We came out to Napa for our Annual trip this week & weekend and had a wonderful trip. Saw a couple friends again and met many new people. I didn’t take tasting notes of the wines - too busy in conversation with everyone but can point out some of the wines throughout. My brother and I were here from Tuesday to Sunday - then our wives came out on Thursday. We all stayed in Napa at our good friends house who is always a great host.
Day 1: Landed in Sacramento and hustled to get to Grace Family by 3pm tasting. We had Brett as our host who was great. We walked around the property to tour the vineyards - both the front of the property and the back. A lovely property. Then we got to taste the 2022 Cornelius Grove, 2022 Estate Cab, and the 2018 Blank Vineyard. My favorite wine was the Estate Cab (one of my favorites always) but the other two were great. You can tell the 2022 wines (common theme throughout the entire trip are much more ready to drink than 2021s and 2023s. The Blank was in a great place at 8 years - too bad they don’t get this fruit anymore (I think 2018 was last vintage). Would definitely recommend a visit to the estate. Side note - went to Don Giovanni for dinner - for some reason (a bad one) our first time there of all the trips. Food was great!
Day 2: Went to Rudd Family in Oakville. Jerome was our host who took us around the property and caves. Really neat to see it all - took them 3 years to dynamite out and build the caves - then they saved all the materials and used to do other things on the property - like build the wall on the edge of the estate near the roads. In a great neighborhood near Gargiulo and Bonds St. Eden. Oakville is my favorite AVA in the Valley so always a treat to drink some wine. Jerome had a 2013 Estate Cab out which was our favorite wine at Rudd (though all were great. We also got to drink their Leslie’s Blend, Samantha’s Cab and the Mt. Veeder Sav Blanc. I missed a photo of the bottles but think the other two were 2021s and the Blanc was maybe a 2024. The 2021s were a bit tight but you could see they were going to age well.
Second stop was to see Dustin and Renee Mowe. It was a fun day to visit the Mowe’s as they were closing on their acquisition of Aida estate (Dustin & Renee have since sent this out to their mailing list). We got to drink their Estate Cab and the Sav Blanc they source from Coombsville. I think many have written about them - but you need to go see them & check out their wines. Just phenomenal. The 2023 Cab was drinking beautifully and was getting even better throughout our time there as it kept opening up. The Sav Blanc was divine. They are doing everything right and we got to chat a lot about their story, brand, cork business and many other.
Day 3: First stop was to see Alex at MacDonald. Lucky enough to have been twice now and it still feels like hallowed ground and amazing to go. My brother and friend had never been so they got to hear all about the MacDonald story, their family, etc. We drank the 2023 Cab and it was probably everyone’s favorite wine of the trip - how couldn’t it be? Alex took us around the entire vineyard, showed the different blocks and ages, farming techniques, etc. I could spend all day there!
Now the wives made it out for our next stop, and we had pre-arranged to have Roy Piper come over to Morisloi to do a tasting there and Roy was kind to come over. Chris (Christopher Morisoli) was a fantastic host and took us around the property (first we got to have some of the rose, which was stellar and refreshing) at first to show us the different blocks, we even got to eat a fresh plum! The coolest part of the vineyard walk was definitely seeing the old vines which were planted in the 1910s. Back to the house and Chris had us a mini-vertical of the 2021 and 2022 Cabs (both wonderful!) Everyone was looking at, smelling them side-by-side and so different. The 2022 (again) was more ready to drink immediately. Loved both of them, then we got to try the 2024 Plinio’s Block (old vines) Zin. I know we don’t talk or share much about Zin on this message board but this is one to seek out. Just gorgeous, almost a little funky I would say but in the absolutely best way. Then Chris snuck away and brought up an old wine wrapped in tinfoil and we all had to blind taste with the goal of guessing the vintage & grape. We had several guesses and eventually think we got to Zin - which it was a 1995 Elyse Zin - the color had faded a bit as you would expect but it was awesome. I have never had a ZIn that old and it held up super well. Even Roy enjoyed it (he posted an instagram pic of this).
Roy - just a wonderful person - he was so kind to come over and taste with us but we also got to drink his 2014 Cab - man this thing was singing. Feel free to open your 2014 Roy Piper Cabs and drink but honestly, this is going to go a while still. It was wonderful - he knows how to make a serious cab! This was by far the consensus favorite tasting of the weekend across our group. I tend to not revisit a lot of wineries in Napa (not because I don’t love them, but I try to get to more & more - and different ones). We will certainly be visiting with Roy and Chris again - thanks guys.
