Winery_Times

Capiaux is Pinot Noir

There is an ongoing effort out of Angwin headed by Sean Capiaux to make world class Pinot Noir!  From all reports he is doing an outstanding job and as with all great wine, that job starts in the vineyard.  He has several vineyards he works with.  The Freestone Hill (out in RRV)  '05 rated 91 by Wine Advocate is available at $45

Pisoni a long known vineyard in Santa Lucia. This '05 rated is World Class by Wine Advocate at 94, for $52. 

His Wilson Vineyard on the Sonoma Coast had a bad year in '05 and only yielded 30 gallons of juice.  He is now managing this vineyard and it yielded 7 barrels for '06 that he rates as amazing.

His Chimera Vineyard '06 will be first wine released of the '06 vintages.

When a person focuses on one varietal, as Sean has done, the chances for great wine increase in my opinion!  www.capiauxcellars.com 707.965.3191

Buccella Current Releases

I have had this on my desk for a while so I am a little late in posting it.  The order window has closed but I wanted to let you all know Buccella over in Yountville has released their Cabernet and Merlot.

The Merlot is from the famous Hyde Vineyard and very limited as only 254 cases were produced!

The Cabernet is rated 92-94 by Parker and comes from several growers in Calistoga, Oakville, Stag's Leap, Yountville, Coombsville and the Carneros.

Cabernet '05 is priced 3/$300 1.5 $275, Merlot '05 3/$180 1.5 $165.  The order window closed on 11/15 but the web site is www.buccellawines.com.

Bio-dyanamic Wineries

As most of you who read my blog know for many years I have been assembling a list of all the wineries in Sonoma and Napa Counties.  Well recently I was contacted by Jack (I am sorry I do not know his last name) but he and Joanne author a fabulous Blog http://www.forkandbottle.com/  Listed on the left under "Wine" is a list of biodynamic wineries, over 380 worldwide!  This is to be commended as it represents a huge amount of work  which I understand well due to my list and the endless hours it has taken and continues to take!  Following is a partial list for the Napa Sonoma area. He has even added a couple I did not know about, making my list pass 920 entries! 1000 is getting close now. I would never have guessed it would get this big!

First Napa: Araujo, Black Sears, Cardinale, Elders Estate, Frog's Leap, Grgich Hills, Opus One, Joseph Phelps, Quintessa, and Robert Sinsky!  Jack's master list has more but I need to research some of these to find out their location and story.

Sonoma has Benziger, Bucklin, B Vineyard & Habitat, Coturri, Deloach, Lutea Wine Cellars, Motemaggiore, Porter Creek, Preston, Quivera and Sky Saddle.

There are more starting the process or converting every day and I have several more to research but this is a good thing!  Check out Jack and Joanne's site too, they have lots of good stuff there to see and do!

Mayacamus Vineyard's Holiday Releases

Up on the ridge between the Oakville Grade and Mt. Veeder lies Mayacamus Vineyards, which was named for the hills in which the vineyards are located.  It was first named by the owners Jack and Mary Taylor who acquired the property back in 1941.  The present owners are Robert and Elinor Travers who bought the property in 1968 .  They have increased the size of the vineyards , adding and replanting the vineyards.  In addition to Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, small blocks of Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Cabernet Franc are grown.  These vineyards are located at between 1800' and 2400' elevations.  Tastings are done by appointment Monday through Friday by calling (707) 224-4030.   www.mayacamus.com

They have released some interesting Holiday packages: 1 bottle each '03 Chardonnay and '00 Merlot $85, a "vertical tasting" of 1 bottle each '99, '00,'01 Chardonnay $115, 1 magnum each '98  Chardonnay and '97 Pinot Noir $225, 1 magnum each '91 Cabernet and '92 Merlot $450, another "vertical tasting":1 bottle each '81, '82, '83 Cabernet 750ml $550, 1 magnum each '83 Cabernet '92 Merlot $650 .  They also have their current releases available: Cabernet '02 $75, '04 Chardonnay $35, or '02 Merlot $35 

This is yet another hillside fruit location which is out of the way but produces wine that must not be missed. Martin Gersh of Wine and Spirits rates it the best Vineyard in the USA!

