napa – Page 2

FALL, FIRE, and IMPRESSSIVE 2018 NICKEL & NICKEL

Tis the season for Cabernet. As an overview, we have to look at the current plight of the Napa Valley. We haven’t hidden our distaste for the high-handed marketing and undermining of the retail trade for the last three decades or so. But the current ‘rock and a hard place’ that the region in general is facing is historically significant. You have the pandemic that wiped out most of the restaurant business as current ‘on-sale’ customers have been operating at diminished capacity or have been closed. Then you have the current wildfires, right during harvest, that threaten to greatly diminish, and in many cases wipe out the 2020 harvest. Who knows what kind of ‘marketing’ decisions Napa vintners will be made regarding the ‘current birds in hand,’ the generally very good 2017, 2018, and 2019 vintages moving forward.

The 2017s have been solid, though not on par with 2014 and 2016. There have been a few cases where edgy tannins have gotten in the way. Thus far the 2018s reflect well on the vintage as the wines have been plush, engaging and packed with fruit. The quantities for the 2018 harvest were also good. We’re hearing great things about 2019 as well. With the general business climate less than ideal, and great, fairly abundant vintages in the pipeline, it promised to be wild times for both consumers and us. But the fires may, and likely will change the dynamic. We’ll see.

Meanwhile, let’s look at that crowd-pleasing, well endowed 2018 Cabernets. Anybody who got a hold of the luscious Thread Feather Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville 2018 knows exactly what we mean, and the coming Chappellet Cabernet Signature 2018 was one of the most compelling examples we have had in that series. Today we’re going to give you a little heads up on the best lineup we can recall tasting from Nickel & Nickel.

Some of the vineyards in this current single-vineyard focused lineup may be unfamiliar as there have been changes in sourcing through the years. But as a group, they were pretty flashy. As usual we pick a few favorites out of the gate, but we reserve the right to expand our offerings and work up an email down the road. In the meantime, these were our favorites in a really good lineup…

Nickel & Nickel Cabernet Sauvignon John C. Sullenger Vineyard Oakville 2018 ($89.98)-The home vineyard of Nickel & Nickel, Sullenger Vineyard is situated behind the winery in the heart of Oakville and is named for John C. Sullenger, who settled the farmstead in the 1880’s. The vineyard’s 30 acres of clay loam soil are planted exclusively to Cabernet Sauvignon, with 2 rootstocks and a few different clones which each add a unique element to the resulting wine. This is one of the bottlings that has made the selection virtually every vintage. Bigger middle than most, with the classic black fruit of Oakville and cool earth and spice notes, this isn’t necessarily the ‘biggest’ Sullinger we have had, but it is one of the prettiest out of the gate we can recall. The fact that it didn’t dominate the tasting this time is more of a statement about the lineup than suggestive of any shortfalls in this bottling.

Nickel & Nickel Cabernet Sauvignon State Ranch Vineyard Yountville 2018 ($89.98)– State Ranch is located northeast of the town of Yountville. The 23-acre vineyard is divided into two parcels by State Lane Road and consists of both older and younger vines. Many excellent wines are produced from this area, in part due to the rocky, loam soil which has excellent drainage throughout the year. The vines, as well as the clusters, are moderate in size and the vineyard gets full sun throughout the day. As the young vines mature, we will be harvesting many different clones to make the final wine. Nickel & Nickel selects fruit from 14.5 acres of the vineyard. Also known as State Lane Vineyard, this is the same site used by Kapcsandy and others for their compelling 100-point wines.

Nickel & Nickel Cabernet Sauvignon DeCarle Vineyard Rutherford 2018 ($89.98)–DeCarle Vineyard is a newcomer to the lineup and planted on the west side of Rutherford, in the dusty soils for which the area is known. This Cabernet Sauvignon offers a silky palate that complements the wine’s juicy berry and black cherry flavors and finishes with a subtle minerality. This was earlier in the tasting lineup but impressed with its display of bright, slippery red fruits and light on its feet demeanor. A very pretty Cab with a more Bordeaux demeanor by comparison to the others.

