Honeymoon in the Napa Valley (the wineries - pt 1)

Finally, we come to the end of our honeymoon in the Napa Valley. In previous posts, I have discussed the restaurants and the wine tours & private tastings. Thus, this brings us to the remaining wineries that we visited during the week.

Grgich Hills Estate

In their tasting room, which is open daily to the public from 930am-430pm, Grgich Hills offers two options, five of their current releases for $15 or three of their special selections for $30. Another bonus is that you get to keep your glasses (at least for the second option). I have to admit, I was totally blown away by their 2006 Chardonnay Carneros Selection ($75), which uses wild yeast and no malolactic fermentation. It is substantially better than their 2007 Chardonnay Napa Valley, ($42) and definitely ranks up there with my all-time favorite chardonnays. Comparing their cabs reminded me once again that cost isn't everything. Both Joy and I, along with the folks tasting beside us, favored their 2006 Cab Napa Valley ($60) over their much pricier 2005 Cab Yountville Selection ($135). Their late harvest 2008 Violetta ($85/375ml) was also delicious with its botrytis. All in all, nice people and very nice wines. I would recommend stopping by if you're in the neighborhood (which isn't hard since they are right on HWY29).

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars (*also one of the best winery websites that I've come across)

If you are going to visit SLWC (open daily, 10am-430pm), which you should, I would recommend their estate collection tasting flight ($30pp) over the Napa Valley collection ($15pp). Its a lot of fun to taste their three estate cabs side by side and see how vineyards right next to each other produce such different wines because of the difference in soil. The 2006 Fay was spicy and delicious, while the 2006 SLV was so ridiculously smooth and fruity. But the best of all, made from the best barrels of both, is their Cask 23 ($195, but found it for $115 on wine.com). My tasting notes say it all: "HOLY CRAP!!! Best cab of my life!" Absolutely magnificent! This wine, however, reaffirms my belief that the wine critics scoring system is broken. I just cannot fathom how Wine Enthusiast gave this wine a meager 91. That's right, a 91. Their Cask 23 was the only wine I tasted all week that I honestly thought was worth the sky high price (if you could afford it). So Joy and I agree, if you are coming through the Stag's Leap District, you really should drop by.

X Winery (Napa Valley)

On our last full day in Napa, Joy and I began with a trek up to Rombauer Winery (which I will share more on later) before returning to downtown Napa for a lovely lunch at Grace's Table. After this our paths diverged. Joy set her sights on the antique shops and I sought out more wine to taste. First, I made the short walk across Second Street to X Winery.

1. The Wines

After a week of tasting wines that often cost $50+ a bottle, it was nice to find some more affordable ones. Not only were they reasonable, the five I tasted that day were very drinkable too. Especially good was the 2008 Napa Valley Truchard Vineyard Pinot Noir ($24.99), which was very smooth with lots of red fruit; the 2008 Red X North Coast ($14.99), a delicious blend of Syrah (55%), Tempranillo (23%), Grenache (14%), and Zinfandel (8%); and the 2007 X3 Tri-County California Cab ($17.99) that had lots of tasty fruit that especially carried through the mid-palate along with nicely balanced acidity & tannin.

Since they were so affordable, I brought the Red X and X3 Cab back to NYC. Since then, we opened the Red X to pair with assorted cheeses from Dobb's and Bishop, our Bronxville cheese shop. Everyone loved it and I cannot wait to get some more of this incredibly versatile and affordable wine. Tonight, the X3 really complimented the turkey shepherd's pie that Joy made. Not too weak nor overbearing. The balance of the wine really makes this wine enjoyable.

2. The Experience (or lack thereof)

Even though I really like their wines and plan on buying more, my experience in their tasting room was less than impressive. It wasn't particularly bad, just frustrating. They have a three-tiered tasting option, which enables you to pick 3 of 5 basic wines, then 2 of 3 more wines for a little more $, and 1 of 2 reserve wines for more $ (but no option to taste everything). If its incredibly busy, I understand getting the standard treatment. But when you're the only one in there, clearly very interested in tasting their wines (as evidenced by taking notes in your moleskin journal and pouring after each taste), and they are closing in about an hour, getting the standard treatment is disappointing. After visiting dozens and dozens of tasting rooms over the last several years, I have often experienced that extra touch, whether it be pouring wines not listed, pouring two glasses after we decide to share one, or kindly offering to revisit any of their wines. And more often than not, such generosity results in additional purchases. So it was a bit surreal for them to go through the trouble to explain how completely different their two cabs are and then leave me to decide which of them I would taste (since I only had 1 left of my second group). Who knows, perhaps I might have loved the other one and bought it too. In short, if you are running a tasting room, please don't be stingy to customers, especially if they are interested and the bottles are already open. On top of all this, I emailed their NY distributor over a week ago to find out where I can get their wines in NYC and haven't heard back yet.

