The Wine's the Thing
Mitch Kornfeld
9/4

The Napa Valley Comes to Town, Part II

Hello again. This one is a True Part 2. I'm just going to continue reviewing the wines I tried several weeks back at the Napa Valley Vintners Association tasting at the Cipriani banquet room at beautiful 110 East 42nd Street. This time the reviews are of the red wines I tasted plus one terrific Port. I'm reviewing the wines in the exact order I tasted them and I'll be continuing with the format I used in Part 1, i.e.: "Winery No._, Wine No._," and sometimes I give the wines ratings on the familiar 100 Point scale, in keeping with the spirit of capsule reviews. There were seven wineries and eleven wines reviewed in Part 1 so I'll be starting with the eighth winery and the twelfth wine, a real winner I might add.

Winery 8. Wine 12. Freemark Abbey 1995 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Sycamore Vineyard ($55): Yes it's a '95 and yes it's the current release, and yes you should buy it if it's in your price range. The clock on the wall had just said it was time to switch to red wines so I switched to a larger "red wine glass," and I couldn't have picked a better time to do it. The Sycamore delivered a lovely perfumey nose that was amplified by the big glass. I had to "do the nose" twice before I drank any and I (newsflash) like to drink Napa Valley cabernets. This wine has delicious fruit, is warm and harmonious despite a fairly high 13.8% alcohol, and is really as nice a red wine as you could want. It's quite drinkable right now and will be excellent for some time to come. The Freemark Abbey Bosche Vineyard cabernet has always been their best-known wine, which makes this beauty a little better value ($60 vs. $55), and it should be easier to find. For me it was one of the highlights of the tasting. If you can afford the $55 grab it.

Wine 13. Freemark Abbey 1997 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($32): This is their "regular" Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is a little darker than its stablemate and it has a nice big nose, a nice rich cabernet taste, is also 13.8% alcohol, and is also excellent. Judging by these two it certainly appears that Freemark Abbey is back on top of their game,

Winery 9. Wine 14. Fife Vineyards 1998 Max Cuvee, Napa Valley ($40): This is Fife's Rhone style blend. Syrah and Petit Sirah are always the dominant components of the cuvee and will usually be in a close to one to one ratio. This edition is 46% Petit Sirah, 40% Syrah, 10% Zinfandel, and 4% Carignane. It's quite dark but has just a touch of tannin. I asked Dennis Fife how they managed to keep the tannins in check and he said that gentle tannins come from gently pressing the grapes. This is a fairly rich wine, and the richness hides the 14.2% alcohol. It's a very good wine. 87 to 88 points.

Wine 15. Fife Vineyards 1999 Old Vines Zinfandel, Napa Valley ($22.50): This is a beauty. It's made from 75 year old vines and shows a big nose of Zin fruit, and is deep, round, and delicious. It's very tasty, obviously coming from completely ripe grapes as the14.5% alcohol level will attest. These days $22.50 is quite good for a Zinfandel with so much character. 90 Points.

Wine 16. Fife Vineyards 1998 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Spring Mountain District, Napa Valley ($45): This is an 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc blend that shows a spicy and peppery nose. It's a big, round, fruity, and tasty wine. It shows some tannin and some heat from the 14.2% alcohol. All in all this is a California Cabernet Sauvignon right out of the textbook. 90 points.

Winery 10. Wine 17. Beringer Vineyards 1997 Howell Mountain Bancroft Ranch Merlot ($100): This is one Merlot that is almost like a Cabernet Sauvignon. It's very dark, still tannic, intense and big. At a time when many 1997 California Merlots have already been consumed, this one still needs time to come around. If you have patience, storage space, and deep pockets, this wine will reward you down the road. It's always been one of California's best Merlots, but I wouldn't touch it until 2004. Very impressive Merlot.

Winery 11. Wine 18. Diamond Creek Vineyards 1998 Red Rock Terrace Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley ($150): This was surprisingly smooth for a young cabernet. It's still closed in but shows some richness.

Wine 19. Diamond Creek Vineyards 1998 Gravelly Meadow Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley ($150): This wine has a nice cabernet nose and is bigger than the Red Rock Terrace. It's very tasty and will only get better with time. Intriguing wine.

Wine 20. Diamond Creek Vineyards 1998 Volcanic Hill Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley ($150): They certainly had the order right in serving this wine last, as it was the best of the Diamond Creeks. It's a little darker than the first two, a little more tannic, more serious, and has more depth. It should be quite good when it reaches maturity.

