I’m sitting on the plane on the way back from a week in Napa, reflecting on our time. The highlight was our visit with Alex MacDonald who generously spent over two hours with my wife and me in the vineyard and his family’s home. I’ve often wondered “what if someone made a truly no-compromise wine?” Many have claimed to do this, but there is always some form of compromise such as yields, vineyard location, farming, winemaking, or customer service (yes, this is part of a wine too). The MacDonald brothers seem to be actually achieving this lofty goal. They start with the best vineyard in the Napa Valley, farm it in a way that no business person would recommend (the 60 year-old block yields under 1 ton per acre, but they leave it in because the fruit is spectacular), and make it in quantities that will only grow as they are 100% sure the quality of the wine will remain the same, despite access to more grapes of unquestionably high quality. Most important, they treat their customers like family, despite massive demand that can’t possibly be fulfilled.
I’ll forgo the history lesson, all of which is incredibly interesting, but well documented on this board. Alex’s passion for his family history was the only thing more impressive than the wine.
We tasted the 2013. It was the best wine we had while in Napa showing an impressive combination of balance and power. The wine is incredibly integrated in its fruit, oak and acid to where none stand out, but rather combine to make a seamless wine. It’s definitely an ager, but was drinking beautifully after a 3-hour decant. I can hardly wait to buy it.
I love the folks involved with this amazing project. They have to either go to futures or raise their prices, the whole of MacDonald is just too good not to pursue either avenue. I say this as a Jewish consumer too.
Wonderful people and wines. It was a highlight on my recent trip as well and encouraged me to drive up more often.
Will probably try a '10 or '12 in two weeks as a very good friend who I only see rarely is staying with us and I want to open something special that he definitely doesn’t have.
Alex and Graeme go out of their way in terms of their hospitality – running such an exclusive operation. I can’t imagine that they could continue to welcome people as they are currently doing, considering basic economics – on both fronts: supply and demand.
Alex MacDonald, graciously and most generously presenting the '13.
We visited with Alex on our Honeymoon last December. That visit - along with Bedrock - was incredibly special. The time he spent with us showing the vineyard, the age and characteristics of different blocks, the soils, talking about the farming, neighboring sites, and finally tasting the wine was unbelievably gracious and very enjoyable. We will never forget that visit (my wife brings it up at least once a week), and look forward to returning in the future.
So, lots of people say this about To-Kalon but I don’t think I’ve ever gotten any kind of an understanding why. I saw there were a bunch of wine writers out junketing at Mondavi last week and tweeting #tokalon all day long and I still don’t think anyone offered any kind of explanation of what makes this a great site. Anyone familiar with the Valley terrain care to offer something up?
I’m not well versed on Napa vineyards (Roy Piper could offer excellent insights) but I would certainly think that a vineyard such as Eisele would give To Kalon as a whole a run for its money. But parts of To Kalon such as the I block planted with Sauvignon Blanc and at least some of what MacDonald farms does have some very old vines.
Certainly not he only thing, but the alluvial fan that To Kalon/Macdonald are situated on is one of the major factors that allow the vines to produce such profound characteristics…
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