Just a few quick notes on our recent trip to Napa/Sonoma (we were in town for Jen’s work conference at Sonoma Mission Inn, a short trip, however, since we had to zoom back for Braydn’s birthday yesterday) - firstly, as many others have said, it’s truly shocking to see the level of damage the fires caused. The randomness of it all, particularly in the residential areas near the highways, is most shocking, to me. Also, interesting that what SAVED the area (in addition to the incredible job by the firefighters, of course!) is the vines themselves! The spread was halted time after time by vines, which do not burn easily. You could see time and again how a massive fire spread throughout a mountainside or valley floor, and at worst you’d see one outside row of vines singed, but that’s it. Amazing how the local ‘crop’ is what kept the fire from causing further damage.
I’ll highlight our favorites:
MacDonald - what a fantastic story, with the property being in the family for 4 generations. Alex and Graeme were very smart about how they started this winery, and had incredible luck to go with incredible fruit, given the family’s history with the Mondavi family and Kongsgaard family. It’s not all about luck, they just were given a ‘head start’ with these generations-long relationships, and their spot in the To Kalon area is tremendous - so fortunate that it backs up to the mountain as it does, just downhill from the creek, so the soil is basically gravel. The vines are gorgeous and old - some planted in the 50’s, which blows my mind for Cabernet Sauvignon. Big, gnarled vines you’d normally attribute to Zinfandel, producing incredible fruit. Our rainy tour was accompanied by Honeybee, the vineyard dog, who has a habit of eating clusters - those are some expensive dog snacks! The wine (we tasted the '15, just bottled, not labeled, as the '14 is sold out, of course) is amazing - I’d say more Old World than new, definitely, but it was definitely rich, full, and red-fruited enough for Jen to love as well. Structure for days, great acidity, and built to last. You can definitely see the heritage with Mondavi Reserve, since their fruit made up the basis for that wine for many years. Great operation, wonderful story, and legendary heritage - I fully support their efforts in every way.
Smith Madrone - one of the most recommended wineries when I asked for ‘mountain fruit’ recommendations for this trip, and I see why. Ridiculous value for the quality of the wine, and across the board fantastic wines, so I’m definitely buying. The Chardonnay is incredible, considering it has 100% new oak! It tastes NOTHING like any other Chardonnay I’ve had with 100% new oak, and Charles was saying that they discovered, after much trial and error, that for some reason, this mountain fruit just ‘handles’ the new oak well. It’s full of acidity, and well balanced, and has no ‘popcorn’/butter component whatsoever. The Estate Cabernet is a ridiculous value for mountain Cabernet Sauvignon - has that ‘mountain fruit’ nose I love so much, great mouthfeel and tannic structure, but drinks well now as well, with the '14 release. We were also able to taste Cooks’s Flat Reserve, which I believe was '12 vintage. A true Bordeaux blend, and every bit as good as a top class Bordeaux. I loved the nose on this wine, but couldn’t spend too much time with it because there were so many fruit flies bothering us, and the 2 other couples that tasted during that time. Sucks to have such wonderful wine bothered by fruitflies, this late in the season. Jen’s favorite wine of the bunch, but that’s of little surprise 
The Riesling was what we finished with, and it is very Alsatian in character - dry but ample sweetness for ‘typical’ Riesling food pairings, but what makes this wine really stand out is its acidity - really strong, yet perfectly balanced. One of the best domestic Rieslings I’ve ever had, by far. So much longevity in this family operation, and I was awed by the size of their facility (small) compared with their relatively large production, particularly considering they hold their wines often before releasing them, which is a pricey proposition that benefits the customer more than them, for certain!
Keenan - another Wine Berserkers recommendation, and a welcome ‘casual’ tasting. We were pleased almost across the board with their entire lineup, all of which is value-priced as well (like Smith Madrone), but were struck in particular with the Mailbox Vineyard Merlot, 2014 Reserve. I can’t recall a single time (other than perhaps Kapcsandy, with Roberta’s Reserve) we were tasting (Jen and I) and Jen chose a Merlot as her favorite - given the quality of the Mernet, the Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, and the Spring Mountain Cabernet Franc - all fantastic - it spoke very highly of that Merlot. There’s even a good chance we’ll sign up for the Keenan Reserve Club, as she enjoyed those three wines (Mernet Reserve, Mailbox Merlot Reserve, Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve) the most, versus some of the others.