I don't quite know what to say about the Diamond Creek cabs. They certainly are very good and are very good for the vintage, but I think they're overpriced at $150 the bottle. Obviously this doesn't bother very many people as Diamond Creek is well respected and has had a loyal following just about from its very beginning. (Their first vintage was 1972. The wines came out at $7.50, which was definitely on the expensive side in those good old days.) While I was tasting their three cabs, two different gentlemen came up to do some sampling and judging from their comments they were very familiar with the wines. There are some wines I follow and buy virtually every year but they come in at a fraction of the price of the Diamond Creeks (and I don't mean fractions like 99/100). Maybe Robert Parker has the right idea. He gives each wine he tastes a thorough critiquing and only gives the exact price infrequently, usually just giving the price range for a particular wine. Of course prices do vary from place to place and store to store but when I find out an MSRP I feel I should include it. As for the Diamond Creeks they're just fine. If you like them and can afford them that's great, it's your call and your money. I just know that for myself, for the price of two bottles of Diamond Creek cab I could have a nice dinner and a case of something like the Fife Zinfandel.

Wine 21. Duckhorn Vineyards 1997 Howell Mountain Merlot, Napa Valley ($55): Rich, round and very very good. It was more open than the Diamond Creek cabernets I had just tasted, which isn't a knock on the Diamond Creeks. Merlot is supposed to get ready sooner than Cabernet Sauvignons. Good stuff.

Wine 22. Duckhorn Vineyards 1998 Estate Grown Merlot, Napa Valley ($75): The wine comes from grapes grown in four different vineyards. It's really tasty and I'll say the same thing as I did for their Sauvignon Blanc: "This is what they're supposed to taste like." You'd be hard-pressed to find a better 1998 Merlot.

I was really impressed by the Duckhorn wines. This is a top winery producing genuine premium wines. You pay a premium but it's worth it. Wines are agricultural products and there is no such thing as a sure thing, but if the name Duckhorn is on the label you're about as close as you can get.

Winery 12. Wine 23. Shafer Vineyards 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley ($47): It's mostly Cabernet sauvignon with just a little Merlot and Cabernet Franc. This cab shows upfront fruit. It has roundness and is very nice. It should improve and be very good through the remainder of the decade.

Winery 13. Wine 24. Signorello Vineyards 1998 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley ($48): Despite having only 76% Cabernet Sauvignon (with 13% Merlot and 11% Cabernet Franc) it's still closed in and not as open and fruity as the Shafer. It needs more time to develop. Signorello has an excellent track record so it will probably turn out to be just fine.

Wine 25. Silverado Vineyards 1997 Sangiovese, Napa Valley (about $20) It was definitely lighter than all the cabernets and Merlots I had just been tasting. There's a little perfume in the nose, and it really tastes like Sangiovese, with pure ripe California Sangiovese fruit (it's 94% Sangiovese with 4% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Zinfandel). It's delicious, perfectly ready, and very nice. It was a nice change of pace from all of those heavy hitters I had been tasting. 1997 was a great year in both Napa and Tuscany so it would be really interesting, and really good obviously, to serve this wine alongside a good '97 Chianti.

Wine 26. Silverado Vineyards 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley ($30): It has some fruit but tasted drying and tannic after the fruity '97 Sangiovese. It needs time.

You may be detecting a pattern to the 1998 Cabernet Sauvignons, where they don't sound all that appealing and they all need more time. Well they do need more time. Remember Cabernet Sauvignon is a very tannic variety. It can take years for the tannins to drop and the wines to smooth out. As long as there is fruit to match the tannins the wine will turn out just fine. I'm seeing a few cabernets with significant amounts of other red Bordeaux varieties blended in to add fruitiness. The legal minimum 76% is not that uncommon. 1998 is a good, not a great year. I wouldn't go around investing in cases of them but a few bottles that have some fruit in them, the Fife and the Shafer immediately come to mind, will reward you if you cellar them.

Winery 14. Wine 27. Rombauer Vineyards 1999 Zinfandel, El Dorado County (about $28): If you're unfamiliar with El Dorado it's one of the "Gold Country" counties, located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, going over towards Nevada on the eastern edge of California. Amador County, which means, "love of gold," is the best-known Gold Country County and the wine it is best known for is Zinfandel. This Rombauer Zin gives any Amador Zin a run for its money. Here are my notes: "WOW! Exploding fruit in the nose and in the taste. Berry Fruit? Boysenberry fruit? Absolutely delicious." If you're a Zin fan put this one on your Don't Miss list. (Rombauer also makes an excellent Napa Valley Zinfandel [$30].)

