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The Best Wine Tasting You May Ever Attend. Anywhere.

It is not only THE BEST wine tasting in Napa Valley. It just may be THE BEST wine tasting anywhere in the world. For sure, it is unique, original, one-of-a-kind. The kind of thing that makes headlines.

Everyone complains these days about the elevated – and nonsensical -- price of tastings at wineries in Napa Valley. And, for the most part, these gripes are merited.

But put into context, the $500 to $750 per person tasting fee at Blankiet, in Yountville, is actually a bargain.

Here you will compare Blankiet Merlot or Blankiet Cabernet against same-varietal, first growth Bordeaux wines, including Petrus, the world’s most expensive wine (100% Merlot), costing $6,500 a bottle on release. Or substantially more.

By comparison, Blankiet’s stunning, mouth-thrilling, exquisite, Merlot (called Rive Droite), is $250 per bottle, and it runs rings around the $6,500 Petrus.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

Blankiet Estate, in Yountville.

Claude Blankiet and his wife, Katherine, hosted my two comparative tastings

I was fortunate to attend two of proprietor Claude Blankiet’s comparative, international wine pairings in the last month and on each occasion, his red wines trounced those of Bordeaux.

The tastings, which you can reserve online (details at the end of this story), are a sort of Judgment of Paris 2.0… pairing great Napa Valley wine against the best red wine that France can bring to the table.

(The first time this was done, in Paris, in 1976, the event became known as “Judgment in Paris,” and critics who rated the French and Napa Valley wines blind, were astounded when the winning Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon turned out to be from Napa Valley, and not France.)

I do not know of any other wine producer in America who has the balls to take on the French in such a fashion – and make the tasting so public, permitting guests to sign up, step up, and then spit out a series of such exceptional wines. Guests can decide for themselves which they like better -- the over-priced, French Cabernets or Merlots, or the fairly priced (by comparison) Blankiet reds.

But you’ll have to come to Yountville, close to the mid-point of Napa Valley, to have the experience.

Blankiet vineyards

Petrus, considered by many to be the best red wine in the world, costs on release about $6,500 a bottle, TWENTY-FIVE TIMES more than Blankiet’s Merlot, Rive Droite.

Having tasted these wines side by side twice this past month, I’d say the Rive Droite is a substantially better made wine.

So as well as being a serious wine producer, 80-year-old Claude Blankiet turns out to be a serious Mythbuster!

How does Blankiet make such phenomenal wine?

For starters, Claude’s estate vineyard crew makes 30 passes through the vineyard during harvest period, selectively picking blocks as they ripen and each of these blocks is fermented separately.

By comparison, many winemakers make one, or two, passes through their vineyard to bring in the majority of grapes at once, but when they do, there is no uniformity among the fruit.

And then there are the optical sorters that Claude purchased to improve grape selection. He bought two and placed them in sequential mode; according to Claude, the eight infrared cameras on the first sorter kick out berries that have not been pollinated and which are filled with malic acid, which adds bitterness to wine; the second sorter uses infrared cameras to remove overripe fruit, whose sugar content would increase alcohol and add undesirable, port-like notes to the finished wine.

This double-hurdle, optical sorting that Blankiet’s grapes must jump gives Claude’s wines a head start over many French wine producers.

Winery host and director of hospitality, Julian Christian, prepares most comparative tastings.

Graeme MacDonald

Another reason Blankiet wines are such winners: The resident winemaker is Graeme MacDonald, a fourth-generation, Napa Valley, grape-grower, who also makes a compelling wine under his own label, MacDonald.

Below are my notes from two comparative tastings at Blankiet.

At both tastings, the Blankiet Merlot (Rive Droite) and Blankiet Cabs, Proprietary Red and Mythicvs,  shamed the French wines.

The comparative tastings at Blankiet are created around classic Bordeaux properties:

The $750, “Right Bank tasting” of Merlot-predominant wines include:

• Petrus
• Cheval Blanc
• Ausone
• Lafleur
• Masseto (A “Super Tuscan, 100% Merlot, produced by Tenuta dell'Ornellaia, called the Petrus of Italy.”)
• One or two recent vintages of Blanket Rive Droite

The $500 “Left Bank tasting” of Cabernet-based wines include:

• Lafite
• Margaux
• Haut Brion
• Mouton Rothschild
• A recent vintage of Blankiet Proprietary Red
• A recent vintage of Blankiet Mythicvs

Right Bank Wines, First Tasting

2018 Petrus

2018 was a good year in Pomerol and, if anything, the extra year of age could have given Petrus an edge over the younger Blankiet Rive-Droite. But even with the handicap, Blankiet beat it hands down.

The Petrus exhibited fresh baked fruit aromas on the nose and a hint of bacon. And these flavor notes persisted throughout the swallow. Nicely done. 98 points.

2019 Cheval Blanc

This wine, half-Merlot, half-Cabernet, is often considered one of the world’s great reds. The average price you’d pay online right now in the US is $900 a bottle. The wine has a perceptible, fermented-fruit aroma on the nose, almost moving into the umami range. A sort of soy sauce scent on taking a deep whiff. 96 points.

2019 Lafleur

This Merlot has a lovely, bright, fruited nose with complete follow-through… there is an exceptional hit of bright, ripe red fruit on the initial attack. Loved the middle palate and end notes, which linger. A bottle of this would set you back $2,000 today. Substantially more than a $250 bottle of Rive-Droite, which is the superior wine of the two. 99 points.

2019 Rive Droite

This 95% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc wine is a showstopper. The nose closely resembles that of the 2019 Lafleur, but that’s where all similarity ends.

My tasting note for this wine has more exclamation marks than a Tom Wolfe novel. I scored the wine 102 points because it belongs on a pedestal in the Pantheon of Great Wines. It is like Petrus, only better; like Petrus on steroids. It has more definition, more length, more puissance, more elegance, and more finesse than Petrus. 102 points.

There is NO question in my mind after two tastings, or in the mind of the guests with whom I tasted – everyone was unanimous in each tasting – the 300-case, limited production, Blankiet Rive-Droite Merlot – is the David of Merlot, capable of slaying the Goliath of Merlot, Petrus. It’s the stuff you read about in Bible stories and in wine columns.

One of the guests at both tastings was Lucio Della Gasperina, a local grapegrower and winemaker, and friend.

Left Bank Wines, First Tasting

2019 Margaux

Claude opened a bottle of this venerated wine to let guests taste it beside his best Cabernet effort, Mythicvs.

The disappointment was palpable. The Margaux is a solid citizen but not in the league of Mythicvs.

A bottle of Margaux costs $1,000. A bottle of 2021 Mythicvs on release is likely to be $350. Your honor, I rest my case which is the better value and also the better wine. The Margaux – 95 points.

2021 Mythicvs

Claude thinks this wine, which will be released in March 2024, will start to strut its stuff in four years and then hold its juicy, balanced, finessed, elegance for 20 or 30 more years. I would never be able to wait this long to swallow this ripe, red manna.

On the nose, there is so much ripe red fruit that it is fair to say there is a mouthfulof fruit on the nose! On the palate, there is cassis, ripe blue fruit, ripe red fruit, hints of tabac. This is poetry in your mouth.

For the uninitiated, regardless of how it is spelled, with that curious “V” instead of an “U,” it is pronounced as though it were spelled MYTH-EH-CUS. There are only about 175 cases made annually. 102 points.

For the record:

Mythicvs and Rive Droite are the two best wines I tasted in all of 2023. Nothing else comes close to their purity, finesse, elegance or balance. Not from any country, or wine region, whose wines I’ve tasted this year.

Second comparative tasting at Blankiet

Just to quell any argument that we may have tasted from flawed bottles at the first Judgment of Paris 2.0 comparative tasting, I accepted Claude’s offer to return for a similar tasting with wines poured from bottles not poured at the earlier tasting.

Again, the results were the same; the Blankiet Merlot-dominant and Cab-dominant wines crushed the French equivalents. I’ll give tasting notes in a moment for die-hard wine geeks, but I want to add a caveat to put the experience into context:

Bordeaux wines are meant to be aged 20- 30- even 40-years before they strut their complexity. It is also known that after several years, most Bordeaux wines go into a long, deep, brooding period where flavors and aromatics not only pale – they can go completely rogue and disappear.

So, an argument can be made that it is unfair to compare young Napa Valley wines with young Bordeaux wines – but the French wines chosen for these comparative tastings are of pre-shut-down age and if you’re spending $1,000 to $6,500 for a bottle of grape juice, it’s fair to assume the wine will be better than a $250 Merlot from Napa Valley. But we couldn’t find one First Growth Bordeaux wine that was.

Two other notes regarding the tastings:

The indefatigable host of your visit will likely be Julian Christian, a certified sommelier, a bon vivant, a raconteur of tales and a most affable host. Tell him that napaman sent you and he may just give you an extra tipple of some exotic wine… and if you’re palate’s on spec… you’ll most likely ask for more Rive Droite than Petrus!

On our second tasting, we were joined by someone who touches the lives of more than 500 wineries in Napa Valley – Dustin Mowe is President and CEO of Portocork America. He’s the guy who puts clean, TCA-free, pedigreed Portuguese corks in so many wines bottled here. And he has a highly elevated palate, having been invited to taste at every significant winery.

“No other winery in Napa Valley offers a comparative tasting with international wines,” says Dustin. “Nor could they and hope to win. Claude has learned how to make wines that have more finesse, more elegance and more purity than the best wines of France.”

Amen. I couldn’t have said it better myself.

And now, if you’re still with us… on to the second tasting.

Right Bank Wines, Second Tasting

2016 Petrus

Claude bought this $4500 bottle from a respected merchant. The wine, 100% Merlot, exhibits roses and oil on the nose. Rather tight and short on the swallow. No finish. No polish. Bit of charcoal, maybe ash, if you can call this a finish.

I’d be plenty disappointed if I’d paid $4,500 for this bottle. 92 points.

2019 Cheval Blanc

Bright fruit on the nose resembling freshly cut flowers. Lovely fruited notes on the palate, ends with a bit of smoke, tar. Quite complex, really. 97 points.

2019 Ausone

The presence of so much Cabernet Franc in this wine (65%) is evident in the sniff n’ swallow; very focused, very young, lots of pepper and Turkish spices. 95 points.

2019 Lafleur

A blend of nearly 50/50 Merlot and Cabernet Franc, this wine sports a nose of decaying irises, but the palate brightens considerably, offering a crescendo of fruit flavors. A lively, complex wine. 98 points.

2019 Masseto

So here we go, the 100% Merlot, Italian wannabe Petrus. Same nose as the Cheval Blanc if you sniff them blind, though the Masseto is a bit leaner on the nose. The wine is decent, just not evolved, elegant or gripping in any sensual way. 92 points.

2019 Rive Droite

On the nose, in the same ballpark as Cheval Blanc and Masseto, but there all similarity ends. This wine is like a Tesla Plaid, capable of leaping out ahead of everyone else, and leaving them all in a distant, far-away, second place.

The Tesla Plaid actually gives you a bruised neck if you launch the car from a dead start; Rive Droite Plaid gives the drinker a sore forehead – what you get from slapping your forehead so many times as you repeat, “How can anything taste this good?”

The wine is sensual, alluring, capable of making you beg for an allocation. 100 points.

Left Bank Wines, Second Tasting

2018 Haut Brion

This $700 bottle, a blend of Merlot, Cabernet and Cabernet Franc, is warm, inviting friendly. But again, there is a hint of decaying lilies on the nose and the palate is pretty tight. 93 points.

2019 Lafite Rothschild

Warm and hints of jam-like fruit on the nose, with a cascade of fruit flavors on the palate. Well balanced. Pretty finish. 94 points.

2019 Margaux

An unfocused nose, a bit ”smudge-y,” my tasting notes read.

A true classic Bordeaux wine, 20 or 30 years before it ever reaches puberty. Based on its eventual, likely ethereal pleasure, score it 97 points.

2016 Mouton Rothschild

A major disappointment around the table. Off-aromas of soiled clothes. A hint of brett (brettanomyces -- short form is Brett – is a type of yeast often found in wineries, which has the potential to cause spoilage in wine through the production of volatile phenol compounds). Feh. Hints of straw and barn with a short finish. Not what you want in a $900 bottle of wine. 91 points

2018 Blanket Proprietary Red

A blend of 85% Cabernet, 15% Merlot. Putting you nose in a glass of this wine is like putting you head in front of a large room fan that is blowing fresh fruit in your face. There is a purity to the aromatics and to the palate that have been absent in everything we’ve tasted from the Left Bank so far. The finish lasts a full minute. 100 points.

2019 Mythicvs

This wine has the same fresh fruit aromatics as the Proprietary Red above, though maybe even prettier. Even though there is no Merlot in this wine, it has a suppleness, a slipperiness, a sensuality that surpasses even the Proprietary Red. “This wine has it all,” says Dustin Mowe. “Power, finesse and length. This wine is literally off the charts. You never taste this kind of purity in the young wines of France. Not ever.” (For the record: His company puts the corks in most of them.) 102 points.

If you have questions regarding Blankiet’s comparative Bordeaux tastings, contact winery host, Julian, via email:

[email protected]

Go here to learn more about visiting Blankiet:

https://blankiet.com/visit/

Go here to directly sign up for a comparative tasting:

https://www.exploretock.com/blankietestate?tock_source=tock&tock_medium=search_nav

 

Bravo to Hall Winery for Keeping up our Spirits!

If you are a resident of Napa Valley… or an occasional visitor here… chances are that you have driven by Bunny Foo Foo, the 35-foot tall, stainless-steel sculpture that highlights the roadside vineyard of Hall Winery, in St. Helena.

For the record: I LOVE this whimsical sculpture, created by English sculptor Lawrence Argent; it puts the fun into wine-making and wine-tasting, which can get a bit too serious. C’mon people – wine is a lifestyle beverage, not bleach to drink to avoid getting Covid-19!

At various times of the year, Bunny Foo Foo, named after a children’s poem about a pestering rabbit, dons calendar-relevant garb – a conical witch’s hat around Halloween, or a basketful of colorful eggs at Easter.

But thanks to Kathryn and Craig Hall, for elevating our spirits during the coronavirus pandemic… Bunny Foo Foo now sports the mandatory-in-public face mask!

Thanks for the chuckle, Kathryn and Craig.

And by the way, I continue to enjoy cases of your 2012 WALT Pinot Noirs and 2015 Hall Winery Cabernets, which I overbought years ago. They’re still rockin’ delicious! Longevity, as well as balance and flavor, are Hallmarks of Hall wines!

These New Food Discoveries are Getting Me Through Quarantine!

In order to keep things “new” and happening during our mandated Shelter In Place, I headed to the stores, masked and gloved, twice in the last 60 days to discover new edible treats.

 

Several products have been so addictive, such a taste-hit, that I want to share them with readers.

 

Haig’s Organic Hummus

 

Hard to imagine that a small tub of hummus could be so gratifying that I would elevate it to Star status. 

 

My son mentioned that one of the things he regularly buys at Whole Foods is Haig’s Organic Hummus. 

 

While Haig’s, based in San Francisco, also makes a conventional hummus, it’s their organic version that commands a 21-gun salute. 

 

 

Late every afternoon, just before cocktail hour, I find myself heading to the fridge to take out the Haig’s tub; I dip 365 (Whole Foods house brand) Baked Woven Wheat crackers into the dip; or I rip large pieces off a sheet of Trader Joe’s Lavash for my dipping pleasure.

 

While I do NOT  have an addictive personality, and can taste a single spoonful of most every dip and move on, there is an addictive element to my hitting the Haig’s Organic Hummus tub and I really have to work at convincing myself to have “just one more” cracker with dip.

 

Haig’s Organic Hummus is $4.99 at Whole Foods.

 

 

If you live much further south than Yountville, or much further north than St. Helena, you may not be eligible to enjoy this newfound source of nourishment: B’s Seedy STATION Granola.

 

The “B” is Brenda Bosetti, who is one of the most talented bakers and cooks in Napa Valley. She makes a lot of the tasty fare for Joel Gott’s new venture, STATION, in St. Helena, but the stand-out item for me is B’s“Seedy” granola.

 

B makes another STATION granola, but as it contains grains, it is unacceptable to gluten-intolerant consumers. B’s “Seedy” granola has NO grains so is an ideal snack for gluten-sensitive consumers.

 

I am NOT gluten-sensitive so the fact that I love B’s “Seedy” granola underscores how good, and how addictive, it is. 

 

I love the playful, and perfect, levels of sweetness and salt in this granola. There is a draw which brings me back for another handful after every swallow. I find it hard to stop noshing on this crunchy, seedy granola, rich as it is with coconut, almonds, and sesame, hemp, chia and flax seeds. Brenda has dialed in the salt and honey levels perfectly.

 

Nice work, Brenda!

 

1-lb bag of B’s Seedy STATION Granola is $16, sold only at STATION, on Main St., St. Helena. 

During quarantine, you must call in your order and arrange a pre-paid pick-up on the phone.

 

 

You may think I’m a chipmunk, given that I am listing another nut product as a Go-To on my list of newly discovered quarantine foods, but I love to have a few walnut pieces with my morning espresso, or cappuccino. And I have largely been disappointed with the walnut offerings in bulk bins. Too often, the nuts are only marginally fresh. 

 

But Whole Foods 356 Organic Walnut Halves & Pieces presents a 10-ounce bag filled with fleshy, tasty walnuts. Delicious on their own, these would also be great if added to home-baked banana bread, or, if chopped, to home-made chocolate chip cookies. What are you waiting for?

 

These are the freshest, tastiest commercial walnuts I’ve ever had.

 

Whole Foods 365 Organic Walnuts, Halves & Pieces, 10-oz bag $7.99.

Napaman’s Best Wines of the Year

The single best wine I tasted this year was bright, balanced, and filled with personality.

And, did I mention, it was 221-years-old?

I’m referring to a 1795 Barbeito (producer) Tarrantez (the grape) Madeira.

The fruit for this wine was picked when George Washington was our president.

In hindsight, 2016 was a stellar year for tasting the fortified wine from Madeira, an island afloat in the middle of the north Atlantic Ocean.

I tasted exceptional Madeiras on two occasions this year. You can recap the original stories here:

From a tasting on Valentine’s Day, in San Francisco

http://www.napaman.com/napamancom/2016/02/i-spent-valentines-day-with-an-old-heart-throb-a-216-year-old-wine-that-is-still-youthful.html

From a 2-day tasting in Seattle with America’s Madeira guru, Roy Hersh

http://www.napaman.com/napamancom/2016/04/george-washington-was-president-when-this-wine-was-made-and-its-still-young-brilliant-and-lively.html - http://www.napaman.com/napamancom/2016/04/george-washington-was-president-when-this-wine-was-made-and-

In summary, here is a chronological ramble of my Best Wines of 2016.

February

We weren’t very far into the year when I attended a rare Madeira tasting in San Francisco; Mannie Berk, of the Rare Wine Co., poured 16 Madeiras, the oldest was 216-years-old, from 1800.

The tasting produced three perfect (100 point) wines.

In addition to the unique taste of Madeira, when you drink any wine of 200 year’s age, there is this immutable and impressive fact:

There is NO ONE ON THE PLANET alive today who was alive when this wine was made.

EVERY SINGLE HUMAN ON OUR PLANET AT THE TIME THIS WINE WAS PRODUCED IS DEAD.

So, yes, with an old Madeira, you truly are drinking a snapshot of history.

1834 Barbeito Malvasia

A truly sensational wine, balanced, elegant, exhibiting notes of raisin and brown sugar with a bright undertow of acidity and then, on the finish, sublime salinity. A perfect 100-point wine.

1863 Barbeito MMV Malvasia

MMVF are the initials of Ricardo Freitas’ (he owns Barbeito today) mother, who, during her lifetime, guarded the evolution of this wine, which, only recently was moved from storage to bottle.

This wine has many of the characteristics of the 1834 Madeira above, though it is 29 years younger. (Such a youth!)

Coffee, treacle and burnt orange peel notes arouse your senses; there is richness and warmth in the mouth; this is a generous wine wanting to please. Until I tasted the other two wines, highlighted here, I had already thought of naming this 1863 Malvasia as my Wine of the Year -- and yet we were only into February!

I have reconsidered, and think that all THREE of these Madeiras merit a position on napaman’s compendium of Best Wines of the Year. 100 points.

1885 Barbeito Verdelho

Verdelho is a grape that mostly produces a drier-style Madeira. Even so, this wine offers delicious brown sugar top notes on the middle palate, sports great acidity and has a long, focused finish.

If this Madeira were an Olympic marathoner, it would be one of those Kenyans gracefully racing to the finish line, arriving well ahead of the pack, without ever skipping a heartbeat, or an ounce of breath. 100 points

2005 Masseto

A bit later in the month, I had the privilege of tasting my first-ever Masseto, often called “the Chateau Petrus of Italy.”

It also costs like Petrus; the bottle friends brought to our home for dinner has a price tag up to $1200 in the secondary market.

The wine was paired with perfectly roasted, moist and juicy, farmhouse chicken. The Masseto blew the hinges off the dinner door, surpassing ten other wines, which I served to our eight assembled dinner guests.

The Masseto was sublime; it exhibited such finesse, balance and warmth that it sucked me in, made me think I was drinking an elixir worthy of royalty.

The rich, ripe fruit, integrated tannins, and exceptional finish made me rethink and revere Merlot all over again. From the house of Ornellaia. 98 points.

April

And then, in April, I attended a two-day Madeira event in Seattle, WA, organized by Port and Madeira expert Roy Hersh, which produced three additional Best Wines of the Year.

(Yes, I am running this photo again -- a) because I Can! and b) because anytime you experience a wine of this profound age and vibrancy, you can talk about it, and show pictures of it, as much and as often as you like!)

1795 Barbeito Terrantez

Terrantez is one of the original grapes used to make Madeira. This bottle presented a wine of profound depth and harmony. On the nose there were bright, warm scents of chocolate, amber-grade maple syrup, marzipan, and the salted caramels made by San Francisco chocolatier Michael Recchiuti.

The color was one of dark mahogany, the color of a sideboard in an old southern colonial home.

I was knocked out by the peppery attack and long lasting peppery finish. Even at 221 years of age, this wine was lively, spirited, delivering flavors of warm bread, yeast, treacle, and molasses.

This wine is a complete symphony of flavors and scents; there are fruited notes, including strawberry; the finish goes on for a minute or more. There are hints of rum-raisin, hot-cross buns, wine-gum candies and cola.

In short, this wine is a religious experience; it may be what Heaven tastes like.

Thank you Eric Ifune, from Las Vegas, for bringing this wine to the Seattle tasting, and thank you again, Roy Hersh, for organizing this transformative (at least for me) Madeira tasting. The wine: 100 points. The weekend Madeira tasting experience: 100 points.

1886 Barbeito Malvasia

I brought this Madeira to the Seattle tasting; it turned out to be a favorite of many guests at the event, and I thought it rocked, too.

Initial tastes: honey, yeast, malted barley, molasses, tobacco bordering on cigar wrapper, marzipan, and even a hint of shiny floor wax.

The wine exhibits great acidity; this is a vibrant wine – you’d NEVER guess that it’s 120-years-old. Very complex. Gorgeous. 98 points.

1895 D’Oliveiras Malvasia

On the nose, hints of orange peel, honey cake, spearmint, and tobacco. On the palate, there are elements of orange peel and fruit cake, all of it fused with a core of bright acidity. Extremely complex and compelling. 96 points.

Then, three days after this extraordinary Madeira event, the bottom fell out of my life; my BFFF – Best Four-Footed Friend ever – died.

Linus, was an amazing, life-of-the-party, Goldendoodle with palpable personality, who got too old too fast. He died a few weeks shy of his 13^th birthday.

To honor his memory, the day after he died, Mrs. Napaman said she wanted to cook a dinner to celebrate Linus’ life – so she made homemade chicken soup from scratch, which was Linus’ favorite meal. For 13 years, Mrs. Napaman made Linus his own chicken soup from scratch once, or twice, a week to spark up his kibble.

To commemorate Linus’ life, I chose a wine from his birth year to complement the rich, nourishing chicken soup, filled with moist chunks of chicken – the 2003 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon.

Due to the occasion, and because the wine was just so damned near perfect in every way – color, aroma, texture and swallow – I scored the wine 98 points, and the soup 100 points.

Linus would have been pleased. As my BFFF, he scored 100 points every day of his life, of which there were 4,710. And, if I were given the chance, I would trade a case of Madeira to be able to spend one more day with him. 

And then, to lighten my mood and distract me, before the month was out, the Robert Mondavi Winery held a massive, three-day event to celebrate the upcoming 50^th anniversary of the eponymous winery, which Bob Mondavi started in 1966.

Napaman was one of very few guests invited to the pre-event and I am eternally grateful to the organizers for including me.

The highlights of the three-day tasting were recorded here:

http://www.napaman.com/napamancom/2016/04/napa-valleys-most-memorable-wine-event-of-the-year-robert-mondavi-winery-turns-50.html

It is critical that I add all 50 vintages of Mondavi wine to this year-end summary, because, taken as a whole, they constitute a lifetime’s oeuvre.

I was particularly bowled over by the first vintage produced here, the still bright, 1966 Cabernet, and I loved the 1969, which was still at an apogee of complexity, length and vigor.

Warren Winiarski

For me, the single most memorable moment of the year in wine-speak, occurred at the Mondavi 50^th Anniversary gala dinner.

At the Monday night dinner for 75 former winemakers, vineyard managers and close friends of the winery, the hosts poured, among many wines and many vintages, the 1966 Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon, leaving only three bottles of this compelling wine in the cellar at Mondavi.

1966 was the first vintage of Mondavi Cabernet ever made.

After the wine was poured, Warren Winiarski, who was seated next to Margrit Biever Mondavi, stood up and said loudly and proudly,

“Hello, my name is Warren Winiarski AND I MADE THIS WINE (50 years earlier)!

Everyone in the room got goose bumps. The dining room erupted in thunderous applause, and many gave Warren a standing ovation.

In a lifetime of writing about wine and profiling famous, and not so famous, winemakers, this was simply an astounding, once-in-a-lifetime experience. How many winemakers are still around 50 years after their first wine? And when such an event occurs, how many of those first wines do you suspect would still be supple, confident, and delicious 50 years later – as was the 1966 Mondavi Cabernet the night we tasted it?

Bravo to Robert Mondavi, who had the vision to pick Warren as his first winemaker! Bravo to Warren for making such a profound statement. Bravo to Bob, who was a dear friend, for sharing his vision of what Napa Valley could produce.

June

You don’t see a lot of French Burgundy (Pinot Noir grape) on Napaman’s annual Best of the Year wine list. It’s not called the Heartbreak Grape for nothing.

How many bottles of Burgundy do you have to open to get a bottle that you can rave about?

Answer: Too many.

Many years, though, a Willamette Valley Pinot, from Oregon, appears on my list because these Pinots deliver in spades – unctuous texture, sublime ripe fruit, ethereal balance and rich complexity. Oh wait, I’ve just described the 2006 Patricia Green Cellars Croft Vineyard Pinot Noir I drank while the Warriors lost Game 6 of the NBA finals to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

This was a profound wine and at ten years of age, seamless, gorgeous, a near-perfect drinking experience. 98 points.

In June, napaman was invited to a wine seminar in Coombsville, one of 16 designated sub-appellations in Napa Valley.

For decades, grape producers in Coombsville have been supplying exceptional fruit to the big boys in Oakville and Rutherford where the resultant wines are sold in fashionable, extra-heavy bottles for a fortune.

During my wine reconnaissance, I discovered one of my Napa Valley wine-finds of the year – Scalon Cellars.

I loved the 2013 Scalon Cellars Cabernet, scoring it 96 points the day I tasted it in June... and then scored it the same again in August, when I met with winery partners Jesus Espinoza and Cruz Calderon at their vineyard property.

This is a voluptuous, heady, complex, cocoa-tinged, flesh bomb of underpriced Cabernet; I urge readers to connect with business associate Tim Goodwin to acquire one of the very few cases, which remain. His cell is: (925) 658-2151. Good luck!

Having had so many spectacular high-scoring wines, and having been invited to the two Madeira tastings and Mondavi event in the first half of the year, I failed to find any wines, or events, in the second half of the year worthy of being added to this rich list.

But the truth is, I am still running high on the vapors of the two Madeira tastings and the historical Mondavi Cabernet tasting.

Best wishes to readers for a healthy, happy and wine-filled 2017.

Spectacular Wine-Country Images For Sale!

From an original photograph by Napaman.

“Alma de la Tierra,” which means “Soul of the Earth,” celebrates life in the vineyards.

If you’ve followed Napaman for the past 10 years, you have only occasionally found a story about me. Ninety-nine percent of the stories here have been about a winery, a wine tasting, a restaurant, or an event. Napaman was the messenger of these stories, not the subject.

But this column turns this history on its head. This time, the story is about my photography.

In the short space of a few column inches, I am going to expose you to my work and possibly even prompt you to purchase one of my photographs, or, better yet, have you order one affixed to a shower curtain (looks great!), coffee mug, or create a set of postcards to give to someone as a hostess, birthday, or holiday, gift. No kidding.

Fog balloons, Napa Valley

Gnarly Zin vine, Napa Valley

Fall colors, Napa Valley

Biblical sunset, Napa Valley

(NOT photoshopped – this is the real sky, my camera recorded exactly what I saw)

These wine-country images, and dozens more, appear on my Fine Arts America site.  (Click on this link to be taken to my wine-country portfolio. Use the discount code EFEXDM to get 20% off whatever you buy – consider this Napaman’s treat to you for being a loyal reader.)

The “Alma de la Tierra”poster above is available in a variety of sizes and can be printed on numerous materials (paper, metal, canvas, etc.).

With the purchase of 10 or more copies of the poster, I can have the text, “Alma de la Tierra”replaced with your own personalized message. For such an individual request, please contact my business manager, Jim Scott, at [email protected]

Backgrounder

Few readers know that before I was a professional wordsmith, I made my living as a professional photographer.

Island of Djerba, Tunisia, photo by Jim White

Island of Djerba, Tunisia, photo by Jim White

In 1970, I traveled to Africa to tackle a freelance, photographic assignment for National Geographic in Tunisia – the editors, comfortable with my photographic skills and eye, asked me to record life on the Isle of Djerba, a.k.a., “Land of the Lotophages”(lotus-eaters).

These photos from Africa, Jim White

After covering wars, drought, and civil unrest across Africa with my camera for years, I discovered that I also had a voice with words. And so I became a foreign correspondent in Africa, stringing for numerous periodicals, newspapers, United Press International and the Associated Press.

After spending time in African jails for being in the right place (as a journalist) at the wrong time (charged for being in areas where journalists were unwelcome – in Libya, Egypt and Uganda), I returned to North America. I calculated that it was safer to write about prepared food rather than African conflicts.

I became a food writer, then a restaurant critic and in the process, (not being immodest here, but who else is going to say this…?) was twice named, by a panel of journalist peers, in 1980, and again in 1982, the Best Food Writer in North Americawriting for a newspaper with 1 million circulation or greater.

But all these many years later, I still have a passion for photography; and after moving to Napa Valley, I revitalized this passion in the vineyards.

Jimi Hendrix, photo by Jim White.

A year ago, I teamed up with a talented, local photographer and darkroom technician, Jim Scott, who digitized 20,000 of my film images, and coordinated the sale of a portfolio of Jimi Hendrix images, which I had shot in 1969, to the Estate of Jimi Hendrix.

And it was Jim who is coaxing me to monetize my wine-country imagery; he insisted that I post this story.

Will this story generate photography sales? Dunno. Let’s see.

Anyway, thanks for reading to the end.

My Favorite Summer Cocktail!

My hat is off to Coqueta, my favorite Spanish restaurant in the Bay area, and, for that matter, probably anywhere in the country.

They do so many things right at Coqueta, but the bar item that caught my fancy, and which spawned numerous home trials to reproduce it, is Coqueta’s Gin Tonic – which is how the Spanish refer to the refreshing, breezy, delicious drink we know as GinandTonic.

For the longest time, Coqueta only had one outpost – in San Francisco, on the Embarcadero. So napaman felt compelled to learn how to make this cocktail, because how often was I going to be in San Francisco, I asked myself?

Little did I know that plans were underfoot to open Coqueta Napa Valley, just behind Michael Chiarello’s destination restaurant, Bottega, in Yountville (Michael is the brains behind Bottega and Coqueta). So when it opened, I no longer really had the pressure to finesse the cocktail at home, but I pressed on anyway.

I think, humbly, that I have improved on the original, Coqueta-inspired Spanish Gin Tonic and want to share it with readers. The summer is hot, this drink is refreshing – what more needs to be said?

The secret ingredients

Secrets of the Coqueta SGT include:

Not all gins are created equal. I’ve made multiple versions of this cocktail using different gins and each one adds, or subtracts, an essential element of the finished cocktail. Bloom gin, imported from England, is Coqueta’s choice and a smart one, indeed!

As Bloom is looking for a new national distributor just now, I was only able to snag five bottles of this gin from a Florida retailer. I am guarding my stash until more becomes available in the marketplace.

You can make this drink with Plymouth, Martin Miller, Bombay Sapphire, or 209 gin and each version will be different. One of my runner-up favorites uses a very inexpensive, commonplace gin -- Gordon’s.

If you don’t know Fever-Tree Tonic, you are about to have an Aha! Moment. Forget ALL those other household, commonplace tonics and ginger ales. Fever-Tree, made in England, is THE only tonic, club soda, or ginger ale, to have in your home.

It comes in two sizes and is available in fine grocery stores (I buy mine at Whole Foods) and also can be found at Cost Plus/World Market.

Your Spanish GT will NOT be as good as mine if you use any other brand of tonic. Trust me on this.

Also, while Coqueta uses the full-sugared version of Fever-Tree Tonic, I prefer their “Naturally Light,” which has reduced sugar and suffers nothing at all from the reduction of sugar and calories.

The restaurant adds a small slice of grapefruit; I find that stripping a wide peel off the rind of a grapefruit adds some essential oils to the final cocktail which helps lengthen the flavor profile of the drink.

Coqueta adds edible flowers and thyme to its SGT. We’ve started to grow our own edible flowers for our nightly, 5 pm cocktail hour. Violets and borage are two of the more colorful, edible flowers to be included.

Also add a sprig, or two, of thyme, which adds herbal zip to the beverage.

As juniper berries are an essential part of the flavoring of gin itself, I found it natural to add a few more to the cocktail. I add four berries to every glass of SGT, which I prepare.

The restaurant takes the use of juniper berries a step further and toasts them before adding them to the cocktail; I don’t think my version suffers for NOT toasting – so don’t feel compelled to toast your juniper berries.

The basic napaman recipe for Spanish Gin Tonic goes like this:

For each glass:

Fill a large wine glass (stemless, or with stem), whisky glass, or attractive water glass with clear ice.

Pour 2 ounces of Bloom gin, or gin of your choice, over the ice.

Cut a wide swath off rind off a grapefruit and slip the piece between the side of the glass and the ice cubes.

Add 4 juniper berries.

Add colorful edible flowers and thyme spring to taste.

Add 2 to 3 ounces of Fever-Tree Naturally Light Tonic and stir.

Taste and if you feel your drink needs more tonic… add more, but it is always more agreeable to add tonic than it is to realize you’ve added too much tonic at the start.

If you want to try the cocktail at Coqueta, go ahead – they are made identically at both locations. THEY ARE ALMOST AS GOOD AS MINE! (LOL)

Coqueta,Pier 5 The Embarcadero, San Francisco. 415-704-8866

Coqueta Napa Valley, 6525 Washington St, Yountville. 707-244-4350

Best Wines of 2018

It didn’t take long to find a candidate for my list of Best Wines of the Year – bingo! One popped into my purview in early February.

