… which almost rhymes with Death Cab for Cutie, but that’s not a reflection on this trio of damned fine cabernets.

V. Sattui Winery is a Napa Valley institution that sells its products only at the tasting room south of St. Helena or by mail order through the winery’s website. The company was founded in San Francisco in 1885 by the merchant Vittorio Sattui; 90 years later, Vittorio’s great-grandson Dario re-established the business at its present site, conceiving the unique idea of not selling the wines to wholesalers or restaurants. V. Sattui makes about 40,000 cases of wine annually, comprising 45 different wines. The company owns 230 acres, mainly in the Napa Valley, and also sources grapes from vineyards in Napa, Sonoma, Amador, Lodi and Mendocino counties. Winemaker is Brooks Painter. You can’t miss V. Sattui from Highway 29. It’s an extensive Italianate compound with winery, tasting facilities, picnic grounds and a store that sells all sorts of ready-to-eat foods as well as more than 200 cheeses.

Two of these cabernets were made from grapes grown in Napa Valley’s Rutherford sub-appellation. Rutherford and its neighboring region Oakville mark the heart of the Napa Valley’s great cabernet sauvignon belt, featuring soil and climate that pioneering planters recognized, whether by instinct or training, as perfect for the grape. Not for whimsy do we find such wineries as Beaulieu, Caymus, Frog’s Leap, Grgich Hills, Rubicon Estate (formerly Niebaum-Coppola), Sequoia Grove, St. Supéry, Cakebread, Harlan and Staglin or their associated vineyards clustered in Rutherford. The area is famous for a geographic feature now called the “Rutherford Bench,” a flat, slightly elevated benchland that backs up to the Mayacamas range where the soil composition of gravel, loam and sand with volcanic deposits and marine sediment contributes to the wines a distinctive earthy, gravelly, minerally aspect sometimes called “Rutherford dust.” You can see the outline of these appellations or AVAs (American Viticultural Areas) in the excellent map herein displayed above.

These wines were samples for review. Map from calwineries.com.
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The grapes for the V. Sattui Preston Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, Napa Valley, derive from a 28-acre site just west of the town of Rutherford, that sacred Napa Valley area noted for the well-known yet difficult-to-define “Rutherford dust.” This wine does exude a loamy, dusty, graphite-like mineral element that qualifies for the term, though cabernet wines made elsewhere in the valley or otherwise in California may display dusty-minerally qualities. Still there’s something about it, the “it” of Rutherford wines that lends some distinctive features. Anyway, the V. Sattui Preston Cabernet 08 offers a dark inky-purple robe (to use an old-fashioned term) and vivid aromas of licorice and lavender, violets and potpourri, bitter chocolate, mint and iodine and quite intense and concentrated scents of black currants and plums, as well as, of course, that dusty graphite characteristic. Man, this is about as deep, plush and opulent as cabernet gets, though fortunately the voluptuousness, the sheer enveloping factor, is balanced, off-set, call it chained, whipped and tamed, by rigorous and stately tannins and minerality of staggering power. Not to mention acidity so vibrant that you practically feel it through the stem of the glass. Still, though, the wine is supple, muscular but not lean, and it drinks surprisingly smoothly at this stage; fact is, it’s delicious in a sort of pinpoint, brightly-faceted, obsidian-esque manner. Try from 2013 or ’14 through 2018 to ’20, or, hell, just open it with a crusty, medium-rare rib-eye steak right off the coals. 14.7 percent alcohol. 1,644 cases were made. Excellent. About $47.
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All right, let’s look at the V. Sattui Morisoli Vineyard Cabernet Savignon 2008, also from the Rutherford Bench. This is Mr. Big in every way — Big Tannins, Big Oak, Big Minerals — and it’s dense and dusty and chewy, but, boy, does it ever deliver a gorgeous snootful and mouthful of ripe, macerated, spiced and roasted black currants, blueberries and mulberries packed with licorice, toasted exotic spices and fruitcake. Fortunately — again! — this largesse of delights is hung on nerves of whiplash acidity and a backbone of finely-milled tannins, somehow both condensed and expansive; the cumulative effect is of a substance that’s almost as much an object as a liquid, coating the mouth with its mass of velvet and iron filings, as decadently seductive and dangerous as some ebon odalisque out of Gustave Moreau. And yet, far from being forbidding, the balance here is so impeccable that the wine is actually enjoyable, at least with the right sort of food, that is, barbecue brisket, braised short-ribs, osso buco, rack of venison and such. Try — being realistic — from 2013 or ’14 through 2017 to ’19. Alcohol content is 14.4 percent. 772 cases. Excellent. About $60.
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OK, now this is the one that I really like. The V. Sattui Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, Napa Valley, from the winery’s hillside Henry Ranch Estate — there’s a dollop of petit verdot — really plays with your nose and palate in a series of seductive paradoxes; it’s scintillating yet brooding, elegant yet powerful, expressive yet a little detached and deeply rooted. The bouquet absolutely bursts with beguiling notes of mint and iodine, bacon fat, black currants, black cherries and rhubarb over layers of more demanding graphite and flint; a few minutes in the glass bring in intriguing hints of black olive, thyme and tomato skin. One feels the tension and stress here of higher elevation vineyards in the wine’s intense concentration of black fruit flavors, its rigorous structure and in a finish that blends slightly parched tannins with profound granite-like minerality. Yet, as with the two previous wines, there’s a sense of innate poise and equilibrium that lends this cabernet surprising approachability. Still, this would be best from about 2014 to 2018 to ’20. My last jotting on the V. Sattui Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 was “this is great”; that says it all. Alcohol content is 14.8 percent. 1,487 cases. Excellent. About $42.
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My history with Mayacamas Vineyards begins in late March 1984, when I served the Mayacamas Sauvignon Blanc 1980 for dinner. I purchased the wine for $11, marked down from $13. In 1985, I bought a bottle of Mayacamas Late Harvest Zinfandel 1978, though I did not record the price or the occasion. There’s a flurry of activity between 1992 and 1996, but after that no tasting notes, no published remarks, no contact. I was very pleased, then, to receive some samples from Mayacamas recently, because I’m an advocate of the winery’s traditional style of varietal purity and intensity and high-elevation grit and graphite, in the cabernet sauvignon and merlot, and flintiness, in the chardonnay and sauvignon blanc.

The estate began as a winery and distillery built by J. H. Fischer, high on Mount Veeder, in 1889. Fischer sold his wine in barrels, sending them on barges down the Napa River and thence to San Francisco, but he went bankrupt in the early years of the 20th Century. The property lay derelict until 1941, when Jack Taylor, a Shell Oil executive, and his wife Mary bought the facility and 260 acres of land. Their first release, in 1953, was a minuscule quantity of Chardonnay 1951; winemaker was Walter Richert, who was also technical editor of the journal Wines & Vines and president of the American Society of Enologists. Philip Togni became winemaker for Mayacamas in 1959, going on to make wine at Inglenook, Sterling, Chalone and Cuvaison before launching his own Philip Togni Vineyards on Spring Mountain and becoming a cult figure in the world of cabernet sauvignon.

