Napa wine tasting – Oct. 2008
This past weekend I went wine tasting in Napa Valley. Click on the map to see the route we took. We visited Summers, Reverie, Von Strasser, Frank Family, Heitz Cellars and Sullivan.
Summers Estate Wines – http://www.summersestatewines.com
1171 Tubbs Ln, Calistoga, CA 94515
We really like their “Le Nude Chardonnay” at Summers. We’re not big fans of the other wines but picking up a bottle or two of this unoaked chardonnay makes it worth the trip. They have a nice tasting room with picnic tables in the back. Sometimes you can see the Old Faithful Geyser of California erupt from the picnic area. They have a “petting vinyard” where you can see the vines and taste the grapes that go into wine.
Reverie Winery – http://www.reveriewine.com
1520 Diamond Mountain Rd, Calistoga, CA 94515
Andrew S. Kiken, the owners son, gave us a personal tour of the winery. “Kiken” means “Danger” in Japanese and we picked up a vertical case of his A.S. Kiken Bourdeaux blend as well as a couple of bottles of their reserve cabernet. The A.S. Kiken is a rich fruit forward table wine. Their Cabernet Franc is quite soft and delicious. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon are excellent examples of Diamond Mountain Cabs. They also make very small batches of Malbec and Temperanillo. They recently planted a plot of Grenache and I hope that turns out well for them.
Von Strasser Winery – http://www.vonstrasser.com
1510 Diamond Mountain Rd, Calistoga, CA 94515
One of our favorite wineries. Jordan and Dave always take very good care of us. The cabs bottled from specific Diamond Mountain terroirs are outstanding. We particularly enjoy the Estate, Diamond Mountain, Rainen and Post vinyard cabs. These should go quite long in our cellar. Rudy Von Strasser seems like a friendly guy and he’s making wines that, while quite drinkable now, will age very nicely.
Frank Family Vinyards – http://www.frankfamilyvinyards.com
1091 Larkmead Ln, Calistoga, CA 94515
Frank Family Vinyards is a fun winery. They just opened their new tasting room and it’s nice, open and airy. They make several wonderful champagne’s at Frank Family as well as some very nice cabernet. They serve an un-refrigerated oaked chardonnay that we’ve enjoyed in the past but their most recent release, at least the bottle we tasted this weekend, was not very good. The champagne, however, is consistently excellent.
Heitz Cellars – http://www.heitzcellar.com
436 St Helena Hwy, Saint Helena, CA 94574
Heitz is an older winery in the Napa Valley and has produced consistently good Rutherford style single vinyeard Cabernet Sauvignon over the years. Their wine ages well and gets dusty, complex and briar filled over it’s life.
Sullivan VInyards – http://www.sullivanwine.com
1090 Galleron Rd, St Helena, CA 94574
Asa greeted us and handed us a half bottle of Pink Ink to drink by the pond along with our bread and cheese while he wrapped up his previous tasting appointment. We joined him in the main courtyard for a tasting of some wonderful Cabernet Sauvingnon as well as their superlative Coeur de Vigne.
We wrapped up the day with dinner at The Rutherford Grill where we all ordered the fall-off-the-bone BBQ pork rib slab before heading back home to Novato while listening to Luther Wright and The Wrongs C&W version of Pink Floyd’s The Wall titled Rebuild The Wall