Served with a stunning sausage, clam and kale stew made from scratch by Carol, the 2005 Clos St. Jean, La Combe des Fous lit up a collective smile at the table.

This was a fabulous wine, generous of all the flavors and nuances expected in a 13-year-old Chateauneuf-du-Pape from a great, if slightly hot, vintage, filling one’s mouth with sweet fruit (Grenache), nuanced by the presence of Vaccarèse.

Vaccarèse, also called Brun Argenté, is only grown by a few producers in Chateauneuf-du-Pape; in total, less than a-tenth-of-a-percent of all the vines planted in Chateauneuf-du-Pape are Vaccarèse.

I felt that this particular bottle was one of the top expressions of CDP I’ve had in the last three years. Absolutely seductive, charming and disarming. I was sad to finish the bottle.

For the record, by the producer’s own standards, Grenache bottled under the St. Jean label must be not less than 50-years-old; fruit from younger vines is processed and sold to negociants.

Easily a 99 point wine.

2014 Bergstrom Shea Vineyard.jpg

 

I have been drinking various Willamette Valley producers’ examples of Shea Vineyard  Pinot Noir (owned by Dick Shea, in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA) for 25 years… but have never, not once, thought of this as a top-favorite vineyard site for fruit that wows me.

Over all these years, I have found that Shea Vineyard produces muddied, chewy, fruit and in the hands of most winemakers, who buy a block of grapes from this historic vineyard, the result for me has never been memorable.

But I have kept on buying Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir from a number of area producers in the hopes of eventually finding a great Shea Vineyard wine.

(In many respects, I have resembled Charlie Brown playing football with Lucy… just when I thought I might have success finding a great example of wine from this vineyard site… the “ball” has been pulled away from me and I am angled to fall on my face, exasperated by the challenge of never achieving my goal.)

But on a night in May, I discovered THE SINGLE BEST EXAMPLE OF SHEA VINEYARD WINE THAT I HAVE EVER HAD. Even better than Dick Shea’s variations with his own vineyard fruit.

The wine was – ta da!– the 2014 Bergstrom Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir.

Holy Mother of Nature, this is a wondrous version of Shea Vineyard fruit, filled with the scent and taste of bright, youthful berries of all hues and colors; the wine exhibits crisp acidity, joyous juice, and ethereal balance. There is so much wine in this wine – it compels the drinker to go back quickly for another sip.

The wine was so good that I resolved myself to open another bottle from the cellar the next night for a major dinner party we hosted in our home.

Thank you JoshBergstrom, one of Oregon’s GREAT winemakers! You are a talented magician with Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir – having mastered the illusion, turning this otherwise predictable fruit into one of Napaman’s Best Wines of the Year!

Bravo and congratulations!

98 points.

 

2005 Domaine Drouhin, cuvee Laurene

Within weeks, another stellar Willamette Valley Pinot Noir jumped out of the glass, providing hours of unbridled table romance. How do I love thee, cuvee Laurene? Passionately, would be the answer, and with regret that this was my only bottle in the cellar, brought to our home as a hostess gift in March of this year.

I often like seven, or eight years of age on my Willamette Valley Pinots and can’t recall having had a 13-year-old Pinot Noir with such an expression of vigor, grace, and balance. Oodles of stuffing left in this plummy, richly textured, wine.

I visited Robert Drouhin, then patriarch of the noble Burgundy house, in Beaune, France, back in the late 1970s/early 1980s, long before he got wind of how great the climate and soil in Oregon would be for Pinot Noir; he was gracious, accommodating, thoughtful and welcomed my winery visit with gusto. I can say this: he never thought that I would be knighting one of his family’s Oregon Pinot Noirs as A Top Wine of The Year40 years later. And, by the way, neither did I.

97 points.

2007 Lokoya Cabernet, Howell Mountain

A truly seductive wine, capable of leaping tall buildings at a single bound.

Oh, boy, did I fall hard for this sensual wine!

My wife, Carol, and I were invited to a special, private dinner in April 2017 at Cardinale winery (a sibling winery in the Jackson Family Wines portfolio) where they poured aged, library Lokoya Cabernets of insane pedigree.

For me, the 2007 Lokoya, Howell Mountain Cabernet (100 per cent Howell Mountain Cabernet) was the richest, most satisfying of the wines served. The wine caused my heart to skip a beat. It was GORGEOUS.

This unctuous wine was like a runway model, a singular beauty in every dimension in which elements are judged; for wine, this includes weight on the palate, class, color, texture, attack, finish, allure, nuance and the ability to leave the drinker speechless. 

I bought several library bottles that night at a price I prefer not to disclose, for fear of being ridiculed for my spendthriftiness.

In June of this year, I brought the bottle to Bouchon to share with friends at dinner; we have had some of our best Napa Valley meals in 2018 at Bouchon. If you haven’t dined here recently, you must try it – delicious food, impeccable service and a well curated wine list.

They also have a stunning By-the-Glass program using Coravin, offering extremely rare wines. We always leave Bouchon happy.

But, I digress….

The 2007 Lokoya, Howell Mountain Cabernet was made by Chris Carpenter, one of my favorite local winemakers, who has been on the Lokoya team since 2000.

Chris Carpenter, winemaker

Chris Carpenter is Napa Valley’s Gian Lorenzo Bernini of winemaking.

When you see a Bernini marble sculpture, in Rome, like Apollo and Daphne (below), you experience a jaw-dropping, forehead-slapping moment, which is exactly what happens when you taste one of Chris’ pedigreed wines.

A Bernini sculpture makes you swoon; you swear the marble figures are alive. Despite being hard marble, the statue from which it is made is downright sensual, arousing, enlivening all your senses.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s sculpture of Apollo and Daphne, in the collection of the Galleria Borghese, in Rome.

In many ways, Chris’ wines are similarly sensual, totally arousing.

I LOVE his La Jota wines, his Cardinale wines, his Mt. Brave wines. And at the top of this list, I place his Lokoya mountain-fruit Cabernets. You can’t put more wine in a wine, more yum, more silkiness, more sensual pleasure, in a glass. Period.

We enjoyed the 2007 Lokoya with Bouchon’s steak frites, a marriage made in heaven. Possible proof that God is a chef, or possibly a sommelier. Not sure about this… I’ll get back to you.

100 points.

PS:One more thing: Just to show how humble and unassuming Chris Carpenter is; this talented winemaker chooses to work as a bartender at Rutherford Grill Friday nights when he is in the valley! Yes, that’s right, you can head over to the Rutherford Grill (duh – in Rutherford!) and ask Chris to make you an exotic cocktail, or sluice you a beer on tap. Either way, you can tell folks back home that you met one of the great winemakers of Napa Valley while you were here.

I can’t help but share two additional images of a Bernini sculpture; below is one of his crowning achievements, called The Rape of Proserpina, also in the Galleria Borghese.

Note the close-up of the hand on Proserpina’s hindquarter – and remind yourself that this is carved from hard, Carrara marble! Even so, it looks like a real hand touching real skin!

Two things to put on your Bucket List:

1. Taste Chris Carpenter’s Lokoya Cabernets
2. Head to Rome and visit the Galleria Borghese

 

2007 Charter Oak Petite Sirah

Here’s a curious fact about this wine – I helped make it! And it’s better now than at any time I’ve tasted it in the last 11 years!

Short story: For nearly a decade, I was a partner with my good friend, Rob Fanucci, in a winery started by his grandfather, Charter Oak, in St. Helena.

We made several cuvees, including an award-winning, old-vine Zinfandel with fruit from 135-year-old vines from Sonoma’s Monte Rosso vineyard. As well, we made a killer Petite Sirah with fruit, which we hand-picked ourselves in St. Helena.

Rob’s son, David, a budding winemaker at the time, helped make the two sensational 2007 wines that we bottled.

David insisted that we submit our 2007 Charter Oak Monte Rosso Vineyard Zinfandel into a world-wide wine competition held in San Francisco; the judges were professional sommeliers from across the US and at the end of a week of bracketed, blind tastings, out of something like 5,000 wines, our 2007 Charter Oak Monte Rosso Vineyard Zinfandel was chosen the TOP wine of all reds submitted into competition! We were ecstatic.

Buoyed with this notoriety, I offered 50 cases of the 2007 Zinfandel and our equally thrilling, 2007 Charter Oak Petite Sirah to the LCBO in Ontario, Canada, where I had many friends always clamoring for our wines.

This huge, state-run, wine retailer took a pallet of each SKU. Our importer then was Franco Prevedello, a close friend who is often referred to as The Godfather of Italian Restaurants in Toronto, since he introduced that city to fine Italian cuisine and ultimately brought a dozen restaurants into existence.

In June of this year, I visited Toronto. At dinner in Franco’s home, much to my surprise, he served the 2007 Charter Oak Petite Sirah with a sensational, slow-cooked, barbequed brisket, which he’d brought home from his restaurant, Carbon Bar. Franco had found one last, remaining bottle of our wine in his cellar and had been saving it for my visit. (Even I don’t have any of this long-gone vintage.)

I was stunned by the purity of this wine, the focus, the balance and the elegance.

I will never forget what the LCBO wine-buyer had said to me upon tasting a sample I sent for the board’s consideration:

“This is the best California Petite Sirah I have ever tasted.”

And trust me, this buyer had tasted a lot, given that the LCBO is the largest single wine and spirits retailer in the world.

Thank you, Franco, for saving this wine for me to experience one more time; thank you Rob and David for letting me be your winery partner; the care and concern – and thrills -- we packed into this wine still show strong 11 years later – great work!

98 points.

2007 Le Vieux Donjon

Loyal readers of napaman.com may remember my infatuation with the Chateauneuf-du-Pape wine Le Vieux Donjon; I had thirteen perfect bottles back about ten years ago…. Here’s a link to the original story:

http://www.napaman.com/napamancom/2012/05/how-can-a-wine-be-this-good-13-times-.html

Well, Le Vieux Donjon continues to make me feel complete, happy, joyful and contented with life. Not bad mojo from a glass of grape juice!

In August, I brought a bottle of 2007 Vieux Donjon to enjoy at Goose & Gander, my favorite hamburger hangout in Napa Valley. No one else makes a better burger in the Valley and what goes better with a perfectly served burger than a glass of Grenache?

This wine has grown from a Parker 96-pointer to a 99+ point wine, in his own estimation.

Ethereal flavors, ripe red fruits, stunning clarity, and a gorgeous finish brought smiles to my face. You know you have a perfect wine when it elicits a similar smile to the 100-point burger at G&G!

100 points

Best Wines of 2017

We opened, on average, more than 1.5 bottles a night this year, which means we drank 550 bottles; we probably bought another 50 in restaurants; we probably attended tastings, professionally and in winemaker’s homes, and drank another 150 wines.

So, in total, we tasted at least 750 wines. And another 150 Madeiras in May.

Them’s a lot of wines: 900 bottles.

And despite this grand total, the stand-outs, the memorable wines, only number a few.

And this be them in 2017....

2002 Heitz Cellar, Martha’s Vineyard

Good friends brought this bottle to dinner in our home at which we served a perfectly grilled bistecca alle fiorentina.

You can talk all you want about wine perfection, but if you want to taste it, you should have been at the table when we drank this wine.

A magical, memorable wine, perfectly balanced, harmonious, providing gorgeous Cabernet scents on the nose, and delivering ripe, red ripe fruit flavors, violets, and an ethereal undertow of cassis on the palate.

The wine showed a finesse and elegance which is rare in Napa Valley Cabernets, which too often push the envelope with alcohol, have too much gushy, forward fruit and excessive oak. Not this wine; this bottle showed all the greatness, which Joe Heitz, who founded the winery, imparted in his wines.

Joe was one of the first artisans in the California wine industry and the first producer to recognize the concept of “single vineyard” wines. 100 points.

2005 Mauro Molino Barolo, Vigna Conca

Was this wine magical because we drank it in one of my favorite Italian towns, Alba, or was it the company, my sweet wife, Carol, of 45 years, or was it, by chance, just a near-perfect bottle of wine?

Dunno. But it sure was a thrill-a-sip wine.

One of my go-to gurus on Piemontese wine told me that just about anything Mauro Molino produces is great.

“His 1990 Barolo is one of the top five Barolos I’ve ever tasted in my life,”my friend Josh told me, and as beverage buyer, wine-server, and former sommelier in 1- and 3-star Michelin restaurants, he has tasted a LOT of Barolos.

The 2005 Mauro Molino throws off sweet cherry bottom notes, a sort of scaffolding for other flavors to tower over as the wine gains air.

This wine exhibits elegance, finesse, supreme balance. At 12 years of age, the wine is already beautifully sculptured; it is generously endowed with texture, middle palate flavors and a gorgeous finish.

After 30 minutes in the glass, there are curious, but delicious, hints of cinnamon, allspice and exotic spices from the East.

“Luscious, rich, lubricious, “ are three words I found in the margin of my notes when I returned to Napa Valley. 97 points.

2009 Cavallotto Bricco Boschis, Vigna San Giuseppe

Oh my, another near-perfect wine, enjoyed with a meal highlighted with a rich shaving of fresh white truffles in one of our favorite restaurants anywhere, Dell’Arco, in Alba, Italy.

This wine gripped our senses, demanded we pay attention to its charm, richness, allure and depth. A stunning example of superb wine-making. There was an immediate release of fresh ripe red fruits on the nose and palate; followed by rich and deep traces of root vegetables and truffles. An amazing near syrupy-like texture that is so unknown in Barolo circles; this is a wow! wine of richness, complexity, and deliverance. 99 points.

1998 Chateau Trotanoy

Our family gathered for Thanksgiving. To complement Carol’s perfectly prepared, oven-roasted turkey, I opened a magnum of 1998 Chateau Trotanoy, which Carol had given to me on my 60^th birthday, many years ago.

The 1998 Trotanoy, 95% Merlot, 5% Cab Franc, was nothing short of ethereal.

The wine was magnificent, filled with lusty top and bottom notes, ushering a sequence of flavors into our collective mouth -- loads of cherry, chocolate and blackberry, all anchored with supple notes of rich, silky violet. A near-perfect wine. 99 points.

FYI: Upon the commercial release of this wine, the producer, Claude Berrouet, said that this vintage was, in his opinion, “one of the best Trotanoy’s ever produced.” I have to agree with him -- #whatawine!

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE....

In May of this year, Carol and I spent eight days on the Atlantic island of Madeira, where some of the world’s most alluring, exotic, and, for sure, most age-worthy wines are produced. I have tasted Madeiras, which are 222-years-old, produced in the 1700s, and they are still vibrant, fresh, youthful, complex, and even riveting!

I would be remiss if my year-end Best Wines compilation failed to incorporate some of the top wines I tasted during my sojourn on Madeira. And they include the following:

 

1954 Henriques & Henriques Malvasia. Sipping this wine is like setting fireworks off in your mouth – your palate lights up with small explosions of taste; there are explosive, juicy, coffee, toffee and burnt sugar notes, a profound undercurrent of acid runs through the performance. It’s like the end-of-night fireworks at Disneyland going off in your mouth. Gob-smacking glorious! 97 points.

1957 Henriques & Henriques, Boal

There is such perfect balance and harmony in this wine, a mellifluous yin and yang of sweetness and acidity, with top notes of orange, orange zest and tangerine running wild along the entire length of the taste and swallow; you can’t spit this wine out in a tasting – impossible! 96 points.

Barbeito 30-year-old Malvasia, Vo Vera, of which there are only 612 bottles in the whole world.

Winemaker and Madeira blender extraordinaire at Barbeito, Ricardo Diogo Freitas, says that he thinks his 30-year-old Malvasia Vo Vera is “the best single wine I have ever made in my entire life,” which is like having Stephen Curry identify which of his hundreds of 3-point shots from center court is his best career dunk.

Ricardo calls this “a wine of precision.” I call it a tour de force. You can’t put more wine into a wine. 100 points.

This beauty sings, dances and spins plates on pointy sticks -- all at the same time. If Ed Sullivan were still alive and on the air, this wine would be the headliner act for his Sunday night TV broadcast.

Barbeito 1863 Boal

This was another high scoring wine of the 17, which I tasted at Barbeito, a profound expression of winemaking skill. A legendary wine.

This wine had been in the same cask for 145 years when, in 2008, it was transferred to a demi-john. The wine was bottled in February of this year.

If you want Impeccable wine with a capital I – this is it. Also a 100-pointer.

Blandy’s, one of the larger, old-family producers on the island of Madeira, has been making wine for 206 years. You’d expect them to have figured out how to make great wine over such a long period. And they have.

One of my favorite wines of my entire eight-day visit to the island of Madeira in May was a rather young wine, only 97 years old.... the Blandy’s 1920 Bual.

How good was this wine? My tasting notes read:

“Coffee, coffee, coffee on the nose, with some toffee thrown in for good measure. The nose alone goes on for a minute!

There is a core of delicate, persistent acidity, which runs the entire length of the taste experience; it is wrapped in a blanket of treacle and orange zest. The finish lingers for a long time and ends with echoes of fresh coffee grounds and a squeeze of lime.”

As there are now no more 750 mL bottles of this magical, wine at the winery, we will have to wait until Blandy’s fills bottles with what remains of this wine in demi-johns. And believe me, it ain’t much.

In fact, getting ready for this occasion, Chris Blandy, head of the family business, told me that he aims to bottle all remaining stock of the 1920 Boal now in glass demi-johns three years hence, in 2020, for the 100^th anniversary of this wine, and then release it. Chris: Put me down for a 6-pack! 98 points.

The Cossart Gordon 1987 Bual (actually a Blandy’s-owned label), was bottled in 2016 after spending 29 years in a large wooden barrel.

Although still a baby, this wine presents a stunning mouthful of complexity and restraint. This is a gorgeous and elegant wine. It shows a balance typically reserved for bank ledgers, which is to say precise. It also shows that you don’t have to seek out a 100- or 200-year-old Madeira to be knocked to your knees in Hosannas of ecstasy. 98 points.

One of my favorite winery visits on Madeira was to D’Oliveira, where my tongue was clacking and my head spinning from tasting 32 Madeiras spanning three centuries in one day.

Two of the stand-out wines for me are included here as among the very best wines I tasted all year:

1928 D’Oliveiras Sercial.

Bottled in 2008, when the wine was 80 years old.

Aromas of freshly roasted espresso beans, mandarin oranges and orange zest tweaked my nose and followed through on the palate. Peerless balance and a brilliant acidity, which stretched out the flavor components long after the swallow (this was not a wine to spit out). My personal favorite, top wine of the day-long tasting. 100 points.

What I tasted during my visit to D’Oliveira, plus three other wines, which failed to make the photoshoot!

1875 D’Oliveiras Moscatel.

Bottled in the late 1970s, when the wine was already 100 years old.

The bottle we tasted from had been opened 18 days earlier to help bring some life to this oldster!

A tremendous beverage, filled with top notes of chocolate and bottom notes of cocoa; the finish was so long that if it were a ball game, it would have been into extra innings. Could this be the Holy Grail of Madeira? 100 points.

Happy holidays to all readers. Please come back to napaman.com in the New Year for new food and wine discoveries -- what makes Napa Valley (and me!) tick.

Napa Valley’s Best, Best-Kept-Secret Winery!

The smiling man above is Ray Signorello Jr., an energetic, passionate, friendly guy who just happens to produce exceptional wines, which I’d never tasted until this week.

I ask myself how is this possible? I have driven by the main gate of Signorello Estate, at the southern end of Silverado Trail, literally hundreds of times over the 20 years I have lived here.

Through a common friend, I was encouraged to meet Ray, tour his 100-acre property, of which 42 acres are planted with grapes, and get a sense of his vinous achievements. (Spoiler alert: his achievements are awesome! My take-away is that you will absolutely want to spend time at this winery on your next visit to Napa Valley to partake in one of two guest experiences offered. More about this in a minute... we now return to our regularly scheduled conventional story...)

Ray’s father had the insight, in 1977, to buy this tract of land, actually a large hill, which had previously been a horse farm. When Ray Sr. bought the property, there wasn’t a single grape vine on the land.

In 1980, Ray Jr. and his dad started to turn the property into a working vineyard, planting all the major grape varieties except Pinot Noir.

I am as impressed by Ray’s wines as I am by his devotion to adhere to the legitimate, time-tested ways to make honest wine.

Signorello vineyard manager and winemaker, Pierre Birebent

All of the fruit today is planted, managed, and hand-picked by an in-house crew under the leadership of vineyard manager and winemaker Pierre Birebent, formerly vineyard manager at Stags’ Leap Winery and Kuletto Family Vineyard.

The wines are given a controlled contact with wood (usually 50% new oak and 50% used, or neutral, oak) so that the resultant wines are elegant and gently nuanced, not over-oaked. The fruit in Signorello wines speaks in a sexy, sultry voice.

I like the fact that there is no residual sugar in these wines; they are not gloppy, they are not fruit bombs, they are not “fruit-forward,” or cultish in any way; they are simply beautiful, elegant wines, exhibiting great texture and sublime finesse.

None of the Signorello wines, not the whites, not the reds, are fined or filtered.

As well, Ray believes in native yeast inoculation, which means he doesn’t buy commercial yeast to kick-start fermentation.

And the way Ray has decided to present his wines in the tasting room is to pair them with appetizers, or full meals, so that guests learn how they complement food – as they are meant to be enjoyed once you get them home.

As Ray’s guest, I experienced the winery’s top-tier, 5-course, food-pairing, which is a 3-hour extravaganza; you will not find tastier dishes in most local restaurants and if you have the midday pairing, you will not have recovered your appetite by dinner time, so cancel any restaurant dinner reservation you may have following lunch here!

The 5-course meal with pairings is $175 a person and it is worth it. (Underlined and boldfaced to make the point.)

Before you hunker down to lunch, or enjoy a less intensive wine and appetizer pairing, all guests are driven into the vineyards for a property tour.

This is the view, looking westward, which greets guests from the top of Signorello Estate.

From the winery’s hilltop, guests get a better sense of the microclimates at work on the property.

And now for something completely different....

Time for the Enoteca, or lunch/pairing, experience.

The first course was a perfectly seared, single sea scallop set atop a bed of crunchy, fresh corn kernels tossed with arugula, sliced fennel and capers.

Ray chose to pair this with his 2014 Signorello Estate “Seta” white wine (seta = silk in Italian), a delicious, barrel fermented, unfined, unfiltered blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. There are hints of melon here with a tweak of tropicality.

For the next course, we moved on to a Bellweather Farms ricotta tart crowned with silver-dollar-sized coins of ripe yellow peaches. This was paired with two wines named after Ray’s mother, Hope.

The 2013 and the 2016 Signorello Estate Hope ‘s Cuvee Chardonnay are very Burgundian, except for a haunting, lyrical lilt of lemon oil evident in both vintages of this wine. I love this New World note on the Old World order.

Onto the next course: a perfectly roasted slice of pan-roasted King salmon, with a gloriously crusty crown, served on a delicious bed of spinach and lentil ragout, tossed with caramelized trumpet mushrooms. This was served with the 2013 Signorello Pinot Noir, the last bottling of the Las Amigas Vineyard. (Moving forward, Ray has sourced a different vineyard.) Lots of ripe, red fruits evident on the swallow. It’s really hard not to love this wine.

Executive chef Tyler Stone

For courses four and five, exec chef Tyler Stone adroitly paired a pasta and then a rich short rib with the winery’s star Cabernets. This young chef is well trained and highly talented.

Orecchiette-shaped pasta was served with a rich Wagyu-bacon ragout that will have your tongue clacking; it was served with the 2014 Signorello Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, which was a perfect match in terms of weight, texture, acidity and suppleness to complement the dish.

The piece de resistance was a Snake River Farms, American Kobe Wagyu short rib, which Tyler had cooked 72 hours in a sous-vide bath at 135 F.

The meat was so tender that it could be cut with a fork. The short rib was napped with a wine reduction jus that I would like to have sipped endlessly through a straw; the beef was served with a puffy, potato puree.

To prove his point, that Signorello wines complement great food, Ray served two killer Cabs with this course, his 2006 and 2013 Signorello Estate Padrone cuvee.

These are perfectly balanced, elegant wines. They are stylistically comparable, but it was a thoughtful touch to give me a chance to see how the wines gracefully age.

Ray says that his wines are meant for the long haul – if you can keep your hands off your purchase, you will enjoy his reds, and even his whites, decades later.

I scored both Padrone Cabernets 96-97 points; they are, in a word, gaw-jus.

Ray – you sure do know how to throw a tasting!

The Enoteca, or lunch, tasting, is offered at noon Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

The Antipasti experience – 90 minutes, the same wines served as in the larger, Enoteca, or lunch, pairing.

Ray’s team offers a similar, but shorter, and less expensive, tasting at which the same wines are paired with antipasti and cheeses, in the event that you aren’t looking for a large midday meal to fill you up and slow you down.

The 90-minute Antipasti tastings are offered daily except Tuesday, five times a day, at 10, 11, 2, 3 and 4 pm. The antipasti tasting-wine pairing is $100 a person.

Both the Enoteca, or lunch, tastings and the Antipasti, or appetizer, tastings are limited to 8 people at a time, so book early and far ahead.

To book a tasting, call 707-255-5990, or email [email protected].

Favorite Restaurants of 2016

Here’s a departure: At the end of most years, napaman gives readers a comprehensive list of new restaurants sampled in the previous 12 months, which have shown great promise.

This year, I thought it more meaningful to offer a list of area restaurants where you’re most likely to find me on oft-repeated visits; for what better proof is there in the legitimacy of a review than a critic who choses to dine on his own dime at a venue over and over?

So, for 2016, here’s napaman’s list of personal favorite Bay-area restaurants – where you’ll find me, and where you’re likely to enjoy one of your best meals in 2017.

As they say in the old grocery ads: Clip & Save!

In Napa Valley, in alphabetical order

Bistro Don Giovanni

Since moving to Napa Valley 20 years ago, I have dined here often. Giovanni and his capable lieutenant Neno and their dedicated team of cooks and servers make dining here a real treat.

I have dined at Bistro Don Giovanni more than 400 times and always walk away with a broad smile; the room, the food, the service, all work together to provide diners a sensational experience.

The Caesar salad rivals the one made at Mustards Grill as “the best in Napa Valley,” and I love the tasty beet and haricots verts salad, tossed with Roquefort; pastas are well prepared and, compared to other restaurants in the Bay-area, everything here is extremely fairly priced.

Bistro Don Giovanni, 4110 Howard Lane, Napa. 707-224-3300.

Brasswood Bar + Kitchen

Walk into Brasswood and there’s a sense of deja vu; just about the whole cast is from Tra Vigne, the now defunct, and once former favorite restaurant, in St. Helena. The menu is eerily familiar, too, featuring all the Best Food Hits from Tra Vigne’s heyday.

Relax, you’re not having a psychotic moment, and that pot you smoked in 1968 hasn’t returned to give you hallucinations.

There IS a similarity between what you find here and what we knew and loved at Tra Vigne, which closed for good last December.

The chef, the hosts, the bartenders, the waiters and bussers from Tra Vigne were hired en masse by Cairdean Estates, to run the winery’s on-site restaurant, now called Brasswood Bar + Kitchen, north of St. Helena by a few miles.

In fact, the restaurant has been so successful, that Cairdean opted to rebrand itself and its wine as Brasswood.

Remember those phenomenal cocktails made by Eileen Regan at Tra Vigne? She now shakes her heart out nightly at Brasswood.

Remember those warm and effusive hugs you got at the door by host and GM Jennifer Bohr? Now you’ll get them from her at Brasswood.

And remember all those lovely dishes on the menu at Tra Vigne, which made you salivate? Now you head to Brasswood to have them, prepared by David Nunos, who cooked at Tra Vigne for 15 years. Even the famous a la minute, hand-made mozzarella, originated by Nash Cognetti at Tra Vigne (in the photo above), is on the menu.

Brasswood, 3111 St Helena Hwy, north of St. Helena. 707-302-5101.

Market

This is one of those restaurants at which I have a difficult time deciding what I am going to have for dinner – because EVERYTHING ON THE MENU IS PHENOMENAL!

As I have many American favorites here, my advice is to scan the menu and simply order numerous dishes for your table and share.

Among favorite appetizers: lobster rolls wrapped in rice paper, crispy calamari, and who can say NO to Market’s ceviche, Caesar salad, or extravagant chopped salad?

I often order the pepper-crusted steak appetizer, served with a huge mound of truffled, shoestring fries, as a main course.

For dessert, there is no option: Resistance is futile. You MUST order the fabled butterscotch pudding, which I have often opined is the single best dessert in Napa Valley.

Yes, Cindy’s Mile High Lemon Meringue Pie at Mustards Grill is a Best Dessert rival. But Market’s butterscotch pudding has stood the test of time and is still my Favorite Dessert in Napa Valley.

Market, 1347 Main St., St. Helena. 707-963-3799.

Mustards Grill

For more than 30 years, Cindy Pawlcyn has turned out consistently great fare here.

In many respects, Cindy is the arch-creator of California grill cookery, having brought to market a sensibility for fresh, seasonal ingredients, prepared in the quintessential California style – grilled.

As good as the fare has been here for 30 years – it has never been better than right now. And I should know because I have dined here more than 450 times.

At lunch, I recommend everyone try the calamari slaw appetizer, followed by the pulled pork sandwich.

At dinner, Cindy’s hanger steak defines this dish and has become my personal benchmark for “hanger steak,” whenever I see it on another menu. And it’s NEVER as good as Mustards Grill’s hanger steak. NOT EVER.

Mustards Grill, 7399 St. Helena Highway, just north of Yountville. (707) 944-2424.

Redd Wood

Chef Richard Reddington continues to knock it out of the park in this intimate, contemporary, Yountville shrine to good taste.

While all the pastas are phenomenal, the fettuccine Bolognese is better than ANY version of this dish I ever ate in in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Ever.

The pizzas are among my favorites in the Bay-area. I’m crazy for the arugula-prosciutto pie.

And if you order a protein like chicken, salmon, steak, or pork, be sure to order the flash-fried fingerling potatoes -- proof that potatoes are actually a food group unto themselves... and you need to eat a full serving daily to maintain proper health!

The wine list is smart, as is the staff serving the wines. Put yourself into passive gear and ask your server, or sommelier on duty, to recommend a wine to complement your food selections.

Fun, flavor, fabulous. That’s Redd Wood. Oh, and did I mention that Byron and his bartender teammates turn out powerful, pleasurable cocktails? Ask for the “Jim White Manhattan” and see what you get.

Redd Wood, 6755 Washington St. 707-299-5030.

Goose & Gander (aka G&G)

About once a week, I get a craving for a big, juicy, burger and the one served at G&G is, without question, the best burger in Napa Valley.

In fact, I have yet to find one that I like as much in any of the San Francisco restaurants where the hoopla is all about their burger.

Yes, Mustards Grill makes a great burger, as do Bistro Don Giovanni, in Napa, and Market, in St. Helena. But the chuck champ is still the burger served at G&G.

The cocktails here are worthy of a detour, too. We love everything they concoct, but our favorites are always the Manhattans and Martinis.

They revitalized the menu here nicely this year; the salads, mains, and desserts have been tweaked and have never been better since we became regulars. Nice work, Goose & Ganderistas!

Goose & Gander, 1245 Spring St., St. Helena. 707-967-8779.

In San Francisco, in alphabetical order

A16

A16 is back in the game, serving better food than ever, and wowing patrons with exceptional pizza and pastas, authentically nuanced with flavors from Campania (southern Italy). And service is exceptional, too.

Owner Shelley Lindgren has appointed Izzy Berdougo, a recent hire from Cotogna, as Director of Operations, which is a very smart move.

The kitchen is turning out stellar pizzas; there are days I wake up dreaming about them and drive to San Francisco to fulfill the fantasy.

Waiter Omar Caruso once suggested that we order the sublime Margherita pizza and shroud it with a near-infinite number of thin slices of prosciutto. Ever since, this has become our signature, go-to pizza here. It’s served with scissors – to cut the pie into as many slices as a diner might wish.

The world may be round, but some of the best things in it are flat. And I include A16’s pizza on this list.

I love Shelley’s southern Italian-based wine list, too. Years ago, it was named by the Wall Street Journal as one of the three top restaurant wine lists IN THE WHOLE COUNTRY!

Put yourself in the care of your server and ask him, or her, to suggest a wine to complement the dishes you’ve ordered. There’s a good chance that you will not recognize the brands, labels, or grapes pressed, of many of the wines on Shelley’s long, long, impressive wine list. Explore!

A16, 2355 Chestnut St., San Francisco. 415-771-2216

Coqueta

Chef/owner Michael Chiarello, who has had many Italian successes, has created my favorite, fun Spanish restaurant in San Francisco. The tapas here are sensational; the bar is superb, cocktails rock.

I noted last year that the selection of small dishes is overwhelming. One favorite, which I order every visit, is the truffled-honey, smoked salmon – in fact, we rarely stop at one order for our table.

Wine director Massi Giovannoni has assembled a superb selection of Spanish wines; service is keen and wait staff can ably assist you choose wines which will complement your selection of tapas dishes.

The room is a hoot, the food is superb.

Coqueta, Pier 5, The Embarcadero, San Francisco. 415-704-8866.

Cotogna

If I wanted to rent out a dining room for a celebratory evening in San Francisco, Cotogna would be my choice; this, small, intimate, cozy – and tasty! -- Italian restaurant has it all. GREAT cocktails, GREAT pizzas, GREAT pastas. Because I live nearby when I am in the city, this is my go-to restaurant for the homecoming feel, for the food, service, cocktails and for the imaginative wine list.

The bar is stupendous, tended by several of the most accomplished bartenders in a city that is brimming with talented mixologists.

The servers at Cotogna, the bussers, the cooks, everyone here, has been trained to perfection by Chef Michael Tusk and his detail-driven partner and wife, Lindsay.

Together they orchestrate authentic Italian, perfectly prepared, food; they initiate an ever-changing menu, which is seasonally brilliant; individual dishes launch on the palate with amazing texture and finish with rich flavor. All through the chew there is culinary magic at work. Thank you chef, and thank you Lindsay, for this mealtime magic.

Cotogna, 490 Pacific Ave., San Francisco. 415-775-8508

Delfina

Craig and Annie Stoll have been operating one of the classic, must-go-to Italian restaurants in San Francisco for nearly 20 years. It is easy to forget our old favorites as we tend to seek out new, trendy dining experiences, but you would be wrong to overlook Delfina.

I not only have a soft spot in my heart for what Craig has engendered in his restaurant – I think the food is as good today as it has ever been.

Craig’s classic appetizer, grilled Monterey calamari with a warm white bean salad, is still probably the single best appetizer in San Francisco.

And to prove that simple is best, that dishes made with fewer ingredients can be superior to those prepared with too many, Craig has devised the simplest – but tastiest! – pasta dish ... ta da!.... spaghetti tossed with ripe plum tomatoes, garlic, extra-virgin olive oil and a bit of pepperoncini for edge. I don’t think we’ve ever been to Delfina when someone at the table wasn’t required to order this dish to share!

Until Craig took his profiteroles and chocolate sauce off the dessert menu, he had, unquestionably, the best version of this dish made in the state, and quite possibly the universe.

But Craig told me that he got bored serving the same dish, night after night, and, in truth, what were profiteroles doing on an Italian menu anyway?

Nevertheless, I encourage Craig to put these back on the menu and if it takes 120,000 signatures, as California voter propositions require, then maybe, just maybe, we’ll have to get politically active and start collecting signatures to bring the profiteroles back!

