I recently went on a truly epic tasting trip in Napa with some friends. In fact, I met the gentlemen for the first time on the trip … truly a leap of faith. We had mutual friends that felt we’d hit it off, and that was enough for me to give it a try. Within 30 minutes of meeting them, we had hit it off and I knew it was going to be a great week.
I met these fellas on the parker board, so these notes are on that board, too. The other guys don’t post here, so I am bringing my notes over, without their additions. Sorry for those that still read that board if this seems redundant.
My overall impressions from the trip were that the 2011’s were not all that bad, for my palate. I tend to shy away from the big extracted cabs these days, so “lighter” versions (ala 2011) were enjoyable. Granted, the 2011’s weren’t to the level of the 2012’s, but as a whole, the 2011’s I tasted were very nice.
Blankiet
This was my second visit to Blankiet and I continue to be impressed by their wines.
Met with Claude Blankiet and Denis Malbec, their winemaker, to do some tasting of 2013 barrels of merlot, petit verdot, and cabernet. We also tried the 2012 barrel of petit verdot. All of the barrel samples were singing. The merlot had wonderful fruit and minerality showing and the cab had great bright red fruit profile with a luscious feel. The most intriguing barrel samples were from the PV barrels. These were remarkable with pretty white flowers, cranberry, mocha and iodine, with a very smooth mouthfeel….not what I expected. It’s a shame these wines are only used in small amounts of the final blends of the flagship wines. But this just further illustrates the quality of the fruit that goes in to all aspects of these wines.
We then headed up to the tasting room to taste the 2011’s and barrel samples of the 2012’s. In brief summary, the 2011’s are very elegant and gorgeous wines, that have a lighter feel than the 2012’s and 2010’s. Obviously this is vintage specific. But I wouldn’t label this as a bad vintage for Blankiet. These are much more approachable early and will be fantastic food wines. The 2012’s are just fantastic across the board.
2011 Prince of Hearts – 75.8% Cab Sauv, 20.4% Merlot, 2.3% cab franc, 1.5% pv
white flowers and cherries on the nose, soft and delicate in the mouth. The tannins were so soft and light and kept lingering. 92points
2011 Rive Droite – 92.4% Merlot, 7.6% cab franc
More of a rich cherry and cocoa nose, similar style to the palate as the Prince of Hearts, but a tad more weight and length. Smooth and elegant. 93 points
2011 Proprietary Red – 81% Cab Sauv, 16.5% Merlot, 2.1% cab franc, 0.3% pv
more of a cabernet nose, darker fruits, but still very light aromas overall. Very pretty feel in the mouth but felt like I was wanting a bit more in structure for their Proprietary Red. 92 points
2012 Rive Droite – 95.8% Merlot, 4.2% cab franc
Amazing nose cherry/cocoa/ orange peel. Luscious red fruit fills mouth with long, silky tannins. Wow! 98+ points
2012 Proprietary Red – 81 % cab sauv, 16.1 % merlot, 2.1% cab franc, 0.8% pv
Deep blackberry/blueberry, full mouthfeel, pure, and elegant. Long fine-grained tannins. Great. 98+ points
2012 Mythicus – 100% cab sauv
Pure black/blue fruit nose, pencil lead, hint of spice, mouthfeel has a great focus and long finish, but this was not quite performing as well, to me, as the other 2012’s. 96 points.
I was thrilled with the overall quality of these wines in a style that is much more in line with what I like to drink these days. I will be spending much more money with Blankiet in the future.
Greer
Tasting with Rob is always a treat. He’s a very fun and engaging host. I agree with Jeff, the 2011 Greer was among the best 2011’s we tasted. I am so glad I have been on board with Greer since the start. These are fantastic wines.
2011 Greer - Great nose, black cherry, cassis, spice. Plate was impressive, great mid-palate and tannin structure. Maybe a bit shorter finish than previous years. 95 points
2012 Greer (barrel sample) - Huge expressive nose, blackberry, cassis, maybe some eucalyptus, spice. great mouthfeel with long sweet tannins. fantastic. 97+ points
Dana Estates
I came into this tasting more curious than any of the others planned for our trip. Mainly because of the mixed reviews I’ve read online with regard to customer service, wine performance, etc. I, too, secretly hoped the wines would not perform very well. Alas, the tasting experience was first rate and the wines were amazing. I hope to be able to source some of these wines in the future and now need to re-think my wine budget.
Jason Heller was an awesome host and great guy. Super cool to taste with a master sommelier. Here are some notes on the wines we tasted:
2011 Sauvignon Blanc Hersey Vineyard: Less than 20 cases produced. Not for public sale. 18 months in barrel. Very fragrant, what struck me most was the huge mouthfeel and acidity, and long finish. Would have no problem competing with some Silex bottles I’ve had in the past. 94+ points.