Summary

If you come across the wines of X Winery, I would give them a try, especially if you see their incredibly versatile Red X.

Honeymoon in the Napa Valley (the wine tours)

In this installment, I am focusing on the four scheduled tours of our honeymoon trip to the Napa Valley. If you are new to the wine country scene, it is helpful to know that there are two basic types of winery visits. Many wineries have tasting rooms that are open to the public and do not require an appointment, but usually have some form of tasting fee (hopefully reimbursed if you purchase at least a bottle). Their hours are typically posted on their website or in wine country maps/guides (like the Preiser Key to Napa Valley). Simply drop by and enjoy!

Other wineries only offer tours and/or tastings by appointment only. I tend to enjoy taking advantage of this type because you get more than just the wine, you get to see and experience more of the wine making process. So I selected four to provide a means of structuring our days, without sacrificing our freedom to fill out the rest of the day as we saw fit.

Swanson Vineyards

Recommended to us by family and friends, our first stop was Swanson Winery for the hour-long Bon Vivant tasting ($55/pp). Be prepared for the fact that they tend not to open the gate until five minutes before. Thankfully, winemaker Chris Phelps came out from the lab to say hello while we waited. The salon, inspired by 18th century Parisian salons, is absolutely beautiful. It is a fairly intimate setting with no more than eight guests. This is nice, unless one of them is extremely obnoxious (which happened to us).

The tasting includes six of their wines with delicious pairings. Joy especially loved the wild American caviar with creme fresh on a potato chip, paired with their 2008 Chardonnay. Their 2005 Sangiovese was ridiculously smooth and luscious, but at $75/750ml, we did not leave with any. The gem, for me, was their 2006 Crepuscule, a heavenly late harvest Semillon. They have only made it nine times in the twenty-five year history of the winery due to the uncommon occurrence of botrytis or noble rot, the stuff that makes Sauternes so amazing. The tasting ended with my first double blind tasting using Riedel black wine glasses. Not only is it the truest test of your discerning abilities, it was a ton of fun!

Swanson also recently began producing what they call 'occasion' wines (so far called Merci and Just Married, with Expensive Christmas Wine up next). Even though we did not taste them, they are reasonably priced (low $20s), so we had some shipped to NYC. I'll post my notes when we eventually open them.

Summary: Although it was the most expensive tasting, we were glad we did it. The beauty of the salon and the pairings were definitely memorable. But once is probably enough.

Nicholson Ranch Winery

For our wedding present, our friends Richard and Jacky arranged a private tour and tasting for us at Nicholson Ranch in Carneros, just south of downtown Napa. Lance, our guide (and Fordham grad!) provided an absolutely great experience for us. We started off in the tasting room with their delicious 2005 Chardonnay Cuvée Natalie Reserve Estate ($40/750ml), then grabbed a bottle of 2009 Ramona Rose of Pinot Noir Estate ($22/750ml) and wandered out into their Chardonnay vineyard. It was a beautiful day to walk the grounds and we enjoyed having the opportunity to ask anything about the winemaking process. Next, Lance took us into their fermentation facility (little aside: love the fireman's pool) and down into their caves. We ended up in their great room, which was the perfect setting to finish tasting their wines. Instead of providing lengthy tasting notes for each of their wines, I'll simply say this: they are all top-notch. The hardest part was trying to decide what to leave with! I would be remiss, however, if I did not highlight their spectacular 2006 'Cactus Hill' Reserve Pinot Noir ($50/750ml). Of all the wineries we visited, I would join the wine club at Nicholson Ranch were I not a poor grad student (well, them and Stag's Leap, but that's a different pipe dream altogether).

Summary: If you are visiting the Napa Valley, I strongly recommend you add Nicholson Ranch to your list, at least for a visit their tasting room. We will certainly be going back!

Schramsberg Vineyards

Admittedly, neither Joy nor I love champagne, but we had heard great things about the cave tour at Schramsberg at the north end of the valley ($40pp). First of all, it would be nice for them (and several other wineries) to have better signage. So give yourself some extra time to get there and don't be surprised if you miss the turn. The winery has a long, fascinating history that includes becoming the official sparkling wine of the White House (since Nixon took Schramsberg to Beijing). But the best part is without a doubt the caves. Just breathtaking. (in the pic, I'm drinking their 2006 J. Davies Cab, their lone red wine, which was tasty, but pricey at $75/750ml).

