Kistler '14's

The reason this place is called Bond is that you have to be James Bond to find it. Tucked in the western hills of Oakville we meandered past the Harlan vineyards and miraculously made it on time for our appointment with Scott Gould. It was a cold, still winter’s morning and low fog had enveloped the area. Scott took us to where there is usually a remarkable view I assume and opened a bottle of Krug M.V while we got to know each other a little better. Now that’s a way to start a visit. The Krug was fresh, rich and intense. With some red fruits, biscuit and brioche and the usual Krugy nuttiness.

Everything about Bond reeks of quality and a sense of perfection. The winery is small but perfectly functional. The cellars are sensational and almost 100% new oak is used. Most of the small team on hand have been here for a while and seem to love what they do.

Scott had organized for us to taste through their 2010’s in the main building. What a building it is too, using much local stone and wood it has a Zen-like calm feel. Large windows frame the views from each side, framing the fog beautifully on this particular morning.

Bond make 5 straight Cabernet wines from 5 distinctive Napa Valley single sites.

2010 Bond Melbury: The soil here is mainly compressed clay. The nose is expressive with notes of baking spice, smoke, cassis and cedar. It is sweet and round in the mouth with some refreshing red fruit notes and a little sour cherry. There’s sweet tobacco and it has tannins that are spherical but there is some chew to the finish.

2010 Bond Quella: This site is an ancient riverbed, all sand, stones and gravel. The nose is fresh and inviting with some mint, blue fruits and cassis. Fruits in the mouth are highly perfumed and it is a wine of good elegance and balance that builds through the palate and fans out on the finish.

2010 Bond St. Eden: This one’s off iron rich volcanic rock. There are notes of black fruit, tar and menthol. It is generous, plump, sweet, fruity and rich.

2010 Bond Vecina: It’s volcanic soil here again, without the iron rich stuff. A wine of serious grunt. Ripe blackberries and sweet tobacco abound on the nose. It is luscious and loaded with black fruits. There’s massive structure just below the flesh and a solid graphite core. Length is impressive.

2010 Bond Pluribus: This vineyard has the highest elevation of the 5 and is volcanic bedrock. Complex aromatics of smoke, pine needle sap, blackberry and menthol. It is dense and dark in the mouth and feels like it may be just about to enter shut-down mode. There is real depth and finish that is chewy and showing some sweet cedar.

A huge shout out to Scott for organising such a thoughtful and engaging visit and his warm hospitality.

Cheers
Jeremy

Thanks for the notes. I admit that I have little experience with Bond, but I always assumed (ASSumed) they were guilty of over-spoofed wines, but your notes read differently – and everything seems quite nice. Interesting we dont get more notes on Bond on this board. Again, coming from an extremely uninformed position here.

I suspect they cost more than many on this board are willing or able to spend!

I also have little experience with Bond, but I very much enjoyed the write up. I also assumed they’d be over the top, overoaked cult wines.

I don’t think cost is the issue. People post about $300+ wines on here daily. I just assumed they were Parkerized and fell out of favor.

Nice write up Jeremy. Sounds like a wonderful experience all around.

how’d you prepare the bottles–shaken, not stirred?

Cost a pretty moneypenny?

I’ve only had a couple of the wines, from a couple of the vintages - an 01 Vecina, an 06 Melbury and one other (can’t recall exactly), and my impressions have always been that they blend remarkable purity of Cabernet without turning into spoof/over-the-top at all. That 01 was a genuinely memorable experience, and I’m much more Euro in my tastes - though I have long wrestled with the idea that I prefer top Napa Cabernet and blends that retain finesse (Spottswoode, Bond, Larkmead, Continuum) to more modern-styled Bordeaux.

Is that the winery?

If so, they’d better hope they never get a wildfire up there.

That area would be reduced to cinders and ashes in a matter of minutes.

I thought the '10’s as a group were very good. They are ripe and dense wines, and I’m sure RMP digs them, but there is real energy and looking at them alongside each other you do feel the terroir difference in each wine.

Well played Alan and Jeremy. Have you got any Moore?

That is quite close to the winery Nathan.

Nobody does it better.

thought I’d live and let die.

Had the 2008’s at the winery and they were great. Deep and rich and not overly spoofulated.

But the tasting, 3 years ago, was $150pp and a bit self-aggrandizing. Seemed tailored to the Robb Report set in search of a Cult Experience. It was absurdly expensive compared to every other tasting, but fun.

Jeremy Holmes wrote:
Well played Alan and Jeremy. Have you got any Moore?

(Dr) No

I’m a fan of Bond. I was on the list from about 1999 to 2002 and still have a few left. Drank a 2001 St. Eden on Christmas this year and it’s showing well. I agree with Jeremy that you can see the terroir difference. My personal favorite is the Melbury which I find most “elegant” of the initial 3 single vineyard sites. (I dropped the list before the last 2 were added so I don’t have experience with Pluribus or Quella). My second favorite is probably Vecina. That has a bit of a big tannic structure when young but now with some age on them they show very nicely. I feel the 2000 over delivered for the vintage and you can actually buy at auction for about half of release price. St. Eden is probably my third favorite but we’re splitting hairs here. IMO it’s the “biggest” and leans away from a style I have been drinking more of these days

For your eyes only.

Jeremy, vous avez fait une Connery. Vous ne reviendrez jamais à DRC.

Nice write up for an excellent winery. I am a fan of these and these are age worthy wines. I think they are at their best with at least 10 years of age.

I don’t know about you but when you are driving along the back blocks of Carneros on a bleak, cold and foggy afternoon and as you pull into the driveway of the winery you are going to visit, to be confronted by a 50ft sculpture of a young girl’s head might just scare the shit out of you too. ‘Sanna’ is a fabulous piece by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa that I had not expected to see as I was looking for The Donum Estate’s tasting room.

When we got to the tasting room Maggie Staines comforted me and calmed me down before we worked our way through a few of their Pinots.

2013 Donum Pinot Noir Ten Oaks Russian River Valley: There were 6 barrels only made of this one and it is a beauty. You get a little whole bunch spice to the aroma. It has sweet red berry fruit and is fine and velvety. It is a wine of sneaky persistence.

2013 Donum Pinot Noir Anderson Valley: This is ripe, with a dark fruit personality. There are black cherries and blackberry fruits and some cherry stone coolness. It builds through the palate and has some cranberry crunch coupled with sweet round tannins.

2013 Donum Pinot Noir Carneros: There’s a touch of cola from the oak along with notes of black cherry, rhubarb, grated ginger and licorice. It is sweet, full and creamy.

2013 Donum Pinot Noir Russian River Valley: Big and amply fruited. There’s some spice and a pleasant saline quality to the wine. It is crammed with warm berry fruit and trimmed with baking spices.

2014 Donum Pinot Noir Reserve Russian River Valley: Sweet blackberry and black cherry fruits. There are brown spices and it is a ripe wine but also complex. It is creamy in the mouth and finishes sweet and long.

After the tasting we went for a wander around the grounds to take in more of the art work. ‘Black Palm’ by Douglas White is essentially a life-sized palm tree made from recycled car tires and quite striking. Richard Hudson’s ‘Love Me’ is a massive heart at the top of the back vineyard. There are many ‘Contemporary Terracotta Warriors’ by Yeu Minjun scattered around the property and Zhan Wang’s ‘Artificial Rock’ certainly looks artificial in the front vineyard but not out of place.

The Donum Estate is certainly one to watch. They seem to be well funded, have a new cellar and winery being developed and the wines are good. The contemporary art collection warrants a special visit alone.

after finishing the wines, I wouldn’t be able to resist saying, “Donum.”