The Taylors sold Mayacamas to Robert and Elinor Travers in 1968; they still own the property, and Bob Travers continues as winemaker, a fact that must qualify him for some kind of longevity and dedication award. From 52 acres of vines Mayacamas produces primarily cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay with smaller amounts of merlot, sauvignon blanc and pinot noir — I have never tasted the pinot noir — remaining true to a vision practically demanded by the geography the vineyards occupy at 2,000 to 2,400-feet elevation on the slopes of an extinct volcano, a site that offers a complicated soil composition. Let’s be honest, however. The Travers built the reputation of Mayacamas on splendid, long-lived cabernets from the late 1960s through ’79 and ’80; quality suffered in the 1980s and only began to reassert itself within the last 15 years or so. The cabernets are built on deeply-rooted tannins that at first seem unassailable, and during this, shall we say, troubled period it felt as though the tannins not only dominated the wines but dried them out. The Mayacamas Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, which I am savoring even as I write these words, reveals the tannic structure upon which the winery has erected its reputation but also — after considerable airing — lovely generosity and expansive spirit.

Mayacamas no longer makes wines from zinfandel grapes, but one of my favorite wines of 1996 was the Mayacamas Late Harvest Zinfandel 1984, two bottles of which I bartered from a friend by giving him some Cerutto Barbarescos.

For information about the history of the winery, see Charles L. Sullivan’s indispensable “A Companion to California Wine” (University of California Press, 1998) and the fourth edition of Norman L. Roby and Charles E. Olken’s “The Connoisseurs’ Handbook of the Wines of California and the Pacific Northwest” (Alfred A. Knopf, 1998). Both books need updated new editions.
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As I mentioned above, I bought a bottle of the Mayacamas Sauvignon Blanc 1980 in March 1984; I commented on this wine in a post on this blog in March 2009. What’s remarkable is that the current release, the Mayacamas Sauvignon Blanc 2008, Mt. Veeder, Napa Valley, conforms to the same spirit as its cousin from 31 years ago, though that long-distant wine carried a California designation; Mount Veeder did not receive AVA status until 1990. The Mayacamas Sauvignon Blanc 2008 aged for eight months in 1,000 gallon American oak casks; in comparison, the standard French oak barrel (barrique) holds 59 gallons. The wine is notably clean, fresh, spare and elegant from beginning to end. O.K., I’ll just say it; this demonstrates wonderful character, class and breeding and should not be neglected by anyone who loves the sauvignon blanc grape. Notes of baked pear, quince, ginger, yellow plums and papaya are touched with hints of smoke and cloves and a flare of cold steel; it’s like drinking liquified limestone and flint infused with ripe, spicy stone fruit flavors, each element of the wine etched with cunning definition, precision and scintillating acidity yet remaining compellingly attractive and delicious. Notice that for a sauvignon blanc this is not grassy or herbal; it doesn’t assault the nose and mouth with strident grapefruit or gooseberry/cat’s-pee afflicted with attention deficit disorder. No, readers, this is cool, harmonious, balanced and poised; yes, one feels the wood in the spicy element and in the wine’s firm yet forgiving framing and foundation, though ultimately the complete integration of all components is the utmost consideration. 14.5 percent alcohol. Production was 294 cases. Drink through 2014 or ’15 (well-stored). Among the very best of sauvignon blanc wines produced in California. Excellent. About $25.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The first chardonnay from Mayacamas that I tasted was the 1990. Someone was working in public relations and marketing for the winery — I don’t remember if it was someone at the winery or at an outside firm — but this young man got in touch with me, probably in 1994, and asked if I wanted some samples of current and past releases. Well, yes, I did. And in addition to the samples, I bought six bottles of the Cabernet Sauvignon 1985, so one fine day I received, at the newspaper office, a large box that contained those six bottles, samples of the Cabernet Sauvignon from 1990, ’89, ’85 and ’83, and chadonnays from 1990 and a vintage of which I can no longer find record. I’ll mention the cabernets in a moment, but let me here append my review of the Mayacamas Chardonnay 1990: The Mayacamas Chardonnay 1990 is so perfectly balanced that you don’t notice its stupendous 14.5 percent alcohol, so beautifully integrated that its 12 months in oak barrels seem merely to have lent an inextricable sheen to each atom in the bottle. No gushing, buttery, billowy, toasty tropical chardonnay here; its essence lies in hints and nods toward spice, limestone, caramel, flowers and dried herbs and citrus flavors, bolstered with essential but respectful oak and acid. Wow. About $20.

