I was told during my visit that the price for the Dana SB (not the Vaso) is $500 per. Vaso SB was excellent and I believe is ~$100. Might sound crazy to call a $100 SB value, but it is fantastic.
Completely agree on Elyse. We recently did a very similar tasting at the bar. Lost track of how many wines we had and all were extremely good. The relaxed nature of the tasting was a nice change of pace. If you prefer an informal environment that is more about tasting many different wines, I would give Elyse my highest recommendation.
Elyse
Had a blast visiting the estate. My experience with the tasting was very casual. We stood at the bar, tried a bunch of wines, and probably drank too much. I ended up shooting the shit with one of the owners (Josh), several staff members, and petting the dogs for much longer than I anticipated. Felt like a bunch of friends got together, opened some wines, and drank them. Very relaxed atmosphere, not your super-fancy, prim and proper tasting.
Thanks for the tip on Arkenstone. I’ve been wanting to visit that property. However, not too stoked to hear their sales process. Anytime I’ve visited a property and their tasting fee has no effect on my purchase, it sure leaves me with a sour taste on the experience. There are so many creative ways to have a tasting fee offer credit towards future experiences or purchases. If we need to create a separate thread on this topic alone, I can rattle off a dozen ideas.
Agree. A few places had that policy actually–first time in Napa so I didn’t know to clarify ahead of time. Maybe those places would have dropped the fee if I bought a case, but I visited 15 places so I had to be more cautious with purchases.
Also, thanks everyone for giving this a read! I was not expecting much traction, but I’m glad it was helpful and informative.
What is I-block? I’m also interested in finding SBs that reach the heights Vaso/Dana did for me.
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From RM’s website:
The I-Block of Robert Mondavi Winery’s To Kalon Vineyard provides 100 percent of the fruit for this treasured Fumé Blanc. Planted in 1945, I-Block is a famed vineyard site in Napa Valley’s Oakville AVA that is believed to be the oldest Sauvignon Blanc vineyard in North America – and the finest in the To Kalon Vineyard. The old vines are head-trained with no wires and are never irrigated. Through the years they have learned to self-regulate to produce just the amount of fruit that they can perfectly ripen. To Kalon soils are well-drained, allowing the roots to dig deep. Combined with dry farming, this results in intensely flavorful fruit with a fine mineral character, concentration and opulence.
Cool thing is you can have 4 bottles for less than 1 of Dana’s.
I could be completely wrong about this, but my impression was that you could only purchase I-Block at the winery itself.
That may have changed, but in the past, you weren’t supposed to see I-Block at retail shops; you were supposed to drive to Oakville and pick it up yourself.
I just checked the website, and it looks like they’ve added another ultra-premium Fume Blanc to the lineup:
2019 To Kalon Reserve Fumé Blanc, $95
2017 To Kalon Vineyard I Block Fumé Blanc, $90
Maybe when the 2019 I-Block is released in a few years, it will be substantially more expensive than $95?