2012 Napa Premiere Auction Impressions and Brief TNs

I’m recovering after the 2012 Premiere Auction week. By my count, I tried over 200 wines. My overall impressions…

  1. The 2010 auction lots were better than the 2009 ones from last year. Whether this holds true for the vintage in general is hard to say.

  2. Anything with ToKalon was awesome, and my early guess is that it was the vineyard of the vintage. The rich get richer.

  3. Pritchard Hill wineries are coming out the woodwork; Gandona, Brand and Montagna, being brand new ones.

  4. Phillipe Melka had an excellent year with his 2009s… Vineyard 29, Moone-Tsai stand out. Denis Malbec is tearing it up with 2010 Blankiet and Kapcsandy. Francoise Peschon is on a roll not only with her own “Drinkward-Peschon,” but with Vine Hill Ranch.

  5. 750 Wines in St Helena holds the hippest auction tastings in the valley. They held two, and in each case, people had to be turned away.

  6. The very top vineyards in the valley are increasingly selling their fruit to a smaller number of wineries and this is going to push prices ever higher for those wines. And increasingly, the highest bidders are the same names that already have those vineyards because it is not about profit, but prestige, so no price is too high to secure the fruit. My belief is that the effect will be that Napa will become what has happened to Bordeaux’s top wines, in terms of their prices going out of reach to most. Yet the price WILL be paid by enough people to sell them. It will cause a fracture in the buying community where top wines disappear straight into cellars, never to be seen again. I find this trend disconcerting for Napa’s future, which has succeeded because it was not for millionaires only, even at the high-end.

  7. 2010 was not an ultra-ripe year and many of the wines have a solid tannic backbone.

  8. Wineries turning the corner starting with 2010… Oakville Ranch (its about time, given their great vineyards,) Clark-Claudon (Jean Heofliger of AO consults and they seem to be making a comeback. Inglenook… yeah… the former Niebaum-Coppollam/Rubicon is changing its name back to Inglenook and the wines are really good.

  9. Kapcsandy… his 2010 Grand Vin is off the charts, and a candidate for WOTV, and I prefer his 10s to his 09s.

  10. Cab Franc! There were several lots of 80-100% Franc out there, some of which should be bottled separately. The areas that produce them best are the Oakville East and Pritchard Hill East sections, as well as the alluvial fans in St Helena. This varietal is about to get it day in the sun, if the vintners are willing to take the risk. Lou is going to make a Franc/Merlot ultra-wine, while Ovid and Continuum have a big dose of Franc in their main blends now.

Bottled wines (as opposed to unavailable auction lots) that stood out this week… 2009 Continuum (95pts,) 2009 Vineyardist (95pts…new winery on Diamond Mtn made by Mark Herold,) 2008 Vine Hill Ranch (95pts… Galloni was right,) 2008 Dana “Lotus” (95pts,) 2009 Vineyard 29 (93pts,) 2009 World’s End ToKalon (94pts,) 2009 Realm Dr Crane (94pts… much more structured than previous bottlings,) 2007 Lagier Meredith 94pts… just singing right now.)

Auction Lots that rocked, in no order… 2010 Vineyard 7&8 (96 pts… half ToKalon, half Spring Mtn,) 2010 Ch Boswell (96pts… all ToKalon, with a 50-50 blend of Cab and Franc,) Blackbird (93pts… Merlot based,) Dana Estates (96pts…a blend of all 3 vineyards,) Etude (94pts…Vine Hill Ranch source,) Inglenook (94pts… the former Rubicon,) Krupp (93pts,) Ovid “Hexameter” (94pts… they are on a roll,) Spottswoode (94pts… the third straight year their auction lot has been fantastic,) Tor (95pts…a blend of ToKalon clones made by Jeff Ames,) Oakville Ranch"Pure Brilliance:" (93pts…mostly Franc,) Arkenstone Cab Franc (95pts… a killer that they simply must bottle separately, imo,) Moone-Tsai To-Kalon (94pts, their wines are improving a lot with recent vintages,) Plumpjack (95pts… their own Oakville block near “St Eden” and …drumroll "ToKalon,) and Barbour (93pts…Celia Welch makes this starting 2009 and it shows.) I probably forgot a few.

Now… back to sleep.