The Russian River's Best Getaway

As you all know I have been doing wine tours out of local hotels for many years.  I do  not usually recommend hotels, but I thought it high time I should as they do vary greatly.

Hospitality, is always the number one thing one looks for in accommodations and The Fern Grove Cottages are the number one destination for that!  Located in Guerneville on the Russian River they are a gem of a destination in an area off the beaten path!  They are situated in western Russian River Valley where the tourists are fewer and the wineries friendlier. Owned and operated by a husband and wife team of Mike and Margaret Kennett. There is not a kinder couple in the wine country.  As a driver I see the underside of the Hotel business and some managers/owners can be downright rude.  Mike and Margret, on the other hand are the nicest people I know.  They always make me feel special and if they do it for me I cannot image the kindness they extend to those that stay with them.  They will even accommodate pets with prior arrangements!

The cottages are quaint and homey with a feel of personal attention throughout.  They are equipped with private bath and cable TV.  Jetted spa tubs and fireplaces are available.The place is set in among the giant redwoods the coast has in abundance.  There is a picnic garden, pool and BBQ

Being both originally from England they are famous for their breakfast scones!

This is a perfect place to stay if you plan to see the ocean as well as wine tour.  If you are tired of the mob of tourists in the wine country, western Sonoma county is for you.  It is like going back in time 20 years when people were more happy to see you and pretense was not the order of the day.  If you desire that old fashioned personalized attention, make Fern Grove Cottages your choice for the next Wine Country adventure you plan! www.ferngrove.com (707) 869-8105 Tell them Mark sent you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was just reading Vinography and realized I had not said Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers.  It has been a wonderful experience here and I gained 5 pounds I did not need, wish I could lose weight that easy!

It has been just six months since I started this blog and already I have made many friends and new clients, I am anxious to see what the next six months will bring!

Again, Happy Thanksgiving and Thank you to all!

Mark

Buehler Releases the Otter Red Wine

Up in the hills on Howell Mountain, down or I should say up, Greenfield Rd lies a gem of a winery: Buehler.  Run by John Buehler and started by his dad they specialize in Cabernet.  Well they just realeased their Otter Wine, Zinfandel. 2006 to be exact! The wine is priced at $18 check them out at http://www.buehlervineyards.com/

Martin Estate Releases BACCHANAL

Martin Estate released a Meritage wine this week consisting of a blend of Cabernet and Merlot , all estate fruit using their own 1/2 acre of Merlot!  Located in Rutherford, Martin Estate has named this wine BACCHANAL after the Greek God.  They have bottled 238 cases of this wine at their estate and priced it at $48.  If you are intersted in purchase I would suggest you move quickly, more information can be obtained at www.MartinEstate.com.

The Ultimate Winery List! Phase 2

If you have been reading this blog you have heard about my Napa/Sonoma wine list.  It started over a year ago because it is always my job to know where the customer wants to go.  I used to carry all kinds of maps on which it was always difficult to pinpoint the place to find the information I needed.  Being the computer geek that I am I decided "Well, this all needs to go on my PDA. " Slowly, in down time, I would place the information off of the maps onto my old Dell Axiom PDA which I would sinc with my Outlook Contacts list at the end of each day.  Each time I would find a new map into the PDA the info would go, no list was more than about 350 wineries in length.  The first edition was just short of 600 wineries in Napa and Sonoma Counties excluding Sonoma Coast. 

