James Bryant Hill
Dalla Valle Vineyards
Maya 2014
Edge Hill
St. Helena Estate Mixed Blacks Field Blend Red Blend 2013
Novelty Hill
Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
Novelty Hill borrows from the ancient Latin phrase In Novale Novello, “in virgin ground I plant young vines,” for its name. I didn’t realize that there aren’t vines on the actual Novelty Hill in Washington (located about 5 miles east of Redmond). Oh well, so much for my Hill vs Hill face-off with Pritchard Hill’s Bryant Family. This 2014 Novelty Hill Cabernet Sauvignon talks some serious smack, and even brings a serious punch, but that would have been Go-Karts vs Formula One. That said, this is one hell of a Go-Kart. In the low $20s, my first comparison is to Charles Smith’s Substance Cs, and this blows the doors off that wine, and more than justifies its slightly higher price-point. Jumps out of the glass with black cherry, cassis, mocha, licorice, and a heavily spiced cranberry potpourri, while still managing to weave in a savory undertone that emphasizes the noticeable balance. Washington offers extraordinary value across the board, but this is a value even by Washington standards. 92+ — 6 years ago
Continuum
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2007
Napa at its best. Blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (60%), Cabernet Franc (22%) and Petit Verdot (18%) from the estate on Pritchard Hill in Oakville, (not far from Colgin and Bryant Family), including fruit from the Mondavi family’s famed and controversial To Kalon vineyard. Silky, opulent, balanced. Well integrated oak. Dried fruit. Hints of vanilla, chocolate — 4 years ago
Tobin James
Reserve James Gang Paso Robles Primitivo 2014
Darkly reddish purple and opaque. Sting and pleasant fruity nose. Frankly, tastes over the hill, even though it’s been in a wine fridge the last two years. Unfortunate — 5 years ago
TOR Kenward Family Wines
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
Tor Kenward specialized in single vineyard CS from a few top sites, but the “Napa Valley” bottling is a blend of all the vineyards he works with. For 2014 the juice is predominantly from Melanson vineyard from Pritchard Hill, home to some of the most exquisite CS bottles in all of Napa - Chappellet, Bryant Family, Colgin, and Ovid.
Rich in black fruits but laced with red fruit freshness and elements of dusty earth, herbs, chocolate, and raisin. Luxurious mouthfeel. Broad yet precise. A refined beauty. — 6 years ago
Copain
Les Copains James Berry Paso Robles Mourvedre Grenache 2005
Jasper Hill
Georgia's Paddock Shiraz 2009
The 09' was supposed to be real gem but I think I just had an off bottle? Dunno. There were no obvious huge faults. Fruit was somewhat muted. Alcohol high. Nice dark plum showed through and the tannins were fine. But it was a point wine, not 100. I'm looking at your Mr. James Suckling!! — 7 years ago
Duke's
Reserve Magpie Hill Riesling 2019
Water white in colour. Aromas of Lime Juice, Citrus Peel, Talc and Minerals. On the palate a riot of Lime Juice and Citric Acid of profound intensity finishing bone dry. I can see why James Halliday gave this Riesling 98 points and his Australian Riesling of 2019 because of its sheer purity, power and intensity and its ability to live for 20 years and to keep developing. Sold Out everywhere except for 4 x 6 packs at the Cellar Door of which I bought a 6 pack. Classic Porongorup Riesling. Made for Dukes by Rob Diletti of Castle Rock Estate who I had the pleasure of meeting 2 days ago at his winery for a tasting. — 4 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
Tom Garland
Inspire Napa Valley Sat night event...walk around tasting, dinner, auction at Round Pound estate.
Over 30 participating Wineries:
Sreaming Eagle
Bryant Estate
Dalla Valle vineyard
Memento Mori
Staglin Family
Vine Hill Ranch
Keplinger wines
Chappellet
TOR wines
Etc. — a year ago