Summary: Even if you are not a big fan of champagne, I would still strongly recommend the cave tour. Its a fun experience. But we probably wont be going back as once is enough.

Pine Ridge Winery

Our last scheduled tour was at Pine Ridge. It was a rather standard, moderately priced ($25pp), small group tour of their facilities that ended with tasting at a nice table in their caves and then a separate room for wine club members (which we aren't). They have a nice demonstration vineyard, but it was a shame that it wasn't incorporated more in the tour. Also, they only provided one small cheese platter for our group. The cheeses paired wonderfully with the wine, but it was not nearly enough as it ran out halfway through the tasting and they didn't bring out any more. The highlight of the tour, which was the sole reason I booked it, was the barrel sampling of one of their Cabs. I was also appreciative of how many wines they poured for us. I have notes for eleven, including their pricey Fortis and Andrus Reserve. Overall, they make nice wines, but nothing wowed me. Probably my favorite was their 2006 Stags Leap District Cab ($80/750ml), which was very smooth with balanced tannins and lots of red fruit.

Summary: If you are like me and wanted to try a barrel sampling, Pine Ridge is a nice way to go. And if you visit them, do not miss Stag's Leap Wine Cellars just down the road.

Honeymoon in Napa Valley (the food)

Not only is the wine fantastic in the Napa Valley, the food is off the charts too! In fact, several of the restaurants we dined at, we could have gone there for the entire week and not repeated anything nor run out of enticing dishes. Certainly its unnecessary to discuss every appetizer, entree and dessert from each restaurant, thus I'll just highlight the must-have dishes when appropriate. Enjoy! (pics: Joy and I dining at Celadon)

For the first night, we dined at Ristorante Allegria in downtown Napa (suggested by our hotel). My pasta special (fettuccine with fresh tomato, roasted sweet corn and prawns in a cream sauce) ranked as one of my top meals of the week. Joy also loved her potato gnocchi with pesto cream sauce. Reasonably priced, and there's live accordion music on mon & wed.

For our second night, we ate at Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen. We loved the setting outside under the giant fig tree, and where else can you order Spice Cured Pork Belly?

Next was Tra Vigne. We enjoyed our food and loved the service, but not sure it delivered at the same level as the others.

The following evening we found ourselves at Mustard's Grill, which was just fantastic. Joy probably wouldn't order the calf liver again but it was interesting, and my rabbit was delicious! We're definitely going to try their famous Mongolian Pork Chop (they sell 1500/month!).

Next on our list was Bistro Jeanty. A word on reservations. Make sure you call to confirm two days before. They lost my parents' reservation last year (made by phone) and ours (made by opentable), but thankfully were able to accommodate us in both situations. And the food was entirely worth it. No matter how hot it is, you must absolutely order the tomato soup in puff pastry. Its simply spectacular!

We returned to downtown Napa again to dine at Celadon. You cannot afford to miss this restaurant. While salmon and steak almost seem boring to order nowadays, Celadon nailed them. Of course it doesn't hurt to use wild caught Columbia River king salmon. After eating my last bites of my grilled C.A.B. filet mignon with yukon gold potato gratin, I experienced a sort of sadness that comes when you just aren't ready for a perfect meal to end.

Our final dinner was damn near heavenly. Instead of spending a large fortune at the famed French Laundry, we decided to spend a smaller fortune at Auberge du Soleil. Since they knew we were celebrating our honeymoon (the hostess asked when I made the reservation), they graciously seated us on the terrace, which has one of the best views overlooking the Napa Valley. After wine tasting all day, I was not in the mood for a lot of wine, thus I appreciated their offer of either a regular 6oz glass of wine or a 3oz taste. Also, do not be afraid to ask for the sommelier's help (esp when you aren't familiar with their wine list). I picked out my three plates and she made wonderful pairing suggestions. Again, while its hard to go wrong with any of their plates, if you have the chance, you must try their sauteed foie gras. Neither of us had had it before, but it is truly otherworldly. It just melts in your mouth. I cant wait to pair it with a sauternes! Not only was the dinner spectacular, but the service was superb. Furthermore, when we were about to leave, the older couple next to us overhead that we were celebrating our honeymoon and kindly offered us a glass of our choosing. So with glasses of Dolce in our hands, we enjoyed a nice conversation with them for another hour before finally leaving.

