We recently came back from our getaway to Napa, enjoyed 3.5 days of food and wine. Below are comments about the various wineries we visited and wines tasted. Long notes below, but some overall comments:
- Napa is still our happy place. No place better for us to unwind and forget about everything around us.
- The 2023 vintage is all it’s cracked up to be, and we only tasted a handful. There will be no shortage of great 2023’s.
- For us, it continues to be about the experience. The people we meet, have a chance to connect with about the wine, but also about life. Those are the wineries where we will continue to buy from and relive the memories and conversations of this trip.
Beta Jasud
Met with Ketan to taste through his wines. This was my first experience tasting his wines, but have purchased since the 2018 vintage. Ketan did it up right for us. Tasted 2012,17,18,21 Monticello and 22-24 Jasud, along with Placid (not sure on vintage). Sorry, if anyone was hoping to get intel on the future for Beta Jasud, details on viticulture practices, etc, I can’t help. We spent more time talking about life than wine. Ketan is an awesome dude, will gladly continue to buy all I can. Great way to start the trip.
- 2012 Monteceillo was the star of the Monti’s. The line up shows the value of letting these sit in the cellar. I’ve heard 10 plus years, 100% believe it now. Let them rest. But truly enjoyable.
- Placid – We are NOT fans of Chardonnay, but this had loads of character and none of the buttery oak bombs that make us dislike Chardonnay so much. Haven’t purchased Placid before, but will going forward. Sorry, did not catch the vintage.
- Jasud – 2022, 2023, 2024 out of barrel vertical, 2023 was the clear favorite. (a common theme of these notes). I get the hype around Jasud now. We did not have the opportunity to taste the Own Rooted, so I guess I have to go back sometime….
Blankiet Estate
Graham (Assistant Winemaker) showed us through the estate and led us through the tasting. You can tell this is a no expense spared operation and the results show it. Super opulent wine and cool architecture, but not overdone like some other Italian themed wineries in the valley. Glad we chose to visit.
- 2023 Prince of Hearts Rose – delicious, no sharp edges but great depth to this wine. Bought a few.
- 2022 Prince of Hearts Red - good
- 2021 Prop Red – Second favorite behind the merlot.
- 2022 Mythicvs – still edgy, needs some time, but will be a powerhouse.
- 2021 Rive Droite (Merlot)
- 2019 Rive Droite – After the reviews the prior week at PNV, we begged Graham to see if he could find a 2019 to try, and he delivered. This was the star of the show. Best merlot we’ve ever had. Best wine of the tasting
- Prince of Hearts #5 and #7 Port - #7 had strong bourbon notes on the nose, but didn’t carry it through. A bit sweet. #5 was more tried and true, and our favorite
Bedrock Wine Company
Met our friends at BoonFly Café, then headed over to Bedrock for a tasting:
- 2017 Under the Wire Sangiacomo Sparkling Chardonnay – UTW is simply not my jam. Not sure I can put my finger on why.
- 2023 Cuvee Karatas – good, but not my favorite Bedrock white. The SB and semillon now comes all from Bedrock vineyard. Seems to have too much going on with different flavor profiles for me.
- 2022 Evangelho Heritage – Not sure, but this one just didn’t do it for me either. Evangelho is near the bottom for me of the Bedrock Heritage wines.
- 2019 Bedrock Bedrock – still needs time. Came to life after significant swirling. Very good.
- 2021 Hudson Syrah – Reconfirmed I’m not a Syrah drinker. However a Syrah drinker with us enjoyed it. Different strokes for different folks
- 2023 Oakville Farmhouse – my first taste of Oakville Farmhouse, holy crap this is good. Very cabernet like, but different and unique. Super bright in current state. I’m sure this will get better over time, but was the tables favorite of the tasting. I was expecting this to be highly disjointed but was surprisingly good at this early age.
- 2022 Papera – consistently good, 2022 vintage no different. I think you know what you get with Papera every single year. Love Papera
- 2021 Sky Vineyard – Another holy crap. Delicious. Can practically taste the mountain.
- 2023 Evangelho Zinfandel – such a different story than the heritage blend. If I were MTP and Chris, I’d make this Zin standalone every year. A wow at this early stage.
Pott Wine
Aaron was able to accommodate our group and started with a tour of his property. Absolutely incredible views of the valley, we picked a great day to be there, not a cloud in the sky. Great look out points and tour guide in Aaron. Visiting Pott Wine is worth it for the views alone, then add in some great wines and great conversation with Aaron. Seems like Aaron has fully integrated Lagier Meredith into his operation. Also, I loved that in their tasting room, he’s got all the trophy bottles displayed that he and friends have shared over the years. Some big-time classics in there.
