Jericho Canyon and Larkmead. Last vintages were 2005.
Am I missing any?
Actually I see that he did make an '06 Larkmead, so I stand corrected. I had been told he wasn’t doing Larkmead after 2005.
Just Jericho that I was aware of. He made Larkmead 07 too.
He is losing Larkmead. I think after 2007.
They did not extend his contract.
Jericho Canyon also would not extend his contract a few years ago, so he started making Pedregal.
Pedregal is awesome…
But I thought he relpaced Jericho with something else? I recall them talking about it when I was there two years ago. Sounded like Pedregal was planned anyway…and Jericho was substituted by something else, I cant rememebr what.
I’ve been buying the Annum since he stopped making the Jericho. It’s a super Cab at a good price (in Cab terms at least, sigh), and reminds me a lot of the Jericho.
Where does Ramey consult? I know Snowden…anywhere else?
I thought David stopped consulting everywhere.
I was under that impression as well. Did some consulting for Dierberg in past.
Perhaps he would comment on his activities…
He’s still consulting several places from my understanding. Snowden, Hall, Valdez (I think) and a few others. Hard to keep track between him Rolland, Melka, etc.
I thought he stopped.
Definitely not at Dierberg (Star Lane) any longer.
2005 was our last vintage of Jericho Canyon, and 2006 will be our last vintage of Larkmead. We terminated both contracts, for different reasons. We did receive fruit from Larkmead in 2007 but have declassified it into our Napa Valley Cabernet. In effect, our proprietary Cabernet blend Annum is the replacement for both of those vineyard bottlings. Pedregal Vineyard in Oakville will continue, as we have leased that and now farm it ourselves.
Current consulting: In Napa–Hall, Covenant and Snowden. In Sonoma–Lancaster Estate, Benziger, Fog Crest, and the new premium bottlings from Rodney Strong–Rockaway, Brothers’ Ridge, Reserve Chardonnay. In Mendocino, Saracina. Brand new, in Lake County–Brassfield Estate. It will be a while before any changes become apparent there.
Thank you all for your interest and for following our wines! Let me know if I can answer any other questions.
RMP has a review posted for the '07 Larkmead. (93-95pts)
Was that premature?
When Bob came in October '08 we tasted '06’s in bottle and '07’s out of barrel, so at that time the Larkmead existed as a separate blend. We subsequently took the decision to declassify it into our 2007 Napa Valley Cabernet.
Welcome to the board David!!
Thanks for the input.
I just picked up a mag of the '05 Larkmead btw…
Welcome, David. Your '06 Pedregal will get a chance to strut its stuff at a blind Exec Wine Seminars tasting this March. I’ll be there and can’t wait to see how it holds up. Usually more than holds its own against some big competition. Schrader and Colgin among others at this one.
When did you start consulting at Covenant?
Does the declassification of the Larkmead into the Napa mean that the 07 (aside from the vintage’s excellent qualities) is a particularly good Napa from your perspective?
If I can ask, why was the 07 declassified? That seems like surprise in 07, of all years. Were you dissatisfied with the results, or was in complications stemming from the contract situation? Thanks in advance
I’ve been helping with Covenant from the beginning, as both Les Rudd and Jeff Morgan are good friends, although it’s only been recently that we decided to let it out from under wraps.
Yes, I think that our '07 Napa Cab is quite good, due both to the plush nature of the vintage as well as the inclusion of 35% Larkmead.
Yes, complications stemming from the contract situation led to our decision to end the Larkmead program.
Didn’t realize you used “stems” in the Cab!.. sorry ![[bow.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/3/34fe6dfbb5b9ca18529c11cea0b49f72cb1f17d5.gif "bow"){kind=small}
Thanks for the notes David. I am glad I bought some of the 06 Larkmead then. Great stuff (and last vintage to boot). Pouring the Sonoma Coast Chard as my white pick at the bar this weekend.