WTN: Sequoia Grove Winery and Arger Martucci

Bicycle+Day Off+68 Degrees and Sunny=Napa Valley Ride and Sip. No detailed notes, just brief impressions.

I stopped at a winery in the heart of the Rutherford/Oakville area-Sequoia Grove. Overall, one of my favorite Napa producers. Nice, smaller winery tucked away in agrove of Tall Trees. Rustic buildings. Very friendly staff and knowledgeable host. It helps to do wine tastings early afternoons midweek-they don't feel rushed.

2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon-Their introductory blend, not all from estate fruit. Somewhat sharp, good red fruit and black fruit balance. American Oak is reflected in the spicy notes, but it is by no means overwhelming or nasty. Decent but nothing exciting this time. **1/2 About $30.

2002 NapaValley Rutherford Reserve. Now THIS is nice. Unlike last year, when I couldn't see paying the premium, this wine is coming very nicely into its own. Powerful black fruit with a nice, rich texture. NO NASTY CARAMEL (Yep-French Oak and they don't smother it with all new barrels!) A very nice savory finish-this wine has really become knit together over the last nine months or so. ****. I will soon be making a trip back to pick up one of these. (Maybe I need to invest in a small trailer so I can tow my treasures around Northern California )

2003 Napa Valley Rutherford Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Their current release, this wine needs more time. A little more acidic and just not as well knit together. The tasting room host admitted that his winemaker feels 2003 was a tougher year. The wine is not thin by any means, just harsher. Still...lovely fruit, not too much oak, a tiny hint of savory goodness. This could become nice-given the difference nine months made, it might be worth a chance when the '02s sell out. ***

They were also pouring their special blend, the "V" bordeaux blend. Quite quite pricey and in short supply ($100), but this is indeed a complex and interesting, savory, unique blend. Heavy on the Merlot, which smooths things out with a nice rich dark fruit. Again, the relative restraint (for Napa Valley) in the oak makes this very nice for me. Long, savory finish. I really enjoyed the layers of flavors. One of the better Bordeaux blends in Napa. ****1/2

Just another example that terroir is important, but a good winemaker with restraint and elegance (but still very big wines-this is definitely a Napa Valley big red one!) is even more important. The experience of going from one winery that makes you say "bleh" to one next door that is....nice... is fascinating to me.

I also tried Arger Martucci hidden away on a side road (Inglewood Avenue) at the south end of Saint Helena. A beautifully appointed small winery, with a quite handsome take on rural vernacular architecture and the wine production not tucked away. I like seeing tanks and hoses. The tasting room is lovely, too, with high, well-lit ceilings and skylights. Dr. Martucci's wife imports a quite nice Tuscan olive oil blend, accompanied by balsamic vinegar (just a touch), salted nuts, chocolate, and good bread, this is a nice "spread" for a wine tasting-it beats Duckhorn! The host was knowledgeable and reasonably accepting of me in my lycra

Their white wines were too rich and thick and heavy for my taste. Well made with nice flavors, but I just don't like the "texture" and mouth feel of the whites. Their rose was the same way-I expect a rose to be kinda light and frivolous with a lot of acidity (the Elizabeth Spencer Rose just released is a classic example of this imo). The Pinot was a standard Carneros Pinot-maybe a little darker, but again, just not my style.

HOWEVER.....These guys make a very, very nice Cabernet from the top of Atlas Peak in the eastern mountain rim of the valley. Outstanding smooth black fruit with already some nice leather notes and savoryness. The fact that they are only now releasing a 2001 helps-the bottle age has made this a lovely, relatively nicely priced wine $50. ****

The Odyssey Blend is also outstanding. At $75, you get into quality/price ratio issues because the standard cab is just so nice. Still-if you want the layers of complexity that a good blend can bring, this is a nice one. Not quite up to the level of the Sequoia Grove, but still very, very nice. ***1/2

Brian,
Followed this wnry from the very start....and even before that.
Founder Jim Allen was an Economics professor at College of SantaFe in the mid-'70's, planted a few grapes in his back yard, liked the grape growing thing and started making Ho-Made wine. Absolutely miserable stuff. Then started coming to my wine tastings and found out what real wine was all about and got seriously hooked. Decided to chuck his boring career, bought land in the NapaVlly, hired Andre Tschelitev to consult....and the rest is history...sort of.
The first SequoiaGrove wines were very/very good. Then Jim expanded, got a bit bored by it all, and the SequoiaGrove wines became very/very ordinary. SG has been a serious underperformer for quite a few yrs.
But change is afoot there now and I've observed a real uptick in their quality. Winemaker Mike Trujillo is committed to making wines of the first class that that vnyd can (and used to) deliver. Asst winemaker Molly Hill (no relation...but I like the sound of that name for some reason!! Actually, she's the neice of my girlfriend) is a live wire that's also making things happen there.
Definitely a wnry to keep your eyes on....again.
Sounds like absolutely perfect biking weather. Wish I was there as well. Isn't it kinda....dicey...out there on a bike on Hwy 29?? I wouldn't wanta be in that traffic in anything less than a HumVee or Sherman tank.
Tom

