Tasting the Valley - a Napa Masterclass

Last month, Master Sommelier Chris Tanghe, Guildsomm’s director of education, led an enlightening masterclass on Napa Valley – its variations in climate, soil, topography and what I call cultural terroir, that certain something a winemaker and a special place brings to their collaboration. Chris picked 14 wines to showcase what Napa is up to these days. Here are my tasting notes from the seminar, with the wines listed in the order they were featured in the presentation: 

Brendel Wines 2020 “Chorus Cuvee Blanc” Field Blend (Napa Valley) $28

This was a lovely starter – lemon, lime, gooseberry, white flowers, and wet stone aromas and flavors. Crisp high acidity, lovely vibrant texture with a long finish. The wine is named Chorus Cuvee because the component wines blend and harmonize like a great chorus. 70% Sauvignon Blanc, 10% Chardonnay, 10% Malvasia Bianca, 10% Fernão Pires, 13% abv.

Schramsberg 2004 “Late Disgorged” Sparkling Wine  ($200)

Clearly a sparkler with a lot of age – oxidized notes but very well balanced and complex – it opens with lemon, pear and yellow plum then starts to show toast, honey and hazelnut with overripe pear and apple lingering on a long finish. With its oxidative flavors, this won’t be to everyone’s taste but it’s wonderfully complex and will be as good with food as it is on its own. The Cépage is 85% chardonnay and 15% pinot noir; 30% of the wine was barrel fermented and following the second fermentation in the bottle, the wine rested 17 years on its lees before disgorging.

2021 Matthiason “Linda Vista” Chardonnay (Oak Knoll) $40

This is a wonderfully youthful wine, pale lemon-green in color with vibrant aromas and flavors of yellow plum, apple, lemon and acacia. High acid, medium body. Think very appetizing rainwater with a long finish. Very appealing.

Darioush 2021 Signature Viognier (Oak Knoll District) $60

This was a delicious example of how well viognier can do in Napa when it’s carefully managed in a relatively cool site (like Oak Knoll). Classic aromas and flavors of lemon, white peach, honey, beeswax, chamomile and vanilla. The wine is off-dry with an oily texture and a long finish. Despite the medium acidity, the wine had a persistent vibrancy I found irresistible.

Frog’s Leap 2021 “Concrete Aged” Sauvignon Blanc (Rutherford) $65

From a winery I find sadly under-appreciated comes this nearly water-white sauvignon with classic, ultra-pure aromas of lime, lemon, green apple, green pear, grapefruit and gooseberry. This shows Napa can produce sauvignon blanc that isn’t lacking acid or plagued by overripe flavors. This was a wonderfully engaging and satisfying example of just how complex New World sauvignon can be.

Hourglass 2022 Sauvignon Blanc (Napa Valley) $40

Named for the shape of it home AVA of St. Helena, Hourglass goes from one strength to another. This sauvignon, sourced from five vineyards running from Yountville in the south to Rutherford in mid-valley, has a lot of ripe fruit with some nice herbal nuances of thyme and oregano to compliment the green apple, gooseberry, Meyer lemon, grapefruit and pastry. There is a bit of oak in the mix (the wine is 60% stainless, 20% old oak and 20% new French oak) and a tiny amount (5%) of Semillon that adds a Bordeaux-like richness to the wine. I wish the finish were a little longer however this is a new release from April, 2023, and, like a Bordeaux white, it will undoubtedly grow in the bottle. I’d love to revisit it in two or three years.

Robert Mondavi 2019 Fume Blanc  “The Reserve” To Kalon Vineyard (Oakville) $95

The OG of Fumé Blanc – Mondavi created the name Fumé Blanc (and strangely never trademarked it so for many producers it’s become emblematic of an oak-kissed style of California sauvignon blanc) and I’ve been tasting it since the 1970s. What is now called “The Reserve” was for many years referred to as “I Block,” a section of the famous To Kalon vineyard. It’s a fascinating wine with a ripeness that tends to suppress the green, herbaceousness of the grape and instead features Meyer lemon, golden apple,Mandarin orqnge, jasmine, honeysuckle, Asian pear and grapefruit along with clove and vanilla notes from the oak. The overwhelming impression of this wine is of balance – every element is in place, the fruit perfectly matched by the medium acidity, the rich texture set off by the alcohol and slightest hint of tannin. It’s excellent. 98% Sauvignon Blanc, 2% Semillon

Saintsbury Winery 2017 Stanly Ranch Pinot Noir (Carneros) $68

Stanly Ranch was originally planted in 1870 and for more than 150 years it’s been a treasured source of grapes in Carneros. Saintsbury has been buying the pinot noir from a trio of hillside blocks since 1984 and they really know how to handle this fruit. The resultant wine has a broad palette of aromas and flavors including raspberry, black cherry, wild strawberry, forest floor and dried rose petals. The wine has a very appealing and ripe juiciness but feels just a bit shy of acidity to be truly outstanding.