For lunch, you definitely want to swing by Gott's Roadside. Joy claimed her western burger was the best burger she'd ever had. And maybe not the best for wine tasting, their garlic fries are delicious.

Summary
The only frustrating thing about dining in Napa is that there are too many restaurants and too few meals in a week! But if you were to come to Napa, it would definitely be a shame for you to miss out on the fantastic food at Ristorante Allegria, Mustard's Grill, Bistro Jeanty, Celadon, and Auberge du Soleil.

Walla Walla Winery Series #2 (Patit Creek)

In my second installment of Walla Walla wineries, I will be discussing another wonderful winery located out at the old airport, Patit Creek Cellars. Typical of many wineries in the Walla Walla valley, they have a very nice tasting room, and their staff was great.

While they had been traditionally exclusively focused on Cab and Merlot, the winery is beginning to venture out under their new owners. The first step is a dry riesling. I found their 2007 release ($16) to be fairly typical of a dry riesling, and pleasant to enjoy (though I've had better ones elsewhere, East Fork Cellars in Ridgefield, WA makes a delicious one).

Moving on...

*2005 Merlot - sourced from Pepperbridge and Seven Hills vineyards, very balanced wine and quite tasty. $29
*2004 Merlot - from Columbia Valley (as most of the grapes in Walla Walla were lost due to bad weather that year), rich, earthy, bold fruit, and I felt it was better than the 05. $35
*2005 Cab - walla walla, currant and black cherry on palate, delicious! expect to get even better in 3-4 years. $29
*2004 Cab - Columbia Valley, smooth, a bit lighter, but very fruity and very good
*2002 Cab - its been my experience that on rare occasions a winery will open one of their library (or older) vintages. and when they do, its a treat! this cab was sourced from the Walla Walla valley, and it was spectacular! a perfectly balanced cab.

WINE TIDBIT: Aging Walla Walla Wines
As soon as I became interested in wine several years ago, I wanted to better understand the concept of aging wine and how best to go about it. Some of the most incredible wines I've tasted were stored carefully for decades before they were enjoyed. However, I have also been reading that perhaps the era of laying up wines for decades is coming to an end. In fact, I've heard an owner of a winery in Walla Walla comment that since he's in his seventies, he wants to be able to enjoin his wines now. Can't blame him there! That said, here's what I've discovered. By and large, the standard expectation of any wine coming out of Walla Walla is that it can be enjoyed right now. That is especially true of the $15-20 red table wines that make for great daily consumption. However, a number of the single red varietals (esp cab) can really become something else if given the chance to age just 12-18months. Maybe even 2-3 years. Allowing them to have that small time frame really enables these wines to fully come together, especially if they come from one of the better vintages. If you want to learn more about cellaring wine, check out my review of Jeff Cox's Cellaring Wine.

FORTHCOMING...
* Continued installments of Walla Walla Wineries
* Summary of my visit next week to several wineries located in Clark County, WA, just north of Portland.

Walla Walla Winery Series #1 (Tamarack)

I am beginning a new series based on my tasting notes from my last trip (July 5-7, 2008) to the Walla Walla valley. In each installment, I will limit my discussion to a single winery in order to highlight as many individual wines as possible and to provide you with an idea of what types of wines are being produced where. The tasting notes themselves are not always extremely detailed as the trip included 15 wines and 125 wines in three days. With that in mind, a lack of notes should not be interpreted as a negative review, simply that it was not able to distinctively stand out during a weekend of tasting spectacular wines.

In this first installment, I will be discussing Tamarack Cellars. This is my first time both visiting Tamarack as well as tasting their wines. And in case you were wondering, they are one of a number of wineries conveniently located out at the old airport just outside of town. Their tasting room is great and their staff provided a nice tasting experience.

* 2006 Chardonnay - good, but not distinctive
* 2006 Sangiovese - alright
* 2006 Firehouse Red - a blend of seven varietals, very tasty, best value!
* 2006 Merlot - really good
* 2006 Cab Franc - also good
* 2005 Cab - delicious
* 2004 Syrah - deep fruit and earthy on nose, nice, but not the best WaWa syrah
* 2005 Dubrul Vineyard Reserve (61 Cab/32 Merlot/7 Cab Franc) - especially great

Summary: All of their wines are quite good, so in the future, I will not hesitate to try anything coming out of Tamarack. If the wallet allows, the Dubrul Vineyard Reserve is lovely. But certainly, the best all-around (taste & value) goes to their Firehouse Red. Whether in a wine shop or at a restaurant, this table red wine is immensely versatile.