How good is Delfina? I’ve lost track of the number of special occasions and birthdays we’ve celebrated here; my son-in-law even proposed marriage to my daughter at Delfina. He’d called, asking me for a favorite restaurant in San Francisco at the time... I said Delfina... and the deed was done! 

Delfina, 3621 18^th Street, San Francisco. 415-552-4055.

Quince

Like magicians pulling silk scarves out of a hat, Michael and Lindsay Tusk have invented the perfect counterpoint to their casual Cotogna (reviewed above); they have given us Quince, the best fine-dining room in San Francisco. Maybe in all of California. And while we’re about it, maybe in America.

I am so over-the-top happy that Michelin finally got smart and bestowed a third star on Quince this year. I’ve been kvetching for years that Quince was more deserving of three stars than many 3-star restaurants already on Michelin’s list.

In short: Quince is my favorite, multiple-course, prix-fixe, dining room in America. I have eaten at many 3-star Michelin restaurants including French Laundry, in Napa Valley, Le Bernardin, in New York, and Benu in San Francisco but they come up stuffy, or precious, or both.

My best-ever, multi-course, fine-dining experiences, based on return visits, have been at Quince, where one is made to feel welcome, where servers pick up on your energy and emotional flow, where wines, paired to complement a tasting menu, dazzle your senses.

Come to think of it, Michael and Lindsay Tusk aren't just "like magicians," they ARE magicians; I think of them as the Penn & Teller of fine-dining AND casual-dining because whichever restaurant of theirs you exit, Cotogna or Quince, which are contiguous, you are filled with the same sense of wonderment, awe and joy as you are after a Penn & Teller performance... you walk out slapping your forehead, asking yourself, “How the hell did they just do that...?”

Quince, 470 Pacific Ave., San Francisco 415-775-8500

Sessions

One of my new ob-sessions this year is a casual, fun, family-style restaurant called Sessions.

It is on the edge of the Presidio and the only fault I find here is that my appetite is never large enough to try everything on the menu at any one sitting, but everything sounds so good that you aim for that high bar.

Speaking of bars, note how good the one at Sessions is. Cocktails, like lunch and dinner dishes, are fun, well prepared and memorable.

Sessions is the creation of chef/owner Michael Bilger and GM/owner Evin Gelleri, pictured above. The pair formerly owned a restaurant in the financial district. Lucky are we that they gave up that effort and opened Sessions, which is airy, bright, attractive, oh, and yes, busy. Book a table early and often.

At lunch, I love the grilled mahi mahi tacos (two in an order), served with cumin slaw and fries. And even though fries come with this dish, don’t even think of dining here without ordering a freestanding side of the house French fries.

For burger obsession: Sessions’ is large and flavorful; order it with cheese and bacon to impact the taste and mouthfeel.

The cocktail menu, which is original, fun and extremely appealing, was concocted by bartender Peter Ziegler who is in charge of the spirit program. What’s not to love about Peter’s Mos Eisley Mule, fueled with mezcal and tequila, named after the spaceport bar in Star Wars?

Sessions features two-dozen craft brews on tap; I had one of the best American IPAs that I have ever had, Galaxy Juice, produced by Fieldwork Brewing Co., in Berkeley. Don’t look for it now because the only keg allocated to Sessions is long gone, but DO ask your bartender, or waiter, for something different than run-of-the-swill suds and you’ll be thrilled with their choice.

Of particular note: the Sunday, beer-brined, then fried Mary's half-chicken includes the restaurant’s take on a classic American side dish -- Cheddar-ale mac & cheese. Only served Sunday. I’ll see ya there. Trust me, it’s worth the schlep to San Francisco.

Sessions, 1 Letterman Drive, Bldg D, San Francisco. 415-655-9413

The House

This small restaurant, a sublime destination for Asian fusion cookery, is one of my top favorite restaurants in America, let alone the Bay-area. The Smithsonian should create an American Restaurant Hall of Fame, just for the purpose of making The House its first inductee!

I have dined so many times, and for so many years, at The House that owners Larry and Angela Tse have become good friends.

The single best sandwich I ate this year was, like last year, the Ahi Tuna BLT, served at lunch.

I have had this sandwich more than three-dozen times and the experience always makes me vocalize the same line:

“This is the best sandwich that I have had this whole year.”

Dinners at The House are filled with tasty surprises; there are sensational noodle dishes, superb fish-based specials.

It turns out that I am not alone in my praise for The House. Zagat readers just rated this destination of deliciousness as the 10^th best restaurant in San Francisco.

Here’s what all those irascible, quotation-mark-wielding diners had to say:

Some of the city's “top” Asian-fusion fare can ... be found in North Beach at this “small” but “mighty good” “eclectic” stalwart that “continues to impress” with its “phenomenal” “high-caliber” dishes (“especially the melt-in-your-mouth sea bass”), presented along with an “amazing” sake and wine list by an “accommodating” team; the “cramped, noisy” setting is “maybe not the best romantic date-night choice”, but fans attest it offers some of the best “food and value” in the city.

Without using annoying quotation marks, I will underscore that I’ve been saying the same thing for two decades! It’s about time the Zagaterites caught up! Or maybe they’ve just been taking a cue from napaman.

The House, 1230 Grant (at Columbus). 415-986-8612.

In Oakland

Belotti

Belotti is run by the eponymous chef/owner Michele Belotti (pictured above), who has cooked in some of the best restaurants in Piedmont, Italy, and who makes ALL of the pasta served here.

Michele prepares, or finishes, dishes on a six-burner stove in a kitchen that is not larger than what you’d find in a studio apartment.

In November, to celebrate the oncoming winter season, a group of 16 food fans (mostly) from Napa Valley, descended on Belotti for a 4-hour lunch during which Michele prepared 12 different pastas, many platters of salumi, and a meal-ending, game-changing, brasato (a five-hour braised flat iron steak, served with divine polenta, napped with a mushroom-enhanced, Nebbiolo reduction). You want tongue-clacking memorable? Any one of the dishes served during our lunch would achieve this grade.

Trust me, in food circles, we’re all buzzing -- Michele Belotti is THE chef to watch in the Bay-area –- no one is making home-made pasta as copious, or as delicious.

Michele’s pappardelle, agnolotti, tagliatelle, and casoncelli are in a league of their own. I swooned over his vitello tonnato, which is as good as, or possibly better than, any version of this dish I have ever had in Italy.

At Belotti, close your eyes. Open your mouth. You could easily be in Piedmont. And I’m not talking about the Piedmont in the nearby Berkeley hills.

Bravo, Michele, you have made a gustatory difference in our community.

Belotti, 5403 College Ave., Oakland. 510-788-7890

In Walnut Creek

Prima

One of my favorite wine shops in America, and its adjacent Italian restaurant, are both called Prima. They are located on Main Street in what we lovingly refer to as Walnutty Creek.

Since 2005, Prima’s partner-owners are John Rittmaster (top shot above), who looks after the wine shop and executive chef Peter Chastain (second photo), who runs the kitchen next door.

Call them Batman and Robin (though I doubt either of them looks great in tights...)... they are out to fight mediocrity in wine and food and, to my thinking, they have succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.

The wine events, which John organizes, and the dinners built around them by Peter, are so compelling, and the food and wines so good, that we often drive 85 round-trip miles from Napa Valley to attend. THAT’s how good they are.

You need to get on Prima’s mailing list to learn about the monthly dinners, the wine tasting events and a series of visiting winemaker dinners.

I have never ordered a la carte off the menu at Prima but instead have been privy to Peter’s dishes, paired to complement selected wines, and these dinners are memorably good and fairly priced for what you get in terms of food, flavor and wines, all of which you will brag about having consumed at the office water-cooler the next day.

Thank you, John, Peter, and your capable crew who support your efforts; you have brought joy to Walnut Creek and beyond and, as Batman and Robin, you have likely reduced the crime rate locally... because who’s got time to conduct nefarious deeds in Gotham when there are so many great dinners and events to attend at Prima, which just naturally keeps the riffraff off the streets!?

Prima, 1522 North Main St., Walnut Creek. 925-945-1800

Margrit Biever Mondavi Dies at Age 91

The headlines and obituaries will note that Margrit Mondavi, a pioneer of modern-day California wine, and wife of Robert Mondavi, died today.

But Margrit was much more than that to me. She was a friend and, as Robert’s wife, the leading influencer of a movement to bring together art, music, and food with wine.

Margrit had Class, with a capital C, she had humor, and she set a high bar for entertaining and cooking.

She convinced Bob to start the Great Chefs of France Cooking School back in the mid-70s to prove to rubes in America that Bob’s red wines could stand up to Michelin, three-star food. And she was right.

Margrit and Bob introduced me to Napa Valley in May 1980, forever changing my own life’s direction and focus. They are why I live here today.

On my first visit to Napa Valley, to attend a 3-day cooking school with Jean Troisgros, one of the great French chefs (from his family’s restaurant, Freres Troisgrois, in Roanne), Margrit invited me to her home on a knoll in Yountville to proudly show off her Swiss-made, just-installed, wood-fired, oven with which she was looking forward to bake bread.

The last time I saw Margrit, was at the 50^th anniversary dinner of the winery, which she hosted on Monday, April 25^th.

During her lifetime, she and Robert built a wine empire which went public, and which the family eventually was forced to sell in a takeover bid.

Theirs was a colorful, but tempestuous life saga.

At the winery’s 50^th anniversary dinner in April, Margrit sat beside another wine pioneer and legend, Warren Winarski, who made the 1966, very first Cabernet produced at Robert Mondavi Winery.

Warren then went on to his own fame as proprietor and winemaker at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars.

When the 1966 Cabernet wine was poured for assembled guests, Warren stood up said, “I am Warren Winiarski... and I made this wine.” There was an audible gasp in the room.

What are the chances that anyone ever gets to taste a 50-year-old wine WITH THE PERSON WHO MADE THE WINE 50 YEARS EARLIER?

On top of which, let’s not forget – this wine was sublime!

Between Margrit and Warren in this photo is Mark de Vere, head wine educator at the winery.

 

These last few years, Margrit had been Vice President of Cultural Affairs at Robert Mondavi Winery, now owned by Constellation Brands. 

Margrit joined the winery in 1967. Under her direction, Robert Mondavi Winery developed the cultural and culinary arts programs, which are now benchmarks for the entire wine world. 

Margrit created a showplace for painters, sculptors, photographers, jazz and classical musicians, great chefs and winemakers of the world.

Forty-Seven years ago, Margrit founded the winery’s extremely popular Summer Music Festival to benefit the Napa Valley Symphony. This concert series has hosted some of the world’s best jazz, R&B and pop artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Harry Belafonte and Tony Bennett.  I know about this because many Saturday afternoons at 5 pm, we would sit on the lawn of the winery to be transfixed by the presence of some of the world’s great musical artists.

Typical menu designed and illustrated by Margrit.

Margrit was an artist in her own right, often designing and illustrating the menus which were presented to guests who dined in the winery’s very special Vintage Room.

I have written elsewhere that some of the very best meals I have ever eaten in Napa Valley were prepared at the winery and served in the Vintage Room. All under the tutelage of Margrit.

Margrit leaves behind three children, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. And a slew of fans and friends in Napa Valley. We will miss your cheery smile, Margrit. May you rest in peace while the rest of us grieve our loss.

The family has asked me to include this detail:

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to The Oxbow School, 530 Third Street, Napa, California 94558 or to the American Cancer Society, 860 Napa Valley Corporate Way, Suite E, Napa, California 94558.  

Coombsville – Proof that you can be Nostalgic about the Present!

Attention passengers! We are now entering the tiny, grape-growing region of Napa Valley known as Coombsville, a somewhat hilly, bucolic region, dotted with small family wineries producing wonderful wine.

Population: Who knows?

Typical Coombsville vineyards

While five million visitors annually charge into Napa Valley, seeking cult wines in Rutherford, Oakville, Stag’s Leap District and other growing areas, almost no one visits the wineries in the sleepy old Coombsville corridor, at the southeast corner of Napa Valley.

(There are 16 designated American Viticultural Areas, or AVAs, within Napa Valley, identified as having site-specific, geographically defined, soil and microclimatic traits. Coombsville is the newest such region, gaining AVA status in 2011.)

Visitors! Show some respect!

The town of Napa might have been called Coombsville, as the founder of the town was a land developer named Nathan Coombs. In 1848, he created what was then – and still is – the largest city in our valley. Only he chose to call it Napa, instead of after himself.

Good idea, Nate! How popular would this place ever have become if tourists aimed to visit Coombs Valley, CA?

Coombsville, the wine region, is small, representing an area of 11,075 acres, of which 1,400 are today planted with grapes.

Writers assembled yesterday on the crush pad at Covert Estate to learn about the Coombsville wine-producing region.

In an effort to promote the grapes and wines of 52 members in the Coombsville Vintners & Growers Association, the group hosted its first-ever press/publicity event yesterday.

A tasting panel of wine writers assembled yesterday to be introduced to the wines of the Coombsville.

About a dozen guests were invited to Covert Estate, a new facility owned by Julien and Elan Fayard.

Julien Fayard. His 2012 Covert Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, tasted at yesterday’s press event, was magnificent.

Although born in France, Julien fell in love with Napa Valley and “specifically with Coombsville. I love the rustic nature of this area and the soil and climate are ideal for producing superb wines,” says the wine-maker.

Here’s what you need to know about Coombsville wines:

The only way to think about this tiny, perfect little area, dotted with small, mom-and-pop wineries is to think about diamonds.

You know how, when you see a gorgeous diamond ring on the finger of a pretty woman, your eye catches – and focuses on – the large emerald-cut diamond at the center of the ring. Your eye rarely registers two perfect, smaller baguette-cut diamonds mounted on either side of the center stone. But they’re there and they are, on their own, each gorgeous, precious, and delightful.

Well, the same is true of Coombsville wines; they are the shiny, gorgeous, precious and delightful wines on either side of the big stones – Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena – but on their own, they are themselves brilliant!

In fact, there are such great grapes grown here that, for decades, much of Coombsville’s best fruit found its way into heralded wines made at Robert Mondavi, Joseph Phelps, Far Niente, Pahlmeyer, Randy Dunn, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and Kongsgaard.

Writers convened in a small ante-room at Covert Estate yesterday. On the right is illustrious wine writer, and natural contrarian, Dan Berger, whose writing and thoughts I much admire.

The assembled guests were given 11 wines to taste, to get an understanding about the richness, complexity and balance of wines from the AVA.

My favorite wine of the tasting.

While all the wines were delicious, and while I scored them all between 91 and 95 points, my two favorites of the event were the Scalon and Covert.

The 2013 Scalon Cabernet Sauvignon drew four exclamation marks out of me, punctuating my notes. I loved the soft, sweet, sensual fruit, both on the nose and palate; I thought the wine was harmonious, elegant and at a suggested retail of $85, quite a steal.

I scored the Scalon 95 points and noted that wine writer Allen Balik, sitting to my left, rated the wine his top favorite of the flight, too.

Interested in obtaining some of this nectar? There were only 146 cases... and you will have to fight over the remaining 145, because napaman intends to get one before you!

To visit the winery, or purchase wine, go to scaloncellars.com, or call the winery at 707-666-2245.

I was also partial to the 2012 Covert Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, of which there are 350 cases.

I noted a wonderfully original hint of sour cherry at the core of a medley of red flavors; I loved the balance and finish, and scored the wine 93 points.

To visit the winery, go to covertestate.com, or call Julien at 707-812-4202.

Covert Estate vineyards

Entrance to the chai, or aging cellars, at Covert Estate

Go to coombsvillenapa.org to learn more about Coombsville area wines and to help you plan some off-road, appointment-only, winery visits in a part of Napa Valley that is what the valley used to be like before the California wine rush started – simple, tasty, understated.

Napa Valley’s Most Memorable Wine Event of the Year – Robert Mondavi Winery turns 50!

The highlight of just one tasting panel featured wines dating back to 1968, including the very last bottle of 1969 Cabernet Reserve at the winery.

Some 150 special guests assembled for an extravagant celebration over the last three days to mark the 50^th anniversary of Robert Mondavi Winery.

Napaman was one of them.

I was thrilled to be included as I have been a long-time friend of the winery, and of the man who kick-started the modern Napa Valley wine industry, Robert Mondavi.

Or “Bob,” as he was known by his friends. Napaman was one of them, too.

In fact, the very reason I live in Napa Valley is due to Bob.

The iconic Robert Mondavi Winery

In May, 1980, as food editor of the third largest newspaper in North America, the Toronto Star, I was asked by Bob to come to Napa Valley to cover an event at his winery – the Great Chefs of France Cooking School.

He was hosting Jean Troisgros, chef-owner of what was then, and still is now, a landmark, three-star, Michelin restaurant, which many food authorities then, and now, consider to be the best restaurant in the world.

Bust of Bob outside the winery, bearing Bob’s vision: “It’s only the beginning,” in his handwriting.

Bob had a notion that his Cabernet Sauvignon was as good as anything coming out of Bordeaux and to prove it, he brought a succession of three-star, French chefs to his winery to cook for paying guests. He wanted to pair his wines with their three-star food to prove that his wines were a) complementary, and b) every bit as good as Bordeaux wines.

And they were.

My friend, Robert Mondavi

Bob was a showman, a marketing genius, a humble guy, a visionary. What the winery has been celebrating these last three days – the 50^th anniversary of the winery – is really a celebration of Bob, because he and the winery are synonymous and inseparable. (Bob died in May, 2008 at the age of 94.)

As a side note: My 1980 introduction to Napa Valley by Bob was so profound, that I decided the very weekend I met him that I would, one day, move to Napa Valley; it took 17 years to save up the funds and get our kids through college, but I never lost site of my dream to move to Napa Valley, to write about, and make, wine. Thank you for the introduction, Bob.

Margrit and Bob Mondavi, photographed by napaman at a winery luncheon we enjoyed together in April, 2005.

RMW, as the winery is known, is important to all of us in the wine industry and the wine-drinking world.

Founded in 1966 by Bob, when he was 53, the winery was acquired by Constellation Brands in 2004. Today, it is the jewel in a crown of many wineries and brands owned by Constellation.

Today, RMW has 1,300 planted acres and its wines are sold in 90 countries. Them’s a lot of countries.

Perhaps the most important single vineyard in America is the famed To Kalon vineyard, 450 acres of which are owned and farmed by Mondavi.

Bob knew the importance of vineyard site; in fact, he chose to build his winery in the To Kalon Vineyard, an historic property regarded as one of Napa Valley’s best.

The vineyard had been planted with different grape varieties and named in the late 1880s by a vineyard visionary named Hamilton Walker Crabb. “To Kalon,” if you’ve forgotten your Greek, means “the beautiful,” which this vineyard certainly is. And the wines, which it produces, certainly are.

Over the last three days, to celebrate 50 years of RMW winemaking, the by- invitation-only guests tasted half of the 50 vintages of Mondavi Cabernet Reserve, including the very first vintage, from 1966; we dined in the Vineyard Room, which I have earlier in my critiquing career called “the best private dining room in Napa Valley,” and traipsed through the To Kalon vineyard, oogling at 71-year-old Sauvignon Blanc vines, while drinking chilled examples of what these vines produced from the 2004 and 2013 vintages.

Maybe the best way to recount the three-day wine orgy is in an orderly fashion:

Day One

Jason Wise, producer/director of Somm: In the Bottle, speaks to guests before the screening.

On Sunday evening, a small cadre of 50 guests assembled for special wines and a screening of Somm: In The Bottle. Filmmaker, director, producer, and all-around nice guy, Jason Wise, was present to answer questions about his film.

Not only is this a wonderful film – I encourage you to see it in a neighborhood theater or rent it – but as a thoughtful courtesy, the Mondavi hosts served guests legendary wines in the darkened Vineyard Room, many of them mentioned in the film.

I thought the three WOW-ser wines were the 1997 Penfolds Grange, the 1990 Chateau Lafite Rothschild and the 1995 Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve . You see the wines with which Mondavi wines can hob-nob? They have the required sophistication, elegance, balance and charm to do so... exactly what Bob was preaching 50 years ago.

Day Two

Mark de Vere MW and head wine educator at Mondavi, leads guests on a tour of the property, starting with a pit-stop in the barrel fermenting room, outfitted with 5,000-gallon French oak barrels in which the top Mondavi Cabernets are produced.

From the barrel fermenting cellar, we descended to the barrel aging room where guests tasted through 16 vintages of Mondavi Cabernet Reserve.

We tasted 16 vintages of Mondavi Cabernet Reserve going back to 1968.

Highlights of the tasting for me were the 1968, 1971, 1991 and 1994 Cabernets. I even loved the often-maligned, Napa Valley vintage 1998. I thought the Mondavi effort was gracile, balanced, delicate, and focused. Hardly an ugly sibling, as the press would have had us think about a wine from this wet vintage.

Tough vintages, when the weather sucks, are the test of a great winemaker’s skills; they nailed it in spades in 1998 at Mondavi.

There was a tremendous consistency in flavor profile across all of these wines; tasting hallmarks included tea, soy, black olives, and wild Provencal herbs, often called “garrigue” in French.

The emotional highlight of the tasting was that the winery opened for us its very last bottle of 1969 Mondavi Cabernet Reserve (called “unfined” on the label). THAT is a true demonstration of Hospitality with a capital H.

Say buh-bye to the ’69 at the winery... our group polished off the last bottle.

Thank you, Mondavi Team!

All 16 wines in the morning panel were aromatically similar, fresh on the palate; one of my tasting comrades noted that the wines were very much like older Italian Barbarescos, in that they were filled with dark cherry, and black olive flavors and coffee end-notes, all shaped by a spine of youthful, refreshing acidity.

Mark de Vere, who led the morning retrospective, described Bob’s style of wine making:

“Bob always said that a properly made Cabernet should have the power of Pavarotti singing an aria... and the softness of a baby’s bottom.”

Most of the wines we tasted throughout the three-day Mondavithon met this criterion.

Megan Schofield, left, winemaker of Mondavi’s Burgundy varietals, Mark de Vere, MW, center, wine educator, and Joe Harden, right, winemaker of Mondavi Bordeaux varietals, led the morning tasting of 16 Mondavi Reserve Cabernets, dating back to 1968.

The aftermath of the morning tasting.

A delicious lunch was served in my favorite dining salon, the Vineyard Room.

Afternoon Day Two

Following lunch, the educator team at Mondavi led guests to the revered To Kalon block to examine, first hand, 71-year-old Sauvignon Blanc vines and treasured Cabernet vines.

Sauvignon Blanc, used to make what Bob Mondavi called “Fume Blanc,” in the famous I Block of To Kalon vineyard. These vines were planted in 1945.

Evening Day Two

The gala dinner, commemorating 50 years of winemaking achievements, was a chance to invite illustrious alumni back to the place where their careers had blossomed.

Monumental winemakers like Warren Winiarski, and Zelma Long, and a dozen vineyard managers/growers were present, too; the dinner, cooked by executive chef Jeff Mosher, was a canvas for exceptional wine pairings.

The most important wine of the evening – in fact of the three-day event -- was served right off the bat; it was the first wine ever produced at Mondavi, the 1966 unfined Cabernet Sauvignon, 90% estate Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% estate Cabernet Franc.

The dinner menu, painted by Margrit Mondavi.

How special, how good, was this very first-ever, 50-year-old Mondavi Cabernet? PLENTY SPECIAL if you rate a wine on importance, merit and, oh yeah, taste.

Warren Winiarski

The line of the night was delivered by Warren Winiarski, who stood up when the 1966 Mondavi Cabernet Reserve (in those days labeled “unfined”) was served and said:

“Good evening. I’m Warren Winiarski ... AND I MADE THIS WINE!”

The room erupted in spontaneous joy, applauding his craftsmanship, for, indeed, Warren had made this wine 50 years ago and it is still delicious, lively, balanced!

After leaving Mondavi in 1968 as winemaker, Warren went on to found his own winery, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, winning all sorts of recognition and accolades.

The 1966 unfined Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon exhibited notes of tea, ripe berries, soy, and ended with prune and cold coffee notes.

Mark de Vere, who acted as host of the dinner, shared that, after tonight’s tasting, there are only three bottles of this first vintage 1966 Cabernet left at the winery.

Uniformity of profile, consistency of taste and a “Mondavi-style” were evident in all 30 wines we tasted on Day Two.

Winemaking director Genevieve Janssens and all her predecessors, many who were present at the Gala Dinner, must recognize their achievement and be proud of their collective accomplishment.

Margrit, the Grande Dame of Mondavi, on the left, Mark de Vere, in the center, and Warren Winiarski, on the left, at the Gala dinner.

Phil Freese

Former VP of winegrowing at Mondavi, Phil Freese, was invited to the Gala dinner with other field and cellar alumni. I loved what he had to say about Bob Mondavi’s work ethic:

“Bob was a man without a rear-view mirror. Even after the worst catastrophe in the cellar, or a failed vineyard experiment, he just kept crashing forward -- it was the only direction he knew!”

Bob was a relentless idea machine, a never-give-up-experimenting kind of a guy. He pushed his vineyard managers to plant different rootstocks, he got them to change row orientation, to change plant spacing; I remember when Tim Mondavi and his dad pushed the limits to see if overplanting vines could positively stress vines to compete for nutrients – so they planted 4,000 vines per acre (usually under 2,000 vines per are).

Bob also contracted with NASA to conduct satellite reconnaissance of his vines to determine which ones were healthy using infrared spectroscopy; in the process, they created a whole new field of agriculture now called Precision Farming, or Site Specific Crop Management (SSCM).

Day Three

Joe Harden, winemaker of Bordeaux varietal,s and Megan Schofield, winemaker of Burgundy varietals, led a morning panel of 15 contemporary wines from vintages 2009 through 2013.

The day started off with an appreciation of recent vintage wines. We tasted through Reserve Chardonnays, Fume Blancs, Reserve Pinot Noirs and gorgeous Cabernet Sauvignons.

My take away was that I’ve mistakenly lumped Mondavi Chardonnay in with all those goofy Napa Valley Chardonnays that have so much oak they taste like they’ve passed through the kidneys of a beaver.

I’d forgotten how delicate, ethereal, refreshing, and Burgundian-like, the Mondavi Reserve Chardonnays are, or can be.

I fell head over heels in love with the 2012 Mondavi Chardonnay Reserve and as soon as this is story is posted, I intend to buy a case, as proof of my pleasure. I scored this wine 96 points, and loved the candied lemon top notes and creamy middle palate. Great length. Great wine. Nice work, Megan Schofield!

If you’ve been staying away from Napa Valley Chardonnay because of Chardonnay palate fatigue and a dislike of over-oaked, over-alcoholized wine, it may be time to review Mondavi’s offering; I was gob-smacked by the beauty, fruit, balance and charm of these Chardonnays.

A small, but significant, group of wine writers attended the three-day Mondavi celebration.

Director of Winemaking at Mondavi, Genevieve Janssens.

Long before Genevieve Janssens, Mondavi’s director of winemaking, said this to the assembled group, I was thinking it to myself:

There is a Holy Grail of Winemaking at Mondavi, which spans decades; it is a desire to produce consistent, refreshing, food-friendly wines, which are pleasing to the palate.

Wines here are never made to attain foolishly high, alcohol levels, or over-the-top levels of extraction in order to grab the attention – and earn high scores -- from fatigued wine writers with numbed palates.

I noted a stylistic consistency through ALL 50 YEARS of wines made at Mondavi. These harmonious wines are ready to drink upon release and continue to be drinkable for long windows of 10-, 20-, and as we’ve tasted, even 50-years.

My favorite Cabernet of the morning panel was the 2012 Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, which i scored 98 points. I thought this was a sensational wine, worthy of owning, worthy of cellaring. Nice work, Joe Harden!

After the morning tasting, guests were served a sensational, casual wine-country lunch on the terrace of the Vineyard Room.

For the occasion, Margrit Mondavi had created the menu artwork, as she had done for all dining menus presented to guests for all our meals. Nice work, Margrit!

As a final gesture, Genevieve debuted a new wine, which the winery will launch to celebrate Bob Mondavi’s life and the winery’s 50-year run; named after Bob’s passion for music, the wine is a symphony of reds from two significant parcels – To Kalon and Wappo Hill. Guests were served the first-ever vintage, the 2013 Robert Mondavi Maestro. Talk about delicious! Nice work, Genevieve!

Before guests departed for their respective homes across the country, I felt a need to put the three-day session into context for assembled guests.

I noted that only twice before in my life have I attended an event of such august, significance – the 100^th anniversary of BV, which I attended with Bob Mondavi himself, and the 20^th anniversary of Opus One, again in the presence of Bob Mondavi.

This three-day, 50-vintage span of Mondavi wines, many of them tasted in the presence of the former winemakers and vineyard managers who brought these wines into existence, made this once-in-a-lifetime, industry experience even more exotic.

The event itself, like the wines tasted, will never happen again. This was a three-day taste of history, and a detailed study of how one person’s passion to do the Right Thing can change the world. Nice work, Bob – you really started something special.

Best Restaurants of 2015

As we come to the close of the year, I am in a reflective mood (color me Nike headband).

“What were your best meals of the year?” you ask.

Surely, you assume, they might have been Italian, for napaman spent two weeks in October traveling in Italy.

But if you assumed this, you’d be WRONG.

My best meals this year, despite domestic and international travels, were in San Francisco and Napa Valley.

You can’t dine better, you can’t drink better, and you don’t have to take off your shoes, or have some guy pat you down, to dine at these restaurants.

Moreover, I have gained a sense of family in these particular dining rooms because the staff are friendly, casual and thoughtful. Which is why these are my top restaurants of 2015:

Drum roll, please....

In San Francisco, you cannot dine better than at the two sibling restaurants Quince and Cotogna.

I will go out on a limb and say these are the two best restaurants in San Francisco right now. Maybe in the country. They are certainly where I have had my own best meals in 2015.

Cotogna

Ahhhh, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Your bar is stupendous, tended by several of the most accomplished bartenders in a city that is brimming with talented mixologists.

The servers at Cotogna, the managers at Cotogna, the bussers, the cooks, everyone here, has been trained to perfection by Chef Michael Tusk and his detail-oriented partner and wife, Lindsay.

Together they orchestrate authentic Italian, perfectly prepared food; they initiate an ever-changing menu, which is seasonally brilliant; individual dishes launch on the palate with amazing texture and finish with rich flavor. All through the chew there is culinary magic at work. Thank you chef, and thank you Lindsay, for this mealtime magic.

If I wanted to rent out a dining room for a celebratory evening in San Francisco, Cotogna would be my choice; this is my favorite casual restaurant in San Francisco right now. Period.

One of the rare shots of Chef Michael and Lindsay Tusk in the same frame; they operate Cotogna AND Quince. The photo is from 2012.

Like magicians pulling silk scarves out of a hat, Michael and Lindsay have invented the perfect counterpoint to their casual Cotogna; they have given us Quince, the best fine-dining room in San Francisco. Maybe in all of California. And while we’re about it, how about maybe in America?

I dined in the 3-star Michelin Le Bernardin in New York this year and despite that fact that my lunch tab was TWICE as expensive as a dinner at Quince, the food, service, ambience, and experience at Quince are FOUR TIMES BETTER.

Quince wine cellar

As a former professional restaurant critic (with an unlimited budget to dine in any 3-star restaurant anywhere in the world), and then as a patron of the table for the next 35 years, I can say with authority – and from experience -- that I have never had a better multi-course dinner with complementary wine pairings in my life than I had this year at Quince.

And I had this multi-course dinner TWICE at Quince this year, once in May, once in November. And each dinner was a raucous symphony of flavors and textures, and the presentations themselves were original, inventive and memorable.

Come to think of it -- Michael and Lindsay Tusk ARE magicians; I think of them as the Penn & Teller of fine-dining AND casual-dining because whichever restaurant of theirs you exit, you are filled with the same sense of wonderment, awe and joy as you are after a Penn & Teller performance... you walk out slapping your forehead, asking everyone around you, “How the hell did they do that....?”

Cotogna, 490 Pacific Ave., San Francisco. 415-775-8508

Quince, 470 Pacific Ave., San Francisco 415-775-8500

Spoiler Alert – Nasty comment coming up...

Quince only has two Michelin stars? This is a travesty. A great dining injustice.

What the fuck is wrong with Michelin?

This is a dining room which heartily welcomes guests; the staff actually smile at patrons, portions are flavorful and, for a change in a multi-course setting, sufficient in size to actually fill you up. And the complementary wines, chosen by knowledgeable and sensitive wine folk for both of my multi-course dinners, were so good that I actually sought some wines out afterward, purchasing them by the case for my own home consumption.

Only two Michelin stars? Quince merits four, you insensate Michelin inspectors! But you are so used to surly French waiters and servings the size of an M&M, (as evidenced by many of the restaurants to which you have accorded three stars) that in the case of Quince, you have failed to recognize culinary brilliance when it is visibly evident and thoroughly accessible by taste!

Quince is the best fine-dining restaurant in which I have dined in 2015.

Cotogna serves the best casual fare of any restaurant in which I have dined in 2015.

But I would be remiss if I did not add some other 2015 favorites, which readers must try. Let’s commence with Napa Valley highlights.

Redd Wood

I became a regular at this Yountville dining haven this year, but I am making up for lost time given the recent frequency of my visits.

The fettuccine Bolognese here is better than ANY version of this dish I ordered in in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, last month – including a half-dozen restaurants in Bologna itself.

Chef Richard Reddington

There are mornings I wake up thinking about Redd Wood’s Bolognese ragu, which chef Richard Reddington created.

The pizzas here are among the best in the Bay-area, too. I’m crazy for the arugula-prosciutto pie.

And if you are ordering a main protein like chicken, salmon, steak or pork, be sure to order the flash fried fingerling potatoes (above) – they are proof that potatoes actually are a food group unto themselves... and you should have a serving like this daily to maintain proper health!

The wine list here is smart, as is the staff serving the wines. Put yourself into passive gear and ask your server, or the sommelier on duty, to recommend a wine to complement your food selection. THAT’S the smart move here.

Redd Wood, 6755 Washington St. 707-299-5030.

Other local restaurant favorites, which are also high on my list, and which need to be re-recommended to friends and visitors:

Mustards Grill

For more than 30 years, Cindy Pawlcyn has turned out consistently great fare here.

In many respects, Cindy is the arch-creator of California grill cookery, having brought to market a sensibility for fresh, seasonal ingredients, prepared in the quintessential California style – which is to say grilled.

As good as the fare has been here for 30 years – it has never been better than it is right now.

At lunch, I recommend everyone try the calamari slaw appetizer, followed by the pulled pork sandwich.

At dinner, Cindy’s hanger steak defines this dish and has become my personal benchmark for “hanger steak,” whenever I see it on another menu. And it’s NEVER as good as Mustards Grill’s hanger steak. NOT EVER.

Mustards Grill, 7399 St. Helena Highway, just north of Yountville. (707) 944-2424.

Bistro Don Giovanni

Ever since I moved to the valley 18 years ago, I have dined regularly here. Giovanni and his capable lieutenant Neno, and their dedicated team of cooks and servers, make dining here a real treat.

I have dined at Bistro Don Giovanni more than 400 times and always walk away with a broad smile; the room, the food, the service, all work together to provide guests a sensational experience.

Bistro Don Giovanni, 4110 Howard Lane, Napa. (707) 224-3300.

Market

I have written about this small, intimate, narrow dining room in St. Helena before; it is time to remind readers just how good the food is here.

This is probably the only restaurant on this page at which I have a difficult time deciding what I am going to have for dinner – because EVERYTHING ON THE MENU AT MARKET IS PHENOMENAL!

I have so many American favorites here that I would run out of digital ink naming them. Just go, scan the menu and order many different dishes for the table and share.