2012 Onda - red cherry, spice, Christmas potpourri, quite tannic. very good. 93 points
2012 Helms - Wow!!! dark cherry, leather, hint of cinnamon. I wrote down “like a long, black, sexy evening gown; understated elegance” (that was for C Luhta ) This was sooo good. 98 points.
2012 Hersey - darker fruited nose, some earth notes, and spice. Huge tannins, silky. 96+
2012 Lotus (T5 barrel)- Holy Sh!t. Amazing nose! Felt this wine was a perfect 100 before even tasting it. Dark cherry and spice. Perfectly smooth and balance with long, long, long silky tannins. 99 points
2012 Lotus (one year old T5 barrel). - Even better than the previous one. just more energy with this one. Amazing length and balance. 100 points.
The following wines were all from bottle.
2011 Helms - dark fruited, with spice and leather. great midpalate and acidity. Really impressive. 94+
2011 Lotus - dark cherry, iodine, wet smell. Full mouthfeel. Awesome. 96+ points.
2011 Hersey - This one felt bigger to me. Huge mouthfeel. More hedonistic. very long. 94 points
2005 Helms - This one still felt quite young. Huge was all I remember. Dense, big tannins. Super dark. Great complexity and balance. 97+ points.
VHR
Always a treat to spend some time with Bruce Phillips and continue to learn more about their family’s property. They have a very special piece of property in Oakville with some wonderfully aged vines. In the past I’ve had the 2009 and 2010 VHR cabs, and preferred the 2010 (which I bought). I recently passed on the 2011 offer because I was buying into the terrible vintage reports on 2011. No matter, because Bruce still sold out. After tasting the 2011 on our trip, I was kicking myself for not buying when I had the chance. I will not make that mistake again. The 2012 and 2013 barrel samples we had were great. I think the 2013 is going to be just fantastic.
2011 VHR
soft nose, flowers, blackberry, eucalyptus. Tart fruit profile in the mouth. Huge tannins, brief mid palate feel that improved over the 2 hours. Good finish. 94+points
2012 VHR (barrel sample)
Dark cherry, hint of dust, menthol, mineral tones. expansive dark fruit on the palate with full mouthfeel and long gripping tannins. Wonderful sample. 97 points
2013 VHR (barrel sample)
Same dark fruit profile, leather, and more prominent mineral/stone aromas. Best nose of the 3 wines. Huge mouthfeel but perfectly balanced, with long fine-grained tannins. Striking wine! 98 points.
MacDonald
I was super-excited to visit MacDonald. I loved their story about how they discovered that their family owned the best part of To Kalon and was curious to taste their wines, especially after some mixed reviews from posters on this board and others.
We had a great 3 hour visit with Graeme and Alex, which is saying something when all of that 3 hours was spent between vineyard tour and in the cottage tasting 2 wines (no winery to tour). Really enjoyed seeing the old vines and comparing them to Mondavi’s monastery block just adjacent to the Mac Donald vines.
Graeme has spent a lot of time researching To Kalon history and how his family became involved. It was super interesting to hear the history. I really hope he puts this into a book someday. I have some great pictures, too, but I don’t know how to post them.
MacDonald 2010
I loved this wine. 24 hours of slow ox, decanted for 3 hours. Dark fruited nose, black/blueberry, with wet stones, iodine, black olives. Very fragrant with more and more air. Expansive mouthfeel with long, fine grained tannins. Very balanced feel. Very classic feel. Awesome. 97 points.
MacDonald 2011
This was only a 2 hour decant so it was very tight at first, opened up a bit more by the end of the tasting. My immediate note was Huge Tannins, which I was not expecting given the vintage. Nose was similar to the 10, with black/blue fruit, olives, hint of tar. big mouthcoating tannins with good acidity. Long finish. This didn’t feel like a clipped version of 2010 in any way, just needs more time. Great wine. 95 points.
Kapcsandy
What more can I say about Kapcsandy? I have been one of the many vocal supporters of Kapcsandy for several years now. It seems like I repeat myself with every post that I make on the tastings with Lou (immaculate/clean winery, intense and driven owner, fantastic vineyards, amazing tasting experience). I almost hesitate to post notes because some of you may disregard them as coming from that “Kapcsandy-cheerleader”. But I think that’s what makes the tasting experience with Lou so great for me. I come into it with admittedly high expectations, and the wines always perform well. No let downs. Most times in life if you build something up before you experience it, you are left disappointed at the reality. Never happens here.
For me now, this is the 3rd tasting I’ve had at Kapcsandy in 8 months. I guess I was making up for not tasting there previously for 2 years. Anyway, this was by far the best that the 2011’s have performed. Perhaps the bottle age is helping the wine from this difficult vintage? Who knows. God for me; I bought more of the 2011’s from Kapcsandy than I have of any of their other vintages.
