David Large Gimelande
Heitz Cellar
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Merry Christmas Eve-Eve everyone! 🎄🎅🤶⛄️❄️🎁🍷
On the nose, leap dark currants & cassis with bright red, dark, blue & purple florals at pop & pour. Ripe; blackberries, dark cherry kirsch, plum, mulberries, blueberries, poached & strawberries, black raspberries & raspberries. Black licorice, star anise, dark chocolate bar, volcanic & limestone, steeped fruit teas, dark cola, sweet tarry notes, black, rich, turned earth, mid, dark spices, cinnamon stick, clove, nutmeg, vanilla, barrel shavings with char, dry brush, leather, fresh tobacco, granite, some eucalyptus, mint notes, light, dry herbs with fresh & some withering red, dark, purple and blue, fresh and slightly candied florals.
The body is; round, ripe, & rich. The tension, structure, length and balance are just beginning their sweet spot. The tannins are; rounding, tarry & still chewy. Plenty of life left in the 09...8-10 years. Dark currants & cassis. Ripe; blackberries, dark cherry kirsch, plum, mulberries, blueberries, poached & strawberries, cherries, black raspberries & raspberries. Black licorice, star anise, dark chocolate bar, volcanic & limestone, dry, crushed rocks, dry stems, steeped fruit teas, dark cola, sweet tarry notes, black, rich, turned earth, mid, dark spices, cinnamon stick, clove, nutmeg, vanilla, milk chocolate, mocha, caramel, barrel shavings with char, dry brush, leather, fresh tobacco, granite, some eucalyptus, mint notes, light, dry herbs with fresh & some withering red, dark, purple and blue, fresh and slightly candied florals. The acidity is round & spot on. The ripe, rich, ruby, elegant, balanced & polished finish is splendid and persists nicely on the palate with mid, dark spice on the long set. So much better with this much age. Really delicious tonight!
A steal now at under $35 upon release at Costco.
This wine is close to its peak and will hover there 3-4 years.
Photos of; the Estate, old large oak vats and David Heitz.
— 4 years ago
Weingut Battenfeld-Spanier
Grüner Silvaner 2016
On the Lawn at Tanglewood this evening with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Our guest conductor David Newman is leading a live-to-picture performance of Leonard Bernstein’s score for “West Side Story”, originally directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, and with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
For live-to-picture productions, the orchestra performs the entire movie score in real time as the film unspools. (Vocals, dialogue and effects are isolated from the original music track.) The BSO installed very fancy and large LED screens on the perimeter of the Shed facing the Lawn, amazing!
Loving this bottle, notes are a little different tonight, citrus pith, green apple and cooked grain (oh so faint tho). The show ended and we finished this in the parking lot as we waited for the insane traffic to dissipate. So much better once it warms up. 3hr decant before the show. — 6 years ago
Egon Müller
Scharzhof Riesling 2020
Apple seed and apple wood accents lend decisive counterpoint on both nose and palate to the 2020 Riesling Scharzhof’s dominant, crunchy apple and zesty lemon fruit. Suggestions of apple blossom hover throughout. The feel is firm, and the lingering finish offers refreshment as well as stimulating cut and piquancy. (The source vineyards for this large cuvée are once again largely Saarburger Rausch, Wiltinger Braunfels and Oberemmeler Rosenberg.) (David Schildknecht, Vinous, May 2022)
— 2 years ago
Sinegal Estate
Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2016
Of the Napa wines I tasted over 4 days on this trip, the 16 Sinegal Reserve & the 13 Seavey Cabernet were my favorites. Both great wines but, stylistically very different. The Seavy big and bold and the Sinegal pure beauty & elegance.
The nose reveals very dark currants. Dark & milk chocolate. Blackberries, creamy black raspberries, black plum & plum, mocha powder, core of anise, beautiful dark spice, soft volcanic soils, some dry brush and lavender, violets and fresh dark red florals.
The body is full. The tannins are really meaty but, exceptionally soft, fine and meaty. Lots of dark spice with plenty of heat. The mouthfeel is gorgeously sexy with feminine elegance. Dark & milk chocolate. Blackberries, creamy black raspberries, black plum & plum, mocha powder, core of anise, beautiful dark spice, big sweet tarry notes, soft volcanic soils, some dry brush, lavender, violets and fresh dark red florals. The acidity is perfect. The finish is well balanced sexy and gorgeous. The structure, tension say this needs to cellar eight to ten years.
Photos of; tasting cellar area, modern stainless tanks, outside terrace tasting and or dining area and their grounds and lake.
Producer history and notes...Sinegal Estate was founded in 2013 with wines made from their 30 acre Inglewood estate in St Helena (not to be confused with the Inglenook Estate in Rutherford). This is not a new property, it was part of an original land grant and its more modern day history dates back to 1879 when owner Alton Williams purchased the property and planted the first vines in 1881.
The property has changed owners a number of times over the decades. At one point the Jaegers’ owned the estate, Bill Jaeger and his wife Lila lived here. These Napa Valley pioneers were in part responsible for helping establish Freemark Abbey and Rutherford Hill. Lila was also a gardener and established beautiful gardens on the property.
Owners, David (father)and James (son) Sinegal purchased the property in 2013. James was the co-founder of Costco and once CEO. David worked at Costco for 21 years.