Interesting that for the Mayacamas Chardonnay 2008, Mount Veeder, the alcohol content is the same as for the 1990, a now-typical (for California) 14.5 percent; things were different 21 years ago, when 14.5 percent seemed over the top and beyond the pale. Far more dissimilar is the oak treatment; for the 2008, not 12 months but 20 months, that’s right, 20 months!, an extraordinary length of time for a chardonnay to spend in wood, in this case eight months in those 1,000-gallon American oak casks, followed by a year in small French oak barrels. Yikes, thinks my inner curmudgeon, what a great way to ruin a chardonnay! The regimen, however, calls for only 10 percent new oak, no sur-lie aging (on the spent yeast cells, a process that adds richness) and no malolactic; the result is a crisp, fresh, crystalline chardonnay that resonates with varietal character and authenticity and rests on a beautifully balanced and harmonious foundation of silky, spicy resonant wood. The first phrase in my notes is: “gorgeous but not flamboyant.” There’s a hint of the tropical in aromas of pineapple and mango with a touch of lightly toasted grapefruit dusted with cloves; a few moments in the glass bring in undercurrents of quince marmalade, ginger and orange blossom, all borne on the wings of crisply etched limestone and slightly spicy wood. Bear in mind that all of these elements partake of the subtlest nuance; nothing is overbearing or egotistical. The wine’s texture is beautifully poised between moderate lushness of ripe fruit (more citrus in the mouth, with a bit of roasted lemon) and the fleet tension of taut acidity, with immense reserves of shale-like minerality in the background. A masterpiece. 14.5 percent alcohol. Drink through 2015 or ’16. Production was 876 cases. Exceptional. About $30
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As CEO of Merryvale Vineyards from 1997 to 2009, Peter K. Huwiler developed contacts with all sorts of growers and owners of top-quality vineyards and wineries in the disparate regions of Napa Valley. As president and CEO of Napa Station, he draws on those contacts for grapes and wine that make up the small range of products offered by Napa Station, a family concern that he operates with his son Peter Huwiler II, who handles sales and marketing. Huwiler, originally from Switzerland, left a worldwide career in the restaurant business to work in wine, first for Stimson Lane in Washington, then, beginning in 1990, as head of national accounts and exports for Kendall-Jackson. Napa Station, so far, is almost minuscule compared to what is now Ste. Michelle Wine Estates and K-J; total production for Napa Station is about 10,000 cases annually. There’s still a connection with Merryvale; Napa Station’s winemaker is Faith Armstrong-Foster, who is married to Sean Foster, Merryvale’s senior winemaker. Armstrong-Foster was previously assistant winemaker at Frank Family Vineyards; she also has her own label, Onward. The Napa Station wines are very well-made, clean, balanced and harmonious, and prices are reasonable. Deriving grapes from as many as five growing areas of the Napa Valley, these wines strive, it seems, for a sort of authentic “Napa Valleyness” in terms of ripeness and structure without being identified with a specific region like Rutherford or Howell Mountain. Oak is managed very carefully, and as far as I am concerned, Armstrong-Foster could give lessons to many winemakers in California that seem to throw oak at their wines with reckless abandon.
These wines were samples for review. Image of Faith Armstrong-Foster from napastation.com.
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The Napa Station Sauvignon Blanc 2009 draws grapes from three areas of Napa Valley: Oak Knoll (predominantly), Carneros and Rutherford. Most of the wine remains in stainless steel tanks for fermentation and aging, though 18 percent goes into neutral — meaning used several times — French oak barrels for four months. No malolactic process occurred, so the wine retains considerable freshness and immediate appeal. The wine includes 2 percent semillon grapes. The color is medium straw-gold; bright aromas of apple and roasted lemon curl around elements of pear and melon and ginger, with touches of grass, dried thyme and tarragon. A lovely texture that nicely balances moderate richness with pert and sassy acidity delivers flavors of lemon and pear that open to hints of leafy fig and a finish that combines a note of grapefruit bitterness with burgeoning limestone minerality; here, one feels the slight sway of burgeoning spicy oak. A pretty suave and sophisticated sauvignon blanc for the price. 13.5 percent alcohol. 1,610 cases. Very Good+. About $15, representing Good Value.
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Again, as with the Sauvignon Blanc 09, there’s no new oak in the Napa Station Chardonnay 2008; the wine is made primarily in stainless steel (73 percent) with the rest aging six months in one- and two-year old French barriques. Twenty-three percent of the wine goes through malolactic, lending smoothness and touches of lushness, yet the balance leans toward crisp acidity and a scintillating minerality. The color is moderate straw-gold with a tinge of green; the nose is bright and clean, an attractively fresh amalgam of green apple, pineapple and grapefruit pungent with cloves, lime peel and limestone and a fleeting nuance of Chablis-like gunflint. While it’s quite dry, this chardonnay rolls across the palate like money, offering tasty lemon, peach and baked pear flavors as it simultaneously builds the case for spicy wood and spry acidity. It’s dense and chewy for an inexpensive chardonnay, with more lime peel and a note of grapefruit skin on the finish. A really well-made chardonnay for the price. 13.5 percent alcohol. 1,615 cases. Excellent. About $16, a Great Value.
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The Napa Station Merlot 2008 is a blend of 77 percent merlot, 21 percent cabernet sauvignon and 2 percent petit verdot, sourced from three areas of Napa Valley but mainly Los Carneros. The wine aged 22 months in a combination of small oak puncheons (which is to say larger than the standard 59-gallon barrique) and French barriques, 22 percent new. The color is dark ruby with a violet rim, meaning where the surface of the wine touches the glass when you tilt the glass away from you. Intense and concentrated aromas of black currants, cherries and raspberry are permeated by hints of cedar and tobacco, a little toasty/caraway quality and a touch of briers and brambles. This is firm, savory merlot endowed with finely knit, velvety tannins, vivid acidity and a deep graphite-tinged minerality joined by a plethora of foresty/underbrush elements; an hour or so mellows and smooths it out nicely and brings out the spicy black fruit/black tea flavors. Drink now through 2013. Alcohol content is 14.5 percent. 525 cases. Excellent. About $22.
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Presently, the Napa Station Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 is defined by structure. The wine is a blend of 88 percent cabernet sauvignon grapes, 9 percent merlot, 2 percent malbec and 1 percent petit verdot; the Huwiler boys draw these grapes from five Napa Valley areas: Rutherford, Oakville, Stags Leap, Atlas Peak and Carneros. The wine aged 20 months in small puncheons and French barriques, 21 percent new. A reflection of a year that produced deep, intense and concentrated cabernets, the Napa Station Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 is quite substantial, a wine packed with dense tannins and all the elements of walnut shell, dried porcini, forest and underbrush that indicate the necessity of additional time in the bottle, say two years, to become more approachable. Even tasted 24 hours later, this wine asserted its compositional prowess and its dominance over fruit, though I bet if you opened a bottle tonight and served it with a great medium-rare steak, a porterhouse for two, say, hot and crusty from the grill, you would be quite happy. 14.5 percent alcohol. 2,525 cases. Very Good+ with Excellent potential. About $23.
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Classic Medoc in style — that is to say, it feels like Left Bank Bordeaux — the Napa Station Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 is the wine to drink while waiting a year or two for its cousin from 2007 to gentle down and learn company manners. Slight differences in origin and production: As a grape source, Atlas Peak is dropped in favor of Howell Mountain; the composition is 87 percent cabernet sauvignon, 8 percent merlot, 4 percent petit verdot and — where did this “unclassic” dollop come from? — 1 percent petite sirah; the wine aged 22 months in small puncheons and barriques, 23 percent new. The color is dark ruby with an almost opaque center; nicely-defined aromas of black currants and cherries, with cedar and thyme, black olive and a touch of bell pepper set the stage for a well-balanced and integrated cabernet that displays lively acidity, firm but pliant tannins (embodying some dusty, graphite-like minerality) and macerated black fruit flavors bolstered by a flourish of spicy oak. No edges, no surprises, but thoroughly enjoyable; restaurants could sell the hell out of this wine at $10 in by-the-glass programs. 14.5 percent alcohol. Production was 3,450 cases. Very Good+. Price not available; to be released Sept. 1.
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The theme today, such as it is, is diversity. I chose eight wines that were either 100 percent varietal (or a little blended) from eight different regions as a way of demonstrating, well, I guess the amazing range of places where wine can be made. Eight examples barely scratch the surface of such a topic, of course, and a similar post could probably be written in at least eight variations and not use the same grapes as primary subjects. Another way would be to create a post called “1 grape, 8 Places,” to show the influence that geography has on one variety. That topic is for another post, though. All the whites were made in stainless steel and are perfect, each in its own manner, for light-hearted summer sipping. The reds, on the other hand, would be excellent will all sorts of grilled red meat, from barbecue ribs to steaks.
All samples for review or tasted at trade events.
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Sauvignon blanc:
The Long Boat Sauvignon Blanc 2009, Marlborough, from Jackson Family Wines, is the archetypal New Zealand model that bursts with pert notes of gooseberry, celery seed, new-mown grass, thyme, tarragon and lime peel; it practically tickles your nose and performs cart-wheels on your tongue. It’s very dry, very crisp, a shot of limestone and chalk across a kiss of steel and steely acidity that endow with tremendous verve flavors of roasted lemon, leafy fig and grapefruit. That touch of grapefruit widens to a tide that sends a wave of bracing bitterness through the mineral-drenched finish. Truly scintillating, fresh and pure. 12.8 percent alcohol. Very Good+. About $15.
Sovereign Wine Imports, Santa Rosa, Ca.
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Riesling:
The Gunderloch “Jean-Baptiste” Riesling Kabinett 2009, Rheinhessen, Germany, is a fresh, clean and delicate wine that opens with hints of green apple and slate and slightly spiced and macerated peaches and pears; a few minutes in the glass bring out a light, sunny, almost ephemeral note of petrol and jasmine. Ripe peach and pear flavors are joined by a touch of lychee and ethereal elements of lime peel, grapefruit and limestone that persist through the finish; the texture is sleek, smooth and notably crisp and lively. Really charming. 11 percent alcohol. Very Good+. About $18.