Day 4: Today we arranged with Dan from Carter Cellars to meet at Missouri Hopper Vineyard. This is my wife’s favorite vineyard in Napa - she loves everything from here we have had. Dan showed us the Carter blocks and this place is right next to Vine Hill Ranch so we got to see that as well. Great property and Dan brought us a 2023 Missouri Hopper from Carter which was big (like all these Carter wines esp with Russell making them). Then we drove up to Envy Wines where they do tastings for Carter and tasted with Erin. We have been Carter fans forever and had been before but my brother & his wife had not so they wanted to go. Their oldest son is Carter and they have bought him a bunch of birth year Carter Carter so they had to go. We got to taste a bunch of wines here! I think all were 2023 so young, big, thankfully Erin had them open & getting air for a while. Everything was great, but the consensus favorite was probably the Carter Carter - which was more open & drinking better. The Three Kings was my second favorite and my brother really liked La Verdad. We also got to taste The Haze, La Bam, The Grand Daddy, and a special wine from Las Piedras that isn’t released. Wonderful wines and good visit. May not be the best setting we love - being right at a vineyard - but adding in the Missouri Hopper stop was a fun touch.
The second stop for today was at Greer Family and we were hosted by Ania. She also works at Gamble Family so she brought a Gamble Family Sav Blanc for us to start with (it was a real hot day) before we jumped into the Cabs. This is a fun tasting venue - in an old barn. Ania gave us the story of the Greer’s and also that the Morisoli family actually helped the Greer’s get started when they bought the property. Also that Roy Piper’s post of their first vintage on the old Parker message boards is what helped them sell so much wine the first vintage and get a following. Greer only makes one wine - the estate Cab. We tasted the 2017, 2022 at first - again the 2022 was open for business like the others on the trip. I think the group sided with 2017 if we had to vote. Then Ania poured us the 2018, which was a bit tight to me but still great. These are great wines that you should seek out too and a fun visit.
The last stop was pre-planned, our friend Ryan lives down in town of Napa (right in Oak Knoll district) and he had made friends with the owners of Bulldog Vineyards. We ordered takeout pizza and brought it over for a tasting there. They make a Sav Blanc, Right Bank Blend, Cab and a Reserve Cab. George and Marie were such lovely hosts. The wines were good! I liked the Cabs the best but everything was good. Good price points for their wine. Their property is actually kitty corner from Moulds Vineyard - and for those that don’t know that’s the primary fruit source for Roy that he puts into Roy Piper Cab.
Day 5 (last tasting day): First stop at Staglin Family. Wow, what a great property. This is another that you must come visit. David was our host and he was a fun hang. He toured us around the property a bit, some nice older vines here and then showed us the caves which are right underneath Mt. St. John. We started out drinking the Chardonnay, which was a wonderful Chard - we aren’t Chard fans but left buying a bunch. Then we got to try their Staglino Sangiovese, again, not the biggest Sangiovese fan but this was good and very drinkable now (I think it was a 2023). Then we got to try their 2022 Salus Cab and Estate Cab. Lastly, David poured us some 2017 Estate Cab. We liked everything but would definitely say the Estate Cabs were the best two wines and great. It was my first time drinking the Salus Cab, which comes from younger vines and this has great QPR.
The last stop on the trip was to taste La Jota up at Spire Collection in Calistoga and hosted by Steve. We got to taste 8 or 9 wines here as they also pour some other brands. The 2016 Cab Franc was in a great spot - and we bought some of this. We got to try the 2022 WS Keyes Merlot (prob my fav wine here) but also loved the 2022 Howell Mountain Cab. We also tried the WS Keyes Chard. We got to try an Anakota Knights Valley Cab (good QPR at $50) and a Hickenbotham Merlot from Chris Carpenter as well - they are in Australia. This was an enjoyable wine too. The other top wine here amongst the group was the 2021 Mt. Brave Mt. Veeder Single Block Cab (this goes to Lakoya). In time this probably would have been my favorite wine but was a bit closed.
All in all, an amazing trip, maybe my favorite one yet - they are hard to top but somehow they do. It was fun tasting some older library vintages from these places. It was great to get to meet new people and make some new friends.
Why the hell don’t I drink more Grace Family? Been to Napa countless times, and always wanted to taste there at that gorgeous property! Had the 2000 recently, for my daughter(Grace) bday, born in 2000…it was fantastic!!