After the purchase, David divided each of their vineyards into smaller blocks, picking selectively (30 times in 2013) rather than all at once, and adding technology to the vineyards so they have up to the date reports on a number of data points including temperatures, soil moisture and various barometric pressures. If they want to selectively water, say vine #67 in row number three, they can do so with their irrigation system. Extremely efficient!
Nine acres of vines are planted to various red varietals including; Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. They have some of the older Cabernet Franc vines in the valley that are 30+ years old.
The soils here are diverse and can vary even within small geographic ranges on the property. Some of their vineyards are planted on the valley floor – while their upper vineyards are hillside, on the edges of the Mayacamas Mountains.
Their landscape above the property is interesting and part of the Mayacamas Mountains. Visually, it appears drier than other parts of this mountain range and the vegetation reflects that with grey pine and more open natural vegetation rather than the thicker wooded vegetation more commonly associated with parts of Spring and Diamond Mountains to the north.
After purchasing the property, David created planned and laid out his vision to create a world-class boutique wine making operation. Many wineries in the Napa Valley can take years before they come to fruition, not so here. After only about 10 months, the existing winery was remodeled. 6,500 feet of caves were expanded and drilled into the hillside behind the winery and a new hospitality center was built. The hospitality center ties in very well with the winery. From the small tasting room, large doors open revealing the tanks.
A vegetable garden slightly under an acre grows just south of the winery building. Vegetables from this garden are sold to nearby restaurants.
A skeleton key appears on the labels of their wine and is prominently displayed on the outside of their winery building. This has historical significance. The original key opens the front door to the historic home on site and is displayed in the tasting room. With respect to the history of this property, this one key has already become iconic to the brand.
You only need to look inside of the winery to see that their wine making team is focused on quality. Each of the small lot tanks have built in pumps which can be controlled and programmed to do pump-overs anytime of the day or night. In addition, these tanks have multiple points at which the temperature can be controlled. These tanks do not necessarily handle all their fermentation’s. They also ferment small lots in puncheons and barrels as needed. Control across the board is the key here and it is the control of the details in wine making that is is so integral from when the fruit first arrives through to when it is bottled.
2013 was their inaugural release. The focus is currently on two primary varietals, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2013 Sauvignon Blanc were sourced from the estate but, then it was determined it was growing in an area better suited for red varietals so it was torn up and new plantings were made in the back of the property. While not far from these original plantings, their new home for their Sauvignon Blanc features different soils and is growing in a cooler part of the property.
The wine making team has been experimenting with the style of this varietal since 2013 with subsequent vintages seeing more oak. Especially, using the slightly longer cigar shaped barrels , which have extra surface area for maximizing complexities including textural feel imparted from aging the wine on the lees in these particular barrels. Maceration on the red wines is often 8-10 days and sometimes up to 20 days.
Most of their sales are direct to visitors or through their mailing list. However, they do have some distribution outside California in Florida, New York and Washington. Primarily to restaurants. — 6 years ago
David Large
Piranha Beaujolais Gamay
very good! — 3 years ago
David Large
Nelson Gamay 2018
Red fruit and soil on the nose. Bursts of fruit flavor on the palate - raspberry and cherry and a bit of a rubbery taste on the finish but not in a bad way. Flamboyant with chewy tannins. Fun to drink! — 4 years ago
Domaine Saint André de Figuière
Atmosphère Côtes de Provence Extra Brut Rosé 2014
On the Lawn at Tanglewood this evening with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Our guest conductor David Newman is leading a live-to-picture performance of Leonard Bernstein’s score for “West Side Story”, originally directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, and with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
For live-to-picture productions, the orchestra performs the entire movie score in real time as the film unspools. (Vocals, dialogue and effects are isolated from the original music track.) The BSO installed very fancy and large LED screens on the perimeter of the Shed facing the Lawn, amazing!
Very nice light Salmon color. Nice fruit, 50% Cinsault & 50% Grenache. Very tasty, much better than their still rosé. — 6 years ago
Boundary Breaks Vineyard
Finger Lakes Dry Rose Blend 2017
On the Lawn at Tanglewood this evening with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Our guest conductor David Newman is leading a live-to-picture performance of Leonard Bernstein’s score for “West Side Story”, originally directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, and with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
For live-to-picture productions, the orchestra performs the entire movie score in real time as the film unspools. (Vocals, dialogue and effects are isolated from the original music track.) The BSO installed very fancy and large LED screens on the perimeter of the Shed facing the Lawn, amazing!
Very strawberry, intense skin color extraction, very nice, in a year, I hope this is where the '16 is now. See my prior notes please. — 6 years ago
Patrick Bottex
"La Cueille" Bugey-Cerdon Sparkling Gamay Poulsard
On the Lawn at Tanglewood this evening with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Our guest conductor David Newman is leading a live-to-picture performance of Leonard Bernstein’s score for “West Side Story”, originally directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, and with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
For live-to-picture productions, the orchestra performs the entire movie score in real time as the film unspools. (Vocals, dialogue and effects are isolated from the original music track.) The BSO installed very fancy and large LED screens on the perimeter of the Shed facing the Lawn, amazing!
Sparkling strawberry juice! So fun, love this wine. Please see my prior notes. — 6 years ago
Kristin the Wine Girl
Bright fun vibrant juicy berries! Celebration Beaujolais to open now for your summer toasts! Depth of blackberry raspberry meets zingy acid finish. Drink up now! — 2 years ago