Unlike previous trips to Napa during the Christmas Holidays, this year we were joined with our friends Karen and Bruce Bright (click here for a photo of the entire gang). Bruce is one of my former students from my days at the US Air War College and is currently a Marine Lt. Col. on staff at the US Air Command and Staff College. A former F-18 pilot, Bruce has a wealth of experience in and out of the cockpit. While this was our first trip together, I am sure that it will not be our last. We limited our visits in order to maximize our time together (kudos to Karen and Bruce for not killing me after four days). We spent a day and a half in Sonoma and another day in Napa. We visited during terrible weather that produced record rainfalls in the Valley. Usually, December can be a wet month, but the amount and intensity of the rain was incredible. I want to once again thank Lilian, the Ansel Adams of the trip, for all the photos!

Our first stop was in Northern Sonoma at Ramey. Lil and I have been drinking David Ramey's wines since his great '97 Hyde and Hudson chards. We had never had an opportunity to stop at the facility which is located in the picturesque town of Healdsburg. Bottom line: Ramey puts on one hell of a great tasting. We were tasted on all the released and soon-to-be-released 2003s. We tried six chards and three reds. Patrice did an excellent job of explaining the differences between the appellation and single vineyard designate whites as well as the upcoming new single vineyard reds. My overall impression was that the '03 chards were uniformly excellent. I especially liked the Russian River Valley appellation wine as it demonstrated more Burgundian qualities (everyone else loved the Sonoma Coast). The single vineyard Ritchie and Hyde were off the charts! The Diamond Mountain and Jericho Canyon reds were perhaps a bit still too young and tightly wound to appreciate their qualities next to the seductive chards. This is a must stop for anyone that appreciates Burgundian qualities in Cali chards.

The next day, we drove down to Santa Rosa for another must stop for us. We met Mike Officer of Carlisle to sample trough the '04 zins, syrahs and blends. Both Mike and his wife Kendall are now full-time at Carlisle and have added some new vineyard designates and, if this is even possible, are increasing the quality in the bottle. Mike explained that he was very excited about the quality of the '04s and felt that all of them were better than their '03 counterpart. We tasted through a number of zins which were uniformly excellent. What is amazing about the wines is that the high alcohol is hidden by a wealth of gorgeous red and black fruit--none of the "hot finish" that you so often get with these big zins. The wines are balanced and drinking well right now out of barrel. I once again loved the Carlisle Vineyard--to me the ultimate expression of zin. We also tasted various syrahs. Some of the syrahs will be bottled separately while others will go into a blended appellation syrah. For my tastes, the Bennett Valley looks to be once again a killer. In addition, Mike's homage to Beaucastel (Two Acres) is drinking really well right now. We had a wide-ranging conversation with Mike, and he was kind enough to spend sometime with us talking about his philosophy and his wines. What is amazing about Carlisle is that there is such quality and care in the bottle at such a reasonable price. Other Cali wineries could learn from Mike.

Next, we made our way half a mile to Siduri. We have previously tasted with Adam and Mark, and Kate was kind enough to taste us on a number of '04s, including a Novy. Having purchased Siduri wines since '99, I was a bit disappointed in the '04s. They seemed a bit short on the finish without the concentration that I am use to. The groups favorite hands down was the '04 Russian River. A good wine at a good price.

Our final stop is becoming our Napa home away from home. We visited with Dave Wight of Lewelling at his family office. We had been fortunate enough to barrel taste with Dave the last couple of years, but the barrel facility in Napa has new management which frowns on tastings on premise. Dave had just returned the night before from a vacation in Italy, and we truly appreciated him spending time with us rather than sleeping through the jet lag. Luckily for us, this was the one day in wine country in which it did not rain. First off, Dave led us through the vineyard and explained a bit of the Lewelling history (dating back to 1864) and some of the issues surrounding harvesting and canopy management (vertical shoot positioned as opposed to more traditional cordon). Then Dave allowed us all to try our best to prune the canes. This is necessary before the next harvest and would probably be done at the end of January. As you see from Lilian's photo, this is not easy work.

Next, we went indoors for what proved to be a four-hour tasting of the '00 Estate, '02 Wight, '03 Estate, '03 Wight and a barrel sample of the '04. Parker's scores for Dave's '03s had just come out (91 and 94) and having tasted the '03s a year before, I was once again pleasantly surprised at how well they had developed in bottle. While 2000 has been universally panned, I really enjoyed the Bordeaux-like qualities of the '00 Estate--its exhibits more black fruit and cooler climate qualities, somewhat unusual in a Lewelling. The '02 Wight still needs to settle down. I had a bottle of this from my own cellar three months ago and it was closed for business. This bottle displayed a slightly raisiny quality that it atypical of Lewelling wines and is probably just going through an awkward stage. The '03s were drinking beautifully. While I preferred the Wight, Karen and Bruce really enjoyed the Estate. As for the '04, it is still fairly primary and displayed a considerable amount of barrel charr. However, the wine is concentrated, opaque in the glass and Dave feels may be his best yet. This is one of the best quality producers of cab--at any price!

Finally in terms of '05, crop size was up from the previous year ('04 crop levels were way down for all varietals). This was a mixed blessing for some as there was not enough tank space to accommodate all the grapes. Indeed while driving down Highway 29, we saw lots of grapes left on the vine. These tastings were with individuals that are obviously committed to quality, and the type of people that we all should support. Thanks to Patrice, Mike, Kate and Dave for a great Sonoma/Napa experience!