My wife and I ventured to Napa for a few days in early October. It was our first return trip to Napa together in 2 years. We had a wonderful time with many great tastings. I have already posted a few tasting experiences individually here over the past week or so (Pott, Kapcsandy, Blankiet), but will summarize the others below.
Forman
We started our trip at Forman with a tasting of the 2011 chardonnay, 2009 cab, and 2010 cab. We met Margaret in the tasting room after a brief tour of the caves. We enjoyed learning about the history of the vineyards and Ric Forman. This was a very enjoyable visit and a great start to our trip. Thanks to Jeff Nemanick for this recommendation
2011 Chardonnay: I’m not much of a chard guy, but this was nice. Honey, wax, lemon, nice acid. 92pts
2009 Cabernet: Very fragrant, black cherries, cassis, leather, subtle spice. dark. Soft and pure in the mouth. Tightly wound, tannic, more approachable at this stage than the 2010. Great. 95pts
2010 Cabernet: Very expressive nose, darker fruit than the 2009, menthol, spice, licorice. Just seemed more densely packed than the 2009. Began to open more in the glass over our hour at the tasting and really gained a greater depth. Really like this and its potential. 96pts.
Seavey
I was introduced to Seavey by a dear friend in Nashville many years ago when we were invited to a 10 year vertical tasting of Seavey Cabernet. To be honest, I hadn’t thought much about them over the past few years until recently, so we stopped by for a visit. Thanks to Fred Daner for the heads up to taste here. We had a very nice tour of their beautiful property (including a visit with their cows). We finished up with a great tasting sitting outside overlooking their pastures and vineyards. These wines are wonderful values in the world of high-priced Napa cabernet. We also were quite impressed with their Merlot ($40).
2010 Seavey Merlot: Great wine for $40. Dried Cherries, tobacco. Soft, lighter mouthfeel, good balance and length. 92pts
2009 Seavey Cabernet: Quite fragrant violets, black cherries, earth, and cocoa. Fleshy, full mouthfeel, with great tannin feel. Loved it. 94+
Greer
Thank you, Roy Piper!! Roy introduced most of us to Greer a few years ago and some of us jumped onboard in blind faith. Through some “connections” I was able to gain access to a tasting with Rob Greer at his vineyard to learn a little more about his gorgeous little spot in Rutherford (thanks to those who pulled strings for me). What a great visit! Rob is wonderful gentleman with a great life story who just “happened” upon a fantastic vineyard when was looking to buy a weekend home and tennis court in Napa. This is some very precious property with some big time neighbors (Scarecrow, amongst others). Aaron Pott makes the wine for the Greer label, in addition to his own cabernet from this vineyard (The Arsenal). Speaking of the Greer label, we learned that is a print that his grandfather or great grandfather made many years ago. Said relative was actually quite a famous printer during his days and this print was made into a large piece of art for the family. It is quite a beautiful label and knowing the history of it makes it even more special.
2010 Greer Cabernet: Gorgeous nose of violets, blackberry/ blueberry, espresso, hint of mint. Soft and elegant entry that gains intensity and depth, beautiful dark fruit, incredible structure that keeps the wine hanging on and on and on. Amazing! 97pts.
VHR
We met up with Bruce Phillips at Vine Hill Ranch and had a very pleasant visit and tour of the vineyards. The VHR cabernet is vintage specific blend of the best blocks from various points in the vineryard (14 blocks IIRC). Each of the blocks has it’s own specific characteristics that are unique. The specific blend of blocks is etched into the bottle label for that particular year. Bruce is such a wonderful host and a great historian of his family’s land. We loved learning about this historic vineyard and are excited at the potential for the future VHR bottlings.
2009 VHR cabernet: Lush fragrant nose, plums, blueberry, licorice. Fleshy and lush dark fruit, hint of tobacco at the end. Great structure, long finish. 95pts
2010 VHR cabernet: Same dark fruited nose, little less “juicy” fruit, more earth and leather coming through, palate had better mouthfeel, wider, great tannin balance, seamless and long. Awesome. 96+pts
Roy Piper Cellars
We met with Roy at Bistro Jeanty for lunch and sneak peak at his inaugural release from the 2010 vintage. We had a schedule conflict but Roy was able to make this lunch tasting happen at the last minute. Roy brought his 2010 and sample of his 2013 wine from GIII. As most of you know, Roy is a real passionate guy and has a terrific fund of knowledge about Napa………but he’s a great winemaker, too! He mentioned that he sold off his last 4 vintages as bulk juice because he just wasn’t satisfied with the quality for his own label. The folks who bought his 2009 juice labeled under a different label, for distribution overseas, and Spectator gave the wine 92 pts. So although he didn’t release the juice, he got a few confirmatory “nods” along the way. The 2010 will be his first release, mostly GIII cabernet, and he is very proud of it. Congratulations, again, Roy. Well done!
2010 Roy Piper Cellars Cabernet: Pop and pour.
Very fragrant, dark lush fruit, blackberry, blueberry, violets, little leather note. Espresso bean. Spice. Full mouthfeel, silky tannins, great long finish. The midpalate really filled out with air showing its great structure. Went fantastic with my Coq au Vin. Very lush fruit profile but has the great structure to hold it all nicely, without being over-the-top. Great. 95pts
Fairchild
Met up with Larry again at his home for a taste of his 2010’s. It’s hard to imagine meeting anyone more of a gentleman than Larry. Great guy. Tasting with Larry is always a treat, sitting at his back patio table overlooking the vineyards. Beautiful property. The 2010’s are great wines. I prefer the Sigaro, but my wife likes the GIII a bit more. Larry’s GIII is more red fruited than Roy Piper’s wine (different blocks from GIII). I think Larry’s GIII comes from the block right adjacent to Schrader’s.
Larry also has some new projects coming down the line over the next few years. The Stones is a new Fairchild wine project from Las Piedras vineyard, and will release in a year or so. Then there will be a The Stones II from a great vineyard on Pritchard Hill, and then The Stones III from a block in Oakville from the Tench Vineyard by Screaming Eagle. Larry is quite excited about these sites and feels that his inaugural release of The Stones from Las Piedras is really developing well in barrel… could be a stunner.
2010 Fairchild Cabernet GIII vineyard. Great nose. Could smell this all day. Black raspberry, Red cherries, flowers, little cinnamon. Great mouthfeel, soft and silky, great acidity and balance. Gripping tannins on the finish. Really great. 95 pts.
2010 Fairchild Cabernet Sigaro Vineryard: Ahhhh, the Sigaro. Love this wine. Darker fruit nose, blackberry and cassis, tobacco, earth/gravel, mild spice. Pure and seemless in the mouth. broader midpalate than the GIII, seems to have more depth. Long silky finish, smooth tannins. Awesome. 96+pts
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