Rudi Wiest for Cellars International, San Marcos, Ca.
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Chenin blanc:
Made from organically-grown grapes, the Heller Estate Chenin Blanc 2009, Carmel Valley, California, is refined, elegant, almost gossamer in its exquisite melding of tart apple and ripe peach with spiced pear and a hint of roasted lemon; there’s a touch of chenin blanc’s signature dried hay-meadowy effect as well as a hint, just a wee hint, of riesling’s rose petal/lychee aspect. (This wine typically contains 10 to 15 percent riesling, but I can’t tell you how much for 2009 because I received not a scrap of printed material with this shipment, and the winery’s website is a vintage behind; hence the label for 2008. Hey, producers! It doesn’t take much effort to keep your websites up-to-date!) Anyway, the wine is crisp and lively with vibrant acidity and offers a beguilingly suave, supple texture. It’s a bit sweet initially, but acid and subtle limestone-like minerality bring it round to moderate dryness. Lovely. 13.5 percent alcohol. Excellent. About $25.
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Chardonnay:
Roland Lavantureux makes two wines, a Chablis and a Petit Chablis. Both are matured 2/3 in stainless steel tanks and 1/3 in enamel vats; the Petit Chablis for eight months, the Chablis for 10. The domaine was founded in 1978 and is family-owned and operated. The Roland Lavantureux Petit Chablis 2009 makes you wonder how the French wine laws differentiate between “little” Chablis and “regular” Chablis. This rated a “wow” as my first note. It feels like a lightning stroke of shimmering acidity, limestone and gun-flint tempered by spiced and roasted lemon and hints of quince, mushrooms and dried thyme. This wine serves as a rebuke to producers who believe that to be legitimate a chardonnay must go through oak aging; it renders oak superfluous. (Yes, I know, oak can do fine things to chardonnay used thoughtfully and judiciously.) The Roland Lavantureux Petit Chablis 09 radiates purity and intensity while being deeply savory and spicy; it’s a natural with fresh oysters or with, say, trout sauteed in brown butter and capers. A very comfortable 12.9 percent alcohol. Very Good+. About $19 to $23.
Kermit Lynch Imports, Berkeley, Ca.
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Pinot noir:
Bodega Chacra, which makes only pinot noir wines, was established in Argentina’s Patagonia region — the Rio Negro Valley in northern Patagonia — in 2004 by Piero Incisa della Rochetta, the grandson of Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, the creator and proprietor of Sassicaia, one of the most renowned Italian wineries, and nephew of Niccolo’ Incisa della Rocchetta, who currently manages the family’s winemaking enterprises. Bodega Chacra produces three limited edition pinot noirs, one from a vineyard planted in 1932, one from a vineyard planted in 1955, and the third made from a combination of these old vineyards and grapes from two 20-year-old vineyards. The vineyards are farmed on biodynamic principles; the wines are bottled unfiltered. The Barda Pinot Noir 2010, Patagonia, is an example of the third category of these wines. It spends 11 months in French oak barrels, 25 percent new. Barda Pinot Noir 2010 is vibrant, sleek, stylish and lovely; the bouquet is bright, spicy and savory, bursting with notes of black cherry, cranberry and cola highlighted by hints of rhubarb, sassafras and leather. It’s dense and chewy, lithe and supple; you could roll this stuff around on your tongue forever, but, yeah, it is written that ya have to swallow some time. Flavors of black cherry and plum pudding are bolstered by subtle elements of dusty graphite and slightly foresty tannins, though the overall impression — I mean, the wine is starting to sound like syrah — is of impeccable pinot noir pedigree and character. 12.8 percent alcohol. Drink now through 2014 or ’15. Excellent. About $30.
Imported by Kobrand Corp., Purchase, N.Y.
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Zinfandel:
If you grow weary, a-weary of zinfandel wines that taste like boysenberry shooters, then the Grgich Hills Estate Zinfandel 2008, Napa Valley, California, is your cup of, as it were, tea. No bells and whistles here, just the purity and intensity of the zinfandel grape not messed about with. Grgich Hills is farmed entirely organically and by biodynamic principles, and winemaker Ivo Jeramaz uses oak judiciously, in this case 15 months in large French oak casks, so there’s no toasty, vanilla-ish taint of insidious new oak. The color is medium ruby with a hint of violet-blue at the rim; the nose, as they say, well, the nose offers a tightly wreathed amalgam of deeply spicy, mineral-inflected black and red currants and plums with a swathing of dusty sage and lavender, wound with some grip initially, but a few minutes in the glass provide expanse and generosity. Amid polished, burnished tannins of utter smoothness and suppleness, the black and red fruit flavors gain depths of spice and slate-like minerals; the whole effect is of an indelible marriage of power and elegance and a gratifying exercise in ego-less winemaking. 14.7 percent alcohol. We drank this with pizza, but it would be great with any sort of grilled or braised red meat or robustly flavored game birds. Excellent. About $35.
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Cabernet sauvignon:
You just have to rejoice when you encounter a cabernet, like the Susana Balbo Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, Mendoza, Argentina, that radiates great character and personality — yes, those are different qualities — and maintains a rigorous allegiance to the grape while expressing a sense of individuality and regionality. The vineyards average 3,510-feet elevation; that’s way up there. Five percent malbec is blended in the wine; it aged 15 months in French oak, 80 percent new barrels, and while that may seem like a high proportion of new oak, that element feels fully integrated and indeed a bit subservient to the wine’s strict high-altitude tannins and granite-like minerality. Aromas of black currants and black plums are ripe and fleshy, a bit roasted and smoky, yet iron-like, intense and concentrated; a few moments in the glass bring up classic touches of briers and brambles, cedar and wheatmeal, thyme and black olive, a hint of mocha. This is a savory cabernet, rich, dry, consummately compelling yet a little distant and detached, keeping its own counsel for another year or two, though we enjoyed it immensely with a medium rare rib-eye steak. What’s most beguiling are the broadly attractive black and blue fruit flavors permeated by moss and loam and other foresty elements married to muscular yet supple heft, dimensional and weight. 14 percent alcohol. Drink now through 2016 to ’18. Excellent. About $25.
Imported by Vine Connections, Sausalito, Ca.
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Tempranillo:
Here’s a terrific, slightly modern version of Rioja, by which I mean that it’s not excessively dry, woody and austere, as if made by ancient monks putting grapes through the Inquisition. Bodegas Roda was founded by Mario Rotillant and Carmen Dautella in 1991, in this traditional region that abuts Navarra in northeastern Spain. The deep and savory Roda Reserva 2006, Rioja, Spain, blends 14 percent graciano grapes and five percent garnacha (grenache) with 81 percent tempranillo; the wine is aged 16 months in French oak, 50 percent new barrels, and spends another 20 months in the bottle before release. The color is rich, dark ruby, opaque at the center; aromas of black currant and black raspberry are infused with cloves and fruit cake, sage and thyme, bacon fat, leather and sandalwood, with something clean, earthy and mineral-drenched at the core. That sense of earth and graphite-like minerality persists throughout one’s experience with the wine, lending resonant firmness to the texture, which also benefits from finely-milled, slightly dusty tannins and vibrant acidity, all impeccably meshed with smoky, spicy flavors of black and red fruit and plum pudding. 14 percent alcohol. An impressive, even dignified yet delicious wine for drinking now, with grilled meat and roasts, or for hanging onto through 2016 to ’18. Excellent. About $45.
Imported by Kobrand Corp., Purchase, N.Y.
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A red and a white for your drinking this week, from Toad Hollow Vineyards. The winery was launched in 1993 by Todd Williams (1938-2007), retired from an illustrious career in bars and restaurants, and Rodney Strong (1927-2006), the former Broadway dancer and Sonoma County pioneer who had long had no hand in the winery that bears his name. Williams was the older brother of comedian and actor Robin Williams. Artist of the whimsical Toad Hollow labels is Maureen Erickson. Samples for review.
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The Toad Hollow Francine’s Selection Unoaked Chardonnay 2010, Mendocino County — Francine is the winery’s owner Frankie Williams — offers a radiant straw-gold color and fresh, beguiling aromas of green apple and pineapple with hints of mango and grapefruit. Though made entirely in stainless steel, the wine goes through complete malolactic “fermentation” (as a process that has nothing to do with fermentation is called), so it delivers quite a bit of spice, richness and full body; flavors of roasted lemon and pear tart are shot through — “sliced” might be appropriate — by a keen blade of acidity and bright layers of limestone minerality for an effect of Chablis-like austerity on the finish. A chardonnay of scintillating purity and intensity and remarkable character for the price; lay out, right now, a feast of grilled shrimp and mussels to be preceded by a whole raft of just-shucked oysters. 13.9 percent alcohol. Very Good+. About $15.
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The Toad Hollow Erik’s the Red 2009 was released under the California rubric; the wine used to carry a Paso Robles designation. This is one of those smorgasbord-of-grapes wines that producers in California dream up and that actually often turn out to be delightful. To merlot and cabernet sauvignon from Sonoma County and zinfandel from Lodi are added dollops of varying amounts of souza, tannat, syrah and petite sirah; the result is a dark and vibrant wine that falls under the robust and rustic label, fitting it for pairing with robust and rustic food; I had a glass with leftover pasta Bolognese for lunch one day, and the dish and the wine definitely made friends. The wine is rooty and earthy, bursting with scents and flavors of black currants, spiced plums and cherries highlighted by some element of feral berries and underlying graphite-like minerality. Erik’s the Red 09 is briery and brambly, moderately dense and chewy with slightly velvety, grainy tannins, and lively with pert acidity; ripe and spicy black fruit flavors are bolstered by a modicum of oak from nine months in barrels. A great barbecue and grilling wine for consuming through 2012. Very Good+. About $15.
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Wait, you’re thinking, isn’t Trinchero the family that owns Sutter Home, the world’s greatest purveyor of white zinfandel? What are they doing in this roster of Old-School Cabernets? The answer to the first question is “Yes”; the answer to the second question is more complicated.

