napa valley

‘LITTLE’ CAB FROM A TOP GUN, CALIFORNIA STYLE

Long time followers of Napa Cabernet will recognize the Chateau Le Grande Roche as the working, quite competent value bottling/second wine of Napa icon Ric Forman. What brings up the conversation this time around is that this particular bottling hits heights we don’t recall experiencing with past efforts. Yeah, they have been quite good on a consistent basis, but not this good. The label was created way back in 1984 as a second wine and, as is common in the Napa Valley, is not acknowledged on the Forman website so there is no visible association with the ‘premier’ label.

That being said, since Ric has been making wine, and this wine for a long time, we have to attribute this wine’s plush, outgoing, layered personality to 2018. The supple cassis and black cherry fruit that rolls across the palate like a wave, leaving flecks of toast and minerality as a calling card. Such a profile has been a recurrent theme with the 2018 and 2019 Cabs we have tasted thus far from Napa. Delicous, well-infused acidity, melty tannins, the Chateau Grande Roche Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 definitely made us pay attention. This isn’t a wine that is on everybody’s mind and it isn’t aggressively marketed. That said, our message is simple…don’t miss it. This is a sleeper hiding in plain sight.

From Antonio Galloni, “The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Chateau La Grande Roche is such a delicious wine. A burst of sweet red cherry, red plum, mocha, spice, licorice and leather race out of the glass. Exuberant and juicy, yet very much medium in body, the 2018 is a wine of pure and total pleasure. All the elements come together in a mid-weight Cabernet Sauvignon that hits all the right notes. The Grand Roche is the second selection from the Forman Cabernet, and a great value to boot…93 Points.”

INSIDERS’ VALUE NAPA SAUVIGNON BLANC

The wine business has many stories, but it is the juice that makes the story relevant. Picayune is a label that was founded in 2011 by Claire Ducrocq Weinkauf, a French native that grew up in Auvergne, and the wine is produced as part of the program of a small wine shop/mercantile in Calistoga. That in and of itself isn’t particularly grabbing. There are lots of small, seemingly cottage projects in places like Napa. But when we tasted the wine, clearly there had to be more to the story.

There was a certain presence to this Sauvignon that indicated someone was behind this that was more than just some elevated hobbyist. The Sauvignon Blanc was a proper Napa Sauv with bright pear, melon with a supportive underpinning of citrus, a thread of minerality, and bright acidity. The flavors, while not overbearing, are beautifully proportioned, pure, and subtly honed. Clearly there was more to this well-priced little Sauv Blanc than met the eye.

Digging deeper, we found that Claire was a trained winemaker who studied in France and ended up working at Paul Hobbs Cobos operation in Argentina, eventually coming to California. Picayune is a self described negociant operation with Claire selecting various lots that appealed to her and putting together wines based on what she found. This one, as the label states, is 94% Napa with a 6% dollop of Sonoma fruit. It’s 100% Sauvignon Blanc that is done in 70% stainless steel and 30% neutral barrels. She apparently has a consulting business as well involving some fairly impressive clients.

Fresh and vibrant at every turn, the Picayune Sauvignon Blanc 94% Napa County/6% Sonoma County 2020 isn’t stylistically flamboyant but it’s an elevated example of exactly what a quality Sauvignon from around there should taste like. You could easily drink the whole bottle without necessarily paying attention to the craftsmanship and precision, but it’s there. The price is definitely another plus, particularly for something that says Napa on it. But we suspect given the ‘casual’ presentation of the business overall that attractive pricing is part of the formula.

The Picayune Sauvignon Blanc 94% Napa County/6% Sonoma County 2020 is a delightful, unpretentious, sneaky find that fills a need and that was our motivation in bringing it in. You don’t find wines in this price range this well executed all that often. At the end of Claire’s profile, it made the point that Claire lived in Calistoga with her two children and her husband Aron Weinkauf, who is apparently the winemaker at Spottswoode. Like we said, there was more to this label than we knew going in. Stuff like this rarely makes it out of Napa. Delightful Sauvignon, sneaky value.

