Lilly and I made our normal Christmas trip to Napa. For the past two winters, it seems that the Bay area and Napa have been receiving substantial rain fall. Given that the vines are dormant, this rain is welcomed by growers and wine makers. The rain was so heavy while we were there that some of the roads out to the Silverado Trail were closed (fairly typical during a heavy Napa rain). With the '01s just starting to hit the market, it seemed a good time to be in Napa to taste through some of the '01s and also '02s.

    Our first stop was at Richard Partridge (note that the web site is under re-construction at this time). Dick and his lovely wife Cris met us at their house and were very gratious in spending their afternoon with us tasting through their wines. Dick and Cris are originally from the Midwest but have been living in LA for a long time. Dick and Cris are involved in various ventures, but the major business is supplying accessories for large generators used by hospitals and the like. We have been buying Dick's wines since the first vintage of the '98. The fruit for Dick's wines comes from the Sacrashe and Stanton Vineyards. Aside from the '98, these wines are 100% Cab. In addition to the Cab, Dick (or should I say Cris??) also makes a Chardonnay. We first tried the Chard, and both Lil and I were very impressed. The wine is full-bodied without being overblown and does not exhibit the over-oak treatment that too many Cali Chards have. After, we tasted the '00 and the '01. We had had the '00 on Christmas Eve, so we knew what a great '00 this wine was. Unlike many '00s that we have had, this wine is neither rustic nor vegetal. It exhibits a wonderful bouquet and terrific red cherry and crushed raspberry flavors. Dick then poured the '01 which is a serious wine. Unlike the ruby color of the '00, the '01 is a deep purple (not the band). This wine also has wonderful aromatics and a great sense of balance. The wine should be released in the next month or so. Click on the photos below to enlarge.

Our next stop is becoming our Napa home away from home. We visited with Dave Wight of Lewelling at his barrel facility in Napa. As you can see from the photos below, this is a huge facility (80,000 square feet). Dave was kind enough to spend some time with us (the recent Parker scores for his '01 Estate--93 points and Wight Vineyard--95 points have kept him busy). Dave is a great guy to talk to, and we probably spent a good hour just discussing politics (both local and national). Dave's family has been in the Valley for over a century so he is a great source of information. We re-tasted the barrel sample of '02 that will probably be bottled in March (we first tasted the '02s in July). As we said before, he feels that the '02 vintage will be at the same level if not a bit better than '01 (and that is saying something!). It was very educational re-tasting the barrels after a few months. One issue that came up in the tasting was the use of oak. Dave does have a few barrels of '02 wine that are in used oak. This allows the fruit to be more expressive, and I was really impressed with the quality of the fruit. I find the Lewelling fruit to have a cinnamon and all spice quality that comes through in the wine that is in used oak. In general, the wines exhibited great color, good silky tannins and wonderful black fruit. The final barrel selection for the '02 Wight bottling had yet to be determined (but unlike '99 or '00 there will be a Wight). Just to correct a common misunderstanding--the fruit for the Wight and the Estate is from the same vineyard. The difference is that the Wight represents the best 10 or so barrels. Having just re-ordered another case of the '98 Estate, I can tell you that Dave makes great wine even in maligned years. Just goes to show what a Harvard philosophy major can do with some grapes!!! Click on the photos below to enlarge.

Our final stop was at Siduri. We decided to leave Napa Cab country for Sonoma Pinot country (Santa Rosa, specifically). Lil and I had been to Siduri before were we were tasted by Mark Zengilowski. This time, we were lucky enough to be tasted by Adam Lee (owner and wine maker). We have been buying Siduri pinots going back to the '97 vintage. Adam was very kind to spend some of his New Year's Eve with us tasting through many of the '02 wines. Lil and I had already gone through half a case of the Sonoma County '02 and the Santa Lucia '02 so we knew that the Siduri '02 pinots were some of the best produced by Adam and Dianna. Adam poured several appellation wines as well as some vineyard designates. One wine that Lil particularly liked was the Sonoma Coast which is basically Hirsch fruit that did not make it in the final Hirsch bottling. This wine is available only at the winery and is a great QPR. Of the vineyard designates, the Rosella was very impressive (only the second bottling for Siduri) as well as the always lock and loaded Pisoni. We then barrel tasted some of the '03s as well as some of the ROAR '03s (Adam is the wine maker for Gary Franscioni of ROAR--BTW thanks Gary for allowing us to barrel taste the wines). These wines are still very, very young and it is difficult for me to really make an assessment. Adam believes that while '02 was generally a great success across the board, '03 will probably not be as uniform in quality. That said, the Rosella and Pisoni were coming along nicely. Although known as a pinot producer, Siduri has branched out into other varietals (these wines are bottled under the Novy label). The barrel sample of the '03 Carlisle zin (of Mike Officer fame) looks great again ,and the Grenache was very fruit forward. Thanks again to Adam for taking time out of his New Year's Eve to be with us. Click on the photos below to enlarge.