Nickel and Nickel Cabernet Sauvignon Quarry Vineyard Rutherford 2018 ($89.98)–Quarry is one of the longer term team members. The 25-acre Quarry Vineyard climbs the slopes above the Silverado Trail on the east side of Rutherford. The name comes from the old quarry that was the source of a white rock used in the ghost winery that still stands beside the vineyard. Three distinct hillside blocks, each experiencing its own unique soil and exposure, are harvested from this vineyard. The white, rocky loam soils are well drained, and the vines are of moderate vigor. Cluster and berry size varies from block to block, but all are small to moderate. This vineyard has full exposure to the afternoon sun. Polished and pedigreed, expressive and integrated, this is a complete but, again, not necessarily ‘big’ Cab.

Nickel and Nickel Cabernet Sauvignon Bear Track Vineyard Napa Valley 2018 ($89.98)– The Bear Track Vineyard showed well on a couple of occasions, and is perhaps the most impressive of the newcomers in that it has the requisite size to please most Cabernet drinkers. The vineyard is planted in three terraced blocks on the eastern hillsides of Napa Valley, just outside of the Howell Mountain AVA. The cool climate and iron-rich, volcanic ash soils result in small, tight clusters of concentrated fruit. Ample hang time before harvest yields a Cabernet Sauvignon with intense, dark fruit flavors and integrated tannins. This one is a bit broader on the palate, and respectably ‘Howelly’ (showing subtle mineral/gravel notes) but not overly so. Lots of black fruits make an impression here.

NEW LABEL FROM A FAMILIAR FACE IN NAPA

It’s hard for us to explain the name of the winery as it is clearly something that is an inside reference. So, in the winery’s own words, “The name Mending Wall comes from the Robert Frost poem about two neighbors who meet once a year to restore the boundary that separates them, the boundary that brings them together. Our winemaking philosophy follows a similar path. Mending Wall is about coming together to explore and question the established boundaries in winemaking. Here, we’re free to experiment and play. No longer constrained by space, time or rules about what should and what should not go into a bottle.”

As to the nuts and bolts of it, this is a project/partnership between three families. The first couple you may not know even if you are a hard-core Napa fans. First is Frank Dotzler, owner of True Vineyard who later acquired Outpost Winery. Then there’s Mark Pulido and Donna Walker, who own three vineyards and produced their own Cabernet called Pulido-Walker from their Mount Veeder estate.

The third part of this story needs little introduction. He is pretty much known far and wide in the Napa by his initials alone, TRB. Thomas Rivers Brown has a hand in all the labels mentioned here and is a partner in this label. If you are one of the few who have not heard of ‘TRB’, he is the winemaker of record for a number of high profile producers on his extensive client list like Schrader, Revana, Seaver, Hestan, Aston, Round Pond, Gemstone, and Maybach, as well as his own wine, Rivers-Marie. He has accumulated a number of 100 point scores over the course of his winemaking and was Food and Wine Winemaker of the Year in 2010. Many think of him as the ‘Top Gun’ among Napa winemakers.

Simply put, you’ve got a group of passionate people, great dirt, and about as good a winemaking talent as you could hope for to put it all together. The results should be pretty predictable, and in this case they are. We don’t need to spend a lot of time talking about the current ‘marketplace’ and how pandemics and economic uncertainty make selling premium wine a bit trickier than it used to be Nor shall we introduce discussions about how this pandemic should change the nature wine distribution forever (one can only hope). Let’s just take the opportunity to enjoy labels of this caliber at, shall we say, less than standard prices. These are serious efforts.

The Mending Wall Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2014 (‘list’ $85) is only the second Cab from this who’s-who project and not a lot of folks talked about it. Also note that both of the reviews we did find were from 2016. We’ll take Robert Parker’s ‘90+’ score from four years ago with a grain of salt, and suggest that time in the bottle has pushed this one well into the ‘plus’ territory. His descriptors, however, are accurate with the exception of the ‘closed personality’. These days, there is plenty to see here.

The review, “As for the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon, it is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged 20 months in 80% new French oak. It is a moderately sized cuvée of 774 cases. It is still showing some tannin and a slightly closed personality, but the wine has an impressively saturated ruby/purple color, and a burgeoning nose of blackcurrants, cedar wood, licorice and loamy soil undertones. The abundant fruit continues on the attack and midpalate, with the wine medium to full-bodied and somewhat structured. Give it another year or so of bottle age and drink it over the following 15-20.” This showy Cab, while still structured, has ripe tannins and layers of dark, complex chocolaty fruit.