Great notes Brian. Sequoia Grove is one I like. Sounds like it might be worth stepping up in cash for the Reserve Cab. I liked their basic C.S. in '98 and have a '99 I will probably open soon.

Tom: Interesting history-I think you are definitely right about the newer wines being nice. Is Molly dating a very smooth young African American gentleman? The young guy pouring wines at Saddleback mentioned someone with a position at S.G. I though he said Assistant Winemaker, but I'm not sure.

(Completely off-topic, but the other Napa Valley winery that has gone through a similar up-down-and back up is Conn Creek Winery. I really like the current winemaker's style (although he put a ton of "bell pepper" Cab Franc in the 2003 Anthology )

Five years ago, when I was first doing the ridng and tasting (but before I became major addicted), I did not like their Cabs at all. Now....I'm seriously tempted to add Wine Club No. 5-and they are quite affordable for Napa)

As for riding on Highway 29-the major problem quite frankly is noise. Often, traffic can't move that fast. The only sketchy part to me is from north of Rutherford into the south end of Saint Helena. The rest of the corridor has a pretty good shoulder, and I often tend to spend a lot of time on the crossroads and the little dead end lanes, anyway. When I'm thinner and in better shape than right now, I will ride along Dry Creek Road and in the Pope Valley area east of the mountain range. It's hard to beleive it's the same county-there is no traffic at all in Pope Valley! Silverado Trail has a good bicycle lane, but the traffic is faster and the visibility sketchier. Life is a risk, though, and I cannot deny that riding in a higher traffic area like Napa is taking a risk. Still-midwinter is the slow season, and I'll be in good enough shape to ride in the ridgeline by summer.

JC: This summer, I wasn't sure it was worth paying the premium. (I even tactlessly said that to the pourer ) Now I think it is. Evolution in the bottle was impressive.

I used to stay w/ ScottHarvey at Folie a Deux just north of St.Helena and would do the ride from there up to the college there in Angwin. The ride down was always a hoot. I'd leave about 6:00am when the traffic wasn't too bad. But that last leg there on 29 back to FaD always scared the beejesus outta me.
Used to also ride the Solvang Century down in SantaBarbara. That was one TOUGH ride....not because of the terrain...but having to ride by all these favorite wineries of mine & not having time to stop.
Always wanted to do the ride from Healdsburg up to the end of RockpileRidgeRoad, but was never there when I had my bike.
And..yup...had a ConnCreek a few months ago that caused me to shake my head in wonder...."Are these folks back or whot??"
Tom

I'm impressed. I've never actually did that climb from the Napa Valley side. We usually start in Rutherford and ride over past the reservoir into Pope Valley, and then we climb Ink Grade to Angwin.

CALTRANS just finished a repaving and improvement of Highway 29 north to Calistoga. While still nervous, it is now MUCH better than it was-riding through that long collonade of trees used to be riskier, now it's ok. Now, if they just fix the southern end, it'll be ok.

Conn Creek is definitely back. Sometimes the magazines do get it "right." But then, I tend to like Wine and Spirits the best-wish it was monthly.

Girls and Boys,
Mike Trujillo make a quick stop in town this week to hawk a few of his wines. Prior to Mike's arrival at Sequoia Grove I found the wines to be somewhat inconsistent...some years, like 1997, they were excellent and other years just so so.

Well, we tasted the 2002 Sequoia Grove Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and I gotta say that is one tasty bottle of wine and I'm not a big Cabernet drinker. Still young, but plenty of structure to age. Balanced. Oak held in check by the fruit. This was definitely a big step up from the 2003 regular Cabernet which was nice but not in the same league as the reserve. I'm gonna keep my eye on these guys now that Mike is in charge of the wine making.
'Winger

I agree with your notes. Without being "parochial" does American Oak (used for the regular bottling) work very well outside of Zinfandel?

Hi Brian,

I took a Sequoia Grove Cab to a Noland Brothers Cab tasting about 18 months ago. It was their 2002 Cab and it was a nice one. Started out a bit tight but evolved nicely and gave us some really nice herbal notes along with good fruit and great balance. Not particularly a classic cab, but a very good wine .