Recently, I was contacted by the Albarino Explorers Club, the website dedicated to sharing their love for THEE white grape of Rias Baixas, Spain.
They wanted to me to do write-up for their blog, showing the diversity of food-pairings that can work with Albarino.
I was all like, “Sure!”
The next thing I knew, I had two bottles of Albarino sent to my house, and Kara and I headed over to one of our favorite local restaurants to try ’em out.
They just posted my blog today on their website, and I’d love to see what you think about it.
To bring our amazing Saturday in the Napa Valley to a close, we headed over to Celadon in downtown Napa for dinner…
Celadon
To go with dinner, we ordered up a GSM by Hanh Winery. I’m a big fan of California Rhone Blends these days. As far as a balanced red wine with good acidity goes, for the money, this wine can’t be beat.
While waiting for our dinner, we took full advantage of the free bread.
For starters, we shared the Macadamia Nut-Crusted Goat Cheese with Port-Poached Figs, Apples and Crostini.
Of course, I also ordered the Hearts of Romaine with Caesar Dressing, Croutons and Parmesan Cheese.
For the main course, I had the Pork Porterhouse, Herb Spaetzle, Butternut Squash, Watercress and Pomegranate Jus. Yum!
What a great night!
The next morning, before heading home, we made one last stop to do some wine tasting at Artesa.
Located in the Carneros region of Napa, Artesa specializes in Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and sparkling wines (which thrive in this Southern-most region of the Napa Valley). Artesa, however, is probably more well-known for having one of the most beautiful wineries in the area.
Artesa
Here are a few of the wines that we tried…
Artesa 2009 Estate Reserve Pinot Noir
Artesa 2010 Limited Release Tempranillo
Artesa