Mario and Mary Trinchero moved from New York to California in 1948, and that year they purchased an abandoned winery called Sutter Home, which had been established in Napa Valley in 1874. They retained that property’s name and under it sold all sorts of wine, though in 1968, Bob Trinchero, one of Mario and Mary’s sons, started making zinfandel from Amador County grapes, aged in American oak, a move that contributed to Sutter Home’s growing reputation. In fact, the first wine that I drank that went beyond the usual graduate school (or college teacher) plonk was the Sutter Home Zinfandel 1977 whose label is pictured here; it was also the first label that I kept as a record of my progress.

The event that propelled Sutton Home into the ranks of the rich and famous, however, occurred in 1972, when Bob Trinchero turned excess loads of grapes into a slightly sweet product call white zinfandel. The rest, class, is history; by the end of the 1980s, Sutter Home was churning out 3 million cases of white zinfandel annually. That was the same decade during which the winery began carefully acquiring vineyards in Napa Valley, not only land but established wineries, as in Monevina in 1988 and more recently Folie à Deux, purchased in 2004 and now the center of Trinchero’s ambitious Family Vineyards project. Trinchero’s other labels, which now include Sutter Home as well as Terra d’Oro, Menage à Trois, Trinity Oaks, Joel Gott, Angove, from Australia, and other brands, fall under the Trinchero Family Estates division. Jim Gordon, writing in Wines & Vines, reported Tuesday that Sutter Home was the second highest selling label in the year ending June 13, posting $208 million, an increase of 6 percent over the previous year; that figure was bested only by Gallo’s Barefoot brand, which saw sales of $255 million, an increase of 27 percent. Menage à Trois, also a TFE product in the top 20 wines, grew 33 percent in that period.

Our concern today, however, is with three of the Trinchero Family Vineyard wines, of which there are 12, totaling a production of fewer than 12,000 cases. Under the management of winemaker Mario Montecelli, this line of single-vineyard designated wines was first released in 2009 and represents the family’s striving to join the ranks of the Napa Valley wineries that offer some of the finest cabernet sauvignon and merlot wines in the world. These are, after all, the grapes upon which Napa’s reputation is based.

I found these three wines to be well-made, even thoughtfully-made, straightforward and traditional in terms of the history of winemaking in Napa Valley; they are not dramatic or flashy or ostentatious, nor are they particularly exhilarating, except for the Central Park West Petit Verdot 2007, which struck me as fairly brilliant. The motivation primarily seems to lean toward dignity, authenticity and deep satisfaction.
Sampled in Memphis with a representative from the winery.
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The Trinchero Cloud’s Nest Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Mt. Veeder, Napa Valley, is 100 percent cabernet sauvignon. The bouquet is a welter of licorice and lavender, cedar and dried thyme, a touch of good old-fashioned black olive and bell pepper, with black currants, blackberries and graphite permeated by earthy, mossy briers and brambles. All of these sensations feel complete, precise and focused, though the wine gradually becomes more expansive, a little warmer and spicier. This is very dense and chewy, with ripe, spicy black and blue fruit flavors wrapped in finely-milled, well-oiled tannins that glide like suave ball-bearings powering impeccable machinery; I mean, it’s big but smooth, balanced, integrated. There’s oak throughout — 80 percent new French barrels — and vibrant acidity to bolster the wine’s substantial structure and effect, and while this will age nicely, it’s surprisingly drinkable for a cabernet of its substance and hillside pedigree. Try from 2012 or ’13 through 2017 to ’20. Alcohol content is 14.2 percent. Excellent. About $50 to $55.
Image, much cropped, from wineglas.com.
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The Trinchero Haystack Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Atlas Peak, Napa Valley, is a little more brooding and enigmatic than its cousin from Mount Veeder; Atlas Peak, northeast of Mt. Veeder beyond Stags Leap, was approved as an American Viticultural Area in 1992. Though its initial burst of black currants, cloves, sandalwood, black olives and cedar seems promising for immediate pleasure, the wine is blatantly more tannic and austere; you feel those mountain roots and the demands of a high-elevation vineyard in the rigorous, granite-like minerality of the wine’s deep structure. Trinchero Haystack 07 is smoky and dusty, quite dry, laced with hints of lead pencil and tobacco and a tinge of leather, though ultimately these qualities support, rather than conceal, bastions of spiced and macerated black currants, black cherries and plums. The 15.1 percent alcohol could be bothersome, but the wine manages to avoid the pitfalls of high alcohol heat and sweetness to remain balanced and poised, yet powerfully built and muscular. Try from 2013 or ’14 through 2018 to ’21. Excellent. About $50 to $55.
Image from cellartracker.com.
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Not a cabernet sauvignon, obviously, the Trinchero Central Park West Vineyard Petit Verdot 2007, St. Helena, Napa Valley, doesn’t even have a smidgeon of cabernet in it, though there’s a dollop of petit verdot at 2 percent. I found this wine unabashedly beautiful, but a little untamed, born free and wanting to keep it that way. An exotic bouquet of black currants, blueberries and mulberries is swathed in sandalwood, lilac and licorice, with hints of tar and violets (reminiscent of nebbiolo) and some strain of wild, spicy red fruit. Sleek and polished, the wine flows through the mouth like dusty velvet, while elements of earthy briers, brambles and underbrush meld into burnished wood, from 60 percent French oak barrels, vibrant acidity and a granite-like edge for a fairly taut structure. An absolutely delicious wine with a serious, introspective aspect. 14.5 percent alcohol. Drink now or hold until 2012 or ’13 for consuming until 2016 or ’17. Excellent. About $50 or $55.
Image from b-21.com.
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Brothers Stu and Charlie Smith planted their cabernet sauvignon vines in 1972, high atop Spring Mountain, 1,900 feet above Napa Valley and west of the town of St. Helena. They dry-farm the 37 acres of vines that grow out of the volcano-based rocky soil; the hillsides are so steep that some areas slope at a perilous 35 degree pitch. The Smiths produce mainly cabernet sauvignon wines, with lesser amounts of riesling and chardonnay, and they don’t make too damned much of any of it, to the regret of their fans, of whom I am one. Matters proceed in an old-fashioned style at Smith-Madrone Vineyards & Winery. There’s no palatial facility or art museum and no high-tech tasting room, just a modest but clean and well-constructed wooden building that suits its purpose. In fact, “suiting the purpose” might be the motto at Smith-Madrone, a practical yet somehow visionary winery where no effort is wasteful, and no attempt is made to fit its products into the range of contemporary palates conditioned by over-ripe fruit and high alcohol. The Smith brothers have been making wine this way for 40 years.