Wine 28. Rombauer Vineyards 1998 Napa Valley Merlot ($27.85): It's 14.4% alcohol and comes from ten different vineyards, primarily in the Yountville and Oakville areas (prime cabernet and Merlot territory). It's very drinkable and actually quite good but pales in comparison to the Zinfandel. I should have tried this wine first but who knew?

Wine 29. Rombauer Vineyards 1998 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($40): It's 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, and a typical for California 13.2% alcohol. It's very tasty already, shows some richness, and is very good to drink.

I enjoyed tasting the Rombauer wines, and while doing so I had an interesting chat with their National Sales Director, Alan Cannon. In addition to telling me how the folks at Rombauer came up with their multi-adjective wine descriptions (that conversation is in Part I of this Opus if you really must) he told me that it was important to consider that wine reviews are just snapshots in time. Wines change and evolve over time, so a given review is not the final word on a given wine. Remember that everyone's sensory apparati are different so no two reviewers are going to say the exact same thing about the same wine, or for that matter food (or for that matter wine and food combinations). Basically reviewers are attempting to quantify the unquantifiable, or, as I once saw it put, to objectify the subjective. Keep that in mind the next time a reviewer says he detects the taste of mangoes or pineapples or rose petals or something else unusual in a wine and you, after tasting the same wine, think they must be completely out of their minds.

Winery 15. Wine 30. Monticello Vineyards 1998 Estate Merlot, Napa Valley: This wine was made from two different Merlot clones grown in three different vineyards. It's 93% Merlot with 7% Cabernet Sauvignon for added backbone. It's 14.1% alcohol and it is an excellent '98. It's round, tasty, and easy to drink. Very good.

Wine 31. Monticello Vineyards 1998 Jefferson Cuvee Cabernet: This one is also 14.1% alcohol and the cuvee is made up of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Merlot. Notice the name of the wine is not Cabernet Sauvignon because you need at least 76% to call it that. I have liked this wine in the past but it seemed to lack fruit following their Merlot. It certainly needs more time, but I think that I should really re-taste it under different conditions, such as when it isn't number 31 for the afternoon. It does help to illustrate how Merlot wines are ready before Cabernet Sauvignons, and how right now the '98 Napa Merlots are clearly showing better than the '98 Cabernet Sauvignons. I didn't see the prices for these wines, but as I recall what Monticello charges is reasonable.

Winery 16. Wine 32. Staglin Family Vineyard 1999 Chardonnay Rutherford, Napa Valley ($50): This wine was made from four clones of Chardonnay, was 100% barrel fermented, was highly recommended to me by the server from Monticello, costs $50 a bottle, and vividly illustrates why you shouldn't violate the basic wine tasting rules of dry before sweet, light before heavy, and especially white before red. Here was this classy Chardonnay with all of these good things going for it and after 21 consecutive red wines (and 31 total wines) all I could tell was that the wine was basically sound. (This brings me down to 34 out of 36, .944, but such is life.) I know this is not a real review of this wine, but it does illustrate that the basic wine tasting rules should be followed. I break rules as much as the next guy but in this case the rules are there for a reason.

Wine 33. Staglin Family Vineyard 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford, Napa Valley ($75): My notes say, "More tasty stuff, has intensity, (and) getting a little thin at this time." This looks like one of those '98 cabernets that will reward cellaring, which shouldn't be surprising considering the lofty reputation that Staglin enjoys (not to mention the $75 price tag). Staglin grows their grapes organically, which goes to show that you can go organic and still have a classy boutique winery.

Winery 17. Heitz Wine Cellars. Heitz is a famous California winery, one of the very best. There were times (and this might even be one of them) when people thought they were the best. If I were Ernest Hemmingway I'd be tempted to call this part of the tasting "The Cream Also Rises." I had just tasted 33 wines in about two hours and twenty minutes and couldn't rate a $50 Chardonnay, so I was wondering if I could tell how good the Heitz wines would be. As it turned out I didn't have to worry because they were great.

Wine 34. Heitz Wine Cellars 1996 Bella Oaks Vineyard Cabernet, Napa Valley ($55): Delicious, rich, and tasty Cabernet Sauvignon. Excellent single vineyard Napa cabernet. 90-92 Points. It's a little pricey but if you're looking for a top single vineyard cabernet it's more reasonable than many of them.