- 2022 LMV Syrah – Wow, I’m not a fan of Syrah (See Bedrock), but this was good. So impressed with this I brought home a bottle.
- 2022 LMV Zinfandel – straight forward mountain zinfandel. Not overly peppery, very subtle. Easy drinking and delicious.
- 2023 20M3 Viognier – Simply delicious.
- 2018 and 2022 Her Majesty’s Secret Service (Stagecoach Cabernet) – Got a side by side of this, and preferred the younger 2022. 2018 may have been in an awkward stage. 2022 was gorgeous.
- 2015 and 2022 Space and Time – cellaring time paid off, 2015 was good while the 2022 seamed still a bit disjointed. Opposite of the Secret Service. All the elements where there though.
- 2017 and 2022 Incubo – really enjoyed this one. 2022 showed it’s stuff over the 2017. We do tend to like younger wines, not sure if we preferred the 2022 over the 2017 because of the vintage, our preference, or combination.
Realm North
Rikki took care of us. Love that Realm takes into consideration with when you joined the mailing list (not purchased) for determining when to comp tastings. 5 years on the list got our tasting comped for the 4 in our group.
- 2023 Precious Twin Rose - 90% merlot/ 10% Charbono - amazingly refreshing. I had previously tried the 2022, and 2023 is better by a landslide
- 2022 Tempest – Another merlot wow.
- 2022 Houyi – My favorite of the Cabs we tried, would have purchased some but they had the price higher than I recalled and outside my comfort zone.
- 2019 The Bard – Like meatloaf and mashed potatoes, very comforting and enjoyable.
- 2010 Beckstoffer To Kalon – added on a glass of this for $30, what a great investment. I don’t have a ton of experience drinking 15-year-old wines, but this retained the freshness of a more recent vintage. They were selling this out of the tasting room for what I thought was a reasonable $250, and Rikki was able to figure out how to include it on our shipped order. I’ve already got a spot reserved for it next holiday season.
- 2023 Beckstoffer To Kalon – Rikki then treated us to a barrel sample of 2023 BTK. If you bought on the spring release, you will NOT be disappointed. If you are on the fence, reach out to the Realm team now to purchase. Don’t walk, run. It’s that damn good.
- 2013 Rare Champagne – another BTG purchase, high quality champagne. The bubbles were small and amazing. But for $250/ bottle, I think there are a lot of less expensive options in the market.
William and Mary
It’s been said on this board before; I’ll say it again. Will is a rock star. Truly one of the great people in Napa. We had a great conversation, talked kids and talked wine. He answered every question our group could throw at him. Even served a bourbon lover in our group a couple of pours from his personal stash. The only winery that we walked out of that I got a direct order from my wife to keep buying his wine.
- 2023 Macdougall Pinot Noir – A one off from Will, was just released. More lighter, medium body. Very true to form for Will and Macdougall vineyard wines. Buy with confidence.
- 2019 Shifflet Prop Red – big time hit for many of us. Hitting a sweet spot, with no end in sight
- 2022 Shifflet Cabernet – delicious. Last Shifflet cab I’d had was 2017, hadn’t bought since. This will change.
- 2023 Shifflet Cabernet (barrel sample) – Sorry for the lack of better description, other than holy crap. Shows everything good about the 2023 vintage and Shifflet vineyard. 2022 Shifflet was an A, 2023 is an A+++++
- 2019 Cabernet Franc – talked Will into pulling one of these. Sounds like he has a small stash he may decide to sell some day. I offered to make it a smaller stash since this is amazing as a stand alone from the Prop Red.
Alpha Omega
We’ve been club members at AO before. Since we intended to join again, we told our host to simply take us on a AO journey, and we were not disappointed. We may have even journeyed too far. Honestly, I may be missing some wines in the list below. Our host Christina just kept bringing more wine, and the deepest pours of the trip. Like, too deep. We did not make our dinner reservation… I know I’m missing some wines and descriptions below.
- 2023 Rose
- 2023 Sauvignon Blanc 1155 – Big time fan of this. Have purchased before, give it a couple years, and it comes out singing.
- 2022 Napa Cab – tried and true. Not a blow your socks off with depth and structure, but solid drinking cab. For the price, some may be disappointed, but it is good.