So, the Smith-Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, Spring Mountain District, Napa Valley, is a blend of 82 percent cabernet sauvignon and nine percent each merlot and cabernet franc. The wine ages — get this! — 22 months in new American oak barrels, and — guess what? — you would never know that was the case. It’s not toasty or stridently spicy or woody; instead, the oak, which indeed permeates every jot, tittle and iota of the wine, as it must, serves as background and foundation, as supple framer of structure but sharing equal footing with vibrant, resonant acidity and pungent, earthy, mossy, leathery tannins. By now, you’re thinking, “Oh, great, is there anything actually to smell and taste here? Any, you know, fruit?” Listen, the Smith-Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 was not designed for immediate gratification, like some hussy of a fleshy, flashy, lavish Oakville merlot. Give it time, whether in the glass as you sit at dinner (having opened the wine an hour beforehand) with a ripe, flavorful medium-rare ribeye steak, or after sufficient time in the cellar. When you first sniff and taste, though, you’ll detect notes of cedar-infused, spiced and macerated black currants and dried black cherries with an under-tone of plum. Burgeoning through that scope, however, will be elements of briers and brambles, forest floor and graphite-like minerality, walnut-shell and new leather. Slowly, slowly, the wine offers touches of mint, lavender and licorice, tobacco and lead pencil, black olive, dried thyme and a bit of rosemary’s slightly heady resiny quality. Plums and mulberries seep into this sharply etched profile that delves as deeply into the wine’s measureless expanse as the roots in the vineyard penetrate into the mountainside, while the finish is tenaciously dense, granitic and brooding. 14.2 percent alcohol. Production was 1,459 cases. Best from 2012 or ’14 through 2018 to ’20. Excellent. About $45.

A sample for review.

A white wine and a red wine from California, both reasonably priced, and we’ll begin with white.

The Morgan R & D Franscioni Vineyard Pinot Gris 2010, Santa Lucia Highlands (in Monterey County), ages two months in stainless steel and two months in neutral — several times used — French oak barrels. The result is a bright, spicy and appealing wine with an entrancing bouquet of roasted lemon and lemon balm, jasmine and camellia and after-thoughts of lavender, quince and candied fennel. Crisp acidity and a penetrating limestone element give the wine a vibrant structure, while a lissome, moderately lush texture encompasses flavors of ripe tangerine, peach and lemon, with just a hint of dried thyme and tarragon and an elusive sheen of slightly spicy wood. The wine is quite dry, with a touch of mineral austerity on the finish. 14.1 percent alcohol. Drink into 2012 with smoked shrimp or mussels, octopus or squid salad or ceviche. Consistently one of the best pinot gris wines made in California. Bottled with a screw-cap for easy opening. Excellent. About $18.
A sample for review.
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The Liberty School label was created in 1975 by Caymus Vineyards to absorb surplus cabernet sauvignon grapes. In 1987, after the brand became popular, the Hope family, which owned vineyards in Paso Robles, began selling cabernet grapes to Caymus. By 1995, production of Liberty School had moved to Paso Robles, and within four years, a Central Coast chardonnay and syrah had been introduced. Liberty School is now a label under the umbrella of Hope Family Wines, which includes Treana, Austin Hope and Candor.

We drank the Liberty School Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, Paso Robles, a few nights ago with a homemade pizza topped with grilled artichoke hearts, Roma tomatoes, bell pepper and spring onions; shards of speck; basil, rosemary and oregano; mozzarella, ricotta and parmesan cheeses. The pizza was great and the wine — robust, spicy and flavorful — was perfect with it. Liberty School Cab 08 isn’t complicated or thought-provoking and heaven forbid that it would be. Instead, you get vivid, fresh black currant, black raspberry and plum aromas and flavors supported by spicy oak — from 12 months aging in French and American barrels, 10 percent new — and clean, tightly-drawn acidity, all of this spread over a bedrock of earthy, graphite-like minerality and a bit of foresty character. Delicious intensity and simple purity. 13.5 percent alcohol. Drink through the rest of the year into 2012 with burgers, carne asada, barbecue ribs and, of course, pizza. Very Good+. About $14, a Great Bargain.
A sample for review.
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The point of making wines from a single vineyard or even more precisely from selected blocks within a vineyard is to highlight particular qualities of character and excellence that those locations or rows of vines theoretically embody. Such a principle is the philosophical and esthetic guiding light, for example, of Burgundy, where legendary vineyards separated by no more than a low stone wall or narrow country lane serve as testimony to the nuances imposed upon a wine by the minute shifts in exposure, drainage, soil composition and wind direction that we call terroir. It takes a taster possessing years of experience with Burgundy — a Clive Coates or Allen Meadows — to be able to detect the differences between an estate’s bottling of the adjacent vineyards of Chambolle-Musigny Les Chabiots and Chambolle-Musigny Les Borniques (seen in the accompanying map, left of center) or Montrachet Les Pucelles and Montrachet Le Cailleret. Most of us, even in the wine-writing business, are not called upon to render such rarefied distinctions, though we are, of course, grievously envious of those who have the opportunity.

Still, the thinking in the wine industry is that while a wine, let’s say chardonnay, that carries a Napa Valley designation may be good, a chardonnay from Carneros will, hypothetically, be better because it derives from a smaller, more specialized area, while a chardonnay from a particular vineyard in Carneros, say Truchard or Sangiacomo, will be the best because it originated from a designated and well-known patch of land. And occasionally this scheme works. Certainly wineries and their marketing teams would like to persuade us that this is the case because single-vineyard products generally command higher prices than wines from a more general appellation. The problem is that even some of the most famous vineyards in California aren’t more than 40 or 50 years old; people have cultivated those fragmented vineyards in Burgundy for a thousand years. The track-record for many vineyards in California, Oregon and Washington is far from complete or even necessarily convincing.

Oh, yes, a winery like Diamond Creek made its indisputable reputation on cabernet sauvignon wines produced from three teeny-weeny and very different vineyards, bottled separately, nestled around a little pond high on Diamond Mountain west of Calistoga; those cushioned by trust funds can savor and debate the subtleties of those expensive wines. For every successful producer of single-vineyard wines like Diamond Creek, however, there are dozens that trade on the supposed superiority of vineyard-designated wines for which the public will pay.

All of which leads me to the trio of wines being considered in this post today: the Terrunyo wines produced by Concha y Toro, one of Chile’s most historic producers and the source, under its roster of labels, of almost 25 percent of the country’s wine production. The Terrunyo wines are not simply single-vineyard wines; the grapes come from specific blocks of vines within these vineyards. They are, according to the press release lying here on my desk, “The Ultimate Definition of Chilean Terroir.” Let’s look at each individually. Winemaker was Ignacio Recabarren. These were samples for review.