Wine 35. Heitz Wine Cellars 1996 Martha's Vineyard Cabernet, Napa Valley ($120): This Cabernet Sauvignon comes from perhaps the most famous single vineyard in the United States. It was one of the first single vineyard California cabernets and it has always been one of the best. Unfortunately, by my way of thinking, it is investment grade wine, and is eagerly sought out by collectors. It's not unusual for there to be lines outside of the winery on release day. The owners of the vineyard are Tom and Martha May, and Heitz has always had an agreement to buy the grapes. I guess it could have been called May Vineyard or Tom's Vineyard but that wouldn't have been too snappy and calling it Martha's Vineyard engendered just enough interest and confusion to help things along, not that anybody would think that a Massachusetts island in the Atlantic could produce one of the best wines in the world. (There actually is a winery there and they're not bad, but that's another story.) This 1996 is the first vintage of the Martha's Vineyard since the vineyard was replanted due to a phylloxera infestation. Its return was anxiously awaited by the wine loving world, at least the part of the wine loving world with deep pockets. I found it to be an absolutely delicious wine. It's warm, round and has great depth of cabernet flavor. It's stunningly good for a wine made from such young vines, and it certainly bodes well for future editions. It's out of my price range but this is yet another reason why it's good to go to tastings, just to taste a glass (or two, I won't tell if you don't) of wine such as this.

Wine 36. Heitz Wine Cellars 1997 Port ($35): They told me that this wine was made from eight Portuguese Port varieties and I said "But there are only six Port varieties," and they said, "Yes, only six varieties are allowed in (Portuguese) Port, but there are hundreds of Portuguese varieties and their laws don't apply in California, so we use eight." One of those varieties is Tempranillo (the Portuguese call it something else), and I'm fond of Tempranillo. The wine is terrific. It's really tasty, just a beaut (right pretty too). You can just taste the California sunshine bursting through in those sun loving Portuguese varieties. It's 18% alcohol, which isn't that high as Ports go. Even as wine number 36 and it may have been a little hard for me to tell, but I didn't detect that alcoholic hotness that you often get from Ports. By way of example, when I went to the Third Annual Grand European Tasting this past winter I ended the evening with a 1994 Portuguese Port at 21% alcohol and it tasted hot and alcoholic even though it was wine number 54 of a four and a half hour tasting.

The late Joe Heitz supervised the making of these wines while he was at ages seventy-seven and seventy-eight. He hadn't lost a thing. As it turned out I ended the tasting with great wines from one of the great winemakers. Not a bad way to go out.

This Napa Valley Vintners Association Spring Tour only went to four cities this time around, but if they ever come to your fair town don't miss them, as wines at tastings don't get any better than this (unless you run into an exceptional string of vintages). It's expensive, but you get a tax deduction, and you get to taste all those good and expensive wines. I tried five wines at $100 and over per bottle and there's just not any other way I'm going to do that.

For general recommendations, get what pre-'98 reds you can, particularly '97's, and start checking out the '99's as they are showing great potential. The two '99 Zins were very impressive. Look for '99 Pinot Noirs that, like the Zins, are also hitting the shelves around this time. The '99 Chardonnays are very good and are perfect for buying and drinking now, and if you come across an interesting looking '99 white such as a Pinot Blanc or Gewurztraminer, it's probably pretty good too.

Our next installment will cover an Italian wine tasting that featured some fine wines firmly in the "And now for something completely different," category. Hope to see you then.

© Mitch Kornfeld 2001 All rights reserved

Send your comments or questions to...
mitchk@unionsquarejournal.com


Previously by Mitch Kornfeld...

The Napa Valley Comes to Town, Part I (07/12/01)

Windows on Long Island (06/13/01)

Bully for Your (05/30/01)

Big Euro Tasting, Part III -- Remembrance of Bouquets Past (05/17/01)

Big Euro Tasting, Part II -- Greater Burgundy (05/09/01)

Grand European Tasting (05/01/01)

King Cab, Part V -- Spain, Chile, Argentina, Australia (04/18/01)

King Cab, Part IV -- Italy (04/04/01)

King Cab, Part III -- California (03/21/01)

King Cab, Part II -- Bordeaux (03/07/01)

King Cab, Part I -- Some Basics (02/27/01)

For a Big Red, Think Petite (02/18/02)

Tannic Monsters from the ID (02/08/01)

New York Wine and Restaurant Deals (01/30/01)

Dad's Cardinal Zins and Other Clichés (01/20/01)

Some Basics for a Winter's Eve (01/12/01)

And if They're Spanish That's Fine (01/05/01)

Hello Carbon Dioxide (12/29/00)

Wines for Christmas (12/22/00)

Nouveau Beaujolais, Etc. (11/24/00)

Going to a Tasting 101 (12/01/00)