- 2022 Prop Red – I’ve always been a fan of the prop red, but in this instance the Napa Cab was in a better place. Might have been the worst of what we tasted. I usually buy a couple, likely will pass on 2022 vintage
- 2021 Mt Veeder – Really enjoyed this one. Stood out amongst all the AVA wines that were poured for us.
- 2021 Atlas Peak – meh…
- 2021 Oak Knoll – good. Not great.
- 2022 Tench Vineyard – There aren’t many wines that I can truly align with a place. Tench does it for me and this was no different. Loved it.
- 2023 Tench Vineyard (from barrel) – This was the best of everything we tasted at AO. Truly a special wine
- 2021 ERA – Just a lot going on with this. Not for me.
- 2023 Beckstoffer Bourn Vineyard (from barrel) – 2nd place of the SVD after Tench. My first exposure to Bourn Vineyard. Liked this a lot.
- 2023 Thomas Vineyard (from barrel)
- 2023 Sleeping Lady (from barrel)
- Others ???
Mayacamas
Roughly next door to Pott, but looking at the other side of the mountain. David, our host, took us on an ATV tour to check out the property. The only thing that could have made this better was to do the full tasting out on the mountain. Beautiful! When planning we made this reservation in anticipation of the Cabs, but the rest of the wines stole the show. The cabs were underwhelming relatively speaking. And knowing they needed 20+ years to get to a point where we’d be pleased with a purchase, we passed on buying any. But took home a mix of the others.
- 2023 Rose of Grenache – started a bit rough around the edges, but blew off and turned out to be very nice
- 2022 Chardonnay – not typically a fan of Chardonnay, but this was good. No oak or butter.
- 2003 Cabernet – done in a side by side by side tasting, 2003 was clear winner. Demonstrates freshness with 20+ year old wine. No signs of giving up anytime soon.
- 2006 Cabernet – least favorite, just kind of there
- 2020 Cabernet – Second favorite but a long way from the 2003.
- 2022 Merlot – Talked David into finding this, glad we did. Really good merlot, soft yet a lot of structure. Not quite Blankiet we tasted the other day, but also a third of the price
- 2023 Sauvignon Blac – screams green apple, and in a good way. Perfect for warm summer evening. Entire group ordered some of this
Turnbull
We were hoping to get into Davies for a Schramsberg sparkling tasting, but failed to make a reservation and they couldn’t accommodate us, so we pivoted to this. While I’m glad we tried it, it was the least favorite tasting of the trip. Just uninspiring.
- 2021 Bonne Vivante – blend of Syrah, Lagrein, and Cab. Might have been the worst wine of the entire trip. Poured this out quickly. No flaws, just not good IMO
- 2021 Oakville Reserve Cab – More my style but loaded with tannin. Needs time.
- 2020 Amoenus Vineyard – a component of the black label, but not the best stand alone. We liked the Oakville Reserve better.
- 2021 Leopoldina Vineyard – Getting closer…. Not overly tannic, has some structure.
- 2021 Black Label – Best cab of their offering. Nice drinking Cabernet. Not really close to some of the other cabernet we tasted on the trip, but best Turnbull had
- NV Sparkling – Blancs des Noirs – wow, nice structure, and flavor profile. Best wine of the Turnbull tasting
Pride Mountain Winery
Nicole was super energetic and took us through the winery explaining the history and their methods of production. We had been to Pride 4 years ago during Covid, and wanted to take our friends to experience it as well. Much different experience this time, as we were grouped with others and really didn’t get the hands-on experience we had on our previous visit. We knew this going in, but it made a big difference. There were also several varietals sold out that we were hoping to taste, but unable to. Oh well, still a great winery that we’ll continue to support.
- 2023 Chardonnay – really good for chardonnay. More on the lighter side.
- 2022 Syrah – This is strange, the second Syrah I’ve liked on this trip…. Are my tastes changing or are these two different than others?
- 2022 Cabernet – solid juice.
- 2021 Vintner Select Cabernet – the win of the tasting. Tasted side by side with the Reserve, Vintner Select was the winner.
- 2021 Reserve Cabernet – See above, good, not great.
- 2022 Claret (from barrel) – remainder sent to bottling, they kept this barrel for tours. Really good, the predominant merlot gives it a nice roundness with structure from the cab.
Nicole poured a few different vintages of the cabs and merlots as well out of magnum. Not sad we went, but was a bit of a let down vs. our previous visit.
Overall, a fun trip with a chance to meet some great people and taste amazing wines. Thanks for reading.