Map of the commune of Chambolle-Musigny from Atlas des Grands Vignobles de Bourgogne (Le Grand Bernard des Vins de France, 1985), by Sylvain Pitiot and Pierre Poupon. Notice, if you can see it, that the Premier Cru Les Bornique directly abuts the Grand Cru Les Musigny. How much difference does a few feet make; in Burgundy, a lot.
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The Terrunyo Carmenere 2007 originates from Block 27 of the Peumo Vineyard in the Cachapoal Valley of the Rapel region. This information isn’t very enlightening if one doesn’t know much about the geography of Chile’s wine regions; suffice to say that Rapel is part of Chile’s vast Central Valley that starts immediately south and southwest of the city of Santiago with Maipo and continues south with Rapel, Curico and Maule, each of which is divided into sub-regions and zones. Cachapoal lies along the river of that name, so not surprisingly the soil is alluvial in nature, deep and loamy. Carmenère is a grape grown almost exclusively in Chile. In the 19th Century, it was considered as important as cabernet sauvignon in Bordeaux but fell from favor because of its irregular ripening pattern; by the early 20th Century, carmenère had basically been eliminated from Bordeaux, but cuttings had been imported to Chile along with merlot. This field blend planting became so dominant that it wasn’t until the early 1990s that DNA testing revealed that something like 80 percent of what was thought of as merlot in Chile was actually carmenère; now, on its own or blended with merlot and cabernet sauvignon, it has become the country’s signature red grape. I’ve noticed, by the way, that many wineries in Chile have dropped the accent that should properly be part of carmenère; is this supposed to make matters somehow easier for Americans? Fie, leave the accent alone!

So, Terrunyo Carmenere 2007, Block 27, Peumo Vineyard — the vineyard was planted in 1990 — is a dark ruby-purple color; aromas of cedar and tobacco, mint and graphite are woven with spiced and macerated blueberries, black currants and plums. This is a dusty, earthy, minerally, leathery wine, steeply endowed with oak and tannin and all their austere attributes of underbrush, forest floor and dried porcini mushrooms; it aged 18 months in French oak, 80 percent new barrels, and you really feel the dry, mouth-coating mocha-bitter chocolate/briery-brambly influence of that process. Where’s the fruit? I mean, wine is made from grapes, remember? One has to wonder what aspect of Block 27 of the Peumo Vineyard is left in this wine after it was been fashioned with so much oak and tannin. The motivation of such a wine is to be a distinctive reflection of a specific site within a specific vineyard, while what emerges in this case is a carmenère made like many others in Chile, with a high level of aspiration that’s choked by technique. I’m not saying that Terrunyo Carmenere 2007, Block 27, Peumo Vineyard, couldn’t be enjoyed with a steak, just that it doesn’t do what it claims to do. 14 percent alcohol. Try from 2012 or ’14 through 2017 to ’18. Very Good+. About $38.

Map from chilediscover.com.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ All right, let’s turn to the Terrunyo Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Las Terrazas Block, Old Pirque Vineyard, Maipo region, Maipo being the area of the Central Valley closest to Santiago. This vineyard was planted in 1978. The oak regimen is the same as for the Terrunyo Carmenere 2007, that is, 18 months in French oak, 80 percent new barrels. And as with its carmenère cousin, the Terrunyo Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 is made from grapes influenced by a nearby river, the Maipo, and its alluvial, deep gravelly soil. For whatever reason, despite its quite evident earthiness, leather and granite/graphite-like minerality, this wine is a little brighter, its black currant, black cherry and plum aromas given a lift of ripeness and freshness. A few minutes in the glass bring out classic cabernet touches of cedar and black olives, dried thyme and rosemary, with the latter herb’s slightly resinous quality. Still, tannins are stalwart, a shaggy, dusty bastion bolstered by sleek polished oak that sends a line of austerity directly through the mouth and into the wine’s dry, woody/spicy finish. Well, so, here’s a cabernet that’s fine up to a point but doesn’t deliver on its promise of reflecting the virtues of a particular, limited set of vines within a significant vineyard; whatever details of cabernet-like nuance Las Terrazas Block night have imparted seem subsumed to a general idea of international cabernetness such as could be found in many other examples of cabernet sauvignon from Chile or California, Italy or Australia. Good to drink with a medium-rare ribeye steak, hot and crusty from the grill? Sure. A unique terroiristique expression of the cabernet sauvignon grape? Sorry, no way. 14 percent alcohol. Very Good+. About $38.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hailing from Block 34 of the Rucahue Vineyard in the Rapel Valley, the Terrunyo Syrah 2007 is a wine that simply does not assert anything of the character of the grape. Grape varieties do, of course, have individual character, which is why we make wine from cabernet sauvignon or pinot noir, from chardonnay or sauvignon blanc, so we can savor the differences between them. Everything you love about the syrah grape — the meaty, fleshy, slightly stewed black and blue fruit scents and flavors; the touches of bacon fat, wet dog and fruitcake; the spicy, peppery qualities; the bit of funkiness balanced by piercing minerality and scintillating acidity — don’t look for any of that here, because this is a syrah wine that so closely resembles a cabernet sauvignon that it’s almost indistinguishable from the wine reviewed just above. Indeed, this wine’s panoply of dry, leathery, earthy, austere tannins, with their notes of walnut shell, wheatmeal and bitter chocolate pretty much out-cabernets most cabernets: mark, and I pray you, avoid it! 14 percent alcohol. Good+. About $38.

Yes, he’s on his high-horse again. Or flogging a dead horse. It must be done, so I’ll ask a question I have asked before: why go to the effort, the time and the expense to produce a vineyard-designated wine or even more narrowly, as in the case of these Terrunya examples, ones from specific blocks within vineyards, if you’re not going to allow the grapes to express what’s unique about the site? Without using those wines to define what’s unique about the site and make a case for their legitimacy? Unfortunately, the world of wine is filled with such wasted opportunities.
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A number of adjectives thread through the reviews of these single vineyard, 100 percent cabernet sauvignon wines from Nickel & Nickel: dusty, granite-like, shale-like, deep, dense, austere. Such terms indicate a “house style” of cabernet for N&N, where the winemaker is Darice Spinelli and director of winemaking is Dirk Hampson. This firm, vibrant, brooding manner dominates whether the cabernet sauvignon grapes derive from high atop Howell Mountain, from the foothills west of Oakville or from the relatively flat warm area around Yountville; the premise seems to be that the wines should be attractive and broadly balanced in youth but not necessarily accessible or approachable and that they should require four to six years before mellowing out. The sensible (for these days) alcohol levels range from about 14 to 14.6 percent.

Much as I admire these single-vineyard cabernets from Nickel & Nickel — and the winery produced 13 cabernets for 2007 — I think that price is a consideration. Ninety dollars is a lot of money for a bottle of wine, and $140 is a whole lot of money. On the other hand, not everyone always looks for bargains; quality, vitality and quiet confidence (in wine or human beings) speak to us, and those who can unfurl the necessary fiduciary prowess to purchase wine that costs $140 a bottle — and there are plenty of wines that cost much more — can enjoy being a member of that elite group. For me, of course, these wines were samples for review.

Image from flavorwire.com.
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Nickel & Nickel Martin Stelling Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 and 2007, Oakville District, Napa Valley.
N&N makes less of its Martin Stelling Cabernet than of the other single-vineyard wines: 547 cases in 2006, 521 cases in 2007; perhaps this rarity accounts for the price. The 100-acre vineyard at the base of the hills west of Oakville is the main source of grapes for Far Niente’s cabernet sauvignon, though N&N farms only two acres. The soil is deep and loamy over beds of clay and gravel. Oak aging is similar for the two Martin Stelling wines, 17 months in French oak, 61 percent new barrels for 2006, 55 percent new for 2007.

