A trip to Sacramento gave us the opportunity to drive to Napa for a day where we enjoyed tasting with Erin Di Costanzo and, later, with Renee and Dustin Mowe.
Spend ten minutes with Erin and you feel like you have known her for ten years. Loved talking with her about wine and baseball and life and work in Napa. We tasted the 2023 Deering Chardonnay, the 2021 Caldwell Cabernet and the 2022 DI CO. The Chardonnay was my wife’s favorite wine as she appreciated its inviting and mellow nature. There is some oak, but it is unobtrusive and the alcohol is relatively low at 12.8%.
I was most impressed with the 2022 Di CO Cabernet. With so much chatter about avoiding the 2022 Napa vintage it was refreshing to hear Erin passionately promote this wine. It is brimming with solid Cabernet fruit and is deeply satisfying. The Caldwell is a good wine that will get better, but it was overshadowed by the DI CO.
We could have stayed much longer just talking with Erin, but we had an appointment on the Silverado Trail.
Many have commented on the wonderful hospitality of Renee and Dustin and we add our names to the list. The location is fabulous and it was a treat to sit in their home and look out at their impeccable Cabernet vineyard. We tasted the 2023 Sauvignon Blanc and the 2022 Cabernet. I appreciated the texture and grace of the Cabernet, but felt that the fruit was subdued at this point; time will turn it into a treasure. The SB was mind boggling. Exotic nose, palate teeming with flavors. I have not tasted a SB remotely like it. Surprising, exciting, haunting. What a wine! I bought the 2022 on the initial offering, but have not tasted it. Can it possibly be as good as the 2023?
While in Sacrament we visited Craig Haarmeyer of Haarmeyer Wine Cellars. I learned about him via Ken Zinn’s extensive report on this board. Craig is a Chenin Blanc zealot and he makes them in several different styles from several different places. He also makes Nebbiolo and Zinfandel. He produces these wines in a cramped facility–drenched in history courtesy of Harbor Winery–that he clearly loves. The wines are honest and fresh and so good that I bought a mixed case.
Memorable times in Napa and Sacramento; we are blessed.