Among my favorite appetizers are: lobster rolls wrapped in rice paper, Crispy Calamari, and who can say No to Market’s ceviche, Caesar salad, or extravagant chopped salad?

I often order the appetizer portion of pepper-crusted steak, served with a huge mound of truffled, shoestring fries, as a main course.

For dessert, there is no option: Resistance is futile. You MUST order the fabled butterscotch pudding, which I previously opined on these pages was – and remains - the best dessert in Napa Valley.

Yes, Cindy’s Mile High Lemon Meringue Pie at Mustards Grill is a Best Dessert rival, as has been the strawberry shortcake at the soon-to-close Tra Vigne. But Market’s butterscotch pudding has stood the test of time and is still, again in 2015, my choice as Best Dessert in Napa Valley.

Market, 1347 Main St., St. Helena. (707) 963-3799.

Goose & Gander

Once a week, I crave a burger and the one served at G&G is, without question, the best burger in Napa Valley.

Yes, Gott’s Roadside has its fans, Mustards Grill, too, and even Bistro Don Giovanni serves a sensational one. But the champ is still the burger served at G&G.

The cocktails here are also worthy of a detour. We love everything they concoct, but our favorites are the Manhattans and Martinis.

Goose & Gander, 1245 Spring St., St. Helena. (707) 967-8779.

Now let’s look at some sensational San Francisco dining rooms,

which should command your attention:

 The House

This small restaurant is a sublime destination for Asian fusion cookery, which never comes close to con-fusion cookery, as so many mixed-ethnic cuisines do.

For the record: I have dined so many times at The House that I have become a friend of owners Larry and Angela Tse -- but they should not be punished and left out of my best-of-2015 restaurant list because they are friends.

The single best sandwich I ate this year was the Ahi Tuna BLT, served at The House at lunch.

I have had this sandwich three-dozen times and the sandwich always makes me vocalize the same line:

“This is the best sandwich that I have had this whole year.”

Dinners at The House are filled with tasty surprises; there are sensational noodle dishes, superb fish-based specials. The House, a tiny gem, merits a spot on the National Registry of Best Restaurants in America, if such a thing existed, because it truly is a national culinary treasure.

When the Japanese/Asian/fusion restaurant Ochame, in Berkeley, closed a few years ago, I felt my left arm had been cut off; it was an outpost of delicious, original, Asian fare. If The House were ever to close, I would feel I’d lost my other arm, as well as my heart.

The House, 1230 Grant (at Columbus). (415) 986-8612.

Perbacco and Barbacco

These two restaurants are immediate destinations when I crave Italian fare and don’t wish to head crosstown, or fight for a parking space, at Delfina, Locanda, SPQR, or A-16, each worthy of being on my list of sensational Italian San Francisco restaurants. I love every one of these restaurants and recommend them highly.

But this year, Perbacco and Barbacco, ably operated by Umberto Gibin, just feel “new,” alive and worth special attention.

You want a luxe experience? Try the white-clothed Perbacco.

Want something a bit more casual, a great wine list by the glass, sensational appetizers, rich pastas and happy-go-lucky staff, who know what everything tastes like? Then Barbacco is your choice.

Perbacco, 230 California St, San Francisco, (415) 955-0663.

Barbacco, 220 California St., San Francisco. (415) 955-1919.

Coqueta

Chef/owner Michael Chiarello, who has many Italian successes behind, beside, and in front of him (several new places opening soon – napaman is obliged to not say where or when); but his attempt at creating a GREAT Spanish tapas experience has paid off in spades. I LOVE THIS RESTAURANT.

The bar is superb – cocktails rock – and the selection of small dishes is overwhelming. One favorite I order every time is the truffled-honey, smoked salmon – I dare you to stop at one order!

I love the selection of Spanish white wines; service is keen, focused, and the waitstaff can ably assist you to choose wines that complement your selection of tapas dishes.

The room is a hoot, the food is superb. Why this isn’t a one-star Michelin restaurant shocks me. Further proof that the Michelin inspectors are brain dead – or maybe they are just insensate from eating too much foie gras?

Coqueta, Pier 5, The Embarcadero, San Francisco. 415-704-8866.

Tra Vigne is Closing its Doors December 20!

 

What a black Christmas it’s going to be for staff and patrons of what is one of Napa Valley’s iconic restaurants, Tra Vigne, in St. Helena.

In what is a personally sad story to have to report, Tra Vigne will serve its last meal December 20.

It’s not that the restaurant has gone broke, or couldn’t meet rent payments; the demise of Tra Vigne has to do with the personal and private ambitions of others, of a lease running out, of others' commercial interests which were greater than keeping the lights on, and the mozzarella melting, at Tra Vigne.

Tra Vigne goes out on a high note as one of the great restaurants in our community and it will be greatly missed. By locals, by me, and certainly by the Wine Spectator, which held its Napa Valley Wine Auction Magnum Party every year at Tra Vigne since it started hosting the annual party decades ago.

For decades, Tra Vigne has been making locals and visitors happy, happy, happy. The restaurant has had several great chefs over this period, including Michael Chiarello, who opened the space, and for the past many years, Nash Cognetti, who has become a personal friend.

 

Executive Chef, Nash Cognetti

Tra Vigne has been my home away from home for all the years I have lived here, and I have personally dined, over the years, more than 450 times at Tra Vigne.

Tra Vigne was like Cheers, a neighborhood spot where you could meet regulars, share your personal stories with the staff, both behind, and in front of, the bar.

Losing Tra Vigne is what it must feel like to see your marriage dissolve. You can’t believe this is happening, that this scenario is unfolding as it wasn’t meant to be.

ooh-la-la, the bistecca alla fiorentina

Executive chef Nash Cognetti has brought stability and harmony to the menu at Tra Vigne. We will miss him and his glorious one-kilogram bistecca alla fiorentina, and his Wednesday cioppino night, as much as we would miss SNL if it were ever to go off the air. When something becomes bigger than life, when it’s gone, it leaves a void that just can’t be filled.

You know how you felt when Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, or The Wire came to an end? You’d spent years with this alternate “family,” and once the series was over, you felt robbed of a friendship, adrift without family. That’s how it feels to know that after December 20^th, there aint gonna be no more mozzarella made a la minute by Chef Cognetti in our life.

Nash brought some fabulous food into our collective lives, which nourished our collective spirit; Eileen Regan, behind the bar, and her sidekick Luke Christian, made some of the best cocktails in Napa Valley.

The staff – I’d name them individually here but fear I might leave someone out, so I will just say ALL the staff – and Jennifer the GM, and assistant GM Paul Smith, and the hostesses, and the busboys, and kitchen brigade – we will miss you ALL. You made our lives richer, more textured and more cultured. Thank you.

Tra Vigne will have a new life, but not one that many, or any, of us will see, or taste, Nash is opening a permanent pop-up catering space of sorts in Cindy’s old space on Main St.,, in St. Helena, once the home of Pinot Blanc, then the place with several incarnations under Cindy Pawlcyn’s tasty tutelage.

Now Nash and some of his brigade will open a space that exclusively caters to large groups and weddings. It will not be a casual restaurant in to which folks off the street night drift for a draft. Or for a glass of wine, or for dinner. So, essentially, Tra Vigne is off limits to the community. You’d have to be lucky enough to be invited to a wedding to taste Nash’s sensational fare again.

So if you are within the sight of this screed, and you are hosting a wedding at Nash’s new location on Main St. next year – PLEASE INVITE NAPAMAN TO YOUR FUNCTION because I can’t think of a world without Nash’s bistecca, or mozzarella.

Tra Vigne, we hardly knew ya.

RIP.

And thank you for the tasty memories.

Bella Union -- the Super Baby Wine is Born!

Remember how they gossiped when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got married? Everyone conjectured that their kids would be stunning, runway model gorgeous.

Well that’s what we’ve been expecting in wine country, after two of Napa Valley’s super stud wineries, Far Niente and Nickel & Nickel, joined forces to make a new wine; the baby will finally bounce into life next week and will be named Bella Union.

A small group of local wine writers were invited to the winery today to taste the wine and explore the new venture in the heart of Rutherford.

(Rutherford population 480, but with the influx of down-valley writers today, the population soared to 490.)

Larry Maguire, director of Far Niente, Nickel & Nickel and now, Bella Union.

“We started making wine at Far Niente with the 1982 vintage and have only ever produced estate wine,” says Larry Maguire, director of the two parent wineries.

“Then we started Nickel & Nickel, our effort to bring high quality, single-vineyard-only wines to market.”

“What we did not have in our portfolio until now was a blended Cabernet made from different parcels around Napa Valley; Bella Union fills that niche,” Larry finishes explaining.

The core fruit for Bella Union comes from a 25-acre Cabernet vineyard along fabled Bella Oaks Lane, in Rutherford. 

Napaman knows the vineyard well; as it is adjacent to his home, the sulfuring tractors, the chattering, early morning grape pickers and seasonal pruners have awakened him enough mornings that Napaman earned his invitation to the inaugural launch!

The name Bella Union is a nod to the history of Bella Oaks Lane, first called Bella Union Roadway in the 1880s. At that time, the country lane led into the Mayacamas Mountain range and the Bella Union Mining Company.

Beth Nickel

Speaking of the wine’s name, Beth Nickel, who with Larry Maguire hosted the reception and launch event today, commented, “I think with a name like Bella Union – meaning ‘Pretty Union’ – this wine may become a staple at weddings!” Beth and her late husband Gil Nickel, started Far Niente in 1979.

The Bella Union vineyard is located along the western bench of the Rutherford appellation. Planted in loose, loamy soil, the Cabernet vines here are expected to produce 2 to 3 tons of fruit per acre. In addition to Cabernet Sauvignon, small amounts of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot are planted.

In the initial 2012 release, 60% of the wine comes from the Bella Union vineyard; it has been augmented with Cabernet, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot from elsewhere in the valley. While the label does not make an Organic claim, the Bella Union vineyard is maintained as such.

The winery has only produced 1,250 cases of the 2012 release. 

The Wine 

Oh boy, this is good stuff!

The inaugural 2012 Bella Union Cabernet Sauvignon is delicious. It exhibits bright fruit on the nose, with hints of cherries and plums on the palate; after three-quarters of an hour, the wine really starts to relax and have a good time in your mouth.

The 2013 vintage, which will not be released until February, has an even deeper, darker composition, hinting at cocoa and chocolate on the finish. I made a note in the margin of my notebook that the 2013 Bella Union was like the 2012 only with a deeper suntan. 

The Winemaker

 

Winemaker Megan Melief

Winemaker Megan Melief, formerly assistant winemaker at Nickel & Nickel, has turned out two dazzling debut wines at Bella Union. I would not be surprised to hear polite applause at the unveiling of the 2012 Cabernet but the 2013 will cause drinkers to jump to their feet loudly clapping and demanding an encore. “Bravo!” they will shout. And if they don’t, they should.

In 2005, Megan graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in Molecular and Cell Biology.

Following this, she earned a Masters of Pharmacology at the University of Washington.

Upon graduating, Megan decided to forego pharmacology as a career and, instead, pursue her growing passion for wine. Her first winery gig found her pulling hoses and working midnight pump overs as a cellar intern at Seattle’s JM Cellars.

Megan was drawn back to her native Northern California and in 2009, she joined Nickel & Nickel as enologist, eventually becoming assistant winemaker.

The scoop

The 2012 Bella Union Cabernet, priced at $85, will be released early next month. It will be available in only a few restaurants and online.

Go to bellaunionwinery.com to score your 6-pack, or contact the winery at 707-967-9500.

For One Night, I Became Brunello-man!

It was a dream assignment:

Napaman was invited last night to a private dinner in Yountville at Bottega, one of northern California’s top Italian restaurants, to celebrate a singular Italian wine from a singularly good vintage:

We’re talking about the heralded, and much hoopla’d, 2010 vintage of Brunello di Montalcino.

The 44 lucky souls who attended the event paid $195 each for the 4-course dinner; they were served exceptional 2010 Brunello wines with each course.

As a twist, guests were invited to bring ANY vintage of ANY Brunello di Montalcino wine from their personal cellar to share with tablemates.

The event was hosted by Michael Chiarello, chef/owner of Bottega, (right, above) and by his genial wine director, Massimiliano Giovannoni (left, above).

The 2010 Brunellos are just hitting the street now; wine writers who have had access to the new vintage are calling it “the best vintage of this Sangiovese-based wine in living memory.”

Robert Parker’s Italian specialist, Monica Larner, says that the hype surrounding the 2010 Brunellos is not hyperbole. She emphasizes:

“The 2010 vintage is iconic for Montalcino ... it shows the amazing versatility of the Sangiovese grape with a level of clarity that I have never encountered. This vintage restores my confidence in a grape variety that has been both overhyped and underappreciated, sometimes at the same time.”

Even more bombastic is this observation from former Wine Spectator writer James Suckling:

"2010 for Brunello di Montalcino is the greatest modern vintage of Italy's most famous red wine region. Never have the wines been so profound in quality, character, and quantity from the best hillside vineyards of Montalcino."

Do comments like these raise the bar for Brunello, or jack it up so high that no wine can live up to the hype? Napaman was compelled to determine for himself whether such critical excitement over 2010 Brunellos is merited.

The wines served at dinner

The six 2010 Brunellos served were all exceptional wines. I have numerous exclamation marks on the pages of my tasting notes and I scored the wines in a range of 93- to 97-points. They were that good.

The common aromas in these wines are plums and roses, which wafted off the just-poured wines; there is a juicy, salty, balsamic-and-tea acidity profile on the palate, an undercurrent in each of these wines. The commonest descriptors, which I found myself applying: tea cake spices, plum, and tea.

With Napa Valley Cabs, the overall flavor profile is one of ripe red, or dark, fruit and the finish is usually jammy, or fruit-driven; with a Brunello, certainly at this young age, there was an evident brisk acidity, something akin to that experienced from another great Italian grape, Barbera, grown in Piedmont.

This makes Brunello, with its noticeable minerality, a terrific, food-friendly wine; it clears your palate each time you go back and take a sip. It is not sweet, cloying, or syrupy.

This was the Brunello I brought; Massi says that 2004 Brunellos are his favorite-ever vintage of this Sangiovese-based wine. Table companions said it was one of their favorite wines of the night – Maybe this guy Massi knows something about Brunello after all!

A brief history of Brunello

(Hey! this is interesting stuff, and even though it’s not on the final exam – pay attention!)

Brunello di Montalcino, a red wine, made from the Sangiovese grape, is produced from vineyards surrounding the town of Montalcino, about 70 miles south of Florence, in Tuscany.

In 1865, at an agricultural fair in Montalcino, the prize-winning wine was a red which locals called “Brunello.”

Brunello, a diminutive form of "bruno," which means brown in Italian, was the name given to what was initially believed to be a unique grape variety grown only in Montalcino.

Wrong!

It turns out that the “Brunello grape” was, is, and continues to be Sangiovese, the most planted grape across Tuscany; but the original name stuck, so all the wine from this commune continues to be called “Brunello di Montalcino, even though it’s 100 percent Sangiovese.

Massimiliano, who is called Massi for short, oversaw the service of 36 bottles of wine poured for diners during the evening. That’s almost a bottle per person.... plus the wines some guests brought.

The wait staff and wine servers pulled off a flawless dinner; if a small table in a regular restaurant had this kind of food, wine and attention to detail, guests would be amazed. But to provide this level of service for 44 diners at the same time – that’s a WOW! moment.

In the mid-19th century, a farmer named Clemente Santi isolated plantings of Sangiovese and produced a wine that could be aged for a considerable period of time. In 1888, his grandson, Ferrucio Biondi-Santi, released a modern version of Brunello di Montalcino, which was aged for a decade in large wooden casks.

By the end of World war II, Brunello di Montalcino had developed a reputation as one of Italy's top wines. The earliest commercial producer was Biondi-Santi. The high price and prestige of its wines encouraged others to emulate the style.

By the 1960s, there were 11 regional producers of Brunello.

By 1970, the number of producers had grown to 25.

Today there are more than 200 Brunello producers. The wine definitely has traction.

Our hosts for the evening

Chef Michael Chiarello

Sommelier Massimiliano Giovannoni

Traditionally, Brunello is aged three years "in botte," large Slavonian oak casks, which impart minimal oak flavor.

Some winemakers today use small French barriques to impart a hint of spice and vanilla.

Most producers separate production between a normale and a reserva bottling.

Normale bottles are released 50 months after harvest, while riserva wines are released 62 months following harvest.

The Sangiovese grape is the only grape permitted in Brunello di Montalcino DOCG wines.

Brunello is now so popular in the US that about 30 percent of all the Brunello di Montalcino made is sold here, according to James Suckling.

The dinner

In addition to superb wines, guests were treated to an elaborate dinner from chef Chiarello, who came out twice during dinner service to entertain and inform. He told about the excursion, which he and Massi took to Montalcino, where Massi grew up and where he earned his sommelier certification.

“Massi is like the mayor of Montalcino,” says chef Chiarello. “Everywhere we went, people came up to him to discuss their wine, their lives, their families.”

To complement the just-released 2010 Brunellos, chef Chiarello created a four-course-plus-dessert menu.

A Brunello-glazed, slow-cooked egg, served in a bruschetta basket, topped with shaved Pecorino cheese and black truffle.

Chef Chiarello married classic ribolita ingredients with a presentation twist, which he learned from Craig Stoll, chef/owner of Delfina, in San Francisco.

Wine wasn’t the only liquid celebrated at this vintage-release dinner; a 2014, just released, olive oil, was served with the delicious ribolita.

As Massi has deep connections in Montalcino, he knows the producer of this olive oil and urged him to export a small quantity to Yountville for the Brunello dinner. The oil, perfumed, green and luscious, would earn 97 points if olive oils were rated like wine.

Sangiovese-braised pork sugo served with pappardelle. Served with two different 2010 Brunellos from producer Abbadia Ardenga.

Cooks in the kitchen, under chef Chiarello’s direction, grilled the bistecca over an open flame; the chef said the beef was Chianina, the authentic source of bistecca in Italy.

Massi and the chef kibbitzed while showing guests how to properly carve a bistecca; they were as amusing and entertaining as Click and Clack, the Tappet brothers, on NPR’s applauded radio program, Car Talk – they were that engaging and yet informative. A great show, guys!

The steak was served with beans cooked in the oven “al fiasco,” in this glass vessel.

The beans were baked in glass flasks, or fiasci, in a wood-fired oven at 1200 F. The flasks were made specifically for chef Chiarello, who learned to prepare beans in this style on the trip he took with Massi to Montalcino.

Chiarello’s famous “Torta della nonna,” the lemony cake, which grandmothers traditionally serve in Tuscany, made with lemon custard, pine nuts and a Meyer lemon marmalade.

There is discussion at Bottega that the restaurant may consider hosting a series of special, regional Italian dinners like the Montalcino dinner last night.

If they do, you’d be well advised to sign up. Certainly Brunelloman will. Er, napaman will. 

Book NOW – and Avoid the June Rush! Hall Rutherford - One of Napa Valley’s Top Winery Tours

Hall Rutherford, 750 foot above the valley floor

The price of winery tours in Napa Valley has nudged north like the price of premium Cabernet itself.

Back in the early 2000s, you could take a great winery tour for $20, and simple tastings were $10, with the fee waived against a purchase.

Not any more.

The newest valley tour, called Appellation Exploration Experience, is offered at Hall Winery’s Rutherford campus at $125 per guest, ($100 for club members).

Promoted as the hedonistic, Triple Crème of winery tours in Napa Valley, the Hall Rutherford tour features a 90-minute walk around the gorgeous property and a tasting of impeccable wines from no fewer than three Napa Valley sub-appellations. (The Halls get fruit from 15 of the 16 sub-appellations, so for them, it is not a problem to choose three – any of which will dazzle you.)

Trying to stay abreast of new tours, and do the homework for readers planning to visit Napa Valley, napaman signed up for “Appellation Exploration” to learn what makes the tour so special.

There are gorgeous – and playful – works of art outdoors, and many exquisite sculptures inside the winery at Hall Rutherford.

Additional pieces which I loved on my tour:

Hall Rutherford is an experience for your palate AND your eyes.

There are more than 30 pieces of contemporary art here and they wines you will taste are so good that you will want to swallow, not spit. Those kind of wines.

The winery is built at the Sacrashe vineyard site which sits atop Auberge du Soleil on a peak on the east side of Napa Valley.

Sacrashe Vineyard in the winter – before bud break

I never heard the proper pronunciation for this site until my visit.

It’s SACK-RAH-SHAY, originally named by the three partners who owned it before the Halls – Sacri, Craig and Sherwin – using the first few letters of their respective last names.

Kathryn and Craig Hall acquired the vineyard in 1995 and intended to beef it up quickly, but their plans were sidetracked when Kathryn was named US Ambassador to Austria, where she served from 1997 to 2001.

Craig and Kathryn Hall, pictured in 2012

Upon returning to Napa Valley, the Halls did more than just update Sacrashe – they went on a buying spree and acquired a large property with vines in St. Helena, which became Hall St. Helena, where the bulk of the winery’s annual 100,000 cases are produced.

If you missed my napaman story about the St. Helena campus, check it our here:

http://www.napaman.com/napamancom/2014/09/waiter-theres-a-hare-in-my-glass.html

But back to Hall Rutherford

Your tour begins with a walk around the property and a pit stop at the Sacrashe vineyard itself. This is followed by a tour of the production facility where my guide discussed all elements of wine making.

Hall wine educator, Sol Gold

My guide was terrific, filled with knowledge which he leaked out at just the right moments during the tour. A big round of applause for wine educator Sol Gold.

HALL has custom-made, custom-shaped, fermentation tanks and favors gravity flow production.

One of the reasons Hall Cabernets are so damn delicious (the 2011 Kathryn Hall [red label] Cabernet was my single favorite contemporary release Napa Valley Cab last year) is the fact that all the wines are made with free-run juice, not pressed juice, so even before you put the wine into barrel to age 22 to 24 months, it has a head start in silkiness, sensuality, and textural purity, which is amplified through the barrel-aging period.

Cabernets here are unctuous, exhibiting an uncommon silky texture, a suppleness, and exquisite balance; this is partially due to the winemaking practice of NOT pressing the skins and seeds, which can extract harsh tannins.

To get from the production facility to the gorgeous Crystal Cave tasting room, you traverse a long, barrel-aging tunnel. Here, in the tunnel, you stop to thieve a sample of the still-aging 2013 Kathryn Hall Cabernet from barrel. A major charmer even from cask.

Bravo to Steve Leveque, Hall’s director of winemaking; during the Rutherford tour, you will get to taste his 2013 (red label) Kathryn Hall Cabernet from barrel (it won’t be released until September 2016). It is already a delicious, forehead-smacking wine, capable of bringing a wide grin to a seasoned wine writer’s face. We’re talking A Beverage of Natural Beauty.

I’m told that Robert Parker tasted the 2013 Kathryn Hall Cabernet from cask and declared it a 99-100 point wine and it still has another nine months to age in barrel and then a full year to age in bottle before it ever sees the public– so that is quite the compliment from Mr. Parker.

On my tour, we tasted three 2012 Cabernets, none of which will be released until this fall. But visitors to Hall Rutherford may purchase these particular wines now, ahead of release.

The wines are tasted in a most impressive space, a cave hollowed out beneath the Sacrashe vineyard.

From the ceiling hangs a chandelier made to look as though it were the roots of a vine. The one-of-a-kind chandelier, designed by artist Donald Lipski, sports more than 1500 Swarovski crystal “petals.”

Wines I tasted

Guests taste wines from three different sub-appellations -- from the same vintage -- to learn about distinctions, which soil and terroir bring to bear on a finished wine.

On my tour, I tasted 2012 Hall Cabernets, one from each of St. Helena, Stags Leap District and Diamond Mountain.

2012 Hall, Bergfeld Vineyard, St. Helena, Cabernet Sauvignon

Starts with smoke and alluring fruit on the nose. Has a gorgeous, spicy complexity on the palate, with hints of cinnamon at this point in its evolution, which are likely to disappear with age and integrate into the wine.

2012 Hall, Stags Leap District, Cabernet Sauvignon

The fruit for this wine comes from a leased vineyard adjacent to Shafer in Stags Leap District, one of my favorite sub-appellations.

This wine had me jumping out of my seat. My notes included: “THIS IS THE DADDY!”

The wine exhibits sublime aromas and flavors, which pop from the glass.

A gorgeous wine, seamless, filled with ripe red and dark fruits, and totally in balance, from the initial sip through to the swallow.

This is wine candy for adults.

2012 Hall, Diamond Mountain District, Cabernet Sauvignon

The darkest, most brooding, wine of the three sub-appellations tasted; this wine is darkly purple, heavily intense, showing more structure than either of the other wines.

Impeccable winemaking here – you can’t put more wine into a wine. Absolutely first-class Cabernet.

In the winter off-season just now, it’s reasonably easy to reserve space for Appellation Exploration, but come spring and summer, be advised that they will be booking weeks, if not months, ahead.

The reason: Hall only offers two tours a day – 11 am and 2 pm and the winery is limited to hosting not more than 15 people during the whole day. They can sign up 14 people for one tour and one individual for the other tour on a single day – or can mix n’ match any combination of guests, but can’t exceed 15 total guests on any one day.

So if you like what you learn here, book early.

To book a tour, contact Laura Garrow, on the phone at 707-967-2626, or via email at [email protected]. Also check out tour and winery details on the web at hallwines.com.

No Need to Wait for Spring – Lisa Livoni is Here!

Napa artist Lisa Livoni’s work is so bright, so fresh, so evocative, that one glance at her watercolor of flowers, bulbs, or fruit, is enough to get you through another dreary winter day.

Lisa’s watercolors are a visual elixir, a mesmerizing achievement, reproducing on paper how outdoor plants and vegetation make you feel. Lisa captures the spirit of life, doesn’t just capture a three-dimensional flower on a two-dimensional sheet of paper.

Lisa Livoni and her artwork

To be transparent: My wife and I have collected Lisa’s works from a time before we ever met Lisa and her husband Robert.

I was so enthusiastic about Lisa’s watercolor skills that, six years ago, I asked Lisa to work with me to produce a tourist guide to Napa Valley that would feature her watercolors and my words.

For many reasons and time pressures, we never got the project off the ground.

The good news now is that starting this Sunday, January 11, Napa Valley residents – and lucky visitors to the valley through March 4 -- will have an opportunity to view Lisa’s watercolors up close.

Lisa has a one-woman exhibition called A Passion for Light and Color at the Robert Mondavi Winery (Vintage Room) in Oakville.

Readers of napaman.com are invited to attend the exhibition reception this coming Sunday. You’ll have a chance to meet Lisa, see all her glorious watercolors up close – and buy one to take home. It’s the best way to break your dreary winter blues.

The reception runs 2 to 4 pm Sunday and I suspect you’ll be served a glass of refreshing Robert Mondavi Fume Blanc, which does to your palate what Lisa’s watercolors do to your eyes – make you happy!

Lisa was born in Honolulu, HI. Instead of brushes with death on a surfboard as a child, Lisa opted for brushes she could fill with paint. In her youth, she traveled extensively, living at one point for three years in Japan. She also took art classes at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Later on, Lisa studied at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, CA.

She moved to Napa Valley in 1988. Washington’s loss was Napa Valley’s gain.

Lisa’s work is currently represented by Thomas Bartlett in Napa, and Cindy Raleigh Fine Art in the San Francisco Bay-area.

But your best chance to see a large portfolio of Lisa’s work – and to purchase one of her gorgeous images -- will be at the Robert Mondavi Winery this coming Sunday, through March 4.

See you there.

Visiting Napa Valley? Plan your winery visits with this 3-D Map!

A year ago, I discovered a sensational 3-D map of the Napa Valley depicting its 16 sub-appellations.

Produced by the Napa Valley Vintners, the map is an ideal tool to help visitors orient themselves to our demi-paradise; the map depicts landmass, mountain elevations and valley swales on a miniature, plasticized, 10- x 12-inch sheet.

I show the map to first-time visitors to Napa Valley to give them an idea of where I’m sending them when I suggest they go up Pritchard Hill to visit Chappellet, or  Continuum, or when I send them up Spring Mountain to visit Philip Togni, or Pride.

To optimize your time here, you need to visit wineries which are located in the same sub-appellation so that you don’t waste time driving helter-skelter all over the valley, back-tracking your route.

I suggest that travelers concentrate visits to wineries within the same sub-appellation to reduce travel time. It makes sense, for example, to combine visits to three or four wineries in Stag’s Leap District, or in St. Helena, or in Rutherford; this 3-D map helps give you an idea of which sub-appellations are close to one another to further help you draft a strategy to visit wineries.

The NVV, which represents 500 wineries in Napa Valley, started producing this 3-dimensional map about six years ago.

“As Napa Valley has such a varied topography, we created the map to help residents and visitors see -- and feel -- the diversity of our wine region,” explains Patsy McGaughy, communications director of the association.

Because it is expensive to produce the 3-D map, even NVV members must purchase it. Many wineries keep the map handy in their tasting room to give guests an idea of where they are, or where they’re headed.

The cost of the map is $25 – a  good gift for someone you know who may be planning to visit Napa Valley – to help them plot out their visits to different sub-appellations while they’re here.

“The map has become popular in Asia,” adds Patsy. “We’ve been asked to produce maps in Japanese and Mandarin to help Asian friends in the wine business get a better sense of what the Napa Valley is all about.”

If you’re interested in purchasing the 3-D map, you can acquire one online. Napaman doesn’t sell them and doesn’t make any income if you opt to buy one. Go to:

http://www.napavintners.com/trade/store.asp 

Click to purchase the “Napa Valley Raised Relief Topo Map” which is NVV jargon for their 3-D map.

2011 Mt. Veeder Wines Have Elegance, Balance & Poise – All The Things Napaman Lacks!

 

 

Like Labor Day and the start of the football season, Mt. Veeder’s annual Appellation Tasting occurs each September.

This year’s tasting, which featured 24 wineries, was held this afternoon at The Hess Collection (winery), on the outskirts of Napa town.

The appellation tasting is held under a green canopy, which runs the perimeter of The Hess Collection courtyard.

Most participating wineries poured 2011 wines, a  vintage to which the wine press has given a resounding Thumb’s Down.

What is wrong with all these gonzo wine writers? They taste way too many wines at the same time to ever be able to note subtle nuances among them. They also think power, high alcohol and excessive oak are positive hallmarks of a properly made wine. When I think of these elements, I think of disjointed, out-of-balance wines.

Make no mistake. 2011 wasn’t a Blow The Doors Off Their Hinges vintage.

It sure as hell wasn’t a Vintage of The Century, either.

The season was wet, cold, and wetter still, producing mold, small fruit, small clusters in small quantities.

But talented winemakers rallied. They produced wines of grace, charm, lower alcohol (yay for that!), elegance, and poise.

And, oh, yes, by the way, for a change, many of the wines were Food Friendly. Remember that concept? You actually make a wine that complements food, it doesn’t fight food with exaggerated extraction and high levels of oak and alcohol.

The back of a T-shirt worn by one of the guests at the tasting. I thought the slogan could easily have been about the vintages in Napa Valley, from 2004 to 2014... because really, they’ve all been helluva special. But no.... it was a tenth anniversary T-shirt for....

The wines I tasted this afternoon were, for the most part, delicious. Softer than normal, feminine, graceful, and pretty – that was a word that reappeared many times in my notes.

Steve Lagier and Carole Meredith, owners of, you guessed it – Lagier Meredith.

One of my favorite wineries on Mt. Veeder is Lagier Meredith, a winemaking venture of two of the industry’s leaders:

Carole Meredith, is the former UC Davis grape detective who led the world’s DNA gumshoe-ing to track down and identify the parent grapes of Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon to name a few; her husband, Steve Lagier, is a former Robert Mondavi winemaker who has a total of 35 harvests behind him. These people know something about making great wine.

Their 2011 Syrah is no exception.

“Our 2011 Syrah is the most northern Rhone-like Syrah we’ve ever made” Steve told me.

 

“This is a wine that has the spice and floral notes of a lot of those Syrahs from around Hermitage (site of the world’s best and most respected Syrah),” Steve adds.

I loved the wine. It exhibits some of those coffee and young leather notes that you find in a Rhone Syrah.

“It’s the first Syrah that we’ve ever made which comes in under 14 per cent alcohol,“ Steve adds. Another reason I like this wine: it’s food friendly.

“Make no mistake about 2011,” Steve says, putting the vintage into context: “In my 35 harvests, the two hardest were 1989 and 2011. You had to know what you were doing in those two vintages to make decent wine.”

Steve and Carole only made 350 cases of the 2011 Syrah. $48 a bottle.

There were other wonderful 2011 discoveries at the Tasting:

Tanya Beers, marketing manager for Mount. Veeder Winery, pours for guests at the Appellation tasting. She is joined here by Curtis Ropp, “brand ambassador” for Mount Veeder Winery.

2011 Mount Veeder Winery Cabernet Franc

A blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec exhibiting delicious top notes, and great blue fruit, which I always think is a hallmark of well made Cab Franc. Only 150 cases made, available only at the winery. $50.

Samantha Hansen, wine educator for The Hess Collection, pours for guests.

2011 The Hess Collection Mt. Veeder Cabernet

A blend of 85% Cabernet and 15% Malbec, this wine is closer to the “simple” end of the graph axis than the “complex” end, but it delivers good flavor, is very pretty and certainly approachable right now. $50.

Estate manager, Brooke Gadke, at Mt. Brave, explains the geology of the winery with large, loopy visuals. Helluva good wine.

2011 Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon

From a vintage which the wine press said was horrible, comes this impressive, big, well structured wine which you want to swallow, not spit. Lots of purple fruit, very approachable, and a discernable hint of licorice on the finish. $75.

Betty O’Shaughnessy of O’Shaughnessy Estate Winery.

2011 O’Shaughnessy Estate. Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon

Pretty, elegant, feminine – describes Betty herself, as well as her 2011 effort. What’s not to like about either?

Betty admits that her 2011 wine has less stuffing than most years, but she has turned out an admirable win. $100.

Paul and daughter Laura Woolls, of Progeny. Laura calls herself “the Progeny elf,” helping her dad when she has free time from studies. Paul did not make any wine in 2011, so there are no comments.

Jimmy Hayes, estate director at Mayacamas Vineyards, tells guests about the winery and the very, very good 1999 and 2009 Cab Sauvignons he poured today. Jimmy did not bring any 2011 wines to pour

What you need to know about Mt. Veeder:

In 1981, Napa Valley became California’s first officially recognized wine Appellation. Or in wine-speak, an American Viticultural Area, or AVA.

Over the years, sub-sections of the lager parcel, Napa Valley, have become sub-appellations, where there is demonstrable change in soil or climate. Today, there are 16 sub-appellations, Mt. Veeder being one of them.

Mt. Veeder is a peak in the Mayacamas Mountain range, which mostly runs south to north along the western edge of Napa Valley. It has an elevation of 600 to 2100 feet, and Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, Syrah and Chardonnay are grown here.

My favorite shirt worn by one of the men attending this year’s appellation festivity.

2012 Napa Valley Cabernet – The OMG! Vintage. $4,333.33 per bottle proves the point.

The price paid per bottle for 2012 Scarecrow’s special Cabernet selection called Toto’s Opium Dream, Scene III. A 5-case lot sold for $260,000 this weekend. That’s $52,000 a case, or $4,333.33 per bottle.

More than 600 wine buyers, restaurant wine directors, sommeliers and wine retailers descended on Napa Valley this weekend for a three-day, mid-winter, extravaganza known as Premiere Napa Valley.

For the first two days, appellation associations and individual wineries entertained the out-of-town tradesfolk at daytime and late-into-the-night parties.