2011 Furmint
Nice nose, grapefruit, apples, wax. Good acidity. 89+ points
2013 Furmint
Brighter light fruits, white blossoms, rounder mouthfeel with great acidity. 90 points
2013 Muscat Lunelle
Wow, fragrant nose of honeysuckle, honeydew, flowers. Bright and energetic with good mouthfeel and acidity. Very good. 91 points.
2011 Rose
Strawberries and flowers. Light, crisp. 89 points
2010 Grand Vin Rose
I’ve had this wine many times and this is the best its performed. Slighter darker fruited nose, fuller mouth with same great acidity. You can tell there is slightly more heft here. Very good. 92+ points
2010 Endre (53% cab, 43% merlot, 3% cab franc, 1% petit verdot)
I love this wine. Have had it many times as my go to wine sub $100 cab. Lovely dark cherry nose, soft and full entry to the palate and lightly lingers for long finish. So balanced. Great. 94 points.
2011 Endre (53% merlot, 36% cab, 10%PV, 1%cab franc)
Lighter nose of cherries, lavender, and hay. Can tell this more Merlot heavy and less cabernet. Lighter mouthfeel, but still with balance and great tannins. Great. 92 points.
2011 Estate Cuvee (nearly identical blend as the Endre, except this gets only free run juice and older vines) – Red fruited nose, cherry, strawberry blossoms, very fragrant. Much more of a full mouthfeel than the Endre with longer structure tannins and finish. Great. 94+ points.
2011 Rapszodia
Nice lightly fragrant nose, almost pretty. Darker fruited, leather, sweet tobacco. Softer in the mouth than the other reds tasted. I was hoping for a bit more acidity. 92+ points
2011 Grand Vin
Represents only 10% of entire 2011 production. Beautiful black cherry, mocha, tobacco nose, light encompassing mouthfeel with huge length and silky tannins. Perfectly balanced . Awesome. 96+ points
2011 Roberta’s Reserve
Wonderfully fragrant nose of cherry, some leather, cocoa. OMG! Smooth and long. Such a finessed wine. Beautiful. 96+ points
2012 Endre - barrel sample (77% cab, 20%merlot, 1%cab franc, 1% PV)
Great nose on this “second label” wine. Deeper red fruit, violets, and spice. Softer feel in the mouth and I felt was missing a bit of the structure in the midpalate from previous vintages. Perhaps a product of the barrel sample age? 91+ points
2012 Estate Cuvee - barrel sample (80% cab, 20% merlot)
Wow! Awesome! This nose is so beguiling. Dark red fruits, spice. Very rich nose. Precise and elegant palate that envelopes and goes forever. Fantastic. 97+points.
2012 Rapszodia – barrel sample (90% cab franc, 10% merlot)
Darker fruit nose, some graphite notes, and spice. Wonferully perfumed with a elegant mouthfeel and long tannins. Not a hint of greenness. Great. 96 Points
2012 Grand Vin – barrel sample
Super dark, richly aromatic nose. Just amazing depth and richness in the mouth. Amazing! 98 points.
2012 Roberta’s Reserve – barrel sample
OMG! Best nose of the trip so far. Wow. Cherries, cocoa, tobacco. Voluptuous mouthfeel would be an understatement. Impeccable balance. Jaw-dropping wine. 100 points.
2013 Grand Vin – barrel sample
Deeply fragrant, black cherries and currants. So full and rich and long. Wow! 99 points
2013 Roberta’s Reserve – barrel sample
Another amazing Roberta nose. Leaves one breathless. Beautiful. Palate on this one has more structure than the 2012 and slightly rougher tannins. Probably the different year, and showing its youth, but just a gorgeous first peek. 99 points.
Roy Piper Cellars
Always fun to meet up with Roy. Was a treat to try his 2011; this is much more in line with the Cabs that I like these days. We met up at Bistro Jeanty. I had brought a 2007 Greer and 2007 Pott The Arsenal for us to drink, as well. Those notes are included, too.
2010 Roy Piper Cellars - Big blue fruit. Meaty. Gripping tannins.
Missing some brightness and acidity that I remember was present in previous taste. Takes forever to open. 92 points
2011 Roy Piper Cellars - much more restrained elegant fruit, fresh cut hay, great midpalate. good balance. Sweet tannins. Much more a style of wine that I like. 94+ points.
2007 Pott - The Arsenal
Blackberry, dark cherry, great spice,
huge mid palate. Really came into its own after 3 hours. Should have decanted. Long finish. 97 points.
2007 Greer
Wonderful nose. Blueberry. Cassis . Smooth long mid palate. Great balance and super elegant. 98+ points.