We’re more on board with Galloni’s take and have the temerity to suggest that, if tasted now, both reviewers’ scores would be elevated. From Galloni, “The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon is a big step up from the 2013. Boisterous, rich and ample, the 2014 exudes raciness from start to finish. Dark red and purplish stone fruits, mocha, spice, chocolate and new French oak give the wine its luscious, exotic personality. The 2014 is a striking wine from Mending Wall…93 points.”

The Mending Wall Petite Sirah Palisades Vineyard Napa Valley 2016 (‘list’ $55) is perhaps even more distinctive because one doesn’t find Petite Sirah performing at this level very often. But Palisades, a mile north of Calistoga, is no ordinary vineyard. A vineyard since the late 1800s, much of it replanted with original bud wood grafted onto St. George rootstock in the 70’s, it is possessed of serious fruit and the source of designations by Carlisle, Tor and Biale. It’s a historic look back into Napa history to a time when Petite Sirah was king, yet here had not only power but a certain refinement.

Antonio Galloni gave the wine an original score of 93-95 in June, 2018, then came back with a solid 95 in December with a cautionary review as follows, “The 2016 Petite Sirah Palisades Vineyard is going to need a number of years before it starts to drink well. Inky, plush and concentrated to the core, the Palisades has a lot to offer. But it is also a wine for readers who can be patient and who love Petite…” Yes it is dark as night and big, with plenty of black fruit flecked with pepper and woodsy notes, ample but refined tannins, and loads of character. But nearly two years later, we didn’t find it near as foreboding as he did. It’s a rare bird varietally and an outstanding effort. Only 193 cases produced.

Take advantage of our special pricing on these special finds at checkout.

HESS CABERNET: TASTE THIS ‘LION’ THIS WINTER

We have been selling Hess wines for a long time. There have been many incarnations, ups and downs, and an import company that brings in wine from the southern Hemishpere (including Hess’ own Argentine label from the ‘high country’ of Salta). There has probably been a little confusion along the way, too, as the name Hess is on a lot of different bottles…Hess Select, Hess Collection, Lion, Lion Tamer, Lioness (their ‘crest’ is a lion). There are ‘small batch bottlings’ of all sorts of things from Albarino to Gruner Veltliner to Orange Muscat. There are many different Cabernets (what is an ‘Allomi’, anyway) and an art collection.

There’s a lot to sort through, though most of it came later. They started out being known for their Cabernet and Chardonnay, and sometimes those classics get lost in the very busy picture. We aren’t going to try to explain all the permutations and combinations of the ‘Hess’ experience. We are simply going to mention that the 2016 Hess Collection Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder is the best effort we have had from them in a long time.

Yes, it is rich and polished, bestowed with well infused notes of high quality oak, and has plenty of stuffing, though that sounds like a lot of Napa Cabernets. A couple of things make this one stand out in the crowd. First is the wine’s layered complexity and elegance. As soon as one says elegance, though, a lot of ‘Cabernet types’ read that ‘light’. Not at all. The wine has power in its cassis, plum and dark berry fruit component, but it also has perceptible layers from that ‘Veedery’ savory/spice component and chocolate notes that speak more of a ‘chocolatier‘ than a common chocolate bar. They got all of this one and it commanded our attention in a way few have.

Even better, at a time when the winery put forth their best Cabernet effort in some time, they also decided to dial back their pricing (via a special offer) to reach a broader audience. How refreshing and totally un-Napa that is.

Apparently Wine Advocate’s Lisa Perotti-Brown is of a like mind, ‘
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Mount Veeder aged for 22 months in 75% new French oak. No 2017 vintage of this wine will be made. Deep garnet-purple colored, it delivers a very serious nose of baked plums, crème de cassis, dried mulberries and dark chocolate with nuances of tapenade, chargrill, licorice and menthol with a waft of tree bark. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is built like a brick house with a solid structure of firm, grainy tannins and oodles of freshness supporting the taut, muscular black fruit, finishing on a provocative mineral note. ..95 points.”