Each night I would come home and start at the A's ,going winery by winery and searching the net for theweb sites, searching the name along with winery, vineyard, vineyards and wines for the proper endings.  Many have web sites and there I would find information such as FAX number, email address, a list of wines and prices.  There was always some information on the principals and usually the wine maker(s) .  For me, very interesting stuff!  These items I would add to the list for future reference and to make it more complete.  Often would will find another winery associated with that one or the wine maker would mention another he was also making wine for, an web of associations to say the least!

Soon the list got so big it was apparent it needed to be in database form so one could search for the information needed rather than scroll through such a huge list.  I opened up Access Database and started entering information, adding fields for each varietal I encountered,. Wow, there are a lot of varietals out there!  There were many revisions as something would crop up that needed to be changed or added.  Oh and how about $$ signs, that took 5 days in itself!

Today, I have finished phase 2!  The list is now 919 and more complete than any I have seen. This is including the ones that sell ad space to people because they are the best listing and the most complete. NOT! The next comparable list is a 1/3 to 1/2 the size, no web site and no email!

The only thing left to finish is the new table for the web site which we will place the database into.  We will have search boxes at the top to find any aspect of the list, city, varietal, zip code.  By far the best list of any out there and it will soon be available under winery listings on www.limosamerica.com

I will tell everyone when the list Phase 2 is up there, but remember phase 1 is better than anyone else has now!

The Season is Slowing, A Good Time to Tour!

Well this is the first time I have had two days off in a row in months. I guess the season is slowing down now.  I will be able to go out and taste from the long list of places I would like to check out as soon as I finish this latest list update.

I will know in another week or two but it looks like the list will be between 900 and 1000 wineries in Napa and Sonoma County and this does not include the Sonoma Coast area!  It is hard for even me to believe we have so many wineries but this is proof we do!

My plan is to investigate as many as possible before the season picks back up in February. So many wineries, so little time, reminds me of that saying about women.  Well, I am up to the job!  I hope this list will help a lot of you in finding and researching wineries, it will be nice for hotel staff to use for their customers too. Everything in one place and on the computer.

I want you guys to know that if anyone wants a tour now we are offering better prices during the off season, basically Monday through Friday you can get 5 hours for the price of 4 or 8 hours for the price of 6!  I can also say that we can arrange meetings with more wine makers at this time of year as less people are coming.  Also the traffic around here is down.  That is something that can be quite a problem during the season!

So let me know if you would like to take advantage of me and do a tour.  Thanks to all for your kind words and support of my blog and business. It has been heartfelt and a surprise to me, honestly!  Thank you.  The Limo D is finally getting a little rest!

The Incubator: Cult Wine Central, Ghost Block Update!

There are wine rooms and then there is THE Wine Room, that is the Napa Wine Company!  I do not say this lightly but give credit where credit is due. These guys have so much happening it is a wonder to witness.

Take their December News Letter for instance, reading it is like a who's who of Napa Valley wine making.  Lamborn Family Vineyards is releasing their '05 Cabernet, crafted by Heidi Barrett with fruit from their 2200' elevation vineyards on Howell Mountain.  Hillside fruit crafted by one of the best wine makers and guaranteed to develop for years to come ($105). 

Fife is releasing their '04 Reserve Cabernet from a hillside vineyard at 1600'-1800' above the valley on Spring Mt.  Dennis Fife believes in handling the grapes minimally and blending to bring out the character of the wine.   The wine is a blend of Cabernet, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.  This wine was aged in french barrels for almost 36 months.  They only produced 420 cases and the price is only $60 a bottle. 

Showket Vineyards is releasing their '05 Cabernet, yet another wine crafted by the great Heidi Barrett!  This wine was developed and blended by Russell Bevin and Thomas Brocker.  They say the fruit was perfect and on consideration they decided to add 15% Cabernet Franc to the blend, which they feel has resulted in their most complex wine to date, ($85)!

Any one of these wines would be a great addition to a wine room but all three are only possible at the Napa Wine Company, Cult Wine Central!