Thanks Roy. Speaking of cab franc, I have always been a big Detert Family cab franc fan, which is of course situated right near to-kalon. Any word from them?

The hammer prices for some of the auction lots was pretty amazing.
Here’s a few
Dana Estates $70K ( top lot )
Checkerboard $50k
Vine Hill Ranch $50k
Kapcsandy $60k
Phelps $45k
Silver Oak $40k

Carrie, that’s for how many bottles?

Most of those were for 5 case lots.

I believe Gary’s Wines in NJ won several of the lots. Corison, Barnett, Ladera, Amici, Turnbull, Pride, Sawyer, Joseph Phelps, Silver Oak . Those are what I see listed for them.

Edited:
Wine House LA - Dana Estate ( not as stated earlier to be Gary’s)

$666.66 a bottle for Silver Oak?!?!?!?

How could they possibly resell that?

Here comes a Gary’s free shipping special!

and that is why i humbly disagree with roy’s number 6. i see lists like screaming eagle opening spots to folks left and right. just because a few folks over spend on top cali wines, does not mean that prices will go through the roof. another example - recall obscene hammer prices for scarecrow’s todo’s opium dream. now scarecrow has raised prices each and every year, i hear of many folks dropping off.

why wait until now? and this is unstable economy? where is the rest of the auction data to support this claim? if most if this is non-domestic interest and those channels are beginning to open wide, then that’s another issue entirely.

sorry if i sound overly critical. just curious. you always have good insight to share with us. and also, thanks for update.

Yes, I had it, actually. Very, very ripe and fruit driven. If you have had previous wines from them, you are getting more of the same.

I see what happened with Sloan, expanding. Where someone pays a 100% premium to the winery’s net worth, or the same for a top fruit source, it will change things. Someday the Chinese will enter the US market the way they have with Bordeaux. Count on it! And then we have a real issue. There are people out there who can offer any price and sell it at almost any price. It is a trickle now, but might be a flood in 5 years. This also applies to Google-millionaires and everyone else who wants a trophy wine and is not actually into wine. Also, the feeling of the auction was… different. In just one year it feels more like the big Napa Auction, where as just two years ago it had a very different, relaxed vibe. I could be wrong, but I am a touch worried. I hope I am wrong!

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roy - i’ve never known you as a hype selling machine, so i take seriously what you propose. i’ve oftener wondered why the ultra cult wines haven’t seen more of an international demand. it’ll be a sad day if the day you describe ever comes.

The Vineyardist sounds delicious, and I have deep respect for Herold’s other wines. But at >$160 a bottle for a first vintage I will pass.

The Chinese are already over their California wine phase. It happened prior to Bordeaux.

+1

I wholeheartedly agree. I was at the epicenter tasting most of the afternoon but ended up stopping by 750 as that event was winding down…Monica and David really know how to throw a party. I also did a tasting appt with them this morning that was amazing. My new first stop when I get into town!

Roy, much appreciate the notes.

Hard to believe the Kapcsandy '10s are better than the 09s - considering how high they started with their 07s, crazy they seem to get better every vintage. When you say Lou is going to make a Merlot/CF ultra-wine, I’m assuming you mean Kapcsandy? Any more info on this?

I also would have loved to have tried a half cab, half franc CH Boswell/Jacquelynn To Kalon. I freakin’ love their Cab Franc.

Interesting. That is not at all how I would describe the 2004 and 2005 I have had and cellar. My notes are akin to the current Cellar Tracker notes for those wines with much more complexity and balance.

Yeah, Lou Kapcsandy is planning it. I had the 2011 components in tank back in December and it should be exciting.

I likes the 08s over the 07s and 09s. I also like the 10s over the 07s and 09s, but at this time I give the 08s a slight edge over the 10s, but with many more months in barrel, the 10s might surpass the 08s in time.

Wow…I’m a little scared about pricing, but I can’t wait to give that a try.

I agree with you on the 07-09 vintages when talking about the GV, but the last time I was at the tasting, I preferred the barrel sample of 09 RR to the 08 counterpart, IIRC. Thanks again for the info on the '10s and the other wineries!

I read that the average cost per case was $2069, which translates a lot differently from the above top lots. The Napa Vintners used to put all the details on their website - purchaser, description of lot, price paid. Maybe those details will be available later.