Snowden Vineyards 2018 “Melchior Kemper” Cabernet Franc (Napa Valley) $75

This is an arresting example of Napa style in cabernet franc, a grape I find seriously under-appreciated by both consumers and producers in the United States. This wine gives me hope a renaissance may be on the horizon. The aroma booms out of the glass, with blackberry, black cherry, plum, mocha, candied violet, anise, dried herbs, tobacco leaf and just enough hints of oak to add to the interest. This is a beautifully balanced wine with the pronounced aroma well supported by the acidity, medium (+) tannins and the 14.5% alcohol. This is a great value, enjoyable now and promising greatness over the next decade.

Corison Winery 2019 “Helios Sunbasket Vineyard” Cabernet Franc (St. Helena) $135

Cathy Corison has been one of Napa’s greatest winemakers for nearly five decades. She keepks a low profile but her wines speak profoundly on her behalf. This wine has a deep voice, with a brooding ruby color and laser-focused aromas of black cherry, red cherry, pencil lead, grilled meat, dried herbs (reminiscent of Provençal garrigue) and toast. The velvety tannins are plentiful, the acidity crisp. There are no jagged edges here – everything is so perfectly proportioned nothing sticks out in a beautifully harmonious presentation. In my notes at the tasting, I twice underlined, “great definition.”

Relic 2018 “Alfred Frediani” Field Blend (Calistoga) $n/a

Al Frediani was born in 1921 and lived on this vineyard his entire life until his death in 2018. The vineyard has been organic for as long as anyone can remember, and Al said the Carignane vines on the property were there long before he was born, guessing they were planted in 1901. Al added petite sirah to the vineyard in the 1930s (so those are the young vines!) and while the winery doesn’t provide an “ingredient list,” we can safely assume this field blend consists of those two grapes with a few stray additions of alicante bouchet, valdigue and who know what else was there? The wine is a beautiful evocation of old Napa Valley style with loads of black cherry, blueberry and plum with moderate oak influence, plentiful but silky tannins and bracing acidity that keeps the wine from seeming too rich. Only one barrel (24 cases) was made, a second-year French oak barrel with the wine fermented half whole cluster and half crushed. Ten aged 18 months. A dazzling wine that alas, will never show up on your wine shop shelf.

Shafer Vineyards 2019 “One Point Five’ (Stag’s Leap District) $115

The name “cabernet sauvignon” does not appear on the front label of this wine to allow for flexibility in the exact composition, but in 2019 this wine was 83% cabernet, 12% merlot, 3% malbec and 2% petit verdot. The wine spent 20 months in 100% new French oak and has 15.3% alcohol. That might lead you to imagine it will be a tannic powerhouse, but the resulting wine in the glass has an alluring balance and restraint. I found lots of bright black cherry, red cherry, blackberry and cassis – I’m tempted to call the fruit “charming” with sufficient fruit to balance the tannin and alcohol and yield a lovely, harmonious wine. Such is the nature of carefully situated vineyards that balance can be achieved even at 15.3%!

Continuum 2017 Sage Mountain Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (Pritchard Hill) $295

This wine was one of the several stars of the tasting to my palate. Grown way up on Pritchard Hill (near Chappellet’s iconic property) at 1600 feet altitude by Tim Mondavi and his family, the grapes offer stunning aromas and flavors of plum, black berry, cassis, garrigue, clove and toast with some tertiary notes of dried violet and mocha starting to show. The blend is 64% cabernet sauvignon, 18% cabernet franc, 9% petit Verdot and 9% merlot, fermented in concrete and oak. The wine was aged for 20 months in 66% new and 33% second fill French oak plus one amphora. The wine ends up with a lot of tannin but it is so velvety and elegant it already drinks beautifully. Ripe and gorgeous.

Dalle Valle Vineyards 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon (Oakville) $310

Long an organic property, 2019 was the first vintage that is accredited biodynamic. The wine is 77% cabernet sauvignon and 23% cabernet franc, all raised in amphorae. I found it stunning (hardly a surprise given the glorious record of this winery) – it really shows the concentration and balance of Oakville fruit. Black cherry and cassis provide the top notes with violet, blackberry, dried herbs and vanilla rounding it out. Velvet tannins and wonderfully appealing high acidity to give great balance to the lush fruit. Simply stunning.

Many thanks to Chris for being such an engaging guide providing new insights and nuances of an area many of us in attendance thought we already knew pretty well.