She only has it a point or two above prior recent efforts but we think the ‘style points’ here merit a greater separation. In any case, this Cabernet, at this price, is a treat!

FIRST THE CAB, THEN THE CAUSE

For virtually as long as we have been in the wine business, we have been exposed to what we call ‘cause’ wines. It isn’t a brand new idea to create a product, in this case a fermented beverage, where some or all of the proceeds go to some worthy charity. Believe us we tell you we have seen every conceivable presentation of wines like that. But no matter how worthy the cause, we are wine merchants and our first allegiance is to our customers. Over the last three decades plus, we have abided by one simple rule…if we pitch a wine to you, it’s because we believe in the quality of the wine and the price charged.

This is where virtually every ‘cause’ wine fails…the wine itself. The folks creating these labels, passionate crusaders that they might be, don’t seem to give enough thought to the fact that, eventually, someone will drink the wine that they had been induced to purchase. In virtually every case where we have tasted, the wine is ordinary. Our job isn’t to sell people ordinary juice under the banner of some noble cause. In fact, in our history, we have never done that because we’re simply no good at saying “buy this forgettable juice to support (insert worthwhile charity here)”.

That is what makes this one of the most unique offers we have ever done. Why? Because Cristie Kerr created the ultimate ‘everybody wins’ scenario. Cristie is one of the most accomplished athletes in women’s golf, with 19 LPGA Tour wins, seven Solheim Cup wins and her first European title at the French Open. What, as Wine Spectator queried in an article published in October, 2017, is her “celebratory drink of choice?” Wine. She also had a desire to call attention and raise money for a cause that was important to her, breast cancer research.

She figured that, somehow, as many have done before, the wine and the cause could be combined in some meaningful way. Only unlike so many before her, Cristie didn’t just go to some ‘tank farm’ to buy some random juice to put in the bottle and slap a label on it. Instead, she connected with accomplished stars, Napa elite Suzanne Pride and winemaker Sally Johnson of Pride Vineyards. Together, under the Kerr banner, they created the Curvature wine label with the 2006 vintage. All of the proceeds to go breast cancer research, already to the tune of $3.5M at the time of the article mentioned previously.

What’s gets us involved in this particular instance is the fact that we can actually recommend the wine that this project is offering as wine, specifically this Kerr Curvature Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2014. Made by Sally Johnson at Pride, this wine is 88% Cabernet Sauvignon and 12% Merlot and sees time in French oak barrels that are 60% new. The grapes are all from the prestigious Oakville appellation sourced from a specific vineyard that ‘can’t be revealed’.

Does that sound like some afterthought ‘charity wine’? Of course not, and it doesn’t taste like it either. There’s a very seductive nose of dark chocolate, black cherries and plum layered with subtle licorice, savory herbs, and toast. It is velvety and round in the mouth with ripe, palate-coating tannin and flavors reminiscent blackberry jam and coffee, with a spicy and long finish.

For our part, we negotiated this solid $59 Cabernet into a barnburner of a $35 Cabernet with the intent to ‘spread the message’ as far as we can with a limited production Cabernet. Not only is this the first time we have actually gotten excited about any kind of ‘cause’ wine, it is the ultimate ‘win, win, win’. Kerr gets her name and wine out among serious aficionados. You get a lovely, well made, serious Napa Cabernet made by an accomplished winemaker at a steeply discounted price and critical research gets some needed funds.

This is not some innocuous ‘token’ bottle as a participation gift. These ladies did it right and this is legit juice to be enjoyed. Buy it for the wine. Buy it for the deal. Buy it for an important cause. There is no ‘down side’.

RETURN OF THE BUNNY

This has been a wonderful recurring theme since Charlie Coniglio first walked into our office a few years ago with a Napa Cabernet in tow. Sure we see a lot of folks peddling expensive Napa Cabernets but this one had style, depth, and the kind of vanillan, chocolatey blackcurrent theme that Cabernet drinkers love. Even back then, $50 was considered a pretty attractive price on serious Napa Cabernet and we started to carry it in the regular lineup. That was a 2004. A few months later he came back to us with an extremely aggressive price on that same delicious Napa Cabernet and, well, it was an offer we couldn’t refuse.