Hanzell - I can’t believe that I’ve never tried Hanzell before, or perhaps simply don’t remember it, as it is legendary in the wine world. What a gorgeous property, and along the tour we learned of the many innovations the original winery brought to the industry. Fascinating place, and I recommend the tour to anyone visiting the area. The wines, however, outshined the tour. Never before has Jen liked an entire lineup of wines, and especially not Burgundy varietals. Never. Same with me - across the board these wines are absolutely world class. I was most fearful of this winery visit because I knew Jen loved ‘full bodied’ Chardonnay and Hanzell uses VERY little oak. We started with '15 Sbella Chardonnay - beautiful roundness, nice acidity, well balanced, long finish - great value Chardonnay, to be sure, and easily one I’d love to pour daily (or take turns with Smith Madrone, both of which will likely replace Dehlinger as our favorite house Chardonnay). But then we hit the '15 Estate Chardonnay - unreal stuff. So perfectly balanced, so full of all qualities you want from a quality Chardonnay, yet it fully expresses the grape itself, since it sees so little oak. Weighty, rich, perfectly ripe, crazy long finish - amazing it’s basically JUST the quality of the old vine fruit and winemaking that can make a Chardonnay of this presence. It’s their benchmark for good reason. We also were able to try the '15 Day Vineyard Chardonnay, which blasted me with white peaches on the nose and palate, and finished with a gorgeous honeysuckle finish. Quite different than the Estate, but so very enjoyable. We decided, however, that while this was a wonderful Chardonnay, it was probably too much on the ‘sweet’ side and might get tiring after a couple glasses - exacerbated by the fact that it was sitting right next to the near-perfect Estate Chardonnay. The Estate Pinot has one of the most beautiful noses of a domestic Pinot I’ve ever sampled - so expressive. While an amazing Pinot, I felt it was overshadowed by the Chardonnays, in my opinion. Jen loved it, and she doesn’t like Pinot - she believes it is ‘red water’ - so high praise for her to enjoy it as much as she did. We were fortunate to sample some older wines as well - a '98 Estate Pinot (weighty, super silky, very Burgundian - you can see Jason’s roots working with the mega Burgophile Kevin Harvey in these wines with some age on them) and '06 Chardonnay, which had a touch of nuttiness, showing it’s age a bit, but also beautiful and rich, gaining weight, golden color, and complexity. Obviously these wines are built to age. We were excited to hear Hanzell is planning to release Cabernet Sauvignon again, in a couple years, I believe, and we’ll definitely be there to taste it when it is available. There was a salinity (even in the Pinot, particularly in the finish) in all their wines - unique, likely imparted by the particular soil and vines. This is world-class wine, and deserving of the reputation.
Repris - we went here on a recommendation from Jason Jardine of Hanzell, and our biggest regret is that we didn’t allow anywhere near enough time there. We were in a rush to get to the airport, so we probably spent 1/3 or 1/4 of the time we SHOULD have spent there, so we’re going to definitely go back. Among the highlights: incredible, gorgeous facility and vineyards - what a tremendous purchase by Momtazee, truly. I want to have a BerserkerFest event there, in their facilities, so that’s definitely on the shortlist radar for our next event in that area. The caves are expansive, and there’s almost no ‘spray’ texture - it’s just hollowed out rock! We were barrel tasting '16 varietals, and enjoyed all but the Jen Vineyard #2, which was more ‘Napa Valley’ in style - the rest more mountain-fruit style. We tasted Right Bank and Left Bank out of bottle, and both were true to their namesakes. Erich Bradley is doing a fantastic job with the winemaking here and we can’t wait to return to have a TRUE experience here, with the amount of time this place deserves.
So many wonderful experiences, in such a short trip. I’m hoping to have the chance to focus on buying some of these wines regularly, as they were so spectacular, and stop ‘experimenting’ as much as I tend to do buying those I don’t know about, then being disappointed quite often. It also amazes me to see the level of quality coming out of many properties in California - I know my focus for the near term will again be California (with a smattering of Northern Rhone, of course!)