You know you’re in a great neighborhood when what’s supposed to be a five minute stop-and-say-hello visit at a neighbor’s house while dog walking turns into a multi-hour, home-cooked dinner (with several wines imbibed, naturally). Another blessing to count, and another reason why we love where we live (yeah, even if it’s in the North…
Category: wine review
Working At Too Perfect? (Michael Mondavi Recent – And Not So Recent – Releases)
“See, this pisses me off…” Rob Mondavi, Jr. is upset. Moderately. It’s almost difficult to imagine why, given the sunny day, and the subsequently stunning Napa Valley view from his family’s Animo vineyard on Atlas Peak. But moderately upset he is. The trigger for Mondavi’s small bit of angst? The spacing of the pruning cuts…
Old School Cool (Casa Nuestra Recent Releases)
A conversation I had at the tail end of the 2014 Premiere Napa Valley Auction: Alder Yarrow: “So, where are you visiting when you’re in town?” Me: “I’ve got appointments at Stony Hill, Kapcsandy, Casa Nuestra…” Alder: “Casa Nuestra! Oh, yeeeah!” Me: “Did you just squeal?” And so there you have it, one of the…
Vying For Napa’s Best Reds, By Way Of Hungary… Oh, And Bordeaux, Too (Kapcsandy Family Winery Recent Releases)
“Our competition isn’t Napa Valley; it’s Bordeaux.” That’s how Lou Kapcsandy sums up the goal of his 3,000 (ish) case production winery, a building that nestles up to about 15 acres of vineyard land that formerly went into Beringer’s `75 Private Reserve (“we purchased it in 2000 without them knowing anything about it,” he told…