TASTY STAGS LEAP RED FOR UNDER $25? WE GOT THAT

There are a couple of points to cover here. First, while we have not been out protesting at college football games, we do recognize global warming is an issue. We see it in wine. Don’t worry, we aren’t going to go off on some long tirade about greenhouse gases. Wine is supposed to be one of the fun things in life. But changes in the weather will likely affect what you drink because warmer seasons will change the varietal mix, even what gets bottles as a varietal.

What are we getting at? Grapes known as ‘late-ripening varietals’ are changing roles a bit as the growing seasons warm up. We aren’t expecting to see Cabernet in the Mosel any time soon. But a little more sunshine means Mourvedre will more consistently mature, and you’ll likely see more of it in Chateauneufs and Rhone blends. In Bordeaux, many are increasing their percentages of Cabernet Franc in the vineyards. Over a century ago, Carmenere was pretty much kicked out of Bordeaux because it didn’t mature very well. Now it is thriving in the New World. Our point is that the times they are a-changin’. So it is, with perfectly straight faces, we’d like to introduce you to a potential new friend, Petit Verdot.

If you have been around wine a while, you know that Petit Verdot is a bit player in Cabernet and Bordeaux blends in many wine regions. You may have even had a varietal Petit Verdot at some point, typically dark and inky with firm tannins and a cool edge, maybe even a little bite to the fruit. Most folks probably encountered it at some sort of a component tasting or bought a bottle to see what the stuff was about. We’d suspect if you had the experience, you understood why it was mainly a blending varietal, filed it in your memory bank, and got on with your life.

There have been exceptions. We vividly recall the sensational Von Siebenthal Petit Verdot from Chile we sold a few years ago. But by and large, most Petit Verdot bottlings are more novelty than anything else. However the Avid Petit Verdot Napa Valley 2017 kind of changes everything! A little more sunshine, a little more physiological ripeness, and voila, you have a Petit Verdot that can play to a broad audience. You expect the deep purple color with aromas of ripe black fruit, plum, blackberry but the floral notes of violet and lavender come as a welcome surprise. There are also hints of smoked meat and leather, a hint of minerality, and none of the ‘edge’ typically associated with the grape.

The wine itself is 100% Petit Verdot from the Stag’s Leap District that sees 50% American and 50% French oak for six months and additional time in the bottle. This is a delicious mouthful without qualification, and it can play along with grilled meats as well as any Cabernet. It’s actually better than most of the Cabs you could buy for this kind of price, and it’s doubtful you could find much of anything with a Stags Leap designation on it for this kind of tab. Tasty, full-flavored, polished red? Napa Valley bargain? Petit Verdot breakthrough? It’s all of these things.

So who are these guys? The story here is a pretty short one since this is the first release under this label by Avid Wines, itself only founded in 2017. But these are the same folks that brought us the eye-opening Acoya bargain blend sourced from Oakville and Yountville just a few weeks ago. Winemaker Hossen Namdar started his journey with Domaine Chandon back in 1982 and later went on to the successful, occasionally surprising Stephen Vincent negociant lines. Partner Bob Goyette himself was a founder of La Crema Vinera, a serious boutique in the 80s and 90s before financial issues set in and they were purchased by Jess Jackson. Bob also did time at Chalk Hill and Benziger’s Imagery Series.

These guys have definitely been around the block so to speak, and it shows in the fact that this label got off the ground and delivered some impressive juice right off the bat. They aren’t big players yet. There were only 750 cases of this surprising Petit Verdot made. But it is clear this team, thus far anyway, has displayed quite an eye for quality and value.

Both that Acoya blend, and now this ‘next-gen’ Petit Verdot, are a little off the beaten path. But then how often do you see anything from Stags Leap for under $25?! Most important, it over-delivers in the glass. That’s what matters in the end.

A ‘RESOLUTION’ TO THE VALUE CABERNET ISSUE

The search for value Cabernet, specifically from Napa, is never-ending. But thankfully it is not hopeless, though we do have to work through a lot of juice to find a precious few gems. A while back (specifically January 2018) we introduced a new find (for us) that answered the prayers of California Cabernet drinkers. It was clean, varietally true, showed the nuances of its Napa Valley heritage, and cost under $20. A late Christmas miracle? Apparently not as here we are with the latest edition of the Branham Estate Resolution Cabernet Napa Valley that hits the mark again.