We have done a number of deals since that time and have come to depend on this quirky relationship to keep us supplied with sensational and well priced (for the quality level) Cabernet whenever he had some to sell. We dubbed the series ‘The Bunny’ because it is our euphemism for Coniglio, the family name (which is also the Italian word for ‘rabbit’). ‘The Bunny’, by virtue of the series of thrilling Cabernet deals we have launched over the last half decade or so, has become something of a brand around here.

The style is remarkably consistent over the years. We could almost cut-and-paste the descriptors from one year to the next as the style is classic, Cabernet lovers juice. People have enjoyed these lavishly styled, full throttle Napa Cabernets, particularly at the kind of reduced prices we are selling them for. It has been a classic win-win, and we are always interested to see what Charlie has in his bag. The most recent ‘visit’ turned up another can’t miss Cabernet for a thirsty world.

The Coniglio Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2014 looks quietly impressive with its black label and broad-shouldered bottle. It certainly doesn’t taste like a sub-$35 Napa Cab, though that might be because the listed winery price is $70. Technically, this wine could have carried an even groovier Stags Leap District appellation on the label but ‘the bunny’ knows they’d probably have to charge more if they did that. That kind of decision-making is above our pay grade and we certainly didn’t want to create a case for raising the tariff. Let sleeping bunnies lie.

So what you have here is legit, well-endowed Stags Leap juice at a fantastic price. This is typical ‘Bunny’ style. You’ve got your dark, chewy, powerful Napa Cab with loads of cassis and inky black fruits, with a lovely sheen of chocolatey nuance from what tastes like expensive oak. This wine has a bit more volume than many SLD wines, with more weight and a broader palate impression. But the telltale elegance of the appellation lurks beneath. At $31.98 this is a pretty sensational value for a high quality Napa Cab!

Palazzo for the People (Master’s Blend 2016)

Scott Palazzo is not your ordinary Napa vintner. His boundless enthusiasm for his wines and the Napa Valley in general are not uncommon among winery owners, but his demeanor seems perhaps a bit more ‘Hollywood’ than ‘wine country’.

But, while the guy can definitely ‘talk the talk’, he also walks the walk. His numbers speak for themselves. Take for example his Wine Advocate reviews. For 25 wines over the course of a decade (2003-2013), Palazzo never received a score below 91 and there were a number of ‘95s’, ‘96s’, and even some ‘98s’ sprinkled in the mix.

We have worked with Scott a few times over the years because his wines are quite good. But being wine merchant types as we are, the ‘relationship’ has always been subject to price concerns. While we appreciate the best of breed from Napa as much as the next guys, we are a little conservative when it comes to offering that $80-and-up category for sale. It is a common problem for us with ‘the Valley’ these days.

We could go off (and have) on the present state of affairs in Napa Valley as it seems most wineries are only willing to do as much as they need to do to promote their own ‘direct to consumer’ sales. But what is relevant in this case is that we are starting to see a few Napa-ites starting to take stock of serving a broader market with a wine or two that isn’t just some unembellished effort that just bears the winery’s name.

Not long ago we profiled a new effort from Conn Valley that really delivered quality for a much more modest fare than their usual ‘reserve level’ offerings. Most important, the wine showcased the style of the house and gave the luxury feel of the winery’s top cuvees for substantially less of an outlay. So many wineries are putting out uninspired bottlings for the ‘little people’ that are little more than token offerings. They rarely reflect the house style. The Conn Valley is a notable diversion from that format.

So is this new effort from Palazzo (the second of the series we are told). Unlike a lot of ‘value’ (by Napa standards) wines, this tastes and stylistically presents a legitimate Palazzo experience. The style of all of Palazzo’s wines have the plush elegance and balance of Bordeaux as their reference point. It is Napa with an eye to Saint Julien. The Palazzo Left Bank Red Cuvée Master Blend Series 2016, while the name is too long, represents more the rich Napa texture and presence with a Bordeaux elegance rather than, say, the pedal-to-the-medal trophy style typical of most vintners here.

