to let more sun on the grapes in areas has proven devastating for some. Two weeks ago they had a +100*F heat wave that fried a lot of the hanging exposed fruit! Many wonder what they'll have left. Seen in conjunction with the financial crisis,a glut of wine on the market and many producers teetering you may see a big shake up in the wine fields. There already are a lot of For Sale signs up as it is. Only time will tell.
Day 1
First stop at Rick Julien's referral we stopped at Loxton with a personal tour by Chris. He was quite discouraged by what has happened this summer and you could hear the fear in his voice. A small producer of 5500 cases can't aford to have too much of a loss because what's left in the end?? His Chardonnay Parmalee Hill field is close to Bodega Bay coast capturing the cooler temperatures to give a less ripe crispness and acidity to the fruit. This was the weakest of our tasting but still a very good wine.
2007 Pinot Noir Russian River 161 cases $35. Lovely drinkable Pinot with nice light red berry fruit and balanced. Pretty smooth going down and drinks well now with a 3-5 year window.
2007 Zin Reserve 151 cases. Not a Zin fan but I certainly could drink this. Not an overly extracted alcohol bomb like others. I thought this might have been a less oaked Aussie Shiraz.Drinking very well with more prevalent tannins than some other Zins I've had that I'm sure would be tamed with BBQ.
2006 Syrah Cuvee Ellen 296 Cases. Great wine drinking well now. Not a favourite but still a lovely wine.
2006 Cab Shiraz Easy drinking and smooth with dark fruit and well balanced. Nothing off putting here.
Sonoma Reds Your every day drinking wine. Super value at $16 a bottle. Fabulous for the price and certainly have paid 2-3x's more for a worse wine. I could make this a house wine no problem. Drink me now with no pretences of anything else.77%Syrah 19% Zin 2% Pinot 2% Cab 211 cases
2008 Late Harvest Zin was a good surprise. Never seeing a late harvest Zin before I thought the balance of fruit,acidity and alcohol was perfect for my taste.With a taste of dark chocolate this was a match made in heaven. Macerated Bing Cherries meet chocolate! Wow! A wine lovers must try.
2008 Port Very nice but not my thing. 100% Syrah fortified with nuetral grape alcohl. Won the gold medal for ports in 2009.
Chris was a gracious host and would not hesitate drinking his wines,returning or recommending a visit. Lovely visit. Thanks to Rick for the referral.
Two days of wine touring and one sightseeing along the coast. It was fun seeing the whales frolicking off Bodega Head. Way out of season but that may give an indication of what a crazy Summer the wine growers are dealing with. There is a real fear in Napa/Sonoma of what 2010 will bring. Coldest temperatures in over 40 years. Grapes are along way from being ripe and many fear significant crop losses. Many have done a severe green harvest dropping 20-30% of the fruit on the ground. Severe cropping to let more sun on the grapes in areas has proven devastating for some. Two weeks ago they had a +100*F heat wave that fried a lot of the hanging exposed fruit! Many wonder what they'll have left. Seen in conjunction with the financial crisis,a glut of wine on the market and many producers teetering you may see a big shake up in the wine fields. There already are a lot of For Sale signs up as it is. Only time will tell.
Day 1
First stop at Rick Julien's referral we stopped at Loxton with a personal tour by Chris. He was quite discouraged by what has happened this summer and you could hear the fear in his voice. A small producer of 5500 cases can't aford to have too much of a loss because what's left in the end?? His Chardonnay Parmalee Hill field is close to Bodega Bay coast capturing the cooler temperatures to give a less ripe crispness and acidity to the fruit. This was the weakest of our tasting but still a very good wine.
2007 Pinot Noir Russian River 161 cases $35. Lovely drinkable Pinot with nice light red berry fruit and balanced. Pretty smooth going down and drinks well now with a 3-5 year window.
2007 Zin Reserve 151 cases. Not a Zin fan but I certainly could drink this. Not an overly extracted alcohol bomb like others. I thought this might have been a less oaked Aussie Shiraz.Drinking very well with more prevalent tannins than some other Zins I've had that I'm sure would be tamed with BBQ.
2006 Syrah Cuvee Ellen 296 Cases. Great wine drinking well now. Not a favourite but still a lovely wine.
2006 Cab Shiraz Easy drinking and smooth with dark fruit and well balanced. Nothing off putting here.
Sonoma Reds Your every day drinking wine. Super value at $16 a bottle. Fabulous for the price and certainly have paid 2-3x's more for a worse wine. I could make this a house wine no problem. Drink me now with no pretences of anything else.77%Syrah 19% Zin 2% Pinot 2% Cab 211 cases
2008 Late Harvest Zin was a good surprise. Never seeing a late harvest Zin before I thought the balance of fruit,acidity and alcohol was perfect for my taste.With a taste of dark chocolate this was a match made in heaven. Macerated Bing Cherries meet chocolate! Wow! A wine lovers must try.
2008 Port Very nice but not my thing. 100% Syrah fortified with nuetral grape alcohl. Won the gold medal for ports in 2009.
Chris was a gracious host and would not hesitate drinking his wines,returning or recommending a visit. Lovely visit. Thanks to Rick for the referral.