Oh, I almost forgot, they found 24 more bottles of Ghost Block today, this is the hottest cult wine out there right now so do not hesitate if you are on the fence at $55 a bottle it is a hot item!

www.cultwinecentral.com (707) 944-1710 

Steltzner: Family Owned Since 1965

In the Stag's Leap district there is a hidden gem, a small winery between Stag's Leap Cellars and Shafer, along the Silverado Trail. It is Steltzner, named for the family that owns it.  It has been quietly operating since 1965 when patriarch Dick Steltzner planted the vineyard along with Stag's Leap next door.

Dick was a local who had bought a prune ranch (which proliferated in the NV before the 1960's).  He just wanted to farm grapes and did that until the summer of 1977 when he found himself without a buyer for his fruit.  Bound to do something with it, he decided he would make wine rather than take a total loss.  As he told in an article from the 1980's, that project offered a big learning curve. He added citric rather than tartaric acid and got the decimal off by one digit. Wow, ten times the acid.  He laughs in retrospect about the wine being sour but with great longevity!  I guess when one makes fabulous vintages to follow, one can tell stories like that without fear.  No, maybe that is just Dick!

Well, that was 30 years ago and today the winery is still run by the Steltzners. I was just there yesterday and although I had not met her before, I immediately recognized Dick's daughter Allison who has the big, sensitive eyes of her father.   She has bought new life to their winery.  She wanted to make a rose and her father said no so while he was gone on a hunting trip she did it anyway.  Upon returning Dick said "You will not put it in a Steltzner bottle".  Hence the "Allison" label rose was born!  Rose is a new trend everywhere in the wine country and Allison was right on the heartbeat. These are dry, not sweet, roses.  Not your Mother's rose, so to speak.

These days Steltzner has a great line-up of wines, not a bad one in the bunch! Sav Blanc from their Oak Knoll property this has tropical fruits, again, not your Mother's Sav Blanc.

If you notice I am not over-describing the flavors as this is a personal thing. I think one should evaluate flavors on their as own my taste is not yours nor should it be. We have different fingerprints and we have different taste buds! 

They have a great Claret, drink it now and forget about it, great food wine!  Pinotage is a grape that was designed to weather African climates, a Heritage and Pinot Noir cross with spicy flavors!  Malbec is another Bordeaux blending grape that is not considered good enough to be bottled on its own, or was not, until a decision by Tim Dolven the wine maker. Upon arrival at the winery, Tim said "This is too good to blend." so they bottled it alone!  Thanks, Tim!

Well, we have discussed the appetizers, now on to the main course: Cabernet!  The Steltzners have got this down, in spades!  Their Cabernet is one of the best out there at any price and the price they ask makes it the best value in the Napa Valley in my opinion!  After tasting their regular Cabernet my clients are ready to buy!  Then they taste the barrel select and are confused, as it is better and though double the price at $75, it is still a deal for any flagship Cabernet in the Valley!

Even at $75, the barrel select is the best deal in  the valley and if you have the money, buy it up and cellar it correctly. You will have the reward of drinking some of the best wine out there for years to come!

Enough said, Limo D has been working dawn to dusk, heck I did not get home till midnight - what am I saying!

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Wineries that Employ Sustainable Farming Practices

In the last article I wrote of the resurgence of the old organic and bio-dynamic farming practices, as a group this can be referred to as Sustainable Farming.  Sustainable because, unlike modern farming practices, these look to build the soil rather than reducing its fertility and allow the grower to continue to enjoy the fruits of the land.

Here are the wineries I have assembled so far that practice Sustainable Farming:  The owners of the Napa Wine Company and ZD in Napa County, Davis Bynum, Porter Creek, Quirvera, Preston, Imagery, Moon Mountain, and Coturri in Sonoma counties.  I am sure there are more these are just the ones I know. 

