Catching up on travel notes from last year, I thought I would share with you the tasting summary from our August trip to Napa. Each year we take our annual trip (okay sometimes we go more than once a year) to Napa for the Chappallet Club party. It is always a wonderful time and they treat you like family. The Chappellets were the first to plant vineyards exclusively on high elevation hillsides (Pritchard Hill to be exact) and the second winery to be established in the Napa Valley after Prohibition. While organic farming is important, the family felt sustainability was more important than having the "organic" stamp of approval. They employ many of the principals that make up organic farming. The introduction of solar panels to 100% offset the winery's energy bill, bird boxes, compost tea and nutrient rich cover crops are a some of examples of the changes the family has made to help their efforts of sustainable farming. The funny thing is, if you asked them why they are doing all of this they would tell you above and beyond any social benefit, they truly believe it makes the wine taste better and that is what really matters as grape growers.
First off, if I haven't explained this trip already, it is worth a little background. Alex and I have folding bikes that we can fit in the plane and we have been pretty excited about finding places to fly to where we can ditch the car rental for simply landing, unfolding our bikes on the tarmac and riding off to our destination. This trip would prove to be our farthest ride. We always stay in Calistoga which is 38 miles from the Napa County airport. If you ever want a great place to stay in the Valley, our favorite two places are Indian Springs (easy on the pocketbook) and Solage (less easy on the pocketbook). Over the next three days we traveled over 125 miles which I know doesn't sound like a lot until you take into account the folding bikes weigh 30lbs and well, there was some wine tasting. It was a little deflating each time a nice, light roadbike would pass us on the road. Nevertheless, we pedaled away and were pretty happy to be out getting exercise and enjoying the scenery.
A benefit to riding was it kept us relatively close to where we were staying when we were off tasting wine. We ventured between St. Helena and Calistoga throughout the weekend. Below is a quick summary of our tasting highlights.
Duckhorn- We liked the 2004 Howell Mountain Merlot and 2004 Estate Cab best. The 2005 normal cab was "ehhh"...not really interesting at all.
Summers- The Summers Cab was nice, but their Charbono was the most interesting & we also grabbed a bottle of Petit Sirah port which appears to be a hot thing now.
Cuvaison - Their normal wines were so-so, but we got two bottles of Brandlin Cab which interestingly enough doesn’t have any Cuvaison branding on it.
Montelena- Their Estate Cab continues to be great. Their normal one (which now has very subtle branding distinctions from the real one, but for example is what they pour at Purple) is "ehhh". The one thing we found funny is how many people were swarming the winery. Bottle Shock was in theaters and those who hadn't heard about the 1976 "Judgment of Paris" wine tasting, had after seeing the movie and everyone was just dying to try the Chardonnay which we think isn't all that amazing. We saw the movie and it was very cute. I would recommend putting it in your Netflix queue for sure.
Chappellet- Their 2003 Prichard Hill Estate Cab seemed great. The 2005 signature didn’t really impress me that much. I continue to love the 1999 signature cab… The special thing we got was the 2007 Cultivation. The barrel tastes were great- if their other 2007s are as good, this is a good sign.
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