Winex has been scouring the countryside for remarkable values for nearly four decades. We have to wonder why we haven’t run across the wines of Gary Branham before. The guy has been in the wine business, by his own account, since 1971, and started the first of his two estates by planting Branham Rockpile Vineyard in 1994. In 1997, Branham purchased Obsidian Vineyard in Napa Valley, located near the Napa River near the Silverado Trail and Bale Lane. This 10-acre estate was planted in 1986 and then 60% was replanted in 2005.

Gary has basically existed as a grower for most of the time but has made numerous small lots of a variety of different things under his own labels, Branham and Resolution, all of which seemed to be priced at very reasonable fares given their pedigrees. Apparently, while Gary makes the majority of his livelihood as a grower, he likes to make wines that express their vineyards and that people can afford to drink. What a concept!

We couldn’t have been more elated when we were presented this Cabernet. In the value game, there are far too many one-hit wonders. This version was every bit as good as the last one, and that’s a big compliment. The Branham Estate Resolution Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2017 comes mainly from Gary’s Obsidian Vineyard with a portion from each of two other vineyards he works, one in Calistoga and one in St. Helena. There are bits of Merlot and Petit Verdot in the mix as well. This is all Napa Valley juice that sees 16 months in 100% used French oak to polish and soften the mid-palate and make something tender and delicious for current applications’ A year or two more in the bottle certainly won’t hurt either.

‘The Res’, as the winery refers to it, is full-bodied, rich, and balanced with aromas of dark berries, cassis, mocha and spice on the nose. You get the same profile on the palate with a touch of coffee in the mix as well. For Cab drinkers, this is a fastball down the middle, delivering all you could ask for in terms of size, richness and nuance, as well as actual notes of Napa Valley terroir. If we told you this was a $30-40 Cab, you would have no reason to question it since even that would be a pretty sensational deal for legit Napa Cabernet in today’s world.

Like its predecessor, perhaps the biggest plus for us is that it actually tastes like good Cabernet. Simply put, this is the ‘resolution’ to all of our Napa value Cabernet needs… at least while it is around. Once again it isn’t going to make a gigantic splash in the marketplace because only 700 cases were produced this time around. So grab this needle-in-a-haystack/holy grail/unicorn Cabernet value while you can. Last year’s version sold out in a flash and we suspect those folks will happily be back for the next round. Wines like this don’t come around all that often, and they usually don’t hang around very long.

HIDDEN CAB STEAL

Talk about hiding in plain sight, this particular offer has us scratching our heads. In a world where Cabernet is king, and Napa Valley is the center of the Cabernet universe, why on earth would you market a Cabernet as Provenance Deadeye Napa Valley Red Wine 2016? The front label doesn’t even say that, or anything else. There is simply an artist’s rendering of something that loosely resembles a rifle sight or crosshairs zeroing in on some sort of target. While we had a good ‘what were these people thinking’ chuckle, the wine inside was anything but a joke.

This surprising complex Napa Valley ‘red’ is in fact 96% Cabernet Sauvignon (well into the realm where it could be labeled varietally) that sees 21 months in barrel! It has a real almost-old-school feel to it, and reminds us of some great Napa Cabs from the mid-90’s as Napa was just entering its cult period and things hadn’t gotten too ‘out of hand’ yet. Dark red and black fruit, something that could be described as “Rutherford dust” (though we have no idea where in Napa it came from), wonderful balance and a dense, juicy, rather polished palate, we expect most folks that are fans of Napa Cab will love the juice!

There’s the ‘rub’ and the advantage. Finding competent Napa Cabernet for under $50-60 is no easy task these days. Looking at the bottle, however, you would have no idea that this was Cabernet, and not some goofy proprietary kitchen sink blend vying to be the next ‘Prisoner’. The beauty is that neither will anyone else unless they read something about it somewhere (though there isn’t much). Apparently, this is the first release so few have seen Deadeye at all. Good vintage, fine effort, a delicious Cab for a modest fare and almost ‘witness protection’ anonymity, it’s a great deal as it is and there is no guarantee that the next one will hit the mark the way this one does.