To my point of view this approach makes lots of sense, we are not separate from the land, but, rather part of it.  Thus, as we depend on it, it depends on us, and we are together on this "earth."  So, keeping our earth and thus ourselves clean of toxins and pollution, free of pesticides and chemicals, just makes sense.  Who would want poisons in their body? I guess the big argument has aways been the amount of work. Modern farming requires less work and that has been its big selling point!  However, this is just short-sighted, as if lessening the work and losing the soil is an alternative! You lose everything in the long run, obviously this is not an option!

Enough said. I would like to hear back from you guys, lets hear your opinions?

Back to Basics: Old is New, New Just Had a Brief Rest!

The world is a funny place; we always think the new idea is the best idea!  Despite the wisdom and the experience of our ancestors we are always thinking old ideas are just outdated.

Consider farming and viticulture, we have been farming and growing grapes for generations, yet it has only been the last one hundred years we have used modern farming methods. Even less considering the first third of the 20th century was a period of selling modern farming ideas.  As usual we have learned over time that the chemicals used in petroleum based fertilizers are very simple and do not supply many of the micro nutrients needed to sustain and build the soil.

The old method of using compost to replenish nutrients and adding well aged manure is a much better approach.  Cover crops to add green matter, certain vegetables like daikon radishes to break up soil, beans to fix nitrogen, foliar feeding via the leaves, all add to the health of the vineyard or garden.

It is not a surprise that more and more vineyard managers are going to organic or bio-dynamic farming methods!  The funny thing is critics call these new ideas. They are not!  So-called modern farming is the new idea.  If one looks back to our founding fathers we see quickly that these were the practices they used with great success!

I make this point because I believe we should honor our ancestors for their diligence and knowledge!  Organic and bio-dynamic practices are practices handed down by them!  We should respect the value of this knowledge gained through hundreds of years of farming!

I will be writing my next article on the vineyards that are organic and or bio-dynamic.  Committed to keeping chemicals and poisons out of their vineyards and wines that come from them!

New Wine Room in Kenwood Ty Caton and Mike Muscardini

Well, this may be a new wine room but these guys are definitely up to speed and running well!  There is actually two wineries in the same room, Ty Caton who just received a double gold for his Cabernet from the last Sonoma County Harvest Fair, no small feat!  I just got the chance to taste this wine and it is fantastic. This is no surprise as the vineyard has to be less than a mile as the crow flies from the famed Monte Rosso vineyard, long known for its excellent fruit.  As you know I have always been a big supporter of hillside Cabernet and this is an example of that, shallow soils, more sun than the valley, no fog as it is above the fog line. This wine starts with a slightly smokey nose, followed by a hint of cherries, a bit of pepper, a nice balance with fruit and tannins.  The finish is good and lasting, I look for this wine to age well and improve for several years, conservatively speaking.  I have not tasted the rest of his wines but the clients I have brought have consistently stated that all his wines are wonderful.  The spirit in the room is excellent and all are made to feel special by the hospitality that is extended!

Mike is a second generation Italian like myself and has wine in his blood. It has been our heritage for centuries.  Again, I have not tasted all his wines but the Sangiovese is excellent. I rate it right up there with the best around!  It is surprising how much Sangioveses have improved since the 1990's. I believe it is a combination of several factors.  First, is vineyard management. It took years for the growers to realize how much Sangiovese is an over-producer and must be trimmed back, dropping a lot of fruit, maybe half the crop.  Mike mentioned he had drawn off some of the juice to produce a rose which also would concentrate the skin to juice ratio by reducing the amount of juice.  The result is a big, thick, concentrated Sangiovese , not your father's Chianti, but a wine for the ages. Deep, dark , rich and luscious!  Both Mike and Ty are great men, happy in their craft and good in their spirits.  I would encourage all to get down to the Kenwood center and visit them for a wonderful experience you will not soon forget!

Well, that is for me the Limo D. Must do it again tomorrow - off to the the Russian River and Dry Creek Valley to see other old friends!

I remain Mark Marino