We just finished a quick 3 day trip to NorCal to taste in Sonoma and Napa. We were treated with cool mornings and gorgeous blue bird skies in between storm systems. The fields are green, mustard is in bloom, vines are being pruned in anticipation of bud break and the 23 vintage is in barrel.
Sonoma - first stop at Carlisle with Mike Officer. Mike is extremely humble and grounded. He clearly is not comfortable with the attention his wines bring. I’ve only been buying for the last decade but what was telling during our stop was Mike saying he’s grateful to have buyers still buying now from the beginning. The wines are consistently excellent.
Here are my notes from Carlisle
Next stop was a drop in tasting at Martinelli.
2020 Bella Vigna Chardonnay - Sonoma Coast
2019 Martinelli Road Chardonnay - Russian River Valley. More oak on this one.
2021 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir - Russian River Valley
2021 Zio Tony Ranch Pinot Noir - Russian River Valley
2021 Vigneto di Evo Zinfandel - Russian River Valley
The wines were fresh and better than the last time we tasted here.
From there we had an appointment at Williams Selyem.
I had offered to share notes on the new releases and unfortunately that was not possible as we were treated to library releases out of magnums. They found that they had a large surplus of library wines and are pouring them in the tasting room.
They’re currently making 52 different wines. There’s a lot here to buy and everything we tasted was good.
2014 DRAKE ESTATE VINEYARD CHARDONNAY
RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY
star fruit, pear, Meyer lemon
14.4% ALC.
BARREL AGED: 17 MONTHS
2020 SAVOY VINEYARD PINOT NOIR
ANDERSON VALLEY
black cherry, pennyroyal, English Breakfast tea
13.5% ALC.
BARREL AGED: 15 MONTHS
2009 PRECIOUS MOUNTAIN VINEYARD PINOT NOIR
Sonoma Coast
wild raspberry, cardamom, Asian spices
2016 PAPERA VINEYARD ZINFANDEL
RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY
anise, violets, blackberry, brambles
14.0% ALC.
BARREL AGED: 16 MONTHS
15.3% ALC.
2019 BECKSTOFFER MISSOURI HOPPER VINEYARD CABERNET SAUVIGNON
NAPA VALLEY | OAKVILLE
lavender, boysenberry, cedar, tobacco
We took home a bottle of the 14’ Drake Chardonnay. Everything there is just very well made. The 09’ Pinot was still bright. 16 papera zin still had that pop to it. The cab is young and big, needs time as it should.
From Williams Selyem we were off to Zichichi in Dry Creek. My first trip there and they have some beautiful gnarly old vine estate Zinfandel.
We were hosted by Steve’s son and I’m remiss to remember his name. We had a taste of the Sauvignon blanc, and then barrel samples of Zinfandel, Old Vine Estate Zinfandel and Petite Syrah.
Zichichi sells wines as futures. I’d bought previously for several years and stopped. I put in a futures order for 6 OVZ.
This was a nice tasting and a short one which helps when you’re running behind between wineries as tastings almost always go longer than the time you allot.
Next stop, Ridge Lytton Springs, here’s a list of what they poured and I also believe they poured a merlot and the estate cab.
ESTATE VINEYARD TASTING
2021 Mancini Ranch $40 (ATP)
73% carignane, 27% zinfandel
Mancini Ranch, Russian River Valley
2021 Ponzo Zinfandel $40 (Z List)
95% zinfandel, 5% petite sirah
Ponzo Vineyard, Russian River Valley
2020 Bedrock Zinfandel $40 (ATP)
94% zinfandel, 4% petite sirah, 2% alicante bouschet
Bedrock Vineyard, Sonoma Valley
2021 Lytton Springs $55 (Z List)
72% zinfandel, 15% petite sirah, 9% carignane, 2% alicante bouschet. 1% cinsaut, 1% counoise
Lytton Springs Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley
Day Two: Napa
We started our day up top of Howell Mountain. We were supposed to be hosted by Scott Johnson who is director of sales and hospitality but Scott decided to throw us a curveball and invited Elton Slone to join the party. Elton is the CEO/Owner of Robert Craig. This is the only winery where I’ve kept an active membership. They make very good wines at fair prices and they take care of you when you come to visit.