THE RETURN OF GIBBS: SINGLE VINEYARD, ESTATE NAPA CAB UNDER $25

You never mind retelling a good story, especially one that has a happy ending. 8Such is the saga of Gibbs Cabernet. There’s always a need for a well-made version of Americas’s favorite varietal (Cabernet Sauvignon) that doesn’t cost “an arm and a leg,” the search for really good Cabs at fair prices is ongoing. Since Cabernet is still kind of a big deal here in California, we were pretty sure we found the value Cabernet ‘holy grail’ back in 2014 when we rolled out the 2010 Gibbs Obsidian Block Cabernet Sauvignon. Estate grown on a vineyard near Saint Helena, a quality, pure, varietally honest effort, that had definite Napa terroir and style points to boot, seemed too good to be true.

We rode that horse for several vintages simply because we could. I mean, why not? It was pretty much everything you could ask for in a Napa Cab at this price. The story itself deserves a quick refresher. The Handlys, Susan (formerly Carpenter) and Craig, met at a label design company in Napa called Colonna-Farrell. After moving to Saint Helena in 1977, owner and winemaker Craig Handly began working as a label designer with, a notorious design studio with a history that is closely tied to the success of Napa Valley’s wine industry..

Before finding himself involved in the production of wine, Craig began a design and photography firm, Handly/Hansen, which produced materials for wineries including Beringer, Kendall-Jackson, Robert Craig, Karl-Lawrence, and Elyse. Later, Susan and Craig began their own stationary company, which started to lose ground at the turn of the century thanks to the wide acceptance of e-mail communication. It was then Craig made his foray into wine production by starting yet another company, Terroir Napa Valley.

With a focus on the staple crop of Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon, Terroir Napa Valley focused largely on producing single-vineyard wines that exhibit the qualities of the vineyard site. As fate had it, Dr. Lewis Carpenter (Susan’s father), who farmed his vineyards in St. Helena for more than a half century, passed away. Craig Handly, his son-in-law, is now farming those choice St. Helena vineyards. Those well situated vines, acquired long before the real estate craziness that is Napa today, are the source for the Gibbs Cabernet.

For whatever reason, the 2015 Gibbs didn’t make the cut after 4 out of five vintages previously. But the 2016 is brighter and deeper and stands out in its field the way that the 2010 did back when we discovered the winery in the first place. The Gibbs Cabernet Sauvignon Three Clones Napa Valley 2016 is 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot and 7% Petite Verdot that spends 8 months in French Oak. It is 100% estate bottled, something virtually no Napa Cabs in this price range can say. The ‘Three Clones’ moniker is a reference to the three different clones of Cabernet (6, 15, and 337) that are the heart of this engaging estate blend..

In the glass, the nose jumps forth loaded with spicy red and black fruits. On the palate, all of the promise of the nose is delivered with the fruit character persistent from the cool black fruit core to the more jubilant, redder fruit center to the wine at large, with plenty volume to the flavors delivered. If someone told you this cost $50, you’d taste the wine and look at the (single vineyard) Napa Appellation, and have no reason to question anything. The kicker here is it is less than half that ($25)! Same as it ever was, this is one of the pre-eminent deals on Napa Valley Cabernet.

If you’re looking for the ‘hook’, there aren’t any scores or reviews on this one. It seems this remarkable little wine is still under the radar, which is better for those of us that still just enjoy drinking a good Cabernet and don’t care about the media, particularly if the price is right. We understand that it might be difficult to comprehend a well made, unpresuming, delicious Cabernet, from prime Napa Valley dirt, for under $25. But it is certainly the kind of ‘adjustment’ one should be able make. With only 1600 cases produced, the impact on the market at large will be pretty minimal. But the possibilities for those ‘in the know’ is a whole different matter. Good hunting.