Tour of Napa Valley and Sonoma County Growing Areas- April 2010- Summary

Justin, Jon, and I enjoying some Seavey Cab

Sonoma Coast-Hirsch Vineyards, looking out to the Pacific

I’ve completed a 5 day tour of the major growing areas of Napa Valley and Sonoma County. In 5 days, I tasted wines from 24 different producers in diverse areas- from the Stags Leap district in Napa, to the mountaintops of the far Sonoma Coast overlooking the Pacific, to seemingly everywhere in between.

The itinerary was planned well in advance, with a few last minute changes. The plan was to taste and tour in as many of the Napa Valley and Sonoma County AVA’s as possible. All told, I visited Stags Leap, Soda Canyon (Napa Valley AVA), Oakville, Mt. Veeder, Rutherford, Spring Mountain, Calistoga, St. Helena, Conn Valley (Napa Valley AVA), and Carneros in the Napa Valley. In Sonoma, I visited the far Sonoma Coast, Russian River Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Green Valley, Alexander Valley, Chalk Hill, and Sonoma Valley. With few exceptions, each of the wineries that were visited sampled at least a couple of wines made from grapes grown in their region of location. Ideally, this allows for some sense of terroir to come out of the trip.

I tasted Cabernet Sauvignon throughout the trip. The vintages varied, mostly from 2005’s to 2007’s, making it difficult to draw much of a first hand definitive conclusion about the vintages, especially the 2007’s. However, I think my notes in the days that follow will show a diverse range of styles in California Cabs currently on the market. Much of the Pinot Noir that I tasted was from the 2007 vintage, displaying a silky rich fruit profile and lots of oaky spice with varying degrees of earthiness. The Chardonnays were made in a myriad of styles from lean to rich and everything in between- most from the 2007 and 2008 vintage. There were some enjoyable Zinfandels on display throughout, as well as many other varietals. On balance, I thought the quality was very high across the board. This could be a reflection of my plans matching my tastes and interests, but I thought a consistency in character and balance was demonstrated throughout the trip- from more classically styles wines to the bigger, riper, more oak-laden wines.

Late April was a great time to visit. The vines were a few weeks past budbreak and were starting to show lots of green. You could see buds on the vine preparing for the upcoming flowering. At the same time, it was early enough in the season to get a good look at the trunks and the cordons, and to gain some insight on the different vineyard practices when it comes to training and trellising. It’s also a pretty relaxed time in wine country, so it was a good opportunity to meet a few proprietors and winemakers along the way. The weather was sunny and clear- in the mid 70’s everyday. With a wet winter and early spring, the landscape was nice and green.

Over the next week or two, I’ll post a day by day summary of the places visited and the wines tasted. There will be photos and links to more photos. If you’re a junkie for California wine, I hope you enjoy. Cheers!