The ‘Left Bank’ is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 25% each Cabernet Franc and Merlot. It sees 20 months in oak, 50% new. The result is a pleasing, layered effort with lush black-cherry and blackberry fruit on the nose and palate, along with hints of chocolate, coffee and cassis. Because some of the components come from top Carneros sites, there’s a cool, fresh underpinning of ‘savory’ to play against the lusher, sweeter Cabernet core. It’s about complex aromatics and harmony and it performs like wines costing a lot more while accurately conveying the style of the house, which is exactly the point!

‘BARGAIN’ CABERNET FROM ANDERSON’S CONN VALLEY NAPA VALLEY

They say necessity is the mother of invention. This would seem to be a fine example of that saying. No one has time to read the whole story of Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards. Their website claims four generations have been here though the label only started with the 1987 vintage and their website states “Since 1983 we have been family owned and operated by the Anderson’s.” (this is a direct cut and paste showing the incorrect use of the possessive for all you English nigglers out there). They got a lot of attention pretty soon in their history, rattling off a series of 92+ scores in successive vintages in Wine Advocate (and a Wine Spectator cover with their incredibel 1988) and the label was generating some buzz ahead of the emergence of a number of now iconic ‘trophy styled wines’ shortly thereafter.

Conn Valley is a little different from the heart of Napa. Located roughly ten minutes up the hill east of St. Helena, sort of on the back side south of Howell Mountain, this 40 acre estate sits in a sort of elevated cleft known as Conn Valley. It has a completely different and more serene vibe than the Valley below and this all-by-itself property has cave cellars, a sort of throwback facility, and what one might call its own ‘zen’. We visited the Andersons there many years ago, met Todd and his father, and got a real feel for the wines. We sold the many renditions from Conn Valley for many years but, as has happened so often in this part of the world, prices started to creep up beyond the point where they were slam dunks.

They made their bones on a series of ‘reserve level’ bottlings called Eloge, Reserve, Signature and Right Bank built from Bordeaux varietals. It should also be mentioned that they have had some occasional enthusiastic kudos for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but their reputation was based on wines made with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cab Franc, and Merlot. The style has always been of a luxury bent with broad, creamy fruit well-seasoned with top flight oak. It seemed to be the perfect recipe for the market, and it had a pretty good run.

Maybe it was Todd Anderson’s focus on his super-super-premium Ghost Horse project that took away from the attention devoted to Conn Valley. There are many conjectures, and the story can get pretty complicated. But the bottom line is that the winery decided it needed to produce a wine that got the attention of a whole new set of buyers and was within the price range of a larger audience.

To that end, the 2016 Anderson’s Conn Valley Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was born (or ‘reborn’ depending on how you interpret the history). The blend is 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot & 5% Cabernet Franc, the Cabernet Franc the only part to come from another site (Reinke Family Vineyards, a hillside vineyard in west Carneros…the wine still qualifies as estate bottled under the law).

They really nailed this one. This has a lot in common with their ‘reserve’ level wines (except the price)…creamy fruit, notes of chocolate, spice and vanilla, along with pretty ripe, melty tannins for a wine so young. The winery’s story is this, “A new product for us is this first ever ‘non-reserve’ Cabernet. It is a fruit forward, friendly, easy to drink style of Cabernet produced from the barrels that don’t quite make the cut for the Reserve and Eloge bottlings. What you may enjoy though is knowing that this is an estate grown, estate bottled Conn Valley Cabernet for HALF what you’d normally have to pay…”

It certainly tastes like it had the luxury treatment and showed surprising presence and polish on both occasions that we tried it. This definitely has a ‘wow’ quality to it, and the kind of plush refinement you simply don’t see for under $40. If you are a fan of Cabernet, it would be hard not to like it.

We don’t think the media has seen this one yet as this just hit the market. No doubt it will be tasted among the other, much more exotic (and more expensive) Conn Valley wines and probably not get its due with respect to numbers. It’s our version of the ‘theory of relatively’ where, if there are ‘upper cuvees’, most writers will focus on those and work backward. As to timing, you are definitely ahead of the game as the wine was literally just released.

Are we going to tell you it’s as good as their $150 reserve bottling? We know human nature far too well to promise that. Are we going to tell you that if you drop this in among what is out there for $35-60 it will likely steal the show? Absolutely! It is one of the sexiest Cabernets we have had for this kind of fare but it’s all estate fruit from a place that has been making top notch reds for a long time. They created this wine to make an impression. That it does!