For 06, the wine is all plums and black currants, whiffs of black pepper, wheatmeal and graham crackers, dried porcini (dusty, earthy, mossy), pungent cassis and graphite, an overall effect of immense purity and intensity of origin, of confidence, of purpose and character; followed by walloping tannins; bright acidity; ink and iron; yet strangely the black and blue fruit flavors are lipsmacking and juicy; an hour later, it’s sleek, polished, burnished, austere, a little distant. Though not typically in these comparisons of N&N cabernets of 2006 and 07, in which I tend to like the 07s better — this is all relatively speaking in regards to such excellent wines — but I prefer this Martin Stelling 06 to its cousin from the next year which is monumentally, mountainously deep, steep, multi-dimensional, intense and concentrated, though there was a point, about 30 minutes in, when it emitted a winsome whiff of lavender and fennel, dried thyme, black olive and sage, signs that bode well for the future. The 2007 I rate Excellent; try from 2014 or ’15 through 2020 to ’22. The 06 I call Exceptional, for drinking 2012 or ’14 through 2018 to ’20. Each $140.
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Nickel & Nickel John C. Sullenger Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 and 2007, Oakville District, Napa Valley.
The 30-acre John C. Sullenger is the “home” vineyard for Nickel & Nickel and is situated right behind the winery in Napa Valley’s Oakville District. These are large-framed, stalwart wines, intense and concentrated, and they require two to four or five years in the cellar.

The N&N John C. Sullenger 2006 aged 16 months in French oak, 42 percent new barrels. It’s a sumptuous wine, broad and generous, ripe, fleshy and meaty, with loads of lavender and violets and a hint of licorice, smoke, ash and graphite, dried thyme, cedar, black olive and lead pencil; yes, you could spend some time getting acquainted with this bouquet, relishing its sensuous and savory character. Despite this lovely panoply, however, this is a serious wine that’s deeply grounded in the wheatmeal and walnut shell nature of rigorous tannins and polished, well-tuned oak. Intense, concentrated, dusty. Try from 2012 or ’13 through 2018 to ’20. Production was 3,108 cases. Excellent. About $90.

The Sullenger 07 (43 percent new French oak) feels like classic Oakville cabernet and is altogether remarkably similar to the 06 rendition though displaying even more size and more power, even unto a state of massive structure; everything about the wine is dusty and earthy: fruit, tannins, minerals and oak. Despite the fact that Sullenger 07 is velvety in texture and drenched with spicy black and blue fruit flavors, it’s in the deal for the long-haul and will benefit from cellaring for three to five years; drink then until 2018 to ’22. Production was 3,857 cases. Excellent. About $90.

Image (much modified) from californiawinereport.
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Nickel & Nickel Vogt Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 and 2007, Howell Mountain, Napa Valley.
The 15-acre Vogt Vineyard occupies a southeast facing tract that stretches from high on Howell Mountain, where the soil is rocky and shallow, farther down to where the soil is deeper and loamier. The two vintages are consistent in character, though look at the difference in the alcohol levels: 14.1 percent for the 2007; 14.6 percent for the 2006, which was a bit warmer than ’07 in September and October. (Yes, federal law permits producers to fudge a bit on the stated alcohol content.) Notice, too, the difference in the oak treatment, a sign that the winemakers pay attention to important variations in climate, weather and ripening conditions and how those factors affect the individual wine; for 2007, the scheme was 17 months in French oak, 58 percent new; for the 2006, 17 months also but 46 percent new oak.

The N&N Vogt Cabernet 2006 is still quite youthful in its dark ruby-purple color and in its intense, dusty, graphite-laden bouquet that only slowly unfurls notes of ripe black currants and blueberries with hints of dried red and black currants; a few more moments in the glass bring in touches of cedar and dried thyme, black olives and smoked oolong tea. Notes, hints, touches: all of these details comprise a fabric of nuance in a wine that however sleek honed it may be still leans heavily on the elements of size and dimension, with attendant characteristics of chewy (but not gritty) tannins, earthy granite-like minerality and spicy oak, devolving to a long, dignified, austere finish. Try from 2012 or ’13 through 2016 to ’20. Production was 1,861 cases. Excellent. About $90.

Made in a consistent style with the ’06, the N&N Vogt Cabernet 2007 offers more fruit in aromas and flavors — dusty, smoky black currants, blueberries and plums, a little fleshy and macerated — with that dusty, foresty quality equally lavished on dusty shale and granite, dusty lavender and dusty plums; I mean that for all its smooth, supple sleekness this is a wine of immense reserves of firmness, depth and power. In all of this “dust” and granite-and-shale-like minerality do we feel the influence of high elevation and thin soil where the vines have to struggle to find sustenance and in that struggle turn their skins into bastions of dense, velvety tannins? I like to think so. Vogt ’07 leans more toward power than elegance, but I have no doubt that three or four years aging will marry those qualities seamlessly in balance. Mark this for the long-haul, 2018 to ’22. Production was 2,327 cases. Excellent with Exceptional potential. About $90.
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Nickel & Nickel State (Lane) Ranch 2006 and 2007, Yountville, Napa Valley.
The 06 is called State Lane Ranch, the 07 State Ranch; is this the State Lane Vineyard in Yountville that the Kapcsandy family bought in 2000? The 06 is the first release that Nickel & Nickel made from grapes selected from 11 acres of older vines here. Each wine matured in French oak barrels for 17 months, 47 percent new oak for the 06, 43 percent new oak for the 07.

The N&N State Lane Ranch 06 takes some minutes (or hours) to develop fairly juicy black currant, blackberry and mulberry scents and flavors (with mulberry’s quality of spicy piquancy), but the wine’s chief characteristic is a rigorous combination of vigor and deliberation; as vibrant, as resonant as it is, the wine feels reticent, slow-moving, thoughtful, as it were, and pretty damned austere from mid-palate back through the finish. A little time in the glass adds some juiciness to the black and blue fruit flavors, a tad more ripeness, but all enveloped by veils of dense, chewy tannins, a bit like dusty velvet woven with iron filings. State Ranch 2007 is actually bigger than 2006 — broader, deeper, more thoroughly imbued with dimension; the wine is very intense and concentrated, an amalgam of walnut shell, wheatmeal, briers and brambles, forest floor with a dried porcini, mossy element. For all its monumental qualities, the wine conveys the sense of excitement, the feeling of pent energy, of confidence and anticipation that all great red wines embody. Try the State Lane Ranch 06 from 2012 or ’13 through 2016 to ’18. Production was 430 cases. Excellent. About $90. Let the State Ranch 2007 rest until 2013 to ’15 and enjoy through 2019 to ’22. Bigger production: 1,746 cases. Excellent with Exceptional potential. About $90.
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Nickel & Nickel Kelham Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Oakville District, Napa Valley.
The Kelham Vineyard lies west of Oakville at the base of the hills. As is often the case with gently-sloping, foothill-fringing vineyards, the soil here is alluvial loamy clay. Despite its youthful deep purple-blue color and its dense, dusty nature, the wine is surprisingly smooth and mellow. The bouquet seethes with black currants and black cherries, cedar and tobacco, briers and brambles and back-notes of cloves and lavender, slowly accumulating depths of graphite and shale. All right, I wrote “smooth and mellow,” and I admit that the adjectives apply to the first 10 minutes or so of experiencing this wine; it doesn’t take long for the full force of finely-milled tannins and spicy oak and the impression of honed granite to fill the mouth; and yet the wine is beautifully balanced, vibrantly poised as if on a pedestal of vivid acidity, and lovely to drink. The oak regimen is 17 months in French barrels, 43 percent new, 57 percent once-used. And give it some time in the glass to conjure hints of black olive, oolong tea, macerated black currants and blueberries and potpourri. Now through 2017 or ’18. Production was 1,162 cases. Excellent. About $90.
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