We started with their 22’ Gap’s Crown Chardonnay outside from a cold and windy Howell Mountain. We moved into the barrel room and got a sneak peak of their 23’ Rosé from tank. This one is always good. We also got to try the 22’ Veeder cab from barrel. Elton believes 22’ is a better vintage than 23’ for Robert Craig with mountain fruit v valley floor during the heat wave. The Veeder was very good, dark fruit.
Back inside the tasting room we were poured a 2014 Spring Mountain cab. 2014 is drinking beautifully now. These Robert Craig mountain cabs can age longer however.
The 2021 Candlestick Ridge merlot just went on sale and is deeply dark, way too young to be drinking but will evolve into a stunner. Duckhorn used to own this vineyard and is now estate fruit for RC. I bought 3 of these.
Our next pour was 2016 Howell Mountain cab. This is the flagship estate wine. Howell mountain fruit always hits so well. I’ve got a half case of these in my locker and will continue holding.
2016 The Stick. Their Bordeaux blend from Howell mountain. This is starting to come around and happy to have in my collection as well.
We were poured some 2019 Robert’s Block, named for Bob Craig. This is the block of cab immediately on the right side of the driveway as you enter through the gate. It’s not bottled as Robert’s Block every vintage. This cab is deeply Howell Mountain. I didn’t even ask if this one was for sale and don’t remember seeing it on the price list. I’ll buy a few of these next time I’m up there.
We finished with a pour of the 19 Cotes de Craig and I liked it enough to buy 3 bottles of it. Still young but bright fruit.
Thank you to the Craig Crew. They just hired Lisa who was at Dunn for years and she was with us during the tasting as well.
Next stop: O’Shaughnessy
I have to admit I was a little disappointed that Spottswoode wasn’t available in this time slot as we usually visit every time up. However, O’Shaughnessy was out of this world outstanding. Back to back great tastings with Robert Craig to start the day and O’Shaughnessy.
Just down the hill from the top of the mountain. O’Shaughnessy had fires completely surrounding the property during 2020. In fact, when we visited two years ago my trip report was that we were disappointed as the 2018 wine was clearly not right. There was smoke drift from the Lake county fires and we felt the 18 Howell was off.
Flash forward to today: this has to be one of the underrated stars in Napa without the flash and expensive price tags.
We started with the 21’ Oakville Chardonnay. A nice start as we toured the cave and the O’Shaughnessy library.
Our host Bob, who also hosted us two years ago had wine waiting in a decanter and poured the 19’ Napa Valley Cabernet which comes from valley floor fruit as well as Veeder and Howell. This wine is always a pleaser.
Next up the Howell mountain estate cab.
85% Cabernet Sauvignon
6% Merlot
3% Malbec
3% Petit Verdot
2% Cabernet Franc
1% St. Macaire
This is how O’Shaughnessy HM cab is supposed to taste. I had to slow sip this to enjoy it longer.
The final pour, well the final pour from the menu was the 19’ Veeder cab. 100% cab; powerful mountain fruit. I wanted 3 each of the Howell and Veeder but got the Veeder because we can find the Howell at retail.
The last pour was a one off 2022 Beatty Ranch Zinfandel. They were gifted some fruit for helping during the 2020 fire. Howell mountain profile but Zinfandel; a hard pass at $85.
Next stop: Regusci
This was my first time back to Regusci since 2017. We were excited to try the wines since we don’t visit many Stag’s Leap AVA wineries.
Here is what they poured
2020 MATRONA RED WINE
Appellation: Stags Leap District, Napa Valley Composition: 60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon Aging Regimen: 26 months French Oak
$105
2020 PATRIARCH RED WINE
Appellation: Stags Leap District, Napa Valley Composition: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot Aging Regimen: 18 months French Oak
$120
2020 BLOCK 3 CABERNET SAUVIGNON
Appellation: Stags Leap District, Napa Valley Composition: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon Aging Regimen: 26 months French Oak, 75% New
$120
2020 1932 RED WINE …
$150
Appellation: Stags Leap District, Napa Valley Composition: 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6.5% Malbec, 6.5% Merlot Aging Regimen: 26 months French Oak, 80% New
They also poured the 19’ Angelo’s at the very end.