A NEW PLAYER IN NAPA CABERNET ‘VALUE’

They say necessity is the mother of invention. This would seem to be a fine example of that saying. No one has time to read the whole story of Anderson’s Conn Valley. Their website claims four generations have been here though the label only started with the 1987 vintage and their website states “Since 1983 we have been family owned and operated by the Anderson’s.” (this is a direct cut and paste showing the incorrect use of the possessive for all you English nigglers out there). They got a lot of attention pretty soon in their history, rattling off a series of 92+ scores in successive vintages in Wine Advocate and the label was generating some buzz ahead of the emergence of a number of now iconic ‘trophy styled wines’ shortly thereafter.

Conn Valley is a little different from the heart of Napa. Located roughly ten minutes up the hill east of St. Helena, sort of on the back side south of Howell Mountain, this 40 acre estate sits in a sort of elevated cleft. It has a completely different and more serene vibe than the valley below and this all-by-itself property has cave cellars, a sort of throwback facility, and what one might call its own ‘zen’. We visited the Andersons there many years ago, met Todd and his father, and got a real feel for the wines. We sold the many renditions from Conn Valley for many years but, as has happened so often in this part of the world, prices started to creep up.

No one can say for sure what happened but production started to outpace sales. One could suggest a gradual slowdown in the super-premium market and their signature wines ran from $80 to $150, though they got reviews commensurate with that level of pricing. Maybe it was the move from just making a wine called Cabernet to making a number of different bottlings (until this wine the last review we saw for something called simply Cabernet was 1995) that confused consumers. Maybe it was the label, which they changed to something else rather distinctive (but also difficult to read) not long ago. Maybe it was Todd Anderson’s focus on his super-super-premium Ghost Horse project that took away from the attention devoted to Conn Valley. There are many conjectures, and the story can get pretty complicated. But the bottom line is that the winery decided it needed to produce a wine that got the attention of a whole new set of buyers.

To that end, the 2016 Anderson’s Conn Valley Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was born (or ‘reborn’ depending on how you interpret the history). The blend is 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot & 5% Cabernet Franc, the Cabernet Franc the only part to come from another site (Reinke Family Vineyards, a hillside vineyard in west Carneros). This wine still qualifies as estate bottled under the law. It spends 18 months in French oak.

They really nailed this one. This has a lot in common with their ‘reserve’ level wines…creamy fruit, notes of chocolate, spice and vanilla, along with pretty ripe, melty tannins for a wine so young. The winery’s story is this, “A new product for us is this first ever ‘non-reserve’ Cabernet. It is a fruit forward, friendly, easy to drink style of Cabernet produced from the barrels that don’t quite make the cut for the Reserve and Eloge bottlings. What you may enjoy though is knowing that this is an estate grown, estate bottled Conn Valley Cabernet for HALF what you’d normally have to pay…”

Are we going to tell you it’s as good as their $150 reserve bottling? We know human nature far too well to promise that. Are we going to tell you that if you drop this in among what is out there for $35-60 it will likely steal the show? Absolutely! It is one of the sexiest Cabernets we have had for this kind of fare but, then again, it’s all estate fruit from a place that has been making top notch reds for a long time. They created this wine to make an impression. That it does!

MAYACAMAS-HISTORY RETOOLED

Anyone that has been a part of the California wine scene has heard the name Mayacamas. Purchased by Robert Travers in 1968, it was a visible member of the first wave of boutique California wineries. Under Travers, the winery gained international fame, particularly for its Cabernet and its legendary longevity. Arguably this was the first important ‘mountain Cabernet’ as Napa Valley moved to make its mark on the wine world. There were some distinct aspects to the winery, not the least of which was Travers own dry wit as a part of his winery missives.

While Mayacamas was still generally considered ‘top drawer’, the luxurious ‘trophy style’ became the style that dominated the review boards. As the preferred style leaned more towards pandering fruit and lots of creamy oak, Travers always stuck to his guns and the more ‘traditional’ style of Mayacamas Cabs rendered the label considerably less topical. The respect was always there, just not the buzz any more.

