Amici Napa Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 In the 1990’s, a group of friends with a passion for good wine and fun times together crushed a few tons of grapes in the Napa Valley for their personal cellars. The resulting wine was so well-received that they started producing wine the very next year to share with the public. They chose to name the wine, appropriately, Amici (“friends” in Italian). Amici’s owners: John Harris, Bob and Celia Shepard, and Bart Woytowicz; are all great friends with a passion for making and enjoying great wine. I recently met Robert Emery, Amici’s General Manager and tasted a few of his wines, a wonderful Chardonnay from…
-
-
Achaval Ferrer Quimera 2009 It began in 1998 when a group of Italian and Argentine friends came together to make a dream a reality, bringing Argentine wine to the global marketplace. Argentina is regarded as one of the dynamic regions in the world. Only 4 countries produce more wine than Argentina. Significant investments in technology have improved the winemaking production in the past several years, with many premium quality wines, Achaval Ferrer Quimera among some of the best. I had this gem at a restaurant on Cape Cod, and each October, the restaurant marks down all of their wines 50%, below retail! Dark red with aromas of dark red fruits,…
-
Jonata Fenix Red Wine Santa Ynez Valley 2007 I recently took a trip to CA to visit my daughter to celebrate her birthday and wanted to taste some great wines I cannot readily get back east. We visited Jonata Winery in Santa Barbara. In a word, WOW! The name Jonata pays homage to the 1845 Spanish land grant, Rancho San Carlos de Jonata. At the time the land grant covered a large part of the Santa Ynez Valley. Today’s Jonata is at the heart of the former land grant. The Jonata name was borrowed by the first pioneers from the local Chumash Indian and means “tall oak”. One of the…
-
Hall 2012 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Kathryn Walt Hall is the proprietor of Hall Wines and has been involved in the California wine industry since her family first purchased a vineyard thirty years ago. She has had a distinguished career as a successful businesswoman, community activist, and most recently as the United States Ambassador to Austria. Kathryn Hall and her family have been grape growers in Mendocino County since 1972. The Walt family owns 63 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamay, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc in the Redwood Valley and has sold their grapes to such wineries as Fetzer, Parducci and Beringer. Kathryn managed the family vineyard from 1982…
-
Faust 2013 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Interesting to learn that Faust, the wine, celebrates a legend which has inspired many great minds, among them the German poet Goethe, from whose masterpiece they draw inspiration. In Goethe’s most famous work, the aging scholar Dr. Faust barters his soul in the afterlife in exchange for another chance at youth. He gets his chance, yet ultimately his soul is saved by love. Faust is indeed the fruit of renewed passion for Agustin Huneeus, though Mephistopheles has not yet appeared to claim his soul. The underlying premise for all of the wines he has ever produced has been that great wines must be a reflection…
-
Cakebread Cellars 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Cakebread Cellars was founded, in 1973, by Jack and Dolores Cakebread and they have an enduring commitment to quality, their belief is that life’s occasions are elevated by good people, good food, and good wine flows through everything they do. The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley is a blend of Grapes: 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. In 2013, Cakebread Cellars celebrated their 40th wine harvest, and the second generation of winemaking. Today, the winery owns 13 sites totaling 982 acres, 460 of which are currently planted. The Cakebread Website is full of interesting information and loaded…
-
Robert Mondavi 2012 Napa Merlot Robert Mondavi Winery, located in Oakville, CA, makes a number of outstanding and consistent quality wines and established his winery in 1966 with a vision to have his Napa Valley wines to be among the world’s finest. Robert Mondavi also believed his wines should reflect its “roots” and be a signature creation from a combination of the soil, climate and production techniques, both new and old, which transforms the grapes into a fine wine. Opening a bottle of 2012 Napa Merlot, I noticed a dark red color, almost purple with blue and black fruit aromas. The wine is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet…
-
Whitehall Lane Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 Whitehall Lane was founded in 1979 but the history of the soil cultivation dates back two centuries. In the mid 1800’s, Napa Valley settlers were drawn to the deep, loamy soils and ideal climate, planting high quality grape vines at the Whitehall Lane Winery site. A barn constructed in the early 1900’s for equipment storage is still used today. In 1979, two brothers started the winery and directed their winemaking efforts successfully to Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. They named the winery after the road that runs along the south border of the property, Whitehall Lane. In 1993, the Leonardini Family of San Francisco took control…
-
Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 In 1972, Tom and Sally Jordan, a young couple from Colorado who shared a passion for French food and wine, followed their hearts to California’s wine country. When the two married in 1959, they dreamed of being vintners together. They drank virtually only French wines, enjoyed French food that Sally diligently learned to cook, and traveled throughout France, wining and dining their way through every region. In the 1950s there weren’t any restaurants of note in their home town of Denver, so the Jordans either traveled abroad or entertained at home for culinary experiences. The two knew a winery would one day be in their future,…
-
Benziger 2005 Tribute A while ago I attended a wine tasting featuring Benziger Wines hosted by my favorite wine shop, Stew Leonard’s Wines. Kathy Benziger poured some of her Family’s wines. They were outstanding, but let me tell you something about the Benziger Winery. To begin with, Benziger’s entire portfolio of wine is certified sustainable, organic or Biodynamic. Not because they want to be known as “the green winery,” but because their experience has shown that great wine has green values, good for the earth and the vine, good for the farm worker and the farmer, and good for the customers. Benziger has been growing grapes on Sonoma Mountain for close to…