I’ll use my same words when we tasted at O’Shaughnessy two years ago and felt the wine wasn’t right. I don’t want to shit on the winery, but this was the worst tasting of our trip and the only time I dumped wine. One in our group got up and went back to the car because the wine was just no good. As I’ve had Regusci before and have some still in the cellar; this isn’t how the wine is supposed to taste. A disappointing stop.
Last stop: Ackerman Family
We tasted with winemaker Leo Tellez at Sodaro last year and I kept in touch with him as Sodaro has been sold and is being rebranded. The inventory was recently dumped to Wine Access.
We started with their 21’ Sauvignon blanc. Refreshing start to the tasting and a good palate cleanser.
Next was the Alavigna Tosca. 60% Sangiovese and 40% estate cab. I was surprised I like this. I bought a bottle.
19’ Cabernet next. Another one drinking well. Coombsville fruit. I took home a bottle.
17’ Cabernet was the final pour. This is softening and possibly entering a drinking window. I grabbed a bottle of this as well.
Leo worked under Dennis Malbec at Kapscandy before he passed. It will be interesting to see what other projects he gets involved with as he makes good wines.
Final Day: Stop 1 - Pride Mountain
I always enjoy this stop. In fact our host asked if she should even bother with the cave tour and we insisted that we wanted to go through the caves and taste. We started with their Chardonnay which they source from Carneros. I didn’t catch the year but will assume it was the 22’.
Upon entering the cave they have tasting stations with wine to try throughout the cave. Our first pour was the 21’ merlot. As I already have this in my cellar, it was nice to try. Their merlot is typically an annual purchase for me.
I asked about the transition from Sally Johnson to new winemaker Matt Ward. I wasn’t given a fully clear answer about the style of Sally v Matt as Matt’s first full vintage is the 22’. Sally made great wines for Pride for many years and moved on to Robert Mondavi, however she’s already left and is now consulting for 9 different projects.
I don’t have a tasting sheet for this visit so I’m going off memory and we tasted quite a few wines.
05 Merlot, this was coravin’d and drinking magnificently. This shows how you can age Pride merlot.
21 cab. Young, tannins fairly high. Just needs time.
21 reserve cab - we were snuck a pour of this wine. You got more wood from the wine as it gets more barrel time than the regular cab. You also get a wine that’s going to live 20+ years if you age it.
While walking through the cave, 22 cab from barrel. This was super sweet and almost undrinkable, however we blended with 22 merlot from barrel and created our own blend in glass. Always fun to mix wines from barrel. The merlot rounded out the cab. We will have to try the finished product after its bottled
21 vintners select Merlot. 100% Merlot. Probably my favorite wine from our visit. I held off buying as I ordered from them last fall.
2020 Reserve Claret - drinking well and nice to taste side by side with the Merlot.
Next stop: Jasud estate. See this thread for notes
Visiting Ketan is quite honestly different than any other stop because of what he has put into his project. You’re getting raw emotion, honesty and passion. He’s humble and gracious.
Last stop: Sequoia Grove
We took advantage of the great weather and tasted outdoors.
18 Napa Valley Merlot. 100% Merlot
18 Rutherford Bench Reserve cab
15 Tonella Vineyard Cabernet-
18 Henry Brothers Vineyard red blend
Decent wines but hard to follow better tastings and experiences.
Final trip notes:
I had to do separate threads for Carlisle and Jasud. I probably could do a unique thread for Robert Craig as well since the quality of wines and visit are getting better each time. It was fairly slow at all the wineries except for Ridge and Sequoia Grove. Mustard’s was excellent for dinner, again. Cook in St Helena was another good dinner. We had a bottle of 21’ Caterwaul with dinner off the list.
Ranking the tastings:
Jasud
Carlisle
Robert Craig
O’Shaughnessy
Williams Selyem
Pride
Ackerman
Zichichi
Martinelli
Sequoia Grove
Ridge
Regusci