Walla Walla Wine Country

This past weekend, Troy, Betty, Dustin, Marie, and myself made our first pilgrimage to Walla Walla wine country. And what a weekend it was! Three days, twelve wineries, and seventy-four wines later (at least that was my personal tally), I think its fair to say we all have much more developed palates. Which is a good thing because that was our sole objective: increase our knowledge of wine so we better know whats out there and what we each like. (right, the crew at Kiona)

I was a little anxious as we headed east because I was in charge of planning our itinerary, but I had some great input from my parents and our friend, Jacky. Though, with a better grasp now of whats in Walla Walla, its pretty hard not to find great wineries. So a brief summary of our adventure... On friday morning, Marie, Dustin, and I all piled into my car for the long drive ahead (troy and betty would join us late that evening). Our first stop was actually in Richland at Barnard Griffin. Then we proceeded east, stopping at Woodward Canyon and L’Ecole No 41 just outside of town. After that we checked into the Holiday Inn Express, grabbed some dinner at the MillCreek Beerpub, and then hit the pool and hot tub when Troy and Betty caught up to us.

Saturday morning began fairly early with our heading out to Pepperbridge, followed by a stop at the joint tasting room of Trust and Chateau Rollat. Then we headed down to Milton-Freewater to visit Otis Kenyon, which was the unanimous highlight of the trip. I had emailed Muriel, the head of sales, at OK beforehand to schedule a visit since they do not yet have a tasting room. After driving up the gravel driveway, past the sketchy-looking house neighboring OK, Muriel greeted us with a big smile and took us into the converted appleshed which now houses their barrels. It was such a great atmosphere (above right, the crew while tasting amongst the barrels). We also met Dreux the assistant winemaker (whos been working with winemaker Dave Stephenson, and is taking a much more active role in the newer vintages). The two of then were absolutely fantastic and super friendly! And if there was such a proverb about the quality of people translating into the quality of their wine, it would certainly be true at OK. Their 05 Merlot and 05 Syrah were voted by our little party to be the favorites of the entire weekend. Dreux was also gracious enough to let us sample his unfinished Reisling, which was quite an experience for us and very enjoyable as well.

After Otis Kenyon, we took Muriel's advice at stopped at the Ice Burg drive-in for lunch. Then we continued on to Forgeron, and finally arrived at Seven Hills. It was a long day of wine tasting and by the time we made it to the last wines at Seven Hills (left, enjoying their tasting room), our palates were all struggling. We spent the rest of the afternoon back at the hotel taking it easy, and I was able to get into my most recent book, Reading the Old Testament with the Ancient Church by Heine. For dinner we hit up the bar at 26 Brix, which we had heard such great things about. Honestly, we weren't super impressed, but there were a couple tasty things there.

While we had entertained the idea of catching the 8am service at St Paul's Episcopal on Sunday morning, daylight savings stole our sleep and any chance to getting up that early. After our final breakfast at the hotel, we made our way out to the old Airport which has a number of wineries. We stopped at Cougar Crest after finding Tamarack mysteriously closed (must have missed the time change), and then after finding two other closed wineries, we headed back through town to Reininger, where they offered twelve wines to taste... not bad at all! We also made a quick stop at L'Ecole again so Troy and Betty could taste a couple of their wines. This brought our time in Walla Walla to a close, but our wine adventure wasn't done yet. We made another stop at Barnard Griffin, and our final destination (which took quite a few wrongs turns before we made it) was Kiona in Benton City.

As I look back on this weekend, I believe our trip was quite a success, both in terms of fun and great wines! Oh, and how could I not also share my absolute favorites of the weekend. In no particular order, my top picks were L'Ecole 41's 2005 Perigee, Otis Kenyon's 2005 Syrah and Merlot, Trust's 2005 Cab, Chateaux Rollat's 2005 Cab, Seven Hills 2005 Pentad (right, Dustin and I partaking), and Reiniger's 2002 Cima. Since many of these were simply out of my price range, my other favorites that I was able to bring home included Barnard Griffin's 2007 Rose of Sangiovese (great summer wine!), the two from Otis Kenyon, Cougar Crest's Dedication One, and Kiona's Vivacious Vicky Rose and their Late Harvest Riesling. I hope that before I head off to school in the fall, I will be able to make one more trek out there, so until then...