Amazing couple of days in Sonoma and Napa. We headed up for an early weekend with dinner at Cyrus. After recommendations on Wine Berserker, we made a reservation at Aperture. Spent the night in Geyserville and had dinner at Cyrus. In the morning drove up the hill to Pride and then over to Carter Cellars in Calistoga. Finishing with an overnight at Meritage Resort and seeing Les Claypool concert.
I really did not want to like Aperture as I don’t need to add another winery to my purchase list. However, I was impressed with the wines and the tasting room. MacKenzie (hope I’m spelling that right) was great at introducing us to their wines. We started with the Chenin Blanc and Sav Blanc. While I don’t drink whites other than an occasional Quarts De Chame or Sauterne, I found them more to my flavor profile than most other white. The Sav Blanc reminded me of Alpha Omega Sav Blanc. I really enjoyed the regular cab and the red blend. While I don’t need more wine, I do appreciate a decent red that you can drink now and wait for your other wines to age. I found both of these to meet that need and purchased a few of each. We followed that up with the single vineyards, Del Rio, Sugarloaf, Farrow Ranch, SJ Ranch and Oliver Ranch. I appreciated them all, but found the 2018 Oliver Ranch to be the best of what we tasted and the Sugarloaf to be the least appealing. We had a good conversation about Andy Katz and 3 books were brought out of his photography, which were amazing. This brought on a conversation regarding Devil Proof Malbec and the photo on the bottle. I had never heard of Devil Proof and their “100 point” malbec, let alone the $300+ per bottle cost. I had long ago given up on Vina Cobos as their price point seemed a little much…Regardless, the bottle was brought out and the photo is stunning. If you haven’t seen the photo of the woman on the bottle, check out their website. The story of the picture that Andy Katz took is great too. Though we couldn’t try the malbec, I bought a 3 pack as it comes with a print of the picture. Also bought a couple of the Oliver Ranch Cabs. My only complaint is the tasting fee is not comped with any purchase.
We then headed a little north to Geyserville, the Isis Oasis Sanctuary (our Airbnb) and Cyrus. I’ll review Isis Oasis on Airbnb… But, will say it’s 3 stars with a hippy, burning man kind of vibe. They have parrots and llamas:-) It was a short 10 minute walk to Cyrus, which is why I booked it. Anyway, off we went to Cyrus. We had been to the old Cyrus a few times and really loved it. We found the old Cyrus to be significantly better than French Laundry or Single Thread. So, we had high hopes for the new restaurant. The location is amazing and I was pleasantly surprised to find the restaurant in the middle of the Aperture Oliver Ranch Vineyard. I brought along a 2016 Realm Absurd and 2001 Suduiraut for dinner. We were warmly greeted and brought into the Champagne and caviar room where we had a cocktail with some amuse bouches. Next we moved to the kitchen where the chef greeted us to an open conversation, tour of the kitchen and 5-6 more small dishes. We then moved to the main dining area and had 2-3 larger dishes, cheese course and dessert. This was followed by a trip to the chocolate room, where we finished. All in all a nice dinner, though I think we enjoyed the old place a little more. The main dining area, though nice as it provides a great view of the vineyard, was a little steril. Back to our hippy oasis we went…
Next morning we woke and headed to Pride for an 11am appointment. I’ve been buying from Pride for 20+ years and make a trip about once a year to pick up the wine I’ve purchased. They never disappoint and they always seem to have the nicest people on staff. The trip over the hill was eye opening as we hadn’t driven from Sonoma to Pride since the 2020 fires. Crazy how close the fires got to Pride. We were met by Quiqui in the tasting room and just stayed there to try some of the wine. I’ve done the tour through the cave enough times and didn’t need to make that trip again. If I remember correctly, we tasted the 2020 regular cab and merlot, Syrah and Cab Franc. Along with the 2019 Reserve Cab and the 2020 Reserve Cab and Claret. I was there to pick up the Reserves, so was nice to see where they stood. Picked up a few Cab Franc while there as well. The Syrah isn’t really my style. I think the regular Cab and Merlot are still some of the best value wines in Napa. Quiqui was a great host and suggested sandwiches at Giugni. So, we headed to St. Helena for a sandwich at Giugni before Carter Cellars.
We arrived for our 1pm appointment at Carter and quickly realized that the woman there had no idea we were coming. I had set up an appointment with Dan about a month prior to see where the 2021’s were before purchasing, but things got lost… Not a problem, she made a quick call to Dan and Dan called Mark Carter, who lives down the street as Dan was running some errands. We grabbed our sandwiches and had lunch with a glass of the Los Compadres. About 10 minutes passed and Mark showed up. After our lunch we moved into the tasting room and Mark had the 2021 Haze, Daze, Missouri Hopper and Los Compadres. The Haze is a decent value, but not my favorite. The Daze, isn’t really my flavor profile. The Haze is all cab and the Daze is Merlot/Cab Franc blend. We then started in on the Beckstoffers and they were more our style. The Missouri Hopper was drinking well and showed a lot of potential as did the Los Compadres. I find these two along with the Carter Carter to usually be more open for business than the two other Las Piedras wines and the To Kalons. With that, we decided to check in on the Carter Carter and once it warmed up, it was drinking really well. With a little time in the bottle it is going to be a monster wine. Carter Carter is what I buy the most of along with the O.G. year after year. With a nice little glow from the wines we had tried, we all decided to dive into the other two Las Piedras wines and compare them to the Los Compadres. Mark brought out the La Verdad and the La Bam. As stated, I find the Los Compadres the most open early, followed by the La Bam and then La Verdad. The La Verdad was very tight, but showed enough that with 4-5 years in the bottle, it would really start to shine. We talked about the To Kalons and Mark brought out the Three Kings which was also drinking well. Dan showed up and looked at the table and decided we need to try the GTO. Wow, the GTO was amazing and might get them the 100 points they strive for in 2021. It will take a few years for it to come together, but it was an amazing wine. Without much arm twisting we then launched into the O.G. and finally the GrandDaddy. The O.G. is always, by far, my favorite from the Carter wines and this did not disappoint. The Grand Daddy is one that never quite seems ready. I check in on them and they always seem like they need more time. The 2021 however, was much more open than any other Grand Daddy I have tried in the past. While revisiting some of the wines, we talked about photography and the conversation turned to Devil Proof and the photo that Andy Katz had taken for the Devil Proof label. Mark had seen the photo as well as Andy Katz is a good friend. So, Mark got on the phone and gave Andy a call. Sadly, he didn’t pick up as it would have been amazing to talk photography with Andy. Perhaps one day… With that, we wrapped up and bought a decent amount of wine, buying everything except the Haze, Daze and GTO. Largest purchases were of Carter Carter, O.G. and Missouri Hopper. Always fun to visit Carter and to taste with Mark and Dan. Very grateful for their hospitality. 2021 vintage is one to go big on IMHO.
Next stop was the Meritage Resort and Les Claypool concert. I won’t bore you with concert details. But, will say the venue is great place to see a concert. The Meritage Resort… I would give a miss as far as a hotel. Rooms were fine, but zero character and crowds of people that have Disneyland and Napa mixed up. Along with the resort fees and paid self parking, I don’t think I will be back. With that, we made the long drive back to Oakland.