While very ‘mountain’ and very honest in their presentation, the wines were also often a bit chewy and perhaps a tad rustic. Eventually Bob got to the point where it was time to retire, and the property was purchased by a partnership of former Screaming Eagle owner Charles Banks and retail entrepreneur Jay Schottenstein in 2013. The timing of Banks’ well publicized legal problems took him out of the game relatively quickly, leaving the winery under Schottenheim’s supervision.

The winery now points to 2013 as the beginning of a new era, and the 2013 Mayacamas Cabernet Sauvignon clearly demonstrates that there is a new sheriff in town. Bringing in husband and wife team of former Screaming Eagle winemaker Andy Erickson and Annie Favia has had an immediate impact and we dare say this is the most impressive effort from Mayacamas we have ever tasted. This is not your father’s Mayacamas. This one has structure, yes, but a purity and tenderness we can’t recall from these Cabernets in the past. Rich but also refined with a fleshy wrap of red and black fruits flecked with wild herbs, graphite, and cocoa coating the fine tannins.

The 97 point review from Antonio Galloni is a good jumping off point for the new Mayacamas with comments like, “The flavors are dark, bold and incisive, with potent tannins and a real feeling of gravitas to back things up. Black cherry, game, smoke, gravel and licorice add to an impression of brooding intensity. In many ways, the 2013 reminds me of some of the great wines of the 1970s in its dark, imposing personality.”

As to the quality, we agree wholeheartedly. This Cabernet knocked us out. But we differ on the comparisons to those ‘70s Cabs because this one is far more cohesive and harmonious and, given this particular winery’s history, much more engaging in its youth. If you’ve got the fare, this is something special.

PURLIEU CABERNET 2014-SERIOUS DIRT YIELDS SERIOUS JUICE

This is a curious example of the ‘new math’, and certainly an anomaly in today’s Napa. In world where legitimate $40-50 Cabernets are asking $150, this guy is offering a wine sourced from an iconic list of Napa vineyards, made by one of Napa’s ‘rock star’ winemakers, for less than $100. This isn’t our first go-around with Purlieu Cabernets. We’ve sold a couple of prior vintages just because we thought they were seriously good and offered value in a rarefied world of elite Napa Cabernets that seems to be philosophically averse to it.

The list of vineyards in the Purlieu Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2014 is sick…Missouri Hopper, Beckstoffer To-Kalon, the Pritchard Hill vineyard next to Ovid (Martinez) and Teucer. These make $150-300+ single vineyard wines for Purlieu and others. Put them together and it’s…less? The fruit in this wine is gorgeous…black cherry, plum, and blackcurrant with flecks of vanilla, toast, and dark chocolate (around 82% cocoa if you want specifics, chocolate geeks). In line with the 2014 vintage, the wine is pretty seamless front-to-back, and the texture of plush and palate caressing.

The winemaker here is one Julien Fayard, one of Napa’s rising superstars with a resume that sounds like some one made it up. He has worked as the director of winemaking for Phillipe Melka’s all-star team that took care of wineries like Hundred Acre, Vineyard 29, Lail, and Gemstone.

Robert Parker’s notes are pretty enthusiastic about the wine, “The real knock-out is the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa… this is a superb example of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. Inky purple in color, with beautiful blackberry and cassis fruit, a touch of creosote, charcoal and some subtle background oak, the wine hits the palate with authority, serious extract and richness, but enough acidity to frame up its boisterous and exuberant parts. It is a big, rich, concentrated, mouth-filling Cabernet Sauvignon with relatively sweet tannin. It should drink well for 15-20 years, possibly longer…94 points”

We would’t be at all surprised if this sexy, layered Cabernet could kick some serious tail in a scrum of high-digit Napa stalwarts, yet at this price it’s actually a deal based on performance in our minds. Robert Parker went out of his way to say the wine ‘wasn’t a bargain’ at under $100. Since ‘print’ has no nuance, we aren’t sure about the context of that comment, but we politely (though firmly) disagree. We aren’t the type of folks that tell people to spend this kind of money lightly and are very measured in our praise. This one delivers. It’s is also as crowd pleasing a high end Cabernet as we have had in a while. It will only get better. Not everyone can play at this level price-wise. But if you can, this is a star.