And then Saturday, the trade crammed into the Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone campus, in St. Helena, to bid $5.9 million for one-of-a-kind, auction lots of (mostly) 2012, not-yet-released, Napa Valley Cabernets.

Fritz Hatton, one of two auctioneers, set the tempo for a three-and-a-half-hour auction, which raised $5.9 million.

Previously, the high water mark of auction proceeds from this annual event was last year’s $3,044,500. In other words, Napa Valley Vintners, organizers of the event, nearly doubled their best-ever previous total. Doubled!

Today’s barrel auction, the 18th annual version, is one of the wine trade’s most eagerly anticipated auctions because it gives buyers their first glimpse – and first taste -- of the next, soon-to-be-released vintage of Napa Valley Cabernet.

Wine buyers from 8 countries and 28 states attended the auction.

Proceeds support Napa Valley Vintners’ mission to promote the Napa Valley appellation, its wines, vintners and community. With this auction’s astounding results -- $5.9 million -- they should have enough funds to promote Napa Valley wines even on Mars!

The highest bid for a lot was the $260,000 bid for 5 cases of 2012 Scarecrow. It was purchased by Los Angles retailer The Wine House.

“We are thrilled to bring home this magnificent wine, drawn from the J.J. Cohn vineyard from nearly seventy-year-old vines,” Bill Knight of The Wine House, told organizers.

For consumers who read this blog, the big question, of course, is:

“OK, just how good are the 2012 Napa Valley Cabs?”

While most winemakers with whom I spoke over the three-day, wine weekend deemed 2012 “the best vintage we have seen in at least 15 years,” wine producers are fully aware that 2013, coming down the pike for release next year, is an even better vintage.

One talented winemaker, who asked to remain unnamed, told me:

“2012 was a perfect vintage. I mean PERFECT. But wine makers are reluctant to say it’s the ‘Vintage of a lifetime,’ because we all know that one year from today, at next year’s barrel auction, we’re all going say that 2013 is the ‘Vintage of a lifetime,’ and you know how that’s going to fly - we’re going to look like jerks for saying the same thing two years in a row.”

What winemakers say on the record about the 2012 vintage

Mary Rocca, owner, and Paul Colantuoni, consulting winemaker, Rocca Family Vineyard

Paul Colantuoni, consulting winemaker to Rocca Family Vineyard:

“The fruit in 2012 is a mile deep and a mile wide. We LOVE our 2012 Cabernet.” Paul said this with a capital-letters-kind-of-emphasis on the word ‘love.’

Winemaker dad, Chris Phelps, and winemaker son, Josh Phelps, who produce Ad Vivum Cellars

Chris Phelps, who is winemaker at Swanson and also winemaker of his own brand, Ad Vivum, summarized the 2012 vintage:

“This is the first of two back-to-back vintages which demonstrate what Napa Valley Cabernet can achieve. There were no weather extremes in 2012. Vineyard managers just watched and waited... watched and waited. If you picked at the peak of ripeness, and didn’t mistreat your fruit – you made gorgeous Cabernet.”

Nicole and Ryan Hill of Hill Family Estate

“2012 was a rare vintage,” says Ryan Hill of Hill Family Estate, in Yountville. “It was one of those rare years when grape growers were happy with what they produced... and wine makers were happy with what they produced. In most years, one of them is unhappy – and often with the other’s output!”

Jean-Charles Boisset, owner of Raymond Vineyards, hosted a magnificent party Thursday for the St. Helena Appellation in his winery’s “Crystal Room.” Glasses were abundantly filled with extravagant wines from the 2010, 2011 or 2012 vintage, poured by reps from 31 different appellation wineries. Space does not permit a detailed critique of these wines, but they were real palate pleasers.

Katharine DeSante, winemaker, and Linda Neal, owner, Tierra Roja Vineyards.

“2012 was a classic vintage,” says Katharine DeSante, winemaker at Tierra Roja Vineyards. “The wine has excellent structure and textbook balance.”

Elias Fernandez, winemaker, Shafer Vineyards.

“2012 is a poster child for the perfect vintage,” says Elias Fernandez, who has been making wine at Shafer Vineyards, earning impressive scores and begetting a cult following, for 30 years.

“I started working with Doug (Shafer) 30 years ago next month - specifically, March 24, 1984,” Elias adds.

(As an aside: Napaman has learned that to commemorate their 30-year history together, Elias and Doug are launching a wine to be called something like “Project 84” in the next few weeks. Details will be announced shortly.)

Greg Martin, owner, and Aaron Pott, consulting winemaker, Martin Estate

Napaman asked Aaron Pott, consulting winemaker to Martin Estate, to complete the sentence: “The 2012 Napa Valley Vintage is ___________.”

Aaron filled in the blank: “... a vintage of exceptional elegance.”

He went on to say that while the vintage is not one of power (that will come with 2013 Cabernets when released a year or more from now), it is a vintage of noticeable complexity.

Aaron compares the 2012 vintage to 1991, which was one of my own personal favorite vintages of the entire 1990s decade, and compares the next-to-be-released Cabernets from 2013 similar to wines from the 1994 vintage, only better.

After tasting more than 100 Cabernet-based wines this weekend from the 2012 vintage, my own observation is that I can’t remember a barrel auction in the last 15 years at which the still-in-barrel samples were so gorgeous and approachable. I have never applied the word “delicious” to so many barrel samples.

Basically, what most winemakers say about the 2012 vintage is that if you are a local winemaker and failed to make a gorgeous, voluptuous, harmonious, approachable, elegant wine, perhaps you should think about a new career – maybe try working at that other Napa – the one that specializes in Auto Parts... this one:

 

Multi-Vintage Perspective

Molly Brooks-Thornton, of the Barrel Room, San Diego, CA, and Rina Bussell of Altura Restaurant, Seattle, WA, taste through 62 different wines blind at the Friday Multi-Vintage Perspective hosted by Napa Valley Vintners.

 

The barrel tasting

Preceding Saturday’s barrel auction, out-of-town wine buyers caromed from kiosk to kiosk in the CIA’s barrel room, tasting as many of the 225 to-be-auctioned wines as possible in a three-hour, free-for-all.

After the barrel tasting, guests were invited to a sensational lunch prepared by culinary students at the CIA. This is often my favorite buffet of the year, just as the barrel auction is one of my favorite wine events of the year. I enjoyed a 2009 Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet with my meal selections – guests had their choice of hundreds of different, top-tier Napa Valley wines.

The single best scallop that I have tasted in the past five years was served at the luncheon buffet; a sweet and sensuous sea scallop, served atop a puree of mashed potato and celery root puree, was crowned with a dollop of fermented, black garlic aioli. Napaman went back for three servings – THAT’S how good they were. Chef-to-be Heidi Mitchell, served them (above).

The little darlin’s...

And finally, for sheer originality...

I noticed the following tattoo of an old-fashioned, wooden, grape press on the forearm of Kenneth Olsen, a Dane who lives in Copenhagen, who attended Premiere to purchase Napa Valley wines for clients in Copenhagen. Now that’s wine passion – way to go, Ken!

 Look familiar...?

 

Coravin – Let’s You Remove Wine from a Bottle without Pulling the Cork. Talk about a Game-Changer!

The Coravin wine access system, which wine writer Robert Parker predicts will revolutionize the way the world drinks wine, is finally here.

The small, hand-held Coravin device was unveiled in Napa Valley last evening at a reception at Bardessono, in Yountville.

Karen MacNeil, author of The Wine Bible, speaks with Peter Granoff, owner of the Ferry Plaza  Wine Merchant in San Francisco.

Nearly 200 local winemakers and members of the press were present as were Greg Lambrecht, inventor of Coravin, and Nick Lazaris, Coravin’s CEO.

Nick Lazaris, CEO of Coravin, speaking in the late afternoon sun, to 200 winemakers and members of the press.

Although it’s said “Necessity is the mother of invention,” in the case of Coravin, Motherhood was the necessity of the invention.

Greg Lambrecht, inventor of the Coravin Wine Access System

“My wife got pregnant with our second child and I lost my wine drinking partner,” explains Coravin inventor, Greg Lambrecht.

“I quickly tired of pouring out a half-bottle of wine each night so I turned to my medical technology background to solve the problem of wasted wine.”

It helps that, professionally, Greg, 44, has invented surgical needles for spinal taps.

With these skills, Greg invented Coravin, a device that enables you to draw wine from a bottle without peeling off the foil or pulling the cork.

“The key was figuring out how to remove wine from the bottle without introducing oxygen -- so that wine remaining in the bottle would continue to age as it would have, had no wine ever been removed,” Greg explains.

Although Coravin appears to be an overnight success, it has taken Greg 14 years of development to bring the device to market this month.

The Technology: How Coravin Works

An ultra-thin, surgical-grade, stainless steel, Teflon-coated, hollow, bullet-shaped, needle passes through the foil and cork to access the wine. 

Pressing a trigger releases argon gas into the bottle. Argon, an inert gas, is the third most populous natural gas we breathe (after nitrogen and oxygen).

The pressurized argon pushes wine out through holes in the side of the needle, causing it to flow out a spout, into your glass. At no time does oxygen enter the bottle. 

Once the needle is removed, the cork naturally reseals itself, and the remaining wine continues to evolve naturally.

Cork, with 220 million cells per square inch, has highly elastic properties. The cork, which was the closure when you bought the wine, remains the closure, conserving wine remaining in the bottle.

To be clear: Coravin is NOT a preservation device. It is a device to ACCESS wine. It’s a whole new way to get at your wine – one glass at a time, without having to commit to a whole bottle every time you’d like a fresh glass of wine. 

What do local winemakers say about Coravin?

KR Rombauer has become one of the most vocal Coravin supporters in Napa Valley

KR Rombauer, head of Rombauer Vineyards, whom I call “Captain Coravin,” can be found many nights in a local restaurant, his trusty Coravin in hand, accessing many different bottles of wine. Here’s what KR has to say about Coravin:

“This incredible device permits me to taste wines months – even years! – after a bottle has previously been accessed. It’s the first time in the history of winemaking that we’ve been able to do this!”

“Every glass from a previously Coravin’d bottle tastes like the first glass you would pour had no wine ever been removed from the bottle!”

David Duncan, President and CEO of Silver Oak

Here’s what David Duncan, President and CEO Silver Oak Cellars, has to say about Coravin:

“Coravin is great for people who want to enjoy a glass of wine, or even more exciting, have a taste of several wines at once.

Now we can truly enjoy wine the way it was meant to be enjoyed - one glass at a time!” 

Chuck McMinn, owner Vineyard 29 and a Coravin investor

Here’s Chuck McMinn of Vineyard 29 waxing poetically about Coravin:

“Coravin is going to dramatically change the way fine wines are enjoyed by removing the ‘all or nothing’ choice as to when you might open a bottle. Now you can have a glass of wine from any one of those great bottles in your cellar – anytime.”

How Napaman discovered Coravin

Lest readers forget, napaman was the first journalist anywhere to break the story of Coravin – last January, after I discovered it in a beta trial at Del Posto restaurant, in NYC.

Massimiliano Giovanonni, (then) head sommelier at Del Posto, in NYC, last January, poured wines at tableside with a Coravin, which is where and when napaman discovered the handheld device.

At Del Posto, using the Coravin at tableside, they have been able to serve much more expensive wines without the fear of spoilage that comes from conventionally opening bottles. As such, using the Coravin, they now offer many wines by the glass, ranging in price from $50 to $500 a glass. That’s right, I said $500 A GLASS.

I saw the Coravin in use and decided that not only did I want to buy the device, but I immediately also thought about buying the company! Or at the very least, a small part of it.

Which is what I was able to do. I am now an investor in Coravin.  So please understand that despite my unbridled enthusiasm for Coravin, I have a potential gain to make by yapping on about it here.

I have had free use of a Coravin demo model for three months in my home and it has changed the way my wife and I drink wine. 

Now every bottle in our cellar is available by-the-glass. I playfully conduct my own vertical, or horizontal, tastings for just the two of us.

When friends come over for dinner, I can offer them tastes from any wine in the cellar; some nights, we “access” a glass from six, or seven, different wines and put the bottles back in the cellar. If I revisit these bottles in a year, there will be no change in the wine.

And nights when Carol, my wife, wants a glass of white and I desire a glass of red, we no longer throw out the remains of two unfinished bottles; we simply “access” a glass of white and a glass of red from their respective bottles and I don’t worry about spoilage – we can return to these bottles another night... another week... even a year later. That’s the beauty of Coravin’ing your wine.

“Every night is now Friday night in our home,” says Carol. “Now we drink our best wines every night; we’re not distressed about losing wine from opened bottles.”

How Coravin came into being and how it was used in trials at Del Posto:

  

After a year of trials at Del Posto, refinements were made to the Coravin device, which are included in the just-released model called the Coravin 1000.

Over this period, Greg and Joe Bastianich struck up a relationship, which is apparent in this short clip. For the record, restaurateur Joe Bastianich has become an investor in Coravin.

 

A GIFT FOR NAPAMAN.COM READERS!

As I am connected to Coravin, I wanted to reward anyone who had the curiosity – and time! – to read this far down into my Coravin story.

As such, I’ve arranged with the Coravin team to offer napaman.com readers a special gift: if you order the Coravin Wine Access System ($279 without capsules) and input the special code “napaman” at checkout, you will receive, absolutely free, a 3-pack of argon capsules, which have a $30 value.

If you purchase additional units in the same order, the “napaman” code, input once, will automatically add another free 3-pack of capsules for each Coravin unit you have placed in your cart.

The promo code is time sensitive!

This promotion is good from Friday morning, August 9, through to 9 pm PDT Monday, August 12.

To order your Coravin, or for more information, go to coravin.com.

Wanna see a 30-second clip of the Coravin in action? Go here:

www.coravin.com/tech

 

Best Manhattan and Best Burger in Napa Valley – and they’re in the Same Restaurant!

There are days that I wake up thinking about the best burger and the best Manhattan cocktail that I have ever had.

They are served at Goose & Gander, in St. Helena, and often, as I open my eyes, I think: “This is going to be a G&G Manhattan & Burger Day.” In short, I am addicted.

To others like me, who are co-dependent on this incomparable, perfect pairing, Goose & Gander is now the large X on our local gastronomic map. X marks the spot for Sublime Pleasure.

I asked one of America’s top sommeliers to join me at G&G earlier this month to experience this formidable food/cocktail pairing and he pronounced the Manhattan, which bartender Scott Beattie has perfected, “the best Manhattan I’ve ever had.”

And that’s saying something, because this sommelier lives and works, in Manhattan, NY, where they know something about making delicious cocktails. Especially the city’s namesake drink.

How much do I love the Manhattan and Burger at G&G? Consider this my 1138-word love poem for the perfect Manhattan and perfect succulent, juicy, addictive burger served here.

First, We Take Manhattan

(With thanks to Canadian poet and singer, Leonard Cohen, who wrote and composed “First We Take Manhattan. His lyrics: “First we take Manhattan... then we take Berlin...”)

Scott Beattie making the Perfect Manhattan

Popular myth suggests that the Manhattan cocktail originated at the Manhattan Club in New York City in the 1870s where it was invented for a banquet hosted by Winston Churchill’s mother.

Supposedly, the success of the banquet made the drink fashionable, prompting people to request the drink by referring to the name of the club where it originated—"the Manhattan cocktail."

However, if truth be known, Winston’s mother, Lady Randolph Churchill, was in France at the time, so the story is fictive.

Since inception, wherever and when ever that was, the Manhattan has always been a mix of American whiskey, Italian vermouth and Angostura bitters.

Scott Beattie, bartender extraordinaire, at Goose & Gander

“When my co-bartender Michael Pazdan and I were asked to set up the bar at Goose & Gander, we assembled 300 different whiskies and spirits to select the best flavor combinations,” recalls Scott Beattie.

“To make the best tasting Manhattan, we opted for a combination of equal parts bourbon and rye. It makes a more compelling drink.”

Beam me aboard, Scottie!

Scott’s personal choices were for Evan Williams Single Barrel Bourbon and Templeton Rye, which together produce warm, harmonious, tones; cut them with Carpano Antica, an Italian vermouth, add splashes of three different bitters, and you have the makings of a Perfect Manhattan.

The Holy Trinity of Spirits used by Scott Beattie to make his Best-Ever Manhattan

Then Scott adds unique touches to amplify pleasure:

Instead of pouring the stirred (never shaken), ingredients over small ice cubes, Scott opts to pour them over ONE large cube that’s about the size of a major league baseball. Or Muhammad Ali’s fist.

Cutting a single ice cube out of a 25-pound block of ice

“We import our ice from San Francisco where we have a specialty firm make 25-pound blocks for us of oxygen-removed, totally clear ice,” says Scott. We saw it down to manageable size with a chain saw and then use a serrated knife to chip it into individual cubes.”

“This is how they chilled cocktails when they were first invented,” Scott points out, “so our practice pays homage to the drink’s origin.”

Besides, Scott says that one large cube does a better job of chilling the drink and doesn’t dilute the whiskies, as smaller cubes might do.

Another secret to the G&G Manhattan is that it is made with not one, but splashes of THREE different bitters. These are Angostura Aromatic Bitters, Jerry Thomas’ The Bitter Truth Bitters, and Fee Brothers Old-Fashioned Aromatic Bitters.

Bartenders, to whom napaman has spoken about Manhattan cocktails, generally choose two commercially available liqueur-infused cherries for garnish.

Some barmen like Amarena Fabbri wild cherries from Italy; others, like Scott, prefer Kirsch-soaked Morello cherries, produced in France under the Griottines label. Both products are available on amazon.com.

And finally, for home mixologists, there is this sensational tip:

COMBINE ALL THE INGREDIENTS IN A SEALABLE JAR DAYS, EVEN WEEKS, AHEAD OF SERVING. STORE AT ROOM TEMPERATURE, OR IN THE FRIDGE, AND POUR THE MIXTURE OVER A LARGE SINGLE ICE CUBE IN A WIDE, OLD-FASHIONED, WHISKEY GLASS WHEN DESIRED.

“All the ingredients in a Manhattan are high in alcohol,” says Scott. “We mix them together in their proper ratios and store the mixture in a container for later use – we never have time to make individual Manhattans from scratch at the bar.”

So the barman makes up quarts, or gallons, of his cocktail mix ahead of time, and pours out drinks as they are ordered.

Mixologists at home can do the same.

How to Make the Perfect Manhattan

¾ oz Evan Williams Single Barrel Bourbon (or bourbon of your choice)

¾ oz Templeton Rye (or any rye of your choice)

¾ oz  Carpano Antica Sweet Italian Vermouth

Splash each of Angostura Aromatic Bitters and Jerry Thomas’ The Bitter Truth Bitters and ½ splash of Fee Brothers Old-Fashioned Aromatic Bitters      

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, mix together all ingredients.

Using a metal bartender’s spoon, stir well. Do not shake.

Pour over one large ice cube in a wide-mouthed, old-fashioned whiskey glass. Garnish with several Amarena wild cherries, or Griottines Kirsch-macerated, Morello cherries.

AND NOW, FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT:

THE BEST BURGER TO ACCOMPANY THE BEST MANHATTAN

Why stop at perfection from the bar?

The kitchen at G&G is equally successful in the domain of Perfection. Namely, their burgers.

Here’s what makes this burger so dramatically better than any other burger I have tasted in Napa Valley:

They ask their meat purveyor to blend ground chuck that has been procured from three different ranches.

The G&G burger has a sheen, a juicy ooziness, that first affects the eye – and afterward the palate -- the same way a sensual Renoir, or Cezanne, painting causes wonderment,  sometimes leading to Stendhal’s Syndrome, a condition experienced when art (or hamburgers!) cause you to faint from the overwhelming pleasure of the experience.

Oh, and the burger’s taste? Magnificent. Primal. Ethereal. Addictive.

Each 9.5-ounce burger is grilled over a combination of hardwoods and served on a ciabatta bun created exclusively for G&G by Model Bakery, in St. Helena.

The burger is topped with Romaine leaves, cheese, bacon, bone marrow (optional) and the bun is lathered with a tasty, textured, remoulade sauce.

The burger is accompanied by a generous serving of French fries twice-fried in duck fat.

If you can find a better burger in Napa Valley – or a better Manhattan – napaman wants to hear about it.

Until we have the names of other Bar n’ Burger candidates to share with readers of this column, head to Goose & Gander for your own OMG! Manhattan & Burger moment.

Where all this takes place...

Goose & Gander, 1245 Spring St., St. Helena. 707-967-8779.

2010 Rutherford Cabs – one of the three best vintages of the last decade!

Wine writers gathered to taste the 2010s

Members of the press and trade were invited to two events today in Rutherford, at the epicenter of Napa Valley, to get a sense of the appellation’s just-released 2010 Cabernet Sauvignons.

Beaulieu Vineyards hosted the event to which Bay-area journalists, wine writers and wine retailers were invited. Thirty-five Rutherford wineries participated in the afternoon trade show.

For writers, 2010 might be called “The Vintage From Hell to Describe,” because how good Napa Valley 2010 Cabs turned out depends on whom you ask.

Charles Thomas, winemaker at Quintessa, pours for Rick Kushman of Capital Public Radio.

Charles Thomas, winemaker at Quintessa, called 2010 “one of the three best vintages of the decade for Quintessa.”

He added, “Yes, there was fear of rain, and fear of heat, but we picked and sorted properly and the result speaks for itself.”

The Magician’s Vintage?

Other winemakers called 2010 “The Magician’s Vintage,” suggesting that good winemakers had to pull a rabbit – or a great claret – out of a hat at the last minute, faced as all winemakers were with a tumultuous growing season that featured heat spikes to 110 F degrees in August and five inches of rain in late October, 2010.

Staglin winemaker Fredrik Johansson and owner Shari Staglin

“2010 was one of the toughest growing seasons,” said Fredrik Johansson, winemaker at Staglin. “We had to contend with damp days, foggy days, heat, rain, all of it made even more challenging as we’re all-organic.”

Grape grower and vineyard specialist Dave Piña leads press discussion

Grape growers like Dave Piña, who spend time in the vineyards, have a different, nuanced appreciation of the vintage. “Trust me, it didn’t matter whether you picked before the October rains or not – it’s how you grew and tended your grapes all season long that mattered,” he explained.

Dave might well be right. In a blind tasting of 18 Rutherford Cabs from 2010, I rated his Piña Firehouse Vineyard 93 points – my second favorite wine in the tasting. It is a sensational wine -- and for the record, Dave picked AFTER the October rains. His grapes all got washed by the October downpour.

BTW: Lest readers think Rutherford is some HUGE appellation, here’s the reality: Rutherford has a reputation that far exceeds its geographic footprint.

Rutherford, only six square miles in size, is planted with 3,518 acres of vines, producing less than one-quarter-of-one-percent (that’s .25 percent!) of all the wine produced in America. By comparison, Disney World in Orlando, FLA, at 47 acres, is nearly eight times bigger!

In the morning blind tasting:

The Board of the Rutherford Dust Society selected 18 Cabernets from the 2010 vintage and poured them blind for assembled journalists.

Napaman tasted through them, scored and ranked the wines. At this annual event, in many previous years, the least expensive wines in this tasting score higher than the most expensive wines. Such was not the case today.

In fact, the most expensive wine in the blind tasting, the 2010 Staglin INEO Cabernet was my favorite blind-tasted wine, scoring 94 points. The wine is $250 a bottle, which is considerably more than any other wine in the tasting.

I asked Staglin winemaker Fredrik Johansson to explain the origin of the name.

“INEO is Latin for “beginning,” and we first applied it to our Rutherford Cab the year we departed from our conventional vineyard blend. For the first time – our new beginning -- we added Cabernet Franc and Petite Verdot to the blend.”

Blind Tasting Summary

Here were my top 5 wines, tasted blind, from 18 presented.

All are 2010 Cabs, all the fruit comes from Rutherford.

Staglin INEO, $250 a bottle, to be released Oct. 1, 2013. 94 points.

This wine had a gorgeous nose, sporting rich, elegance right out of the glass. Of all the wines tasted, it had the most velours-like texture, which set it apart from all the other wines tasted. Words like “gorgeous, elegant, restrained,“ appear in the margins of my tasting sheet for this wine.

 

Piña Napa Valley Firehouse Vineyard, $85 a bottle, to be released this summer. 93 points.

It’s hard not to love this wine, which scored a single point difference from the Staglin above, yet it costs two-thirds less.

Dave Piña has previously been named Napa Valley Winegrower of the Year, he is head of the Rutherford volunteer fire department, and he’s a helluva great guy, to which I can attest from social gatherings and evenings we’ve spent together.

His 2010 wine had warm notes, a generous lode of coffee, even on the nose, and nearly the same type of textural elements found in the Staglin Cab.

Frank Family Vineyards, Winston Hill Red Wine, $150 a bottle, to be released in September, 2013. 92 points.

I thought this wine was a bit hot on the nose, suggestive of a high alcohol level. But I did like the almost grapefruit rind aroma that evolved in my glass over thirty minutes. Really liked the complexity of this wine through about 80 percent of the swallow, and then, at the very end, the alcohol snapped me out of my reverie. Over time, this wine will likely calm down, and the components integrate, resulting in a very pretty wine, indeed.

Conn Creek Winery, Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford Estate, $65 a bottle, to be released in 2014. 92 points.

Ripe fruit on the nose, and a touch of minerality on the palate, which was lacking in ALL other wines in this tasting. I really liked the generous finish.

Foley Johnson, Rutherford Estate Cabernet, $75 a bottle, already released. 92 points.

Well integrated fruit on the nose and a delicious middle palate. Sensuous texture and a pleasing finish.

From a new winery in Rutherford – former home of Sawyer Winery.

Welcome, new neighbor!  (Though for accuracy, Brad Warner was winemaker at Sawyer for years and continues to make the wine at Foley Johnson. But you’ve really torn the stitches off the ball this year, Brad, sending it up... up.. easily a three-base hit ... just missing the center field wall for a home run.)

In the afternoon, members of the wine trade were invited to taste 2010 Cabs and one other wine of the winemaker’s choice, from among 35 Rutherford wineries pouring at the event.

Noticeably absent – one of the 800-pound gorillas in the appellation, Inglenook, formerly called Rubicon, and before that Niebaum-Coppola. You know the place, you know the owner, Francis Ford Coppola.

Why the no-show? Insiders refer to the fact that there are a lot of changes being made internally as the winery converts all its brands, labels, and merchandise to Inglenook.

“This will take some time to complete,” one insider told napaman.com. I suspect we’ll see Inglenook in full play next year.

I sampled Inglenook’s recent releases at the winery last weekend and they are seriously good wines that likely would have shown well today at the Rutherford Dust Society Tasting.

FYI: The Rutherford Dust Society was founded in 1994 by growers and vintners to carry on the legacy of grape growing and winemaking, which started here eons ago.

The revered, late winemaker André Tchelistcheff said it best:

"It takes Rutherford dust to grow great Cabernet."

What is fondly referred to as "Rutherford dust," has come to reflect a “commitment to quality, a spirit of achievement and a deep connection to Rutherford's soil,” says the Board of the Rutherford Dust Society.

Napaman.com readers wishing to experience their own Rutherford Tasting must be patient... please circle Dec. 6, 7 and 8 on your calendar this year, the weekend of this year’s annual, Rutherford Passport Weekend.

Participants will visit Rutherford wineries and be treated to exclusive barrel tastings, food pairings and entertainment. You can even speak with winemakers and share your observations about their wine. (Careful – some of them are permitted to pack more than a corkscrew...).

Details to come at rutherford-appellation-wineries.com

Sign in the barrel-aging room today at Beaulieu Vineyards

Happy Woulda-been 100th Birthday, Bob!

Robert Mondavi in 1966 

My friend Robert Mondavi would have turned 100-years-old today.

To commemorate his 100^th birthday, and acknowledge how much he influenced the lives of so many of us living in Napa Valley, Margrit Mondavi, and Bob’s eponymous winery, hosted a birthday party of sorts this afternoon.

Margrit Mondavi and Genevieve Janssens, Director of Winemaking.

Some 200 guests assembled on the lawn at the foot of Bob’s favorite vineyard, To Kalon, and toasted to his memory with a glass of perfectly chilled Robert Mondavi Fume Blanc. Bob would have loved it.

Margrit spoke and said that her 28 years married to Robert were among the most cherished of her life.

Genevieve Janssens, Director of Winemaking at Mondavi, spoke and said that going forward, all Mondavi Reserve Cabernet bottlings would, for the first time, be made exclusively with fruit from the To Kalon vineyard, which Bob identified as being the most important, best producing, vineyard in the valley.

“Mr. Mondavi always urged us to keep improving our wines,” said Genevieve. “From now on, we will only use fruit from To Kalon in our reserve Cabernet... which is one more way to keep improving our wines,” she added.

To make better wine, to make wine as good as, or better than, the wines coming out of the Old World, that was Bob’s passion.

And boy, did he make a difference and prove his point.

I remember nights in the winery’s Vintage Room, well beyond 1 am, spent with Bob and one of his visiting Great Chefs of France, like Jean Troisgros, or Paul Bocuse, sipping and comparing Mondavi Cabernets, or Mondavi Pinot Noirs, with French selections from Bordeaux, or Burgundy, respectively.

The chefs always agreed that Bob was on to something... that his wines complemented their dishes equally as well as any wines they brought over from France, and quite a few chefs agreed, off the record in our late night tasting sessions, that they liked Bob’s Napa Valley wines more.

Happy Birthday, Bob, wherever you are. I raised a glass to your memory this afternoon, and I shall do so again tonight. It’s an ideal occasion to pull an old Mondavi Cabernet out of the cellar and thank you, one more time, for having introduced me to Napa Valley.

It’s Party Time in Napa Valley!

 

Napa Valley is in high spirits this weekend, doing what it does best – throwing a four-day party.

This one, hosted by the Napa Valley Vintners, has attracted 2,000 guests, most of whom attended today’s Barrel Auction.

Tomorrow, about half these guests will attend – and bid at  -- the weekend’s central event, a live auction featuring 45 one-of-a-kind, wine-and-travel-themed lots.

Shari, daughter Shannon, and Garen Staglin, chairs of this year’s Wine Auction. Why do they call them “chairs” when no one in this family, including son Brandon, not pictured, ever sits down!?

Given the nature of the auction lots, and the hard work of the Staglin family, who are chairs of Auction Napa Valley this year, napaman predicts that this year will be the largest fund-raiser ever for the annual event, which, in 32 previous years, has raised more than $110 million for community services and health care.

Despite cutbacks in social services at the federal and state level, community programs in Napa Valley continue to excel, thanks to funds raised at this annual charity auction.

The Staglins have worked diligently for more than a year, traveling the globe to implore past auction winners to return once again to raise their paddles.

“There are many lots to tempt attendees this year,” Garen Staglin told napaman. “We’re looking for the irrational generosity of bidders to fund Napa Valley charities.”

Bruce Cakebread, president of Napa Valley Vintners, said that how much is raised is not the concern, “it’s raising enough to be able to continue to fund community projects we’ve undertaken – things like children’s health care, and English language training.”

Given the Staglins’ skills at fundraising, Napaman confidently predicts that under their stewardship, this weekend’s charity auction will zoom past the previous high-water mark of $10.2 million raised at a single wine auction. Napaman predicts that the event will raise $12 to $13 million.

An ooooh... the lots!

In addition to bringing in bidders, the Staglins have also encouraged exceptional individuals to donate exceptional gifts. As a result, at tomorrow’s auction, guests will be able to bid on:

+ A plane trip to London with the San Francisco 49ers

+ A first-class trip to Tokyo with Naoko Dalle Valle, and dinner at the best sushi restaurant in the world, Sushi Jiro

+ Trips to Scotland, to South Korea, to France or to Italy, the latter hosted by Baroness Philippine de Rothschild and Marchese Piero Antinori, who are respectively co-owners of Opus One and Antica wineries in Napa Valley

+ A trip to China where you will meet retired basketball star/vintner Yao Ming and then see a Shanghai Sharks basketball game

+ A cruise on the world’s largest mega-yacht

+ A chance to drive a McLaren 12C Spider racing car -- with an option to buy it, of course; as well, a trip to the US Grand Prix with access to the McLaren suite

Rick Jones, of Jones Family Vineyards

 + Take a group of 12 to a Giants ballgame in San Francisco – and watch from the luxury box of the Giant’s President and CEO, courtesy of Jones Family Vineyards

+ A vertical tasting of 20 vintages of Harlan Estate for you and seven pals

+  A cruise to the Arctic Circle

Cars seem to be a common theme at this year’s auction

+ Lamborghini Gallardo track driving experience for four – and then private jet to Emilia–Romagna for a week of private touring with Beth Nickel of Far Niente

+ And there is even one lot with nothing more than a single bottle of wine. But what a bottle and what a wine: a 12-liter Balthazar of Screaming Eagle

But that’s what’s on the auction block tomorrow. Today’s party – thrown amidst blocs of Cabernet vines at Raymond Vineyards – was all about the Barrel Auction.

Jean-Charles Boisset, host of today’s event, held at Raymond Vineyards

The host of today’s event was Jean-Charles Boisset, who purchased the famed Raymond Vineyard four years ago and who has sculpted it into a prized property.

At today’s barrel auction, bidders competed for highly prized cases of (mostly) Cabernet; they made as much noise and hoopla as fans at a San Francisco 49ers/Oakland Raiders game. Only no one painted his face orange today, or dressed up in a pirate’s outfit.

To attend today’s barrel auction and food/wine Showcase, guests paid $500 each.

Tim Mondavi pours his fabled Continuum wine, one of 100 vintners pouring barrel samples of their next-vintage wines

Wines that I tasted, which stood out from among 100 different barrel offerings, included the 2011 O’Shaughnessy Estate Petite Verdot, the 2012 Ovid Cabernet Sauvignon, and the 2012 Continuum from Pritchard Hill, which Tim Mondavi calls a “red table wine,” which is like calling a Maserati “a car for running errands.”

Between placing bids for cases of wine that won’t be bottled for one-to two-years, guests today enjoyed the fare of more than 40 top Napa Valley restaurants and food purveyors.

Shar Hills presents scrumptious mozzarella arancini, served with a basil aioli, from Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen.

Napaman loved the Vietnamese-style, Roast Chicken Banh Mi sandwiches served by Kitchen Door (in Oxbow Market, Napa)

Greg Cole, chef and owner of Celadon, prepares delicious ahi poke salad, served on a crispy won ton chip.

Napa Valley Vintners, which hosted the weekend wine auction, is the non-profit, trade association that promote and protects the Napa Valley wine appellation. The association represents more than 450 local wineries.

Besides all the barrel lots, the online E-lots, and tomorrow’s live lots, there was one other gaming opportunity for guests: the could buy a raffle ticket for $1000 and win this $130,000 Audi R8 Spyder. Only 500 tickets were made available and by the end of today, more than half were sold.

Do not despair if you live out of town, or missed today’s barrel brouhaha; you can still participate in the bidding fun.

Wine lovers around the world can still bid for more than 170 unique wine lots on the web at the event’s E-Auction. The action is LIVE – go to auctionnapavalley.org.

The E-Auction runs until 6 pm PDT Sunday, and ends in four consecutive waves separated by minutes.

Odds and ends

Unusual shots I liked from the day:

 
Sweetie Pies, in Napa, makes some of my favorite sweets in the valley. I was amused by the sign above, promoting the sensuous dessert they were serving.

As I walked up to Kristen Spelletich, who was pouring her family’s wines, her back was to me and I couldn’t help but notice two different messages tattoo’d on her calves.

One “tat” reads:

I don’t know the key to success but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.

Who said it, Kristen?

