You cannot make this sh*t up.
So I attend a private tasting at Ovid with my best friend, who has been on the list since inception. This is one of his faves. It’s his 50th weekend, I’m just a tag-along. That, and my disaster rental Tesla that is down to fumes after that arduous climb to nowhere. This winery is on the tip of that. I felt so gracious, and needy, as they actually had a charging station at the winery. I know now that I’m hooked. Open the wallet now . . . .
The winery is spectacular. An icon for the wealthy owners and their uber-wealthy customers. I’m like the help. But, I will admit that the “place” is inspiring. Beautiful Napa architecture, a fusion of modernism and old world materials, with a spatial environment that reaches out into the mountainside vineyards. The views are amazing.
As we are getting our small tour, I hear the host mention Michel Rolland. I do a double-take. Wait a minute. Not that I have bought this wine before, but seriously, is “he” here as well? In Napa. Um, it would appear so. Ovid has Rolland as a consultant. I cannot escape the ravages of this man.
The tasting was really well done, lasted about 2.5 hours. Very intimate, just 4 of us and the host. We had very healthy pours, repours and more, of their small range. An intriguing white blend of multiple Bordeaux and Rhone varietals, with Sav Blanc and Semillion as main staples. I enjoyed this white, but will admit to tolerating more modernism in whites than in reds. Rounded melon fruits and crisp citrus, spiced with a little French oak. Wife adored it, so it’s in the “purchase” column. The reds were all babies. We had the 2014 Ovid, their flagship Bordeaux blend, the 2016 Hexameter which is close to an equal split of Cab Sav and Cab Franc and 2% merlot and Petit Verdot, and a 2016 experimental Cab. These are all big Napa fruit wines, bold fruit, with the Franc cutting in with an herbaceous note. The tannins on the Ovid were monumental, this wine really needs 10+ years. The 2016 Hex and the experimental had less tannin but more abrasive new oak, and ironically, less new oak than prior years (down to 50%). The experimental Cab had the ripest of dark fruits among the three, boysenberry, blackberry and some blues. All three red wines exhibited more new oak than I prefer. I will acknowledge that these wines had excellent structure, both acid and tannins. All exhibited earthy tones and some minerality as well.
Hard to justify the cost, but I grabbed a mixed case. It was an “of the moment” purchase. I will have occasion for these wines, but will admit, these are not my style at all. The Bedrock Monticello that I popped this week was far more in my wheelhouse, as far as Napa or Sonoma Cabs go.
Incidentally, all of these wines were head and shoulders above the horrid 2016 Martinelli Zin that I tried while, again, stopping to charge that stoopid EV car. It sported all of its 16.4% ABV, just a lush, torrid, thick, sweet, cocktail wine.