Wine Musings Vol#72

Wine of Merit: ****Mount Veeder Winery, Napa Valley, cabernet sauvignon, 1990: I miss this style of Napa wine. Balanced and thoughtful, lower in alcohol (13.5%) as was the style 18 years ago, this wine is still fresh and has added sophistication and nuance with age. Still surprisingly exuberant, maybe more confident than cocky. Blackberry preserves, olive tapenade, brier...this integrated melange needs little coaxing to show its stuff. The palate too is lively and full but never fat, showing more black fruits, minerals and baking chocolate. The finish is firm and fine. I think this wine is at its absolute peak. I can imagine that most of this has been consumed long ago by ye of little faith. For those few holdouts...patience has indeed been a virtue. Good on release, much better now. Drink now and celebrate.

***+Failla, Alban vineyard, viognier, 2006: A wine that I always relish, I feel that Failla makes one of the few acceptable viognier based wines in the new world (the other stand out for me being the Kongsgaard Vio/Rus). Still, it is not always up to snuff. The 2006 does not disappoint. Lovely, floral but still deep and concentrated. Lovely Provencal herbs accompany the orange blossom, hibiscus, candied violet and vanilla bean. Lovely mineral and citrus palate. Bright, spicy finish. Righteous. A great white wine change up and wonderful food wine to boot.

***Black Bart, Stagecoach vineyard, Napa, syrah, 2004: I enjoy wines made from the Stagecoach vineyard. Of course, at over 500 acres under vine, that is a bit of a generic statement. Still, the Krupp brothers seem to grow delicious fruit and those who source from it tend to make delicious wines. The Black Bart bottling is made by the Krupps themselves and is indeed a yummy, expansive, mouthful of Napa grape juice. Even given the size of the vineyard, I still get a distinct sense of place, that southern Napa mountain red/black berry fruit, bramble and mineral driven style followed by a slight, vegetal counterattack, with the cinnamon and clove from the whole cluster fermentation adding the final kicker. A dollop of co fermented viognier adds a floral, citrus note. The wine is big boned and coating, with a firm palate and a firmer, juicy finish. Big Black Bart. I know this is not supposed to be the visual, but as I sip this wine I can't help but conjure up Clevon Little riding into town with his fringed velour cowboy outfit and his Gucci saddle, waving to Count Basie as he rides by. Now that's style!

Wine Musings Vol#3

From notes taken November, 2005:

Wine of Merit: ***Black Bart Syrah, Stagecoach vineyard, 2003: A wine to get excited about, IMHO. New world purity of fruit and expression, without the over the top, blousy, syrupy Aussie stuff I detest. This also offers great structure and much better complexity than most any other cali syrah. Green olive, some floral and Anjou pear notes (this has some viognier in it), brambley, nice. Again, excellent integration and a strong finish. Buy more? If Sharon does, I will.

*+Crochet Sancerre, 2004: Nice enough, especially at $12 a pop. Pale yellow color, grassy, floral, fennel seed, some blood orange and pain grille. Still grapey, light on the palate. Bright acids, good balance through the finish and a touch of toasted wood. Good summer pic nic wine – great with food. Paul Cotat remains the definitive voice in Sancerre in my opinion and this changes that not at all.

I bumped into the wine maker of Veraison and Black Bart at Amanti Vino on Church Street. He was pouring these wines and Sharon was kind enough to offer me a taste along with the staff. Righteous!

***+Veraison Stagecoach vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2002: Expressive but not obvious. Solid effort. Probably the best 2002 Napa cabernet I have tasted in the sense that it seems like it has the structure to tolerate cellaring and even get better, more complex with age. A core of clean, pure, black fruit, graphite and sweet violets. Great integration across the palate with more fruit and mocha. Dusty tannins and a long finish. Buy more? Yes!

***Veraison Synchrony, Meritage 2002: Bordeaux like mix of cab, cab franc, malbec and I think Merlot. Also from the same Stage coach vineyard up on Pritchard Hill. More forward, more resolved, a lovely drink. Red fruit, chocolate, minerals, black truffle notes right up front. It may gain tertiary notes faster and ultimately offer more complexity, like a nice St. Emillion might, but probably not more weight. Buy more? Probably not, though it is a lovely bottle of wine.