I had meant to post on this visit several months ago after our tasting but had lost my tasting notes from the trip. As luck would have it, I just found them in my suitcase, and now I can finally report on our visit.
I have long been a fan of Aaron Pott’s wines and so when a friend mentioned a new Pott project soon to be coming out I was quite intrigued. I was told he was the new winemaker for Adler Deutsch Vineyard and the vineyard was close Dana Estate, on the West Rutherford Benchland area, just south of St. Helena. I had never heard of Adler Duetsch before but knew the terroir of that area was quite special. I immediately researched them on the web and reached out for a tasting on our October trip.
We rolled up to their home for a late morning tasting and were immediately impressed by beauty of their home and the understated, yet amazing architecture. To describe it as a renovated ranch home doesn’t do it justice so I’ll include some pictures. To view it from the road or driveway, it looks rather nondescript, not really standing out in any significant way from the surroundings.
From the driveway you can see the neighboring Dana Estate (and Helms Vineyard) in the hills nearby.
Then we walked in the front door and were floored by the amazing architecture, which we learned was created by Howard Backen of Dana Estate and Ovid wineries, as well as Press and Archetype restaurants in St. Helena.
We were met by Bob Adler and after brief tour were seated at table on the patio with an amazing view of the vineyard in back yard.
There is also a vineyard in the front yard.
Bob gave us a detailed history of the winery. Bob purchased the property in 2006 after looking for several years for the perfect property from which to create world class cabernet. The vines were planted in 2002 and approximately 2.2 acres are currently planted. Bob has a passion for classic Napa cabernet and has a goal of creating a balanced, elegant, low-alcohol, and reserved Napa cabernet from strictly estate fruit. He first started producing wine from the property in 2009 for the public (IIRC). The winemaker for the first few vintages was Keith Emerson (Emerson Brown and Vineyard 29) with Philipe Melka as consultant winemaker. That all changed in 2013 when the vineyard manager, Jim Barbour, brought his friend Aaron Pott to see the vineyard as a potential new project and Pott was reportedly immediately on board after a quick walk through of the vineyard. So, as it stands, Pott became the winemaker in 2013 and had full control of the 2013 vintage, but also blended the 2012 from the existing barrels of wine from the 2012 harvest under Keith Emerson.
Under Pott’s influence, the vineyard underwent some replants incorporating some different cabernet clones, namely See and Weimer, to accompany the existing clone 337. There is also a bit of petit verdot and cab franc. After the replants come online in the next year, Bob expects total case production to average around 300-350 cases each year.
Bob is quite pleased with the progress he has seen in his wines over the last few vintages. In the “difficult” 2015 vintage he reports they dropped over 25% of their fruit prior to harvest in mid-September. One can sense from his descriptions that he feels that they have found their “groove” with the Aaron and are expecting great things.
Bob opened the 2011 and 2012 wines for us to taste. He wanted us to get a comparison between the two, acknowledging the 2011 was a “poorer” vintage and under the control of Keith Emerson, and 2012 was a much better vintage that was blended by Aaron Pott.
2011 Adler Duetsch Vineyard Cabernet - (coravin’d sample) great distinguished nose, polished, with cherries, dust, and licorice, with a hint of cardamon. Palate was very dense with pronounced tannins, which I was not expecting with the vintage. Good length on the finish, but the acidity was a bit lacking (vintage specific?). 92+ points.
2012 Adler Duestch Vineyard Cabernet (coravin’d sample) - 99% cabernet sauvignon and 1% petit verdot - Effusive, gorgeous perfumed nose of blackberry/dark cherry and sweet tobacco. Silky finesse on the palate with a great balance, more delicate than aggressive on palate feel and I appreciate that elegance. Remarkable wine. This would be so good with food. 96 points.
We all left profoundly impressed with the mission that Bob Adler has for his property and after tasting the wines we fully expect this to be an incredible project to be following in the future. The mixture of great terroir, great vintner vision, with amazing winemaker and vineyard management is a perfect recipe for greatness. I strongly recommend everyone pay attention to Adler Duetsch in the future, especially fans of Aaron Pott. Oh, and I forgot to mention the price, $110 per bottle. Ridicuous QPR.