“I got it from the marketing guru Bill Cosby, not the TV comedian,” says Kristen.

The other “tat” reads:

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.

Who said it, Kristen?

“Winston Churchill!”

In terms of wisdom and sagesse, this winemaker's got a leg up on others...

Come Celebrate The Cameo Cinema’s 100th Birthday -- Major Party May 15!

Talk about projecting yourself! Over the past century, the Cameo Cinema, in St. Helena, first projected silent films, then talkies, then 3D, computer-generated, digital epics. And now, on the eve of turning 100, the dowager screen queen is being remodeled to become the single best independent movie theater in America.

With more than $300,000 pledged from private donors, Cameo owner-operator Cathy Buck is remodeling the cinema. Local contractors are donating their time and Dolby has donated its top-of-the-line ATMOS screening system.

Cinema-goers are in for a treat. “With ATMOS, we’re adding many speakers, including in the ceiling, which will provide the best movie experience possible, “says Cathy.

Cathy Buck, owner-operator of the Cameo Cinema

“We will be the only independent, single-screen cinema in America with the ATMOS sound system and Meyer Sound speakers,” she adds.

That’s quite an achievement. Meyer Sound is considered THE top speaker-maker in the industry. The Berkeley-based firm makes all the top-end speakers for Pixar, Lucas Films, Skywalker Labs, American Zoetrope and Cirque du Soleil. That’s a Triple-A list of customers. Now add the tiny, tony, terrific Cameo and you get a sense of how good the sound system will be.

Factoid: There are 39,580 movie screens in America today. Not one will have a sound and projection system better than the Cameo's! 

Additional reno details

When the renovation is completed, just ahead of the Cameo’s 100^th Birthday Bash May 15, there will still be 142 seats. And, yes, all the love seats in the last two rows are coming back, all new but the color remains grape purple.

The theater has the size, feel and intimacy of a movie director’s private screening room at home.

Lobby of the Cameo Cinema, before the renovation

At the confection counter, Cathy will add chocolates made locally at the CIA, and sweet potato chips made locally by Food of Love. There will also be a new popcorn machine.

“Every year, we fall short by $75,000, which we make up with fund-raising drives,” says Cathy. This was the reason she applied for, and received, 501c3 status. So now, Friends of the Cameo donations are tax deductible.

May 15 – Cameo’s Centennial Party

The Cameo opened its doors on Main Street, in St. Helena, on May 15, 1913. The first screening was a silent film, Kings of the Forest.

Which is what Cathy will screen for the 100^th birthday bash. Musician Mike Greensill will accompany both the afternoon matinee and the evening screenings with an original score.

Each projection will be followed by a screening of Napa Valley Dreams, a special documentary, which has taken several years to produce; it’s a complete tour of our little paradise, Napa Valley, and it will play several times daily, seven days a week, at the new, upgraded Cameo starting May 16.

For the May 15 matinee birthday bash, doors open at 2 pm, the two films will be screened starting at 3 pm. Cameo popcorn and birthday cupcakes, baked by students at the CIA, are included in the $25 admission ticket.

For the evening screening, guests will first attend a Hollywood-like cocktail party at 7 pm at Caldwell Snyder Gallery, 1328 Main Street, St. Helena. Meadowood’s Michelin-starred chef Christopher Kostow will prepare hors d’oeuvre to accompany premium Napa Valley wines.

As well, chef John Defilippo of the CIA is creating a special anniversary centennial cake and chef Stephen Durfee is producing a unique chocolate sculpture. At 8 pm guests walk the red carpet to the Cameo Cinema to view the two films, which start at 8:30 pm. The $100 admission ticket for the evening includes food, libations and film screenings. 

For additional information, visit cameocinema.com, or drop by the Cameo box office, which opens daily an hour before the day’s first screening. Or call 707-963-9779.

All proceeds from the 100^th Birthday Bash will be donated to Cameo Cinema Community Programming.

Several years ago, I wrote a story about the Cameo Cinema under this headline:

The Second Best Thing You Can Do in the Dark in Napa Valley!

With the giddy rush that comes from watching films screened with the new sound and projection system, I may just have to revise this sentiment; watching films at the Cameo may just become the best thing you can do in the dark in Napa Valley!

Napa Valley Premiere Barrel Auction Raises More than $3 million!

Auctioneer Fritz Hatton sets the auction in motion...

$3,044,500 to be exact, by napaman’s tally.

More than 1,000 wine tradespeople, media personnel and winemakers crammed into the barrel room of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), in St. Helena, today to taste barrel samples of more than 210 wines, most of them from 2011, and then to bid on them.

The event was organized by the Napa Valley Vintners’(NVV) association. Proceeds from the auction are used to promote the valley’s wines. NVV represents about 450 local wineries.

What winemakers were promoting today was their 2011 vintage; guests were given a chance to peak beneath Pandora’s skirt – this was the first official chance for the wine trade to taste the 2011 Cabernets.

Initially, 2011 was the Rodney Dangerfield of vintages; it didn’t get much respect.

Wine writers wrote off the vintage as being water-logged. Production was down so low that many winemakers talked about the pounds of fruit they got off an acre rather than the tons they normally harvest.

Napaman reveals all

But here’s my tip: FORGET what you’ve heard, or read, about the 2011 vintage of Napa Valley Cabs.

Doomsdayers who predicted that the water-logged crop would be lean, mean and green were WRONG. Just plain wrong.

The Barrel tasting Room at the CIA this morning

I’ve just spent three days tasting through dozens of 2011 Cabs and 2011 blends and these wines are soft, pretty, even elegant. And approachable on release. These will be great wines for restaurant wine lists. And also for impatient wine drinkers who don’t want to wait seven years for their wines to age.

The only word one wouldn’t include in describing these wines is “complex.”

Of the 2011 Cabs, which I have tasted, not a single one could be described as “showing great complexity.”

From today’s barrel sampling, I really loved these wines:

2011 Vineyard 29 Cabernet Sauvignon which exhibited a juicy core of fresh, ripe fruit and sweet dark cherries; one of the more thrilling wines of the day, I thought. And so did someone else because the lot fetched $27,000 at auction for 60-bottles.

2011 Turnbull Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, cuvee Le Corbeau.

"! ! !" This was the complete set of notes I made about this wine, so impressed was I by the presence of fruit and character - three very large exclamation marks in the column of my notebook. Nothing more needs to be said about this glorious wine.

2011 ADV (Adler Deutsch Vineyard) Rutherford Cabernet.

I am NOT raving about this wine because I am a personal friend of the Adlers; I just didn’t think it fair to penalize them by omitting their wine because they are friends.

Besides, I heard enough positive spin around the barrel tasting room about this wine to know that I am not alone in praising it; it reminds me of a young Spottswoode, it’s that good.

Elegant, pretty, extremely well balanced and expressing a minerality, which I did not find in many wines of the vintage.

Show Time!

Regular readers of napaman.com will recall that I typically ask winemakers at the annual barrel auction to describe wines of the vintage in terms of a Hollywood star or actor – to give readers a more vivid sense of what the vintage holds, or is like. You know, is it an edgy, boring, or flashy vintage?

Here’s how winemakers responded to the question this year:

If the 2011 vintage in Napa Valley were a Hollywood star, who would it be?

Steve Reynolds of Reynolds Family Winery.. he offered:

“Debby Reynolds. Not because we share the same last name, but because she is classy, classic, stands the test of time and is not flashy. Just like wines of the 2011 vintage.”

Cliff Lede of his eponymous winery suggested...

“Catherine Deneuve. She is elegant, understated, elegant – a timeless beauty.”

The dynamic duo from Broman Cellars: Lisa Augustine, sales & marketing, and Bob Broman, owner and winemaker.. they agreed on their answer:

“Natalie Portman. She is small in stature but her performances are BIG!”

Peter Heitz, winemaker, Turnbull Wine Cellars

“I think the 2011 vintage is best represented by a nameless Sundance Indie actor. Someone who is charming, not well known, somewhat awkward, waiting to be discovered.”

Robert Adler, owner, ADV (Adler Deutsch Vineyards)

“Anne Hathaway, for sure. The wines from this vintage remind me of her – soft, elegant, voluptuous and unforgettable.”

Sue Parry (right) who with her husband Stephen makes a wonderful Cabernet, volunteered to pour wines at lunch; she took the bottle table labeled A-J while Stephen was nearby pouring from bottles labeled K to Z.

Lunch for 1,000 is prepared by students at the CIA, and all the wines are donated by NVV sponsors.

It’s usually a free-for-all at lunch, as guests race to try favorite, hard-to-get wines.

Stephen Parry's wine table, K to Z

After lunch for 1,000 in the CIA kitchen, the auction gets underway in an adjacent room. The air is chilled by the activity of bidders raising their paddles:

The largest single lot sold was $75,000 for 120 bottles of Bevan Cellars and Chateau Boswell Winery’s 2011 Red Wine called “We Will Rock You.”

And the largest price PER BOTTLE was paid for 60 bottles of Shafer Vineyards – Total Wine, a chain with 89 stores across the country, bid $50,000 for the lot, bringing the price per bottle to $833.33.

Total Wine also happened to buy the Bevan/Boswell lot above, too. 

"We want the industry to know that we are serious about high-end wine and the Napa Valley Vintners Premiere Barrel Auction allows us to offer wines not avaialble anywhere else," a spokesperson for Total Wine told napaman.   

"Some people only see us as a big box store, but we are focusing on acquiring impossible-to-come-by wines for our high-end clientele. We purchased many of the top lots at the Barrel Auction, including Bevan/Boswell, Shafer, Cade, Pride, Moone Tsai, Chappellet, Silver Oak, Rombauer, Amici, Spring Mountain, Stags Leap, Baldacci, Raymond, Red Mare, VinRoc, and Peter Paul," the spokesperson added.

How much someone bid per bottle for each of 60 bottles of 2011 Shafer Vineyards Sunspot Vineyard Cabernet.

In an unusual move, someone bid $316.66 per bottle for a Sauvignon Blanc – the 2011 from Lail Vineyards.

Sure hope we don’t see retail prices like this when these wines hit the street!

Finally...

Helen Buehler of Buehler Vineyards

I couldn’t help overhearing the conversation of two young wine producers on the shuttle bus from the event parking lot to the CIA. They made no effort to guard their conversation or keep it private.

 Helen Buehler, on the bus, to a wine pal:

“I had to stay out drinking with a Canadian film crew last night and didn’t get home until 5 am (it being 9 am when she said this).”

“How do you feel?” asked her friend out loud?

“If my hangover were a person, it would be John Goodman!”

Which says it all.

It turns out that even hangovers have star qualities at the Premiere Barrel Auction.

Napa Valley – How I Do Love Thee!

The only way you can make living in Napa Valley any better is to stage a weekend wine event, invite a thousand professional wine tasters, and let them loose, tasting hundreds of unreleased wines.

It’s a bit like inviting lemmings to a cliff. They all come. They all partake. They all jump.

This weekend marks one of my favorite annual wine events in the valley, the mid-winter Premiere Barrel Auction, organized by the highly professional trade group called Napa Valley Vintners (NVV), a marketing association representing 450 local wineries.

This morning’s session, organized by NVV, called a Multi-Vintage Perspective, gave professional tasters and tradespeople a chance to taste three successive vintages of Chardonnay and three of Cabernet Sauvignon, to prove that climate and weather DO make a difference in winemaking here.

The tasting was held at the Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies at the Culinary Institute of America’s St. Helena campus.

British wine expert, Steven Spurrier

Among attendees were Steven Spurrier, the UK wine expert who organized the famous 1976 Paris Wine Tasting, and Napa Valley’s own Karen MacNeil, author of “The Wine Bible“ (which is a MUST compendium in every wine library).

Karen MacNeil and Steven Spurrier

The session enabled invitees to taste blind three vintages of Chardonnay (the ‘09, ‘10, & ‘11 vintages) from 12 different producers and three vintages of Cabernet (the ’08, ’09 & ’10 vintages) from 12 different producers. A total of 72 wines tasted blind.

Tasters tasted.... photographers photographed...

This is often one of my favorite tastings because it reaffirms my belief that when Napa Valley Cabernets are tasted blind, price does not necessarily dictate quality.

Often at this tasting, my preferred wines are the low- to mid-priced wines, not the really expensive, cult wines.

A roomful of tasters

This year, for example, I rated the 2010 Reynolds Family Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2009 Titus Cabernet Sauvignon as my top wines of the blind tasting.

The 2010 Reynolds Family Estate Cab is a gorgeous, beautifully balanced wine, showing a great deal of elegance and “European restraint,” as Steve Spurrier noted. It retails for $45 (they haven’t raised their price in 10 years, according to Matt in their tasting room).

This 2010 wine won’t be available in retail circles until May, 2014 ... but oh! is it worth waiting for!

The 2009 Titus Family Estate Reserve Cab had me going back for seconds and thirds. I loved the structure, the complexity, the texture and balance of this wine. Simply breathtaking. It retails for $65.

By contrast, there were wines in the tasting running from $110 to $230 a bottle, which I didn’t think showed as well.

Emma Wellings, UK taster

The purpose of this tasting was to show that our wines DO alter from year to year; many consumers think that we have hot, sunny summers every year, but, in truth, no two vintages here are the same.

The wine buyer for Selfridges, London, was on hand to judge Napa Valley wines. She took notes on her Samsung tablet, converting hand-written notes to typewritten text at the stroke of a button.

2008

This was a nightmarish vintage born with a crippling spring frost, which lowered yields, followed by dry-bordering-on-drought conditions, followed by freaky summer heat spikes. You want an example of an inconsistent vintage? This is it.

2009

The trick this year was to pick before the rains came in mid-October or to wait to pick until well afterward. Anyone who picked during the deluge, has watered-down wine. The 2009s are, for the most part, lovely, medium-weight, graceful wines, built for a long evolution.

2010

Until I tasted the 2012s (which readers won’t see for some time), I thought that 2010s were among the best we’ve ever made in Napa Valley. The killer Cabs are powerful, shockingly big, yet balanced - what wine writers like to call a “thrilling vintage.”

Napa Valley’s Purple Floss Weekend Has Finally Arrived!

Kelly Kehoe, business manager, and Robert Foley, winemaker

In case you’ve been living in a cave, you know that this is the weekend Napa Valley Vintners hosts its annual winter, Premiere Barrel Auction, an excuse for wine retailers and tradespeople to descend on the valley, taste copiously of unreleased, next-vintage Cabs en barrique, and see old friends.

It’s a bit like a 30-year college reunion, a freshman hazing and a wine-lover’s weekend all rolled into one.

And don’t forget the manifestation of the weekend: purple floss.

After you’ve tasted 30, or 40, or 80 young Cabernets at each tasting, we’re talking heavily stained, purple-colored teeth.

At yesterday’s multiple-wine tasting hosted at 750 Wines, at an event cleverly called Port Foley Oh!, a portfolio of wines from legendary winemaker Robert Foley were highlighted.

Invitees got to taste the wines of eight different producers - a total of 21 different wines, all made by Robert Foley, who is colloquially known as “Mr. Merlot” for his early insistence that Merlot could stand on its own as a single, bottled variety.

(Many years ago, Robert was recognized for his insistence and for his brilliance: the Wine Spectator chose his 2001 Paloma Merlot as Best Wine of the Year.)

When I mentioned to Robert at the 750 Wines tasting that his wines not only make an indelible imprint on my memory – “they also make an indelible purple mark on my floss!” he retorted: “My wines stain everything – even stainless steel!”

Owner of Switchback Ridge, Kelly Peterson, pours her 2010 Merlot, Cabernet and Petite Sirah wines, all made by Robert Foley

Of all the Foley-produced wines poured at the 750 Wines event, my top favorite was the 2010 Merlot fashioned out of fruit from Kelly Peterson’s Switchback Ridge vineyard in Calistoga.

This wine had the texture of satin, and the concentration, extraction and depth of a serious Napa Valley Cabernet. If Jimi Hendrix were alive, this wine would have been the model for his song “Purple Haze.”

This was the single best wine of the 21, which I tasted at the Port Foley Oh! event, itself a prelude of hundreds of wines to come over the next 72  hours of auction weekend.

Lynn Wight, Ron Engel, Jen Engel

I finally had a chance to meet Ron Engel at the 750 Wines event. Bob Foley fashions his wines out of fruit grown on Ron’s vineyard near the Grist Mill, outside Calistoga. When he’s not growing grapes, Ron is wrestling feisty Bulgarians in international wrestling competitions. Looks like he’s done a good job of “wrastling” the other guys – and his grapes – into submission.

Tom & Marcie Dinkel

The event also gave me a chance to catch up with Tom and Marcie Dinkel, who grow fruit on Atlas Peak, and whom I haven’t seen for nearly ten years. That’s part of the allure of this weekend; you get to catch up with old acquaintances.

The Dos Lagos Cabernets, which Robert Foley makes for the Dinkels, is stellar stuff. Of the two vintages poured, I preferred the 2010.

The 750 Wines tasting room – an unusually quiet moment Thursday afternoon, when you could actually see the floor and find time to raise your glass to your lips.

And now, a word about the vintages poured at this event – and at events all weekend:

The 2010 vintage was ideal. If  someone made lousy wine in 2010, shame on  them. Hard to do.

2011, by contrast, was a lesser year; the fruit was caught in colder, wetter climes, and the results are evident in the barrel. You had to be a talented winemaker in 2011 to make memorable wine.

(And for anyone anticipating the next vintage... last year’s 2012... let me just say as a winemaker’s assistant... that this may turn out to be the single greatest vintage in living memory in Napa Valley. It’ll drink great early, it’ll drink great with age, and there’s tons of it.)

Secret to Making the World’s Best Negroni Cocktail!

Recently, I had the best Negroni cocktail that I’ve ever had at Il Buco Alimentari,  in NYC.

That cocktail, the color of faded Venetian draperies, displayed a pitch-perfect balance of sweetness and bitterness; it sported a sensational middle palate with a lush, syrupy texture, and had a long, lingering, bitter cherry, finish. I can still taste it a month later.

The Il Buco Alimentari Negroni.

The Negroni is said to have originated in Florence, Italy, in 1919, at Caffe Casoni when Count Camillo Negroni reputedly asked the bartender to strengthen his favorite drink, the Americano, by replacing the soda water with gin.

The drink became so popular so quickly that it was soon called the “King of Aperitives.” Eventually, the originator’s name was affixed to the cocktail.

I’m sure the Count never imagined that one day he’d become the spirit(ual) leader of drinkers around the world.

One taste of the Negroni at Il Buco Alimentari and I knew that I had to learn how to ace this cocktail at home. So I asked Melissa, the bartender, for her secrets to make the perfect Negroni, which is basically a concoction of three spirits:

Equal parts of:

Gin

Campari

Sweet Italian vermouth

Mixology 101: Stir, do not shake, the mixture of three spirits over ice, pour into old-fashioned glasses filled with ice (different ice, not the same ice used to mix the concoction) and, if desired, squeeze the oil from a strip of orange rind over the drink, and then add the rind.

Sounds simple. But the mixing’s a mathematical nightmare: which gin, which vermouth, and does one really add equal parts?

Campari is central to any Negroni and is the one part you don’t substitute when formulating a strategy to mix The Best-Ever Negroni.

This was an assignment for napaman akin to decoding the human genome. And equally as important to humanity if you agree that what happens daily at 5 o’clock somewhere in the world is critically important to the survival of mankind everywhere in the world.

Melissa told me that she uses Breuckelen Distilling’s Glorious Gin, a NY-made gin (Breuckelen is the old Dutch spelling for the borough in which it’s made).

The secret ingredient in the Il Buco Alimentari Negroni. Should be on the UN watch list as a dangerous weapon of mass intoxication.

This one night, she also replaced Carpano Antica, the sweet vermouth typically used here, for Cocchi di Torino, a more focused, slightly edgier, sweet Italian vermouth. It’s a complex, very intense vermouth; if Cocchi were a psychiatric patient, you wouldn’t learn in five years of psychoanalytic couch therapy what makes it so moody and intense.

San Francisco skyline; I had to head off to San Francisco to conduct basic Negroni research.

Back home, in California, I contacted my favorite wine and spirit retailer, K&L Wine, in San Francisco, and asked the dynamic Duo of Daves (Dave Driscoll and Dave Othenin-Girard) if they could order Cocchi and Breuckelen Distilling’s Glorious Gin for me. And also sell me some other branded gins for the exercise I was about to undertake.

“No problem” they chirped in unison in their standard echo-like fashion to please this customer.

While waiting for the gins and vermouth to arrive, I thought I’d be smart to conduct some basic bar research, to better understand how different brands of gin and vermouth altered Melissa’s recipe.

So I visited two of my favorite bars/hotels in San Francisco, both which happen to be Kimpton properties, the classy, high-end, boutique lodger, in whose hotels I often stay.

I visited Jasper’s Corner Tap, where I have enjoyed one of my favorite burgers ever in San Francisco. (This hunk o’ beautiful bovine is served on an original, crusty bun that is as memorable as the meat.)

I figured that if they know as much about mixing as they know about meat, this would be a solid place to start my Negroni research. I was right.

Barman Dan Wootton agreed that not all gins, and not all vermouths, are created equal. So he set up a trial of drinks to make his case.

Each was made with equal parts of three spirits, each contained Campari and Cocchi, which I’d already determined in tests is a superior vermouth for Negronis, better than Carpano Antica or even VYA Sweet Vermouth.

Do not lose sight of the fact that VYA Dry Vermouth is the secret to making the world’s best martini. But that’s another story and to fully understand how to make the World’s Best Martini, go here:

http://www.napaman.com/napamancom/2007/05/vya_the_stephen.html

And do not lose sight of the fact that Carpano Antica made some stellar Negronis in the course of my research, not the least of which was the Negroni made at Bistro Don Giovanni, in Napa town. Here they mix No. 209 gin, Campari and Carpano Antica. Fabuloso.

But back to Dan; he made three Negronis to prove his point.

Ginning at Jasper’s Corner Tap

The one made with Old Tom Ransom Gin from Oregon was muddied and unfocused.

The one made with Aviation Gin from Portland, which was Dan’s preferred Negroni of the trial, was a bit too clean; for me, it exhibited too much vanilla on the finish.

I selected the Negroni made with Martin Miller’s Reformed London Dry Gin, Westbourne Strength, as “Negroni of the Night.” It was sensational. Properly named, it Reformed my opinion about which gin makes the best Negroni. 

Dan and assistant general manager Jose Carlos Delgado pointed out that to meet the demand for Negronis, Jasper’s Corner Tap actually has devoted one wine/beer tap to… Negronis! 

That’s right, they pull a pressurized Negroni off one of their bar taps and the beverage is… FANTASTIC!

To make their wildly popular “draft Negroni,” they mix one part each of Campari and Plymouth Gin and for the third part, they mix Cinzanno and Punt e Mes, an Italian vermouth. This is a sensational, house-ready, Negroni. And it’s On Tap!

Over time, I’ve also come to respect and enjoy the spirits, wine and food at the Fifth Floor restaurant and bar, in another Kimpton San Francisco property, the Palomar Hotel.

As the Fifth Floor is a Mecca for Martini- and Negroni-drinkers, I knew it was time to visit an old friend here, Amy Goldberger, head sommelier at Fifth Floor.

In turn, she introduced me to Brian Means, the affable and skilled barman who mixed many variations of the Negroni on my visit so that I could test the impact of different gins and different vermouths.

Bartender Brian Means at the Fifth Floor. You could say that Brian Means business when he makes you a Negroni.

Plymouth gin produced a rusty, rustic, serviceable Negroni; Martin Miller’s Reformed London Dry Gin, Westbourne Strength, produced a superior cocktail with a sensational middle palate, and a sunburned finish.

St. George Dry Rye Gin, made in Alameda, CA, produced a Negroni that was flavored with bandages and Mercurochrome, and which had long lasting bitter notes.

Fords Gin, from England, produced a watery, non-descript beverage with not much of a middle palate and no memorable finish. Call it the Mitch McConnell Negroni – absolutely no personality.

Brian Means in his laboratory... er, I mean bar, planning a few more Negroni combinations to try.

We tried a Negroni made with Greenhook Ginsmiths Gin from Brooklyn, NY, which Brian wangles from a special source as it is not commercially available in this market. It produced a drink with slow attack and slow release; there were a few floral notes and a hint of cucumber. This might be the Negroni to have if you’re planning to have more than two Negronis, as the flavor build-up is slow. 

But I’m in search of the one-off, single best Negroni you can make at home, not one of which you need to drink a bathtubful to obtain a flavor hit.

(By the way, let’s not forget to mention that the bar area of the Fifth Floor is THE place in San Francisco to have a sensational, rich, burger – order it with “the works”  -- with a side of fries. Major delicious.

If your server is Dillon, he will guide you through all the other spirit and food options on the bar menu. This is one of my favorite after-hours destinations in San Francisco; it is quiet, comforting, secluded. The drinks and service are first-class.)

When my bottles of Breuckelen Distilling’s Glorious Gin and Cocchi finally arrived at K&L Wine, I started to conduct mixology trials at home.

After determining that Cocchi sweet vermouth makes the best Negroni, I mixed the cocktail using many different gins.

Here’s what I discovered, on my way to selecting my all-time favorite, Best Ever Negroni. In order of preference, from least liked to best liked:

Boodles Gin

Not much of anything. The spirits and flavors do not integrate with one another. There is a succession of tastes, including cinnamon and ripe fruit, but overall, the Negroni lacks luster, focus and zip. 89 points out of 100.

Hendrick’s Gin

Here’s a gin I often like for martinis, but in auditioning for The Negroni Idol, this straight-forward gin produces a rather straight-forward, rather pedestrian, cocktail. There’s not much “there” there.

A rather simple drink, missing the complexity and alluring character found in other Negronis in this taste test.

91 points out of 100.

Plymouth Gin

Somewhat soapy, pallid, pastel-flavored in the Negroni. Even with the addition of bitters and an orange peel, this gin underwhelms in the cocktail.

This gin is far more successful as an ingredient in a martini.

91 points on its own, 94 points when made with bitters.

No. 209

The best US gin you can use for martinis. Bar none. In any bar.

But for Negronis made with Cocchi, this very floral, very botanical, gin produces a beverage that is a bit sloppy, and unfocused. Almost socially backward and embarrassing. Still, it produces a refreshing cocktail. Much better when combined with Carpano Antica vermouth. 95 points.

Breuckelen Distilling’s Glorious Gin

A winner by any standard of comparative measurement.

The presence of Cocchi lengthens the finish considerably.

Love this gin for the Negroni, though when tasted straight, on its own, it’s a rather mundane, lackluster spirit. How curious. 96 points.

 

Martin Miller’s Reformed London Dry Gin, Westbourne Strength

This gin makes a sensational Negroni; the cocktail is bright in the mouth, bouncy and alive on the palate.

The cocktail is vibrant, and does what a proper cocktail before dinner is meant to do: arouse one’s appetite. 98 points.

In short:

Miller’s Reformed London Dry Gin, Westbourne Strength, makes a superior Negroni when mixed in equal parts with Cocchi di Torino sweet vermouth and Campari.

This combination of spirits produces an Academy Award-worthy Negroni.

(For the record: Miller’s Reformed London Dry Gin is distilled in the UK, then shipped to Iceland where it is blended with Icelandic waters and bottled. How curious! How delicious!)

Here’s what happened next:

Thinking that I’d found the Holy Grail Recipe for The Perfect Negroni, I called my friend Eileen, who is the bartender at Tra Vigne, in St. Helena, and who is, in my humble opinion, the best bartender in Napa Valley.

“I want to make you a Negroni and get your feedback,” I offered.

I made my Negroni with equal parts of Miller’s Reformed London Dry Gin, Cocchi and Campari, and as good as it was, Eileen improved it!

She suggested upping the gin to 1.5 oz. while keeping the Cocchi and Campari at 1 oz. each.

“The extra gin softens the drink, reduces the perceived sweetness, and generally makes for a better cocktail,” Eileen concluded.

And she was right.

So now you have all the trade secrets – the ingredients, the ratios, and bartender tips -- to make The Perfect Negroni at home. So what are you waiting for...?

Want to taste the best commercial Negronis?

In NY, go to:

Il Buco Alimentari, 53 Great Jones Street,

Tel: 212-837-2622 

In San Francisco, go to:

Jasper’s Corner Tap, 401 Taylor, off the lobby of the Serrano Hotel.

Tel: 415-775-7979.

The Fifth Floor, on the 5^th floor of the Palomar Hotel, 12 Fourth St.

Tel: 415-348-1555.

In Napa Valley, go to:

Bistro Don Giovanni, 4110 Howard Lane, Napa.

Tel: 707-224-3300.

Tra Vigne, 1050 Charter Oak Avenue, St. Helena.

Tel: 707-963-4444.

Margrit Mondavi Honored for a Lifetime of Wine Achievements

Margrit Mondavi, the Wine World’s Patron Saint of Culture, was recognized this afternoon for her lifetime contribution to the American wine industry, essentially for proving to us all that wine is part of an active lifestyle.

Man cannot live on bread alone. Or on books alone, Or on art, theater or film alone. Everything, it turns out, goes better with a glass of wine, which Margrit has taught us to think of as the hydraulic fluid of life.

Margrit with the Tiiffany Monteith Trophy

At a formal luncheon at The Robert Mondavi Winery today, Margrit, as we all call, know, and love her, received the elegant, sterling silver, Tiffany Monteith Trophy, one of the most prestigious awards in the American wine industry.

Mike Thompson, our regional congressman, and Co-Chairman of the Congressional Wine Caucus, presented the award to Margrit at the luncheon, honoring her for her tireless promotion and consumer education in the fields of wine, food and the arts.

The Tiffany Monteith Trophy was created in 1980 and Margrit is its 30th recipient. The award is sponsored by the Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association, whose board members were present for the presentation.

The award is presented annually (with a few exceptions) to an individual who, or an organization which, has made an exceptional contribution to the development of the American wine industry.

The Monteith Wine Bowl Trophy, made of pure sterling silver, was made by New York’s Tiffany & Co for the Vinifera Wine Growers Association. Its craftsmanship represents one of the earliest forms of silversmithing.

The award was presented to Margrit ahead of a delicious lunch, served in the Robert Mondavi Vintage Room, where I have had some of the best food I have ever been served in Napa Valley. (Let the record be clear: I first had the privilege of dining with Bob & Margrit Mondavi in this private dining room 33 years ago.)

Margrit kibbutzes around with L. Pierce Carson, food, arts and wine reporter for the Napa Valley Register.

Good going, Margrit! We’re sure happy for ya! It’s recognition you’ve earned. I’m pleased to be able to call you a friend and neighbor.

St. Helena Goes to the Dogs...

... and the parrots, too.

For today, townsfolk held the annual St. Helena Pet Parade. kicking off an all-day Octoberfest-cum-Harvest Festival, featuring an artisanal crafts fair.

Residents of St. Helena lined both sides of Oak Street to watch the pet parade, which lasted about 45 minutes.

The pet parade is one of my favorite annual rituals in the valley; residents dress up their pets and march them before judges who award prizes for the top dog, so to speak.

Some years, entrants have paraded their sheep, cats, and other family pets; this year, most of the contestants were well groomed dogs. 

Several Bassett hounds made appearances in the parade this year.

For the record, my boy, Linus, did not dress up this year for the Pet Parade; he sat this one out on the sidelines, preferring instead to make offhanded comments about the various costumes.

Best Wine Tasting of the Week

Napaman was invited to Spottswoode’s Summer Garden Party, in St. Helena, today, one of my fondest annual winery events.

The wine is always good, the food is fabulous (catered today by Oak Avenue Catering), and the setting can’t be improved.

The setting, poolside.

The Novak/Milliken clan invite a few hundred of their faithful club members to the garden event, and let them taste old and new wines, paired with salads, cheeses and hearth-fired pizzas.

Beth Novak Milliken, President of the winery, standing behind a 6L bottle of impeccable juice – the 1999 Spottswoode Cabernet.

The highlight of this year’s event was a 6-liter bottle of 1999 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon, poured from 750 mL bottles into which the elixir had been transferred.

I found this ’99 to be one of the best wines of my week, a gorgeous, elegant achievement, just entering a delicious level of maturity. It’s rare to find a California Cab exhibiting the pronounced blackcurrant nuances typically found in Bordeaux wines – but this beaut has the profile in spades. 

I scored this wine a strong 95 points, maybe even 96 points. Simply gorgeous.

This was Rosemary’s Baby, so to speak -- Rosemary Cakebread was winemaker here when the grapes were harvested and the wine made. Beth Novak Milliken, president of Spottswood, esays "this is Rosemary's favorite wine from the decade of the 90s.” 

Napaman asked Beth what are her own two favorite Spottswoode Cabs from the 90s:

“This ’99 for sure, and our ’93, also elegant, balanced and delicious.”

Speaking of '99  Napa ValleyCabs, another outstanding wine, which I had this week, also the 1999 Clos du Val Cabernet Sauvignon from Stag’s Leap District.

This was another mature, mouth-thrilling, Cabernet with harmonious blackcurrant and cedar notes. Easily a 94- or 95-point wine. 

Maybe it’s time we headed to our respective cellars to revisit some of our stored ’99 Napa Valley Cabernets. It appears their 15 minutes of fame is just about to shine.

In St. Helena, FB Does NOT Mean Facebook. FB is the Town’s Toniest New Restaurant – French Blue!

Not sure why they called it French Blue, given that the sexy, blue hue is only an edging detail here.

Howard Backen, impresario, architect, and now restaurant owner

Better they should have called it “Backen White,” after the predominant shade, which owner and architect Howard Backen created and which he used to paint all the wooden surfaces of his new restaurant on Main Street.

Okay, so French Blue (real credit due: the name comes from Howard’s wife and business partner, interior designer Lori Backen) opened a month ago but it’s still too early to identify menu favorites because in every new restaurant, 50 percent of everything changes in the first few months of operation.

Here’s what napaman does know:

The restaurant is now open for BLD – Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

The 98-seat room looks and feels as though it should be at a resort, or on the hillside of a pineapple plantation in Maui. It’s a relaxing, casual, comforting, welcoming room.

Aurally, French Blue doesn’t have the harsh, loud sounds, which keep me from returning to Goose & Gander, another new St. Helena restaurant, where it’s so noisy at dinner you can barely hear your waiter recite daily specials. By contrast, French Blue is calming.

Setting the communal table

At French Blue, there’s a welcoming, casual, communal table, which seats 14.

Who’s surprised that Howard Backen has created a room that compels one’s spirit to soar?

Howard is THE architect of Napa Valley, as well as the architect of the rich and famous. (Spoiler alert: Howard was the architect of our home in Napa Valley, though napaman doesn’t pass the physical – of being rich or famous.)

Howard is internationally recognized for his work on wineries (Harlan Estate, Screaming Eagle), hotels and resorts (Meadowood), institutions (Sundance Institute), and retail stores (Restoration Hardware retail locations).

Architectural Digest recognizes Howard’s talents, having named him one of the Top 100 Designers each of the last five years. Now they’ll have to recognize his prowess as a restaurateur, too.

French Blue has some mighty talented hands at the helm.

Howard’s wife Lori designed the interior and created all the sexy blue-and-white items for sale around the room.

Stanley Morris, responsible for operations at French Blue, has worked in the hospitality and entertainment industries for 30 years; he took Jeremiah Tower’s San Francisco Stars restaurant concept to Singapore, where he lived for six years, then returned to the Bay-area to direct operations at Il Fornaio. Most recently, he launched and operated Teatro ZinZanni in San Francisco.

