Gregory Fulchiero

9.0

Iconic bottle. So good at this price point. Cassis, chocolate, leather. — 2 years ago

Boris Mathiszik

9.0

The original Pilsener from my home town. Everyone in Hamburg rates it at least 90 points and everyone else rates in no higher than 80 points. 🤣 iconic, smooth, and mild. And in quarantine on St Patrick’s, it’s ok to have a German Pilsener. — 5 years ago

Matthew Cohen

9.4

Needs an hour to integrate. Then is majesty. Nose of a tropical fruit basket. Palate is mineral and the essence of tropical fruit - guava papaya. But not overwhelming as it lives with the minerality. Brightly acidic. Moderate pleasant richness. An iconic northern Rhône white. Bought from Fass selections. — 6 years ago

with Lyle

Bryce Wiatrak

9.8

If I had to list my favorite Napa producers on one hand - Spottswoode would make the cut by the time I reached my pointer finger each time. The 2013 is impeccable - structured and dusty tannins from a to-be iconic vintage. Cassis, pencil shavings, and blueberry meet for a beaming high-pitched finish that seems ceaseless and impenetrable. — 7 years ago

MICHAEL COOPER DipWSET

Owner TomeVinos wine shops, WSET Level 3, Blogger www.spanishwinesandmore.com, blog.tomevinos.com

9.5

One of my favorites from Premiere Napa Valley 2020. #pnv20 #pnv2020 #napa only 5 cases produced. Highlights

A vibrant blend of two clones of Cabernet Sauvignon and a bit of Merlot, revealing silky tannins, complexity and elegance
The heritage Pellet Vineyard dates to 1863 and is among the earliest in St. Helena
100% estate, 100% French oak (Darnajou and Cadus), 100% passion; produced by hand, vineyard to bottle
A very lucky find indeed—the best of the best from the Pellet Vineyard, a true labor of love

Pellet Estate’s 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon “Trouvaille” is 100 percent estate fruit from the historic Pellet Vineyard and is a blend of Clone 4 and Clone 337 Cabernet Sauvignon, with a bit of Merlot. It is a wine with grip – vibrant and complex, yet shows elegance, balance, all while packed with flavors of dark fruit, hints of chocolate and spice, showing silky tannins with a seductive mouthfeel. This wine represents the absolute authentic expression of the Pellet Vineyard and is classically made by iconic vintner Tom Rinaldi. Quite frankly, as Tom and Eric think, “It’s a lucky find indeed.”


Wine Facts

Wine is unfiltered
Single vineyard wine
Sustainably produced
Wine is 100% estate grown and bottled — 3 years ago

with Ron

"Odedi"

9.0

This is #MerlotThursday and it is time for some Merlot.

Dark ruby in color with a short purple rim.

Fruity nose with black currants, blackberries, cherries, vanilla, earth, wood, spices, pencil lead and peppercorn.

Full bodied and bold with medium acidity and long legs.

Fruity on the palate with blackberries, black currants, sweet cherries, oak, vanilla, licorice, spices, tobacco leaf, light vegetables and peppercorn.

Medium plus in finish with grippy tannins and tangy raspberries.

This is a young Right Bank Bordeaux. Fruit forward and big, with a grippy mouthfeel.

This second wine from this iconic winery, needs a couple of hours to open up properly.

This 7 year old is very young and unbalanced, but already drinking very nicely, and will be better in 5 to 10 years.

I had it at a blind tasting, called it, but missed the vintage by 2 years. Good enough for me. 😊

I paired it with light appetizers.

A blend of 85% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon. Aged for 12 months in French oak barrels (100% 1 year old barrels).

14.5% alcohol by volume.

90 points.

$35. — 5 years ago

Kevin Bohlin

9.4

Wow. First taste of mature Mugnier and Zuni's iconic roast chicken. Could not be a better pairing. Soft and integrated red and black fruit with subtle spice and just a touch of that Nuits St. George rustic tannin but balanced and led by Mugnier's elegance and generosity. Nuits St. George meets Chambolle Musigny. Yes please — 7 years ago

Antonio Galloni

Founder, Vinous

9.7

An iconic wine in a iconic vintage. More accessible today than I would have expected. Positively stellar, a classic through and through. Tasted during our St. Helena & Conn Valley Vinous Learn masterclass. — 4 years ago

Severn Goodwin

9.1

On the Lawn at Tanglewood this evening with the Boston Pops Orchestra. Our Pops conductor Keith Lockhart is leading a live-to-picture performance of Star Wars: A New Hope, a showing of the classic 1977 film, with the Orchestra performing Mr. Williams’ iconic score.
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.)
Generally we get to here Star Wars scores a couple times per season here at Tanglewood, but tonight we get a chance to hear them with the backdrop of the movie (Episode IV) that launched a franchise, to say the least!

I celebrated another full trip around the sun, since my coming into this world, earlier this week. Tonight my wife, some dear friends and me will be enjoying some enticing wines along with our movie night. So notes...maybe, but I'll try! — 5 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.7

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