Very low key tasting room-no Napa glitz here, almost shabby. Quite a personable tasting room crew-a bit of a performance, but at heart quite nice people.
Some of the highlights included:
Napa Valley Chardonnay (2005) with just a touch-a touch, mind you, of oak, that was quite refreshing with green apple, pineapple, and tropical fruit, quite a nice hit of acidity. The pourer suggested this would be a good "salad" wine and he is right. Great QPR-$20 for a Chardonnay I preferred to many more expensive bottles. Not a complex blockbuster, but with summer coming...***1/2
The 2005 Sauvignon Blanc was nice-steel fermented, a blast of grapefruit and other citrus. This is one of the very few occasions I actually preferred the Chardonnay, but still solid ***.
2005 Carneros Pinot Noir. I just don't like the big names in Carneros Pinot Noir, like Acacia and Etude etc. I simply don't like that floral character. THIS Pinot Noir had some Russian River fruit in it (still under 25%) that added some very appealing mushroomy, earthy notes. I actually liked this Pinot quite a bit Solid ***
Napa Valley Merlot (2004). The one wine that failed for me-the only one that tasted like the stereotypical Napa fruit bomb. Too much bright fruit up front-will this ever develop secondary characteristics? Also more oak tastable here. Not flawed in any way, but not to my taste at all. *
Yountville Cabernet 2004 Their first "appellation specific" wine, this was a lovely lean, austere, but not annoyingly green Cabernet. Not over the top at all, but there is definitely some nice blackberry and cassis fruit tones here. I bet this will develop seconday savoriness very quickly-it's there just under the surface. MOST IMPORTANTLY-NO NASTY VANILLA OR CARAMEL ON THIS TASTING!!!!
No, it's not First (or even Fourth) growth Bordeaux, but it's a very nice quaffer. For $26, this is a nice wine. ***1/2 or ****
Also hit Ballantine for the first time. Very low key place-not a palace of wine. Pleasant pourer.
The Sauvignon Blanc was a monster, with a lot of flavor but a little rich for my tastes. **
The Block 11 Zinfandel was actually not jammy at all-pretty balanced tasting with some savory notes. 16.5% abv labelled. It didn't taste hot, but will this wine make you woozy? Wow. Not sure how to rate thi-is it a port???
The Petit Verdot bottling (2004) was quite enjoyable. Interesting sour cherry and floral notes on both the palette and the nose. A bit pricey ($38.00), but interesting enough to buy ***
Their first Cab, from estate grapes, was a disappointment. OAK IS AN ELEMENT, NOT THE PRIMARY REASON FOR MAKING A RED WINE! $60, too. I would rather drink Charles Krug, even their cheap basic bottling. *