Philip Wang, originally from Indiana, is the FB chef. After studying at the CIA, Philip cooked in San Francisco for Traci des Jardins at Rubicon and Jardinière. In NYC, he helped open Daniel Boulud’s eponymous restaurant, which eventually earned four stars from the New York Times.

It’s too early to give a full and proper restaurant critique, but at Howard’s behest, napaman stopped at French Blue for breakfast last week.

While the Cowgirl Mt. Tam Omelette was light and fluffy, the Oven-Baked Blueberry Pancake was the superior breakfast item. (Howard confided to napaman that he has one for breakfast many mornings.)

This is not a conventional pancake, but rather a German-like pancake, baked in a cast iron, Staub skillet, in which the pancake is then served. House-made rhubarb maple syrup adds richness to the dish. Best to share – otherwise you may find yourself overloading on carbs and snoring through your first morning meeting.

Favorite feature: A delightful outdoor patio a step off Main Street.

Most restaurants put their patio at the back, keeping guests hidden; I love the FB French city touch here, putting tables and chairs at street level out front, so guests get a sense of the town action. (This may be the year’s top oxymoron: “St. Helena town action.”)

Pet peeve: They don’t take reservations.

When even a tiny restaurant like Cook down the block makes the effort to accept dinner reservations, why can’t, or won’t, French Blue?

Who wants to exit from a film at the Cameo Cinema and be told at a neighborhood restaurant that “there’s a half-hour wait for a table… how about drinking at the bar until a table is ready?”

If there were only one thing to fix at French Blue, it would be to offer reservations.

French Blue, 1429 Main St., St. Helena. Tel: 707-968-9200.

They Finally Hosted a Cultural Event for Margrit at Mondavi Winery!

After four decades of hosting receptions for visiting artists, chefs and musicians at her family’s winery, Margrit Mondavi was finally accorded her own cultural reception yesterday – for the publication of her new book, Sketchbook: Reflections on Wine, Food, Art, Family, Romance and Life.

The star of yesterday’s cultural event, Margrit Mondavi

Margrit, wife of the late Robert Mondavi, has created a collection of personal stories and sketches based on reflections about her life with Robert in the Napa Valley.

Margrit’s stylized drawing of the winery

The book is written in the spirit which Margrit and Robert brought to the winery; they always believed that food, wine and the arts need to be celebrated in everyday life – and all together. 

Margrit painting for Sketchbook

Margrit has illustrated many anecdotes in Sketchbook with her own watercolor images.

Janet Fletcher, who lives in Napa town, is co-author of Sketchbook

Foodwriter Janet Fletcher, who has written more than a half-dozen of her own food books, many of them award-winning, was Margrit’s co-author on Sketchbook, helping to give it structure and flow.

“We worked on Sketchbook for more than a year,” Janet told napaman, “and I kind of wished the project would never end. Margrit and I had a great time working on the project together!”

A number of close friends and family members also added to the memoir. French Laundry chef/owner Thomas Keller wrote the forward.

Margrit signing books at the launch reception yesterday

$10 from the sale of each book sold at yesterday’s signing was earmarked for the Napa Valley Opera House, an example of Margrit’s ongoing cultural support to the community.

Margrit and Robert Mondavi, 2005. I took this shot at the winery, on the occasion of Robert being awarded the French Legion of Honor for his lifetime work in advancing wine knowledge and appreciation.

Talk about cultural support; Margrit and Robert started the Robert Mondavi Winery Summer Concert Series in 1969 to bring first-class music to the valley and to support local musical development. 

Over the Summer Concert’s 43-year history, more than $2 million in proceeds have been earmarked for local musical education and enrichment; funds have been steered to support the Napa Valley Symphony, the Napa Valley Opera House and the Napa Valley Unified School District.

More than 300 guests showed up for the book reception and launch of Margrit’s Sketchbook

Margrit Mondavi’s Sketchbook: Reflections on Wine, Food, Art, Family, Romance and Life is available for $35 on amazon.com and also at the Robert Mondavi winery.

A Shout Out – for the First Talkie Film!

 

Okay you mugs, listen up! This is the President speaking…

The President … of the Al Jolson Fan Club of Toronto, Canada, which a classmate and I started in 1960. We loved the first talkie, The Jazz Singer, made in 1927, and we loved Al Jolson who starred in it, so we started a fan club for the long-dead (even then!) singer.

In you live in Napa Valley… or will be visiting July 15, here’s your chance to experience the first talkie film… under the stars!... with live musical accompaniment! The celluloid experience doesn’t get any better, or more real, than this.

In celebration of its centennial anniversary, our wonderful, charming, and historically important local Cameo Cinema, in St. Helena, is hosting a delightful evening of music and film at the Castello di Amorosa, in Calistoga, Sunday, July 15.

Highlights

 

Highlights of the evening, called “Jolson and Jazz Under the Stars,” include a screening of the film outdoors, along with live jazz performed by internationally acclaimed guitarist Martin Taylor and jazz vocalist Alison Burns.

FYI: Alison Burns was recently nominated a candidate for “Best Jazz Vocalist of the Year.” The award will be announced at the Scottish Jazz Awards later this month; Martin Taylor has already been awarded the prestigious “Order of the British Empire” by Queen Elizabeth.

Also on hand for the screening of the first talkie at Castello di Amorosa will be writer/filmmaker Cass Warner, granddaughter of Warner Bros. founder Harry Warner, who financed The Jazz Singer.

Cass will share family stories about the making of The Jazz Singer.

Hors d’oeuvres and desserts will be served by Knickerbockers’ Catering and wine will be poured by Castello di Amorosa, Cade Winery, Rasmussen Winery, Consentino Winery, Coquerel Winery, Domain Chandon, Casa Nuestra, and Swanson Vineyards.

Doors open at 7 pm. Tickets, which are tax deductible, are $125 in advance and $150 at the door. All proceeds will benefit Cameo Cinema Community Programming.

Tickets may be purchased at the theater’s box office at 1340 Main St., in St. Helena, every day an hour before the day’s first show time, or online at cameocinema.com.  

For further information, visit the website or call the Cameo box office at 707-287-4172.

See you at the movies! See you under the stars!

 

The Valley is Super-charged – Wine Auction 2012 has begun!

Nearly 2,000 visitors and Napa Valley residents bumped hips Friday at Jarvis Winery, kicking off Auction Napa Valley 2012.

 

Under several Big Tops…. 2,000 guests nibbled hand-held appetizers, presented by 40 of the valley’s top chefs and caterers, then paired the food selections with hundreds of offered wines. 

This is Day One of Napa Valley Vintners’ annual community fundraiser, the most celebrated charity wine auction in the world. Over many years, the annual event has raised -- and then donated -- more than $100 million to health, youth and affordable housing non-profit programs in the valley.

Essentially, Auction Napa Valley is a restrained three-day mosh pit for wine lovers who don’t like mud.

Founded in 1981, thanks to the vision of Robert and Margrit Mondavi, this annual wine event showcases the best of Napa Valley’s wine and food. 

Napaman rarely shows up in photos but I could not resist posing with two of the great ladies of Napa Valley – Cindy Pawlcyn, chef/owner of Mustard’s Grill and Margrit Mondavi.

Locals are given a chance to participate at Friday’s Barrel Auction and Marketplace; for a $350 attendance fee, they get to sample more than 100 wines offered in an online barrel auction and feast on foods prepared by more than 40 local chefs and caterers.

In this respect, Friday is a day of sophisticated indulgence.

Observation about the event

Owing to the way the winery and food kiosks were randomly placed next to one another, Napaman found many deep, dark, brooding Cabernets being poured next to stations serving uncomplimentary dishes like shrimp, or seafood.

Suggestion to organizers: Next year have a series of red wine stations under one tent paired with food purveyors serving ribs, and meaty dishes, and have wineries serving whites and roses in a second tent, served with foods that complement such wines.

Sean Knight and Patrick Kellaher of Mustard’s Grill dispense some mighty tasty hoisin-marinated St. Louis-style ribs. In Cindy Pawlcyn’s cookbook, the marinade is called Mongolian Marinade.

Greg Cole, chef/owner of Celadon and Cole’s Chop House, in Napa, served a delicious shrimp appetizer.

Sarah Mitchell Hansen and her mom, Karen Mitchell, of Model Bakery fame, with storefronts in St. Helena and Napa town, serve biscuits with macerated strawberries.

Marc Cohen, proprietor of Howell at the Moon, pours a Cabernet that won’t be released until this fall.

Kara Haspel Lind is the founder and driving force behind six Bay-area outlets of Kara’s Cupcakes. Today she served several of her 80 different varieties of cupcakes.

I’ve always respected – and liked – the wines made by Joe Cafaro from his vineyards in Stag’s Leap District.

Masaharu Morimoto, who has eight eponymous restaurants serving his edgy Japanese fare, presented what I thought was the single best hand-held food item at the Friday food festival – sensational Hamachi tacos, made from a recipe Morimoto created for his restaurant in Mexico City.

Morimoto’s Hamachi tacos were so good, I went back for seconds.

Neno Giovani, the smiling GM at Bistro Don Giovanni, serves one of Scott Warner’s focaccia breads, which has been filled with Gorgonzola dolce, arugula and apricot. I have eaten at Bistro Don Giovanni more than 300 times since moving to Napa Valley and have never had a disappointing meal here.

After the midday food festival ….

Guests start to move into the underground barrel room of Jarvis Winery to take part in the colorful barrel auction. 

 

Jarvis Winery, located north and east of the town of Napa, is built entirely underground. As a consequence, the food festival, known as Marketplace, was presented on a grassy patch leading into the sunken winery; the wines-in-barrel being auctioned were on view in the underground bunker.

According to Napa Valley Register reporter Pierce Carson, the Jarvis barrel chai, where the barrel tasting was held “is the one of the largest underground man-made chambers in the world.” (Chai, pronounced SHAY, is the French term for the room where wines are aged.)

I’ve never seen a carpeted underground wine facility, but the first 100, or so, feet of the Jarvis cellar is carpeted. This leads into a series of chambers, and if you are on the right path to the wine auction, you pass a gurgling waterfall… continue on the yellow brick road until you reach… the chai!

Guests tasted barrel samples from more than 100 Cabs (mostly from 2010), which were poured, by their producers. Guests bid for full cases of the wine.

When I left the din of the dungeon, guests had bid up a single case of 2010 Shafer Hillside Select (Stag’s Leap District) to $7700 a case.

The underground scene was chaotic, noisy and claustrophobic; too many people in such a tight space; guests had to yell to be heard when standing next to each other. Hey! Wait a minute – sounds like just about every restaurant at which I dined last week in New York City!

Favorite line overheard at the Friday Barrel Auction:

Don Weaver, Estate Director at Harlan Estate, known for high-scoring, price-soaring, highly collectable, Cabernets:

 “I’m going to try and show some personal growth today… and have a glass of white wine…”

Waiter, Hail Me a Cab…

In fact, get me four Cabs - two from France and two from Napa Valley. 

Our Boys Night out For Burgers started earlier yesterday when I read winewriter Richard Jenning’s column on 2001 Napa Valley Cabs.

Richard is my favorite, new, go-to voice for judicious juice commentary, This guy knows his wines and has a great palate. He lives in the Bay-area and we were fortunate to have dinner together a month ago.

Go here to see Richard’s thorough overview of the 2001 vintage of Napa Valley Cabs:

http://www.rjonwine.com/cabernet-sauvignon/2001-napa-retrospective/

Richard’s observations are that some big-name 2001 Napa Valley Cabs have lost their balance, fruit, and charm, and many are just quirky and flawed.

This made me run to my cellar to pull out some 2001 Napa Valley Cabs for dinner to see if my wines were experiencing this bottle breakdown.

A good Rutherford winemaker friend pulled out some 2000 French Bordeaux for comparison and we headed to Market, in St. Helena, for what is possibly the valley’s best burger.

Yes, I know, it’s hard, if not impossible, to judge Bordeaux and Napa Valley Cabs at the same time; California wines, with their higher alcohol, and elevated fruit extraction, usually clobber the bejesus out of French wines at such pairings. Not because the Napa Valley Cabs are better, but because they’re just more in-your-face bombastic.

Surprisingly, the four wines we chose from our respective cellars were flawless, delicious and one Bordeaux, the 2000 Chateau Pape Clement, was so filled with fruit and ripe blackcurrant flavors, that it was my “wine of the night.”

The two Napa Valley Cabs, thankfully, showed well.

 

2000 Chateau Brane-Cantenac (Margaux)

 Perfectly mature at 12 years, showing soft, rose petal scents and tasting more of ripe red fruit than anything dark or plum-like. Medium-weight. 91 points.

2000 Chateau Pape Clement (Pessac-Leognan)

A remarkable beverage, reminding me of dark purple, blackcurrant pastilles. Wine of the night. 94 points. 

 

2001 Turnbull, Weitz Vineyard, Oakville

Of the two Napa Valley Cabs, this one was the more puissant, the more fruit-forward. Perhaps a bit of residual sugar here, or is the perceived sweetness simply from an abundance of fruit? A delicious wine showing balance and remarkable grace, given its forward fruit. 93 points. 

2001 Beringer Private Reserve

Upon release, I thought that this might become one of Beringer’s best-ever wines. I have followed its evolution since the day it was bottled (I was there) and must remark that no single bottle I have tasted since (and I bought a case) has yet to deliver what I expected from this wine.

Tonight’s bottle is the best I’ve yet tasted, so perhaps the wine is just now coming into a stage of maturity?

Lots of licorice, anise and salt on the palate; an hour into the bottle, the wine was starting to show angular features and tasting a bit hot. 91 points.

Eduardo Martinez, executive chef/owner, Market Restaurant

2012 Hamburger, Market Restaurant, St. Helena

To paraphrase Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

Oh how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. 

I love thy fresh, juicy, warm center, of delicious Niman Ranch beef;

I love thy egg-y bun, almost sweet, never spongy, a superb carrier;

I love thy toppings, rich Fiscalini Cheddar, and sweet grilled onions;

I love thy bountiful fries, perfectly cooked and salted.

Market Restaurant is at 1347 Main St., St. Helena. Tel: 707-963-3799.

 

 

Here Comes the (Tuscan) Sun!

Get out your Crayola crayon and circle NOON, Sunday, April 1 on your calendar.

This is when the Cameo Cinema, in St. Helena, will host a premiere showing of Under the Tuscan Sun.

This is the movie adaptation of Frances Mayes’ bestselling tale of the same name. And guess who will be on hand to answer questions and sign copies of her new tome, The Tuscan Sun Cookbook?

Frances Mayes, that’s who.

In addition, my close friend, Steven Rothfeld, a St. Helena resident, will be present; Steven, one of the most gifted photographers I have ever known, took all the photos for Frances’ new cookbook. And like everything Steven shoots, they’re stunning.

Kale, white bean & Sausage Soup

About the Cookbook:

La dolce vita. For real. A typical al fresco table.

The Tuscan Sun Cookbook is a collection of 150 recipes inspired by 20 years of cooking at Bramasole, Frances and Ed Mayes’ home in Cortona, Italy.

Napaman received a review copy of the cookbook, but too late to prepare any of the mouthwatering dishes for this column; but  the dishes look stupendous, don’t appear to be challenging, and if you like “food porn,” you’ll want this volume for your collection just for  Steven’s images.

But more about the movie, starring Diane Lane:

We asked Cathy Buck, who owns the Cameo Cinema, for details about the premiere screening:

“We like to think of this as an afternoon in Italy! Frances Mayes will be our guest for the screening, which will be followed by a Q&A and book signing of her cookbook.”

Frances in her garden, in Cortona, Italy

“Italian bites from St Helena’s Knickerbocker’s Catering will be paired with wine from Benessere Winery. Guests will also be served gelato from Sogni Del Dolce and a taste of homemade limoncello,” adds Cathy.

Ed and Frances in their Tuscan kitchen – source of all the recipes in her new cookbook

Tickets are $50 each. Cathy will have copies of Frances Mayes’ new cookbook, which Frances will sign, for sale. Book tickets online on the Cameo web site – www.cameocinema.com – or at the box office.

The doors open at 11.30 am Sunday, April 1.

See you at the movies!

PS: All the photos in this story courtesy of Steven Rothfeld. Way to go, Steven!

Don’t miss this sensational winemaker dinner, April 19!

Hola! If you live in the Bay-area within the sound of my voice, circle April 19 on your calendar and immediately call Tra Vigne restaurant, in St. Helena, to reserve a seat, or two.

Charter Oak, homegrown here in Napa Valley, and EIEIO, from the Willamette Valley, OR, are co-hosting a sensational dinner to:

1. Show off their respective wines (six will be poured at dinner) and
2. Celebrate the cooking of one of my favorite Napa Valley chefs, Nash Cognetti.

The seasonal Italian dinner will be served in the restaurant’s private dining salon, Cantinetta, and there will only be 36 seats for this rare event. (We prefer our winemaker events as we prefer our steaks – rare.)

EIEIO is a fun label, but a serious wine, produced by a colleague and friend, Jay McDonald, who actually lives on a farm in the Willamette Valley.

Jay borrowed from the childhood nursery rhyme, figuring that since he lives on a farm, where he grows grapes, he might as well name his wines on this basis: “Old McDonald had a farm, EIEIO.”

Jay also owns and operates one of Oregon’s foremost retail wine stores, a sweet, small, focused operation called The Tasting Room in Carlton.

Jay Mcdonald, right, walks through his Yates-Conwill Vineyard with Shannon, a harvest helper.

Essentially, Jay took over what used to be the community bank, converting it into a wine store. The treasured wines are kept in what used to be the bank’s vault. 

If you’d like some background on Jay and The Tasting Room in Carlton, check out an earlier story I wrote:

http://www.napaman.com/napamancom/2008/05/oregon-pinot-noir----proof-that-the-best-things-in-life-are-not-free.html

EIEIO vineyards, source of the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir dinner wines

The dinner and wines 

For the dual winemaker dinner at Tra Vigne, Jay will be on hand to pour three wines:

2009 EIEIO Chardonnay Yates-Conwill Vineyard. Produced from Dijon 76+96 Clones, aged in predominately neutral French Oak. $25.

2008 EIEIO Cuvee E Pinot noir Willamette Valley. $35.

2009 EIEIO Cuvee I Pinot noir Willamette Valley. Predominately old Pommard vines planted in 1974. $45.

And from Charter Oak….

Rob (on right) and me, kibbutzing at Charter Oak.

Rob Fanucci

Rob Fanucci, Charter Oak winemaker, who asked me to become his winery partner four years ago, and I will be on hand to pour three of our favorite wines:

2009 Charter Oak David Fulton Vineyard, Old-Vine Petite Sirah, from 80-year-old vines planted in St. Helena. $48.

2007 Charter Oak Mt. Veeder Hillside Cabernet, from a vineyard high above Napa Valley. $75.

2009 Charter Oak Monte Rosso Zinfandel, from the oldest block of Zinfandel planted in the United States – 128 year-old vines in Sonoma County. $48.

If you like what you taste, you can order any of the six wines from the respective producers at dinner.

Charter Oak Zinfandel on the vine.

Rob and his family, in the cellar of Charter Oak

At Charter Oak, we hand press the fermented juice in Rob’s grandfather’s wooden basket press.

The price of a meal ticket is $100, subsidized by the winemakers in order to keep the cost down. The price includes a four-course meal, six wines, taxes, and even gratuities!

In the fall, I help Rob punch down fermenting grapes.

Here’s the full menu:

                EIEIO & Charter Oak Winemaker Dinner

                    Tra Vigne, Thursday April 19

 

                                            Primo

    Olive Oil Poached Santa Barbara White Seabass ‑ spring pea

                and watercress puree, shellfish nage

         2009 EIEIO Chardonnay, Yates Conwill Vineyard

 

                                            Pasta

    Hand-made Maccheroni alla Chitarra ‑ slow cooked sonoma duck

                        with wild mushroom sugo

                 2008 EIEIO Cuvee E Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley

                                            and

               2009 EIEIO Cuvee I Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley

 

                                            Entrée

          Bistecca alla Fiorentina ‑ garlic spinach, rosemary roasted potatoes

              2009 Charter Oak David Fulton Vineyard, Old-Vine Petite Sirah,

                                                and

                 2007 Charter Oak Mt. Veeder Hillside Cabernet Sauvignon

 

                                        Formaggi

            Cave-Aged Fiscalini Farmstead Cheddar ‑ Modesto California

            Black Market Colston Basset Baby Stilton ‑ Nottingham, England

           2009 Charter Oak Monte Rosso Vineyard, Zinfandel, Sonoma County

If you like what you see, call 707-963-4444 and ask the Tra Vigne receptionist to reserve a seat, or two. Seats will be held with a credit card. Reservations can be cancelled by phone up to one week in advance of the event.

See you there!

Best Wines of the Year

Ready, gang?

Here’s my annual summary of the year’s best wine experiences. Not just wines, but best wine experiences. 

Often we open great wines, which score high marks for what’s in the bottle; but a great wine experience has as much to do with the person with whom you are enjoying the wine, or the setting, as the wine itself. 

My Best Wine Experiences, in chronological order for the year:

The first wine experience of the year to grab me by the lapels occurred upon opening a 1970 Unfiltered Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet. The wine was made in Bob Mondavi’s forth year of production and it was the first year in which estate grapes were crushed.

My old friend Harry Grant, from Los Angeles, brought the wine to Napa Valley to celebrate our 41^st anniversary – of having met at the Thorn Tree restaurant in Nairobi, Kenya. The year we met was 1970 – the same vintage as this Mondavi Cab. Harry and I bonded as youthful travelers in search of the inconsequential, and we spent a year on extended safari, traveling all through southern Africa.

From left to right; Harry Grant, from LA, who gave me the ’70 Mondavi Cab, and Rob Fanucci, my winery partner at Charter Oak, with whom we drank the wine. Not seen: Ken Miller, another friend, also present at the dinner.

I took the Mondavi Cab to dinner for a winemaker’s night out; we invited Rob Fanucci, my partner and winemaker at Charter Oak winery and another good friend, Ken Miller. We dined at Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen, in St. Helena, enjoying some of the best burgers of the year, which perfectly complemented the rich and elegant ‘70 Mondavi Cab.

The wine was pleasing and sweet upon pouring, not what I expected from a 41-year-old wine. As the wine rested in the glass, it gained body, weight and a silken texture; 20 minutes later, the wine was better than it had been upon pouring. 

Initial flavors: cedar, tea, soy and ripe, older red fruit. Everything became more accentuated as the wine sat in the glass. A remarkable dowager wine, still strutting its stuff. 93 points.

Best Wine Night of the Year 

This has never happened to me in 35+ years of drinking and rating wines; the serendipity of opening four bottles of wine – two whites and two reds – and finding each of them a perfect 100-point wine experience. That’s a 400-point night!

The setting: Rutherford friends Liz and Dave Berry came for dinner on a beautiful August night; Among the gems we pulled from our respective cellars were two sublime white Burgundies and two exquisite, perfect and perfectly aged Chateauneufs-du-Pape.

What we drank.

2005 Patrick Javillier Corton-Charlemagne, Grand Cru.

2006 Marius Delarche Corton-Charlemagne Reserve

White Burgundies don’t get better than this. The peculiar thing is that I have opened many bottles of these two wines and due to bottle variation, have never had what I would call an “Aha!” moment. How strange then (and how wonderful!), to open BOTH these wines and find them exhibiting 100-point perfection. Extremely elegant, beautifully textured, sublimely pleasing.

1998 Domaine de la Mordoree Chateauneuf-du-Pape

Wowie. Over time, I have opened bottles of this wine, to which I ascribed 98 and even 99 points, but not ever 100. This particular bottle, however, commands a perfect score. Close your eyes and it could be a sublime Vosne Romanee; it has balance, finesse, elegance, hints of garrigue, and a plush, lingering finish.

2000 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne

My last bottle of this exceptional wine. A perfect bottle, showing saddle sweat, leather, earth, and a myriad of ripe fruit flavors. The wine ends with a long, delicious finish. If I thought eternity were this sweet and alluring, I might consider signing up for the package.

Even after several hours in a decanter, this wine had tons of life left in it – behaving like a well-trained ultra-marathoner who dances into the 50-mile marker, with tons of reserve to get to the finish line at mile marker 130.

Let’s Not Forget the Italians!

It was a great year for whites. We found this extremely delicious, extremely rare white from Jermann while traveling in Capri in September. Very little of this wine is exported to the US, but I recently found it on the menu in our ‘hood – and even by the glass! – at Alex’s Italian Restaurant, in Rutherford, here in Napa Valley.

I knew Silvio Jermann when I lived in Toronto, Canada. In the late 70s, he said he was moving to Fruili, Italy, to start producing wines. We patted him on the back and wished him well.

Don’t think we needed to wish Silvio luck; the guy’s super-talented and makes some of the very best whites in all of Italy. Today, his family farms close to 250 acres of grapes.

There isn’t anything Jermann makes that I wouldn’t score in the mid-90s, including his sensational Ribolla Gialla, which he labels “Vinnae.”

This wine is filled with fresh, tropical flavors, hints of mango skin and sports lush tropical scents. Fully dry and fully delicious, too. A 93-pointer for sure. Hints of Riesling and Tocai Friulano in the blend add to the richness and character.

I loved this wine so much that before leaving Capri, where we discovered it, I hunted down the last three retail bottles on the island and schlepped them home.

May your New Year be filled with fun, good health, and many wonderful wine experiences.

It Started in Napa Valley… and Yes, She’s Bananas for Bananas!

The world’s most popular fruit – the banana – has a new, tasty fan club.

Courtney Dougherty

Food entrepreneur Courtney Dougherty is launching a line of fully baked, ready-to-eat-out-of-the-jar, banana desserts that will have you smiling at their intense banana-based flavors.

Rather appropriately, the dessert line is called Bananappeal. Everything Courtney makes is all-natural, preservative-free and as she uses no hydrogenated oils, all her desserts are trans fat-free.

Courtney has produced four varieties of Cheesecake in a Jar:

Bananas Foster

Banana Gingersnap

Banana Tiramisu

Banana Strawberry

The Tiramisu and Strawberry cheesecakes are gluten-free.

She has also produced four varieties of Frosted Cake in a Jar:

Banana Chocolate Fudge

Banana Peanut Butter

Banana Salted Caramel

Banana Toasted Coconut

The Banana Peanut Butter Frosted Cake

If you can stop at one jar in a sitting, you either have Absolute Will Power, or you may be comatose; in which case, see a doctor. 

Courtney’s Bananappeal desserts are so good that Williams-Sonoma may put her mixed four-packs in its late winter/early spring catalogue.

MMMMM, love it!

The frosted cakes are available in both an 8-oz. (1-2 servings) and a 4-oz. (single serving) size, while the cheesecakes are available only in a 4-oz. size. 

At present, you can order these sensational, fully baked, ready-to-eat desserts from Courtney’s website, www.bananapppeal.com. 

Pricing:

The 4-pack, 4-oz. frosted cakes are $29.95

The 4-pack, 8-oz. frosted cakes are $39.95

The 4-pack, 4-oz. cheesecakes are $29.95

The 4-pack, 4-oz. gluten-free cheesecakes are $34.95

Full disclosure

I was introduced to 27-year-old-Courtney 16 months ago by Napa Valley wine friends who asked if I could help her refine a culinary concept. 

(I have been a product development consultant to the food industry for 35 years and have brought to market many of the products in your kitchen cupboard – mostly the healthier ones.)

I offered to coach Courtney at no charge, thinking this was an ideal way to give something back to the food industry, which has been good to me. 

I was particularly eager to help Courtney for four reasons:

1. Bananas are on my own list of food-favorites. 

2.  I was captivated by Courtney’s bright, spirited entrepreneurial approach to business. 

3. I enjoy mentoring bright, young people.

4. I respected Courtney’s credentials and experience. She graduated twice – once from Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, and then she graduated from the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, in Napa Valley, with a baking and pastry certificate.

Courtney has great experience, having worked with the best and at the best; she has been executive assistant to Tyler Florence, famed chef and Food Network personality; she was a respected concierge at Napa Valley’s Auberge du Soleil; she helped launch three restaurants in the Bay-area and has been a pastry chef at two top-tier American restaurants, Tru, in Chicago, and Eleven Madison Park, in New York. (I know, I know… after all this experience you’d expect Courtney to be 75!)

After a lot of backing and forthing across the country, Courtney longed to return to the Bay-area to explore her banana passion.

Bananas, grown in more than 107 countries, are universally available, but until Courtney came along, no one thought of producing a line of banana-based desserts. And even more specifically, no one thought of baking them INSIDE a glass jar – so that for convenience, and sheer pleasure, the consumer can spoon Courtney’s fully baked confection out of the reusable, or recyclable, jar.

What’s more, we discovered as we worked together that the glass jars are a superb barrier against spoilage.

Even though there are no preservatives in Bananappeal desserts, and everything is all-natural, the shelf-life of these desserts, kept refrigerated, can be measured in weeks, not days.

(For the record: I have NO commercial interest, or investment, in Courtney’s business; I only guided and coached her, at no charge, to help her get her product line ready to launch.)

About the Fantastic Packaging

Courtney’s original desserts, I felt, required original packaging. So I suggested that Courtney contact Jenn White Topliff, my daughter, to see if she could develop something special for “Court,” as she is known. 

Jenn is a Bay-area graphic designer with many years of professional experience, having designed compelling packages for many big-name clients. (Check out her work at www.13creative.com) 

Jenn and I have often worked together as a dad ‘n daughter team, Jenn producing imaginative packages for clients for whom I have fixed, developed, or improved products. 

I figured Jenn and Courtney, who are look-alikes, would develop a great friendship as well as great packaging. Dad was right on both counts.

I am proud of Jenn’s highly original packaging, which plays on a 50’s theme – a time when mom made these kind of desserts for her family.

Courtney and Jenn ham it up – but there is NO ham in Courtney’s frosted cakes!

Good going Courtney and Jenn! I didn’t think that this story should go un-applauded on the napaman site just because I had a minor hand in directing Courtney or teaming her up with Jenn. 

Update: To commence commercial production, Courtney has just left the Bay-area, relocating in Denver, CO, where she will produce all her banana-based, jarred desserts.

Good luck, Court – to keep up with demand…  and to get through the cold Colorado winter! The Bay-area’s loss is definitely Denver’s gain.

Holy smokes! This restaurant reviewer makes Michael Bauer look like he’s anorexic!

An old friend from my Toronto days, Josh Josephson, breezed through Napa Valley a few weeks ago.

Josh Josephson

I was out of town, so I asked Josh, who fancies himself a fulltime restaurant critic, when he isn’t researching neurosurgical drug matters, to send me a list of where he ate, what he ate, and what he liked while in Napa Valley.

The guy ate at all the places listed below in TWO days, took all these photos, and posted all these comments on his own site, http://cookbookstoreblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/napa-restaurants-french-laundry-tra.html

I append Josh’s review in full. It is unedited and does not necessarily carry my full endorsement or agreement. But this guy pretty much knows what he’s talking about; for one thing, Josh has a serious passion for food, cooking and cuisine, In fact, he opened, with Alison Fryer and Barbara Caffery, Canada’s first cookbook store. Called "The Cookbook Store," in Toronto, it's still running strong 30 years later.

As well as being an optometrist actively involved with research. Josh is chairman of the Standards Council of Canada, Ophthalmic Committees (spectacle lens, contact lens, contact lens care, product standards, etc.). He is Canada's sole voting representative at all ISO meetings.

Most recently, working with a research neurosurgeon, Josh founded a pharmaceutical company that has developed a stroke drug, which prevents complications from a stroke; at present, it is in FDA clinical trials.

All the while, Josh still owns and operates Josephson Opticians, Canada's first high fashion optical chain, established in 1935, by his dad, David, who outfitted me with my earliest glasses.

Anyway, have a look at where Josh ate in Napa Valley, and what he had to say about each course. It’s like a condensed visual Zagat trip through the entire valley.

One more thing: those aren't misspellings below. Those are quaint Canadian spellings: "flavour, colour, etc." Hey, Blame it on Canada!

 

The French Laundry, Yountville, California 

The French Laundry is on any serious eater's hit list and probably the number one on anyone's list of important restaurants to eat at in North America. Finally, I made the list of reservations! There are only 2 menu's, one having everything including meat and fowl, the other, "a tasting of vegetables."

A friend and I, both certifiably NOT vegetarians, and unbeknownst to each other, and, for the first time at any restaurant in our experience, we chose the vegetarian option.

My friend is a highly experienced mangeur of both great rustic and refined cuisine, a Frenchman who lives in London, has a second home in Cap Ferat and a third on the Isle of Wight. Both of us were taken aback when we learned about our choices and realized that we chose this menu for the same reason. The courses and course descriptions were more interesting to us than the meat/fowl menu. We were not disappointed.

Perfectly rendered cheddar cheese filled gougeres.

Cornet filled with salmon tartar, red onion, creme fraiche. 

Medjule date puree, chopped roasted cashew and cilantro in advance of the carrot soup to be poured.

The carrot puree soup with a touch of peanut butter in the puree. The sublime sweetness of the carrot puree went so well with the sweet date flavour. I do not eat mellons. The carrot soup was the chef's menu substitution.

My friend's choice of compressed summer melons with crystallized ginger, lemon verbena and garden mint. 

Salted and sweet butter for the bread. The butters were redolent of field flavours.

Jardiniere de legumes d'ete with Australian black truffle coulis. A marvellous, memory provoking range of bright flavours and textures.

The presentation of the gazpacho ingredients before an emulsion of tomato essence is poured: toybox tomatoes, cucumber, garlic, cilantro and Manni extra virgin olive oil sorbet.

The gazpacho complete. Certainly one of the best gazpachos that I have enjoyed, with a bright tomato flavour complemented by the Manni oil sorbet.

My friend's choice of chawanmushi, dungeness crab, current tomatoes, bonito, tosaka seaweed and strips of nori.

Salad of black mission figs with petite onions, Piedmont hazelnuts, arugula, and smoked soubise. The figs added a heavenly dimension to this dish and worked well with smokey flavour of the soubise.

Degustation de pommes de terres, fingerling potatoes, red radish, petite lettuces and Australian black truffle. This was a sensational dish of earthy, complementary flavours.

Cranberry bean agnolotti with brentwood corn, filet beans and bean blossoms awaiting the bouillon.

The mangalitsa ham bouillon is added. Fabulous contrasting flavours from the bouillon and the perfectly cooked, delicate pasta of the cranberry bean filled agnolotti.

 

My friend ordered the hand cut farfalle with hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, eggplant, Spanish capers, meyer lemon, pine nuts and parmesan "nuage". He felt that the pasta was not cooked adequately, left the pasta over and ate the rest.

"Burrata" consisting of "pain de campagne" croutons, baby squash, Greek basil and charred padron pepper vinaigrette. Again, wonderful layers of flavours that worked so well together with the nicely contrastng textures.

Persian lime sorbet with mascarpone "panna cotta", graham cracker and toasted marshmallows. After this great dessert  I was so satisfied and yet there was more!

Dark chocolate "marquise", malt "anglaise", raison puree, cocoa "financiere" and muscovado sugar ice cream.

 My friend's selection.

 

Fabulous mignardises with various fillings.

"Coffee and donuts!" A coffee, chocolate pudding like consistency on the bottom layer with a thick rich milk foam on the top, accompanied by chocolate coated macadamias and the best "timbits" (for you Tim Horton people) you have ever tasted, sugar dusted crispy skinned dough balls with a soft interior...addictive!

Tra Vigne, St Helena, California

Tra Vigne is a an always jammed, people friendly place with a rather somber inside room and an arbored, leisure encouraging outdoor eating area. A good friend, former Toronto epicure, food writer Jim White, now a Napa resident, praised the bistecca fiorentina at Tra Vigne. I was glad he told me as the waiter did not announce this steak as a special and it was not on the menu. Further, when I did ask, I was advised there were only 4 of these 2.5 pound behemoths and he better get right back into the kitchen to make certain that he could reserve one. Our steak was confirmed and we ordered it rare.

