Living in the bay area, we get up to Napa probably once a month to taste new wineries (and revisit our clubs). We just haven’t explored much of the hillside/mountain wineries. We’ve done Fontanella on Mt Veeder, Futo on the Oakville hillside, and will be trying out Von Strasser on Diamond Mountain this friday. From reading this board, it seems like spending a day on Spring Mountain or Howell Mountain would be a great start. We’re both fans of big fruit/opulent wines. Cabs but also Zin/Syrah. She doesn’t like too much earth and definitely appreciates some spice. We’re members of a few Kirk Venge wineries (and Biale for zin) and looking forward to trying more of Mike Smith’s wines after visiting and buying from Carter Cellars last year. Can’t wait to taste with Mike this friday! Are there any specific hillside/mountain wineries or areas that you’d recommend given our tastes?
Pride on Spring Mountain sounds perfect for you. We had a great time there last year and the view is incredible. The wines are definitely on the bigger side (and delicious), but if you like that style or are in the mood for it, they are tough to beat.
Charles Thomas (Quintessa, Cardinale, Lokoya, Rudd) has a home vineyard up on Mt Veeder. I visited with him a couple months ago and I need to do a writeup. He is making two Cab-based wines off the property. Not cheap ($165) but they are quite good and he is now taking visitors. Worth looking into.
Also a partner in Longtable Wines, for which he mades a mixed black for $45 that was quite the QPR.
You might want to try Robert Craig on Howell Mtn, but you would specifically request “at the winery” and it would have to be a Thursday-Sunday I believe. Also, Keenan on Spring makes some great wines at reasonable prices.
If you go up to Spring Mountain to visit Pride and Paloma, you can also visit Keenan. I agree with Jim F on that recommendation. They are near the bottom of the road leading up to Pride. Good wines, good people and modest prices for the quality of the wines, IMO.
Robert Craig has a tasting room just north of Downtown in Napa. If you want to try their wines without making the trek up to the winery, that would also be a recommendation.
I’m very thankful for all your input. I’ve already showed my girlfriend the suggestions and she’s excited. We both geek out on wine (she’s in the industry) so this board has been a pleasant discovery.
If you do go up Spring Mtn, do yourself a favor and go over to the “back” (Sonoma) side, after a visit to Pride and/or Keenan, and check out Fisher. Beautiful property, super welcoming hosts, and a range of very good wines. Really, a great visit.
would also add sherwin family, barnett, vineyard 7 & 8, beherns and school house to spring mt.
for howell mt…would also add O’Shaughnessy, cade, arkenstone, dunn
also i would check out david arthur and chappellet, continuum up in pritchard hills area
Vineyardist on Diamond Mountain
Adamvs and Saunter (at Outpost) on Howell Mountain
Ovid, Brand and Gandona up Pritchard Hill
Kongsgaard and Beau Vigne up different sides of Atlas Peak
Don’t forget the Dramamine for your girlfriend in the passenger seat on all of these windy rides up!
So we had another great day in Napa this past friday.
Started at Envy at 10 am for tasting with Mike Smith. In the parking lot, we ran into Nils Venge and Mark Carter. Pretty cool since we have enjoyed Envy, Carter, and Saddeback (and are members of Nil’s son’s Venge, Hunnicutt, and B cellars). Had a great time talking to Mike while tasting the 2014s: Myriad Napa, Georges; Quivet Pellet, Kenefick, Las Piedras; Carter OG. All were fantastic. With the To Kalon fruit, it was hard not pick the Carter as the favorite, but the Myriad Georges was a close second. In fact, my girlfriend picked it as her favorite. All the other wines were fantastic. The Kenefick was so approachable and just tasty. This is my first time tasting Myriad/Quivet, so I can’t compare these to the 12/13s. But, I did have the 2013 Carters and the 2014 OG seemed just as awesome as the previous vintage. Three Kings was my favorite last year so I hope to try the 14 line-up sometime soon before they sell out (of course no Las Piedras but at least I got the quivet in my cellar).
We then headed to Von Strasser on Diamond Mountain. Keegan was a very fun host. My girlfriend and I started off with the highly enjoyable Gruner (especially on a hot day on the patio). The DMD cab is a great value for an entry-level cab. My girlfriend and I lean towards more extracted, opulent cabs (Mike Smith/Venge), but I would recommend the DMD because it had some good complexity. The zin was a more restrained style and was missing the pepper we usually gravitate towards to in a zin. We liked the 2012 Estate Cab more than the 12 Post and we took one home. Overall, good wines with finesse and mountain character.
Then went to Louis Martini. Got the Gnarly Vine Zin (monte rosso) and Monte Rosso Red. Just love that Monte Rosso character. The 2012 Lot 1 was soft and delicious. The Napa Valley Cab is our go to weekday wine.
We then stopped by Hunnicutt to pick up 6 more of the 2013 Napa Cab before it disappears. Like the Myriad/Quivet Napa, this is just a big wine that over delivers for its 60 dollar price point.
Last stop was Caymus (I’ve actually never had it). Since I didn’t have the 12 or 13 vintages obviously, I can’t make any comparisons. The zin was pretty tasty and we took one home. While the wines are certainly fruit bombs with vanilla and sweetness, they weren’t to the crazy level I was expecting. However, I would like more complexity when I’m paying 70 bucks for a cab. Special Selection was a massive delicious wine but being outdoors on a hot day probably diminished the urge to buy it. Would like to try it again next to similarly priced wines (To Kalons). I just had Continuum a couple weeks ago and I might have preferred it over the caymus.
