Yesterday was a stunning if chilly fall day in Napa Valley, and I wandered down from Yountville on my Felt bicycle:
CLOS DU VAL. Wanted to taste the club releases, so.... CdV is always a nice place to visit, and on a November Wednesday there were no crazy tourist crowds!
Anyway, the release was the 2013 Cabernet Franc which is right now pretty ferocious in its tannic structure and ferrous minerality. Not necessarily "green" like some Cabernet Franc can be....but almost saline. This badly needs five years...the fruit is there, it's just in a snarly place right now!
Second wine was the 2012 Stags Leap Cabernet. This was lovely and already pretty approachable. Black fruit, not that much pyrazine for a CdV wine! Lovely and silky and very pretty.
They also had the amazing 1996 available for tasting. Warm and leathery and very, very tasty.
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After a stop at the Riverfront in Downtown Napa visit for gelato (Frati may be the best ice cream I have ever had! And their daily plate specials are fantastic Italian comfort food!) and ogling the new Pinarello F8 at Napa River Velo, I pointed the Felt down to Stanley Ranch in Carneros. What a beautiful time of year to visit Carneros! I just laugh at people who claim California has no seasons!
Anyway, right off the Stanly Ranch bicycle route is STARMONT, a sister winery from the Merryvale family. I had known their wines for the modestly priced larger production wines widely available but quite solid in leaner, food-friendly character. Their new tasting room focuses on estate small production wines and I was quite quite impressed. The Pinot Gris was crystalline in fruit flavor with blazing and delicious acidity-despite some barrel aging! Mouth watering wine! Similarly, the Chardonnay was definitely on the Chablisesque side of things. I loved the savory note that provided a backbone to the crisp mouth feel and flavors. The Pinot Noir avoided the candied cherry character of some Carneros Pinots. Again, there is a balance here between fruit and acidity that fits my palate. Dark cherry, pomegranate fruit with definite notes of mushroom and earth. Not sure it is typical of Carneros-I would have picked this maybe as Russian River Valley-but I prefer this style so typicite be darned! The Syrah had a dollop of Viognier, which definitely brought out the floral notes. Also a lovely wine. Finally, they offered a Petit-Verdot heavy Bordeaux Blend that was merely "good" rather than the excellent character of the other wines...but might be very interesting to see how it ages.
Lovely new tasting room and facility with friendly staff and a perfect location at the gateway to Napa Valley. Quite impressive, actually.
(86 for the Stags Leap I tasted).