We began with wood oven roasted, baked fig pizza, with Sister Mercy's black mission figs, gorgonzola, arugula and aged balsamic. Great, complementary topping flavours and a nicely thin, tasty, crispy crust.

Another crisp and well flavoured hit, the rosemary pizzetta with roasted head of garlic, cambozola cheese and Dickson Ranch "Regina" olive oil. The pizzas at Tra Vigne were the very best that I tasted in the Napa region.

The best wood oven roasted padron peppers I experienced in Napa and almost every resto offered some version of these peppers! Perfectly cooked, tossed with Napa's taggiasca olive oil, pleasantly crispy skinned and not over oily. The gold standard for me.  

A perfectly rendered rigatoni alla carbonara made with guanciale bacon, onions, organic eggs, cracked pepper and parmesan. This was a very rich tasting dish for which the critical elements were the richness of the egg and the properly reduced sauce.

Our wine of the night. Pardon the side view as I tried to rotate the image: A fabulous Whitehall Lane Reserve vintage 2003.

The rare steak, served with crispy skinned, roasted potatoes and  perfectly sauteed spinach with olive oil and chopped garlic. This steak was as good as the best bistecca fiorentina I have ever enjoyed in Florence. Great flavour, texture and juiciness. A "beef boys" ranking of 8/8 1/2/ 8 1/2 (all out of 10).

Bistro Jeanty, Yountville, California

This casual bistro owned by chef Philippe Jeanty is where one can experience classic examples of well prepared, rustic, French influenced cuisine with a contemporary twist. The cuisine also well represents local produce and a good selection of regional wines.

Warm lamb's tongue, with potato, frisee endive, small capers, copped chives, chopped tomato and chopped parsley, all tossed with a tart, creamy mustard vinaigrette dressing. A superb dish.

Our wine, a very good example of regionally made pinot noir, Red Dog Vineyard's Ancien vintage 2007.

Blood sausage, caramelize apple on mashed potatoes. I love blood sausage and with the caramelized apples and mash, this well executed dish, with it's sweet earthy flavours, smooth but coarse texture, really hit the spot.

Leek and melted goat cheese tart. A melt in the mouth, intensely leek flavoured, thin crispy crusted delight. A perfect tart.

Bone marrow, sauce bordelais. Remarkable quality marrow, not too fatty/oily, perfectly cooked to be somewhat firm in texture. Wonderful flavour. 

Pied de cochon, lightly breaded, deep fried, crispy skinned, perfectly spiced and accompanied by a whole grain mustard sauce and tasty, crispy frites.

Lemon meringue tart with a shortbread crust, accompanied by a lemon orange sauce !! Just look at this mile high piece of indulgent pleasure! It tasted as good as it looked.

Armagnac soaked prunes over rich vanilla ice cream. These liquor soaked prunes were as good as I have enjoyed anywhere.

Oenotri, Napa, California

Oenotri has an ambitious menu and that attracted me to try the restaurant. The menu is rustic but sophisticated. 

To begin, the wood oven pizza disappointed. This pizza was topped with peppers, pancetta, red onion, aglio rosso and wild arugula. The toppings were very good, tasty and the dough had a nice flavour. However, the dough was too soggy in from the outer crust. The texture was almost bready and had an unpleasant stretchy/doughy texture.

Brentwood sweet corn, grape tomatoes and Blue Lake beans. This was a bland dish with no distinguishing element. The corn was sweet but not sweet enough.

These padrano peppers were strangely textured, rather oily and almost slimy. The aioli was spicy and had a nice creamy texture.

This was a good salad with Marin Roots mustard greens. roasted eggplant, Jimmy Nardello peppers, a slow cooked Tully Dolci egg and pecorino sardo. A very tasty salad with intriguing flavours. The wonderful tasting egg was perfectly cooked but did not seem a great complement for this dish.

Bucatini alla carbonara with pancetta, Tulli Dolci egg, coarsely ground black pepper and pecorino romano. The pasta was perfectly cooked and the black pepper a very good accent for the rich addition of the Tulli Dolci egg. However, the sauce was slightly too salty.

Wild nettle fidei pasta with wood oven roasted san marzano tomatoes, eggplant, Jimmy Nardello peppers and pesto Genovese. Again, the pasta was perfectly cooked and most of the flavours of this dish were good, especially the strong eggplant flavour. However, the dish may be too complicated with too many things happening. The pesto flavour component was a bit too salty and perhaps a bit overwhelming.

Perfectly cooked donuts had very good flavour and good texture with a crispy skin. The mascarpone sauce was a good tasty complement.

Lunch at Rutherford Grill

Lunch at the Rutherford Grill is said to be the time that many vintners and area farmers attend.    

It was certainly a convenient place to eat in the area that we were tasting wines.

We began with a wonderful coarsely ground, flavourful house made Italian sausage (no photo). This was probably one of the 2 best things I ever ate at the Grill in the 2 meals that I had there. It was juicy and had a mild fennel flavour. It was very juicy without being fatty.

Colcannon mash with a nice mild bight had good flavour and a texture that was pleasantly coarse rather than boringly creamy. That was the accompaniment of the tasty, oak wood roasted, rotisserie chicken. The problem was that is was a bit dry. Only the thigh section had any reasonable moistness (I am reaching here).

The burger arrived perfectly medium rare, as ordered. It was juicy, but too much of that juiciness was the fatty component. The fries were crispy and ok.

Dinner at Rutherford Grill

I ordered roast beef with high expectations. The owner of the Grill is reputed to be the owner of Huston's Steak House and apparently this resto is his "baby". He should know beef. The menu read well: slow roasted, roast beef.  I  asked if i could get my beef medium rare to rare, on the rare side. I was advised that my request should be no problem. It arrived as you see below: medium. It was tough and the texture a bit dry too. It was too well done for me to enjoy, so I asked to have it returned to the kitchen and I reordered the beef. The waiter was very gracious about my request.

In the meantime, I enjoyed the artichoke grilled over a wood fire. The artichokes had been basted with garlic butter loaded with finely chopped garlic and served with an extraneous sauce resembling remoulade, which after tasting, I ignored. This dish was one of my 2 favourite dishes in the 2 meals at the Grill.

While I was waiting for my beef, I had oak grilled pork ribs which were sided with the house made BBQ sauce. The ribs were a bit too "fall off the bone" done, but they were tasty from the wood smoke. They arrived with very good crispy french fries and a very good, creamy dressed slaw made with chopped parsley and chopped cabbage 

My Second serving of roast beef arrived. Remarkably, not to my liking, again: medium to medium rare, on the medium side. The beef was on the tough side and a bit dry tasting too! Clearly my server is no judge of what degrees of doneness should look like....and he should be as he is the quality controller of what is put in front of guests. The beef in this restaurant was a sincere disappointment. On the beef tasting scale we have established among our serious amateurs and professionals (the "beef boys") I would give it a rating of 53/4 /4 /4 (taste, texture and juiciness, on a scale out of 10). The horseradish sauce was not particularly enjoyable and the "au jus" a watery stock that a good piece of beef would make completely redundant. The potatoes were as I described before, for me, the only edible food on the plate!

Mustard's Grill

We began with a very tasty tomale made with sweet creamy corn, wild mushrooms, and accompanied by pumpkin seeds and a terrific tomatillo, avocado salsa.

Lightly breaded, crispy, very tasty onion rings were accompanied by a nice house made ketchup. They are great when they are fresh and hot.

The dungeness crab cakes were good but the salad dressing for the greens was really very enjoyable, a raspberry, canola oil, vinegar molasses vinaigrette. I have never had canola oil taste so good.

This was my half of the fabulous Don Watson lamb burger which arrived perfectly cooked as ordered, medium rare to rare, and what a great burger, my favourite item ordered. The burger was very juicy and had a light smokey flavour. The bun was also perfect, a crispy skin with a soft interior that did not fall apart as one ate the burger. Arugula and sliced onion were added to the burger. The fries were crispy and tasty but were over salted and frankly inedible. 

I had high expectations of the wood smoke oven cooked Sonoma duck. Unfortunately, the smoke flavour was overly strong. I suspect that apple wood or pecan wood was not used but would have been preferable. The meat was a bit too dry. The duck was accompanied by local beans, grilled sweet potatoes and mustard fruits.

Dessert was a terrific, intensely flavoured plum orange sorbet and pleasingly not too sweet. There was a very nice lingering after taste, an experience often lost in the quality of most restaurant sorbets.

Hurley's

We began with lightly breaded crisy mix of calimari, rock shrimp, red onion and cauliflower florets accompanied by a caper remoulade.

The best dish of the night was the lovely, crusted, savory onion tart, which contained caramelized onion with rosemary, applewood smoked bacon and goat cheese. Frisee lettuce and sliced cherry tomato were on the side.

The main was a tamarind and chipotle glazed portion of buffalo short ribs accompanied by a ginger and scallion risotto, and baby bok choy.

Bardessano Hotel Restaurant: Brunch

The Baldessano is a very attractive, modern and cleanly designed hotel that is so respectful of a natural habitat. I ate outside on a lovely, clear skied, sunny morning.

This was one of my very favourite meals in Napa. Pork cheek confit hash, wilted spinach, roasted root vegetables, yellow and green zucchini, crispy "Little Farm" potatoes all topped with a sunny side up egg and served with a house made, somewhat bland fresh tomato tasting ketchup (which I only tasted). What a great dish, alone, worth the drive to Yountville all the way from the Silverado Country Club! Wonderfully integrated flavours, each component perfectly cooked and all bound with a rich, highly reduced sauce that really helped to make this dish. Two varieties of toast accompanied this dish, rosemary flavoured sourdough toast and a whole wheat toast. Mclelland's lovely butter was served on the side along with very good house made preserves of blackberry jam with such bright flavours that made one want to eat more.

Oxbow Market: C Casa and Pico Pico Bar

My friend Jim White, now a native of Napa, highly recommended a sojourn to this market full of different food a craft purveyors. At certain times of the week there is also a farmer's market that I did not make.

C Casa

C Casa specializes in creatively made tacos with very wholesome, tasty ingredients. I just had to order 3. I began with a rotisserie duck taco with baby spinach, orange wedges, goat cheese, cilantro and serrano salsa. This delicious taco went down quickly! Then, a pork carnita taco with cabbage slaw, mildly seared pineapple, avocado and serrano salsa. I loved the fabulous flavours and textures. This taco did not last long either! Finally, a spiced lamb taco, with goat cheese, avocado crema, mint, jalapenos, garlic aioli and micro greens.This last taco was my favourite!

Pica Pica Bar

Still hungry, I wandered down to Pica Pica Bar. Their display looked very appetizing. I enjoyed a "maizewich" of grilled sweet corn bread "pernil", a wonderfully spiced, slow roasted shoulder of pulled pork, with sliced tomato, sliced avocado and a garlic aioli.

The patacones also looked so enticing, fried, crispy crusted plaintain tarts one filled with chopped avocado and chicken breast salad, another with spiced beans, chopped raw onion, chopped cilantro and chopped tomato and the third with shredded pork, avocado and chopped tomato. Despite the fact that by this time I was stuffed, I enjoyed finishing them all!

Brassica opens – Cindy Pawlcyn’s newest restaurant

 

Two things can be said about Cindy Pawlcyn: 

1. She sure as hell knows how to cook
2. She sure as hell knows how to throw a party

Nearly 800 guests took up Cindy’s invitation and attended the pre-opening bash of her newest restaurant, Brassica, in St. Helena, last night. 

Napaman was present but the crowd was so dense that it was impossible to raise a camera to get any meaningful shots. Hence the skimpy visual coverage. 

The name Brassica, of course, is ironic as it is Latin for the family of plants known as mustards. And it is Cindy, who for 28 years, has been the gale force behind Mustards Grill, which has been one of the valley’s best restaurants for this entire stretch of time. And still is.

Brassica is located in the space, which we all knew and loved as Go Fish, also a Cindy operation. But the sushi bar and seafood-driven menu ran their course; it’s thought that visitors to our valley want heartier fare to go with their killer Cabs. But we sure had some tasty dishes at Go Fish. May she R.I.P. 

Brassica’s menu leans on the zestier fare of the GMR – Greater Mediterranean Region; on the menu, I note the use of za’atar to flavor eggplant fries, and the introduction of lamb kebabs, Greek cheeses, and middle eastern tabouli.

Appetizers were offered last night but servers couldn’t keep up with the size of the crowd. A proper commentary on the food will follow in the weeks ahead in this space. Keep a-lookin’. 

Brassica 12

On the wine side, Brassica introduces a new concept called Brassica 12. The restaurant will highlight a dozen different, small-production Napa Valley winemakers who don’t have tasting rooms. Their hard-to-find wines will be showcased by the glass and bottle, and the selection will rotate.

Guests will be able buy individual bottles for home consumption, or buy a Brassica 12 12-pack (that’s NOT a typo! That’s a Brassica 12 12-pack!) for take-out.

Brassica, 641 Main St., St. Helena. 707-963-0700. Reservations suggested.

 

The Best Gift you can Buy a Wine-lover!

 

 It’s the 2007 Stags Leap District Wine Box, a superb collection of 18 different wines from one of my favorite Napa Valley appellations. 

The Stags Leap District winegrowers have produced a mixed case like this for many years, and I have often bought the collection as it’s an easy way to get some of the top-favored, top-flavored, top-rated, wines in Napa Valley without having to careen from winery to winery.

A tremendous shot from Stags Leap District, taken by my friend, Steven Rothfeld

The 2007 collection is considered one of the best Stags Leap Wine Boxes ever assembled, according to Nancy Bialek, the association’s executive director.

In her own words:

“The 2007 wines are generous in aromatics and texture. The vintage opened with cool weather and early growth. A mild April turned into a hot May and June, with grapevines blazing through bloom and the first phase of development.

Late summer heat punctuated the start of harvest. The 2007 vintage … has unusual depth and complexity.”

What all this means is: A superb vintage with bright, youthful, fleshy wines.

Another amazing shot in Stags Leap District, taken by Steven Rothfeld

Here’s how Elizabeth Vianna, winemaker at Chimney Rock Winery and Vice President of SLDWA, sums up the vintage:

“The 2007 harvest will go down as one of the great harvests of the decade for Stags Leap District. The fruit concentration is amazing.”

The Stags Leap District Winegrowers didn’t provide napaman an easy, one-tasting-pours-all way to sample the 2007 wine collection to provide readers with detailed tasting notes on the 18 wines; the best that I could do was visit several Stags Leap District tasting rooms.

Chimney Rock Winery, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, Ganymede Vineyard

I like the way winemaker Elizabeth Vianna explains her 2007 effort:

“We experienced a dry spring, which is the first thing we need to grow great grapes. We like vines to stress early so that they focus their attention on the fruit. One of the parameters of quality is the size of the berry. Most of the color and flavors in wine come from the skins; the smaller the berries -- the greater the ratio of skin compounds to pulp – results in a better concentration of flavor and color.”

“The average Cabernet Sauvignon berry in 2007 was nearly 30 percent smaller than in the previous two vintages,” Elizabeth says. Which explains the concentrated flavors in her 2007 wine.

Only 500 cases of the estate Ganymede were made and they are all gone now, save for bottles in the 2007 Stags Leap District Wine Box.

The wine is delicious, exhibiting gorgeous ripe fruit notes and flavors. This wine has a pedigree in balance and finish.

Regusci Winery, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

Some 3,000 cases were made of this $53 wine, a blend of Cabernet (92 percent), Merlot (6 percent) and Cab Franc (2 percent).

The Cab has a warm and inviting nose with scents, and flavors, of red currant-bordering-on-cranberry. Has attractive floral notes on the nose and exhibits medium length on the palate. Well structured. I like the alluring middle palate. 

Cliff Lede Vineyards, 2007 Poetry

Probably the most expensive wine in the 2007 collection ($150), though it definitely delivers; coffee, dark ripe fruits on the nose with a hint of animal and an identifiable green scent toward the end of the sniff.

On the palate, juicy notes, a l-o-n-g finish, flavors reminiscent of dark plums with a sunburn. Needs to be cellared - big time.

Silverado Vineyards, 2007 SOLO

In the old days, this wine at Silverado was simply labelled their Stag’s Leap District offering, made exclusively from estate fruit. But the label was confusing with other house labels, so they created a new brand, Solo, to better register the essential elements of the beverage: made from one SOLO vineyard and made exclusively with one SOLO grape, Cabernet.

In 2007, Silverado made 1,400 cases of this exquisite wine which begs to be drunk now, but which will cellar for 10 years and then magnificently enthrall your palate.

At Silverado, I spoke with Jen Withrow, one of the extremely pleasant tasting room staffers; she encouraged me to try the 2000 Silverado Stag’s Leap District Cabernet – the same wine offered in the 2007 collection, only seven years older, and now, fully aged 11 years.

Of all the wines I previewed for this Stag’s Leap District Wine Box story, nothing approached the beauty, balance and majesty of this striking older wine. In fact, the 2000 Silverado Stag’s Leap Cabernet is one of the best wines I’ve tasted in months. It’s simply gawjus. Easily a 97-point wine.

Anyone who was smart enough to buy this upon release has a majestic wine in his, or her, cellar.

Come to think of it: the 2007 Solo Cab is $90 at the winery today. For $20 more you can buy the fully aged, 2000 Cab from the winery library – actually, a much better value!

Photo by -- who else? -- Steven Rothfeld

The Appellation Collection is the only offering in the country, comprised entirely of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from a single appellation and a single vintage. Each of the Association's 18 member wineries is represented in the collection.

The Collection is limited to 200 cases. You can order it starting October 15^th.

Photo by him again, Steven Rothfeld

The Collection contains one bottle each of the following Stags Leap District wines:

Baldacci Family Vineyards, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

Chimney Rock Winery, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, Ganymede Vineyard

Cliff Lede Vineyards,  2007 Poetry

Clos Du Val . 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

Hartwell Vineyards, 2007 Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Ilsley Vineyards, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

Lindstrom Wines, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

Malk Family Vineyards, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

Pine Ridge Vineyards, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

Regusci Winery, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

Robinson Family Vineyards, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

Shafer Vineyards, 2007 One Point Five Cabernet Sauvignon

Silverado Vineyards, 2007 Solo

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, 2007 Fay Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Stags' Leap Winery, 2007 The Leap Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Steltzner Vineyards, 2007 Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Taylor Family Vineyards, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

Terlato Family Vineyards. 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon
 

 

The 2007 Appellation Collection of 18 wines costs:

$1,450.00 per case. 7.75% tax applies to California sales and various states by law.

To order:

Online as of October 15 at www.stagsleapdistrict.com/appellationcollection

Welcome to Somerston, Napa Valley’s Newest Winery!

 

If you ever wanted to learn about the terroir of Napa Valley, Somerston Winery’s a good place to do it.

Napa Valley’s newest winery (it opened to the public yesterday) features more than 87 distinct growing blocks, five completely different soil types, multiple sources of water each with different mineral properties, and the ranch sprawls across a tall ridge, which joins two different valley systems.

Somerston, the creation of real estate developer Allan Chapman, has been seven years in the making. In 2004, Allan started acquiring land on Sage Canyon Road, ten miles beyond Pritchard Hill and Lake Hennessey.

The winery’s mail address may be St. Helena, but the isolated, mountainous location has as little to do with the tony town. If anything, visiting Somerston to party for an afternoon, is like heading out on a safari. Be sure to pack your water bottles, sunscreen and photo equipment.

Somerston owner Allan Chapman

Allan, born in Newcastle, UK, studied at Cambridge University and came to America via Vancouver. The bulk of his career has been spent in real estate and telecommunications. Allan says that he had no expectation that one day he would own a 1,626-acre winery in Napa Valley.

There are 17 different grape varieties planted between 800- and 2200-feet elevation at Somerston. More than 200 acres are planted.

After speaking with Allan, I understand how he thinks and why he’s been successful at business; it’s in his genes. Allan’s family operated and sailed giant clipper chips in the 1850s era in England.

“In those days, in England, the annual crop of Indian tea would run out before the next year’s crop was picked and delivered. As soon as the next new crop of tea was picked, whoever got it from India, or Ceylon, to England first, was able to charge five times more than the market price; consumers bid up the price of the newly arrived, new-crop tea,” explains Allan.

Allan’s family realized that if they added great billowing sails to transport boats, and built and sailed giant clipper ships, they could make the voyage from India to England much faster than others, landing the new-crop tea first on the shores of England and earning themselves a premium price for the tea. 

“My family was able to build a new sailing clipper each year with the profits,” says Allan.

I’m not sure the same rules apply in bringing new-crop Nouveau Cabernet to market in Napa Valley, Allan, so maybe don’t think about applying this strategy to your winery business….

Even so, to honor his family’s shipping heritage, many of the planted blocks and vineyards at Somerston are named after Allan’s family sailing ships.

Today, 1500-head of Dorper sheep, originally from South Africa, graze in the vineyards, eating weeds and keeping grasses short. “We call this organic fire control,” quips Allan, who is intent on ultimately getting full organic certification for the property. 

“At present, everything we do here is sustainable farming; in fact, we are building a solar power system, which will completely remove us from the outside electrical grid,” says Jim Provance II, a staff wine specialist at Somerston.

Even the sheep at Somerston get immaculate care and attention; they’re day-cared by a Peruvian shepherd who moves the herd to different blocks to keep them fed and the grasslands trimmed.

The winery occupies a site formerly known as Priest Ranch, named after Joshua James Priest, who landed in California in 1847 to stake a claim in the gold rush.

That’s the winery barn at a distance in the middle of the shot; above it tower the quarries where miners thought they would extract gold; instead, they found a source of bubbly, mineral-rich, soda, which was bottled and sold for its reputed healing properties.

Priest thought that bits of bright blue glass, which speckled on the property, indicated the presence of gold. But instead of gold, Joshua discovered a hidden natural soda springs on the property. The natural waters were bottled on the property and sold for their reputed healing powers.

While beverages bottled on the ranch today may lack health-curing powers, they contain alcohol, which will help anyone forget they have issues requiring medical attention.

In fact, three different wine brands are produced here: Somerston, Priest Ranch and Highflyer. Premium wines carry the Somerston label.

Among Somerston reds, the two I tried and liked are:

2007 Somerston Proprietary Red, a blend of 97 percent Merlot and 3 percent Cabernet Franc. $90. Only 150 cases made.

2007 Somerston Cab, which is 100 percent estate Cabernet. $120. 250 cases produced.

To celebrate the opening of the winery, Allan and his winemaker-partner, Craig Becker, hosted an all-day party Saturday.

Wine specialist Jim Provance II takes guests on zippy 20-minute rides through the vineyards

They offered rides on All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), which scootered over the ridges and through the vineyards. They generously fed guests and looked after their beverage needs, too.

Now that the winery is open to the public, here’s what you need to know:

With a booked appointment, visitors get a ride through the vineyards, a tasting flight of three Somerston wines, complementary local cheeses and freshly made pate.

The cost is $50 per person. The ATVs make their 20-minute run through the vineyards three times daily -- at 11 am, 1 pm and 3 pm. To book space, call 707-967-8414. Or check details at www.somerstonwineco.com.

The winery is at 3450 Sage Canyon Rd. Set your GPS device to read “St. Helena” for ‘city.’

Can’t make it to the farm? Somerston also operates a tasting room in Yountville at 6490 Washington St.

Double Your Pleasure… Double Your Fun…

Sounds like an old Wrigley’s Doublemint gum commercial, but in wine-speak, it refers to two of my favorite Napa Valley wineries, which have just joined retail forces. 

Harris Estate Vineyards and Jones Family Vineyards, both Calistoga appellation wine producers, have opened a dual tasting room in the tiny, tony town of St. Helena (population 6,000 … but 6,008 when eight visitors crowd into the new, small, designer tasting room).

The dual venture, which provides an extremely sophisticated tasting experience, is called Salon St. Helena. It’s on Hunt St., between Main and Railroad Avenue, where it shares space with Martin Design. 

Jake is spokesdog for Harris Estate and CRC (Chief Rabbit Chaser) of Jake’s Creek Vineyard, one of four Harris cuvees.

The Harrises and Joneses met at a luncheon last year hosted by Thomas Brown, consulting winemaker for both families.

“It seemed like such a natural thing -- for us to open a dual tasting room,” says Mike Harris, “since neither of us are permitted to conduct tastings on our respective properties.”

From left to right: Janee Delancey, Salon tasting room hostess, Treva & Mike Harris, Rick Jones & Stephanie Jones Bailey 

“Thomas is an extremely gifted winemaker,” says Stephanie Jones Bailey, daughter of Rick Jones and director of operations of her family’s wine business.

“Thomas is self-taught,” she continues. “He started his wine career at Turley, and went on to become winemaker at Schrader Cellars where he produced 100-point Cabernets. The guy’s a Cabernet wizard.”

Yes, quite the wizard. So much so that Thomas was named Winemaker of the Year last year by Food & Wine Magazine.

Thomas Rivers Brown

Today, Thomas Rivers Brown is the consulting winemaker of more than a dozen star Napa Valley brands, including Outpost, Casa Piena, Maybach and Revanna.

And let’s not forget Harris Estate and Jones Family wines, which I swooned over at a tasting at the Salon.

I tasted six wines, which are offered as a flight for $35. We’ll get to my tasting notes in a minute, but here’s what a wine writer colleague had to say about new vintages of Harris and Jones wines.

Wine writer Roy Piper

Roy Piper, whose palate and tasting judgment I respect, penned these notes in a recent column on wineberserkers.com:

2009 Jones Family Cabernet, Napa

Okay, if you like the Spottswoode/Gemstone styled combo of power and finesse, this is the one to get. Classical Napa style with juice red cherry and blueberry fruits,a really nice structure and smooth mouthfeel. Good balance. Medium-full body. This is the second straight excellent vintage of this producer. Voluptuous and sexy. Sourced from a single block. 95pts

2009 Harris "Lakeview" Cab, Napa

If I had to rank my favorite wines of the day, this was it. A wholly complete wine in every way, with power, balance, purity, complexity and nice long finish. Black fruits in the nose with stacked flavors and a good structure and grip in the mouthfeel. This has it all. Could use 3-5 years to get in the zone but is balanced enough to approach now with a nice decanting. Worth hunting down. The best wine from this producer I've yet had. 96pts

Stephanie Jones Bailey & her dad, Rick Jones

Rick Jones, whom I knew in my former days as a consultant to Safeway, was executive vice-president of supply for the grocery chain, where he worked 12 years. Upon retiring, Rick bought a vineyard in Calistoga and says that when he realized how good his fruit was, he decided to bottle it for his own label.

Rick is CFO of the family wine biz and his two daughters have specific responsibilities; Stephanie runs the day-to-day biz and her sister, Heather Jones Melvin, is director of special events.

Mike and Treva Harris and their wonderdog, Jake

Over at the Harris ranch (not to be confused with the steakhouse – no relation), Mike is the face of the business while his sweet and charming wife Treva (I can say these things because the Harrises are good friends) oversees bookkeeping and the backroom. Their wonderdog Jake, a black Lab, is responsible for chasing rabbits and catching Frisbees. (He’s not as successful at his job as Thomas Brown is at his – which is probably a good thing for wine lovers.)

Mike & Treva Harris

Mike, who was a pediatric dentist for 32 years in Milpitas, has a wicked sense of humor. He comes by it naturally; his father owned Tommy’s Joint, a landmark bar and performing venue on Van Ness, in San Francisco. Mike grew up with some of the biggest names in entertainment who paraded through his family’s night club.

Janee Delancey, tasting room hostess, and Presley

Everything about the tasting experience at Salon is chic. Including the hostess, Janee Delancey, who manages the tasting room and makes guests feel totally at home. Her onsite helper is wonderdog Presley.

If you’d like to have some snacks, or appetizers with your wine tasting, Janee can arrange to have tasty fare brought in from Cook restaurant next door.

“We’d prefer that groups and individuals book an appointment for tastings,” says Janee. “Our Salon isn’t big,” she notes. But the wines sure are.

The six wines served at Salon St. Helena.

2009 Jones Family Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc

The first white wine produced by the Jones Family, a beguiling, elegant Sauvignon Blanc, produced from fruit grown in Rutherford. Fabulous with food. $40. 92 points.

2007 Jones Family Vineyards The Sisters

A great $50 Napa Valley Cabernet, whose nose suggests smoke, and deep purple grapes. The addition of a small percentage of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc add a touch of spice and complexity. What a lovely, approachable wine. $50. 92 points.

 2007 Jones Family Vineyards Estate Cabernet

Huge nose of fresh ripe red fruit, a gorgeous silk texture like that of velours; hints of tobacco and cedar and a long, lingering cherry finish. I really love this wine. I followed the word “wonderful” in my tasting notes with three exclamation marks. $110. 94 points.

2008 Harris Estate Vineyards Indulgence

The Harris’ first offering made with fruit sourced off the estate. The vines are young, the nose is tight and the wine, at this stage, is slightly angular. While made from 100 percent Cabernet, this is a blend of three different Cab clones. $95. 90 points.

2007 Harris Estate Vineyards Jake’s Creek Vineyard

A voluptuous wine, filled with red and black fruit flavors, a stunning middle palate and a great finish. Aged 20 months in new French oak. Bravo! $110.  93 points.

2008 Harris Estate Vineyards, Lakeview Vineyard

Whoa! This wine socks it out of the park! A stupendous achievement. The wine is filled with minerality and complexity. One of those “ Aha!”wines that make you slap your forehead with wonderment. $110. 94 points.

One of the take-aways from the tasting is how different areas within the Calistoga appellation produce different tasting wines. The Harris Cabernet vines are planted on the western side of the valley, the Jones’ Cab vines are planted on the eastern side of the valley. The wines are made by the same winemaker who pretty much uses the same barrels and winemaking techniques for all these wines. So what has changed most is the source of the grapes – east versus west.

After a rousing afternoon of tasting at the Salon, I’d suggest visitors dine at Cook, on Main Street, or at Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen, around the corner on Railroad Avenue, or a few blocks south on Main Street at Tra Vigne. You will have a fun, fine dining experience and any of these restaurants, and if you’re really smart, you’ll bring some wine along from your Salon tasting for dinner.

Salon St. Helena is located at 1118 Hunt. St. Call Janee at 707-963-3193, or on cell at 707-328-1001 to book an appointment.

Spoiler Alert: Don’t Read This If You Are A Vegetarian!

Twenty-eight carnivores gathered at Tra Vigne’s Cantinetta, in St. Helena, last night to explore numerous ways to over-eat, consume gross quantities of red meat, raw and cooked, and to share a possibly not-healthy-to-humans, and most certainly a not-healthy-to-cows, experience.

Tra Vigne Executive Chef Nash Cognetti, who created the superb dinner.

The group assembled at 4 pm for the first-ever gathering of the Red Meat Club, an anti-establishment, red-meat-devouring, assembly of like-minded individuals.

We didn’t get up from our chairs until 9 pm; for five continuous hours, we were served different parts of the same 26-month-old steer, which, trust me, would have been happier to be “present in the moment” than be honored as the dinner centerpiece.

The event was hosted by Tra Vigne executive chef Nash Cognetti, and Michael Panza, from Biagio Artisan Meats.

Cost of attending the event was $100 per person, tax, and tip included. Guests could eat their weight in perfectly prepared viandes, all of them emanating from the same steer. 

House-made grissini, one of the few things served at dinner that did not come from the evening’s host cow.

Dinner was a delicious, six-course, sit-down affair. The single cow, which provided the dinner for 28 guests, was a pasture-raised steer from Lucky Dog Ranch, in Dixon, CA, about 40 miles east of Napa Valley. Terri Gililland, owner of the ranch, was present for the dinner.

Chef Nash received the entire left side of a steer for our dinner.

“According to scientists at the University of Nebraska, a cow’s left side is the tastier side,” said Andrew Tescher, whose job title is ‘steak wrangler’ at Lucky Dog Ranch. (He’s in charge of sales, as well as butchering.)

“Cows tend to rotate in circles, almost always turning right, which stretches their left flank,” added Tescher, explaining why meat cut from the left side of a cow’s carcass may produce tastier, juicier meat. It gets worked more.

Courses served to the hungry diners, each of whom were asked to bring at least one bottle of wine to complement the boeuf, included:

Head cheese.

As tasty as this course was, a joke naturally surfaced; a guest held out the large platter of sliced meat, offering it to me, asking, “Would you like some head….?”

The next course: Steak tartare, brilliantly prepared with tasty capers.

One guest commented that as delicious as the steak tartare was, “if you put it into a 450 F degree oven for an hour, it would make a killer meat loaf!”

The next course: A rich, flavorful Marrow Bone, cut lengthwise, for easier scooping.

Sorry no photos of the next course: Beef Soup, another one of the evening’s tastier courses, deliciously chunked with threads of brisket.

Next up: A mixed grill of heart, live and kidney

The culinary climax: Bistecca alla Fiorentina, the culmination of our five-hour meal; thick, perfectly grilled, juicy pink slices of porterhouse and bone-in, rib-eye steak.

Our fearless leader, Nash, standing atop the bar, addresses the single community table, explaining the menu.

One guest, to my left, daunted by the many unusual cuts of beef served (liver, kidney, brain…) suggested that the event be renamed for the squeamish, from “Red Meat Club” to something more appropriate:

“I think it should be called ‘The ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Dinner!”

The Napa Valley Magnificent Seven Rode into Town….

The Magnificent Seven …. high-profile chefs Tyler Florence, Masaharu Morimoto, Cindy Pawlcyn, Michael Chiarello, Thomas Keller, Jeffrey Jake and Ken Frank

Well, to be completely accurate, the Magnificent Seven were already in town and it was us, a group of food- and wine-writers, who rode into Napa town yesterday to see them.

Let me explain.

The Napa Valley Destination Council and a group of dynamic chefs decided that what our valley needs is one more festival/event/fund-raiser to keep Napa Valley on the lips of America’s wine-drinking, food-loving public. Especially in an off-month, when visitor traffic starts to fade.

The original idea, which initially rattled around the brain of Bottega chef/owner Michael Chiarello, got some heft and support from the Culinary Institute of America; then a group of civic-minded chefs came forward  as did venue support from Silverado Resort & Spa. 

And that’s how the new festival was born, to be called:

Flavor! Napa Valley.

The four-day culinary circus comes to Napa Valley Nov. 17 to 20. There will be nine signature events hosted at Silverado Resort & Spa and at the CIA, in St. Helena.

Jeffrey Jake,Executive Chef at the Silverado Resort & Spa, will be anchor host chef for many of the planned event activities.

At press time, these are the participating, high-profile, chefs:

Michael Chiarello, Scott Conant, Tyler Florence, Ken Frank, Jeffrey Jake, Thomas Keller, Christopher Kostow, Masaharu Morimoto, and Cindy Pawlcyn.

Participating chef Masaharu Morimoto, from his eponymous restaurant in Napa town, Morimoto’s.

Napa Valley’s vintner community will also be represented, as you would imagine, showcasing their wines and two of the industry’s leading sommeliers will be on hand to lead seminars and discussion – Karen MacNeil and Andrea Robinson.

Proceeds will benefit the CIA’s Greystone Campus scholarship programs to support the development of tomorrow’s culinary and wine education leaders.

Promoters are hopeful that this will become an annual November, post-harvest event.

Either intentionally, or because planning is still “somewhat fluid,” as one insider told napaman, additional event details were not forthcoming at the impressive, and tasty, press luncheon, served to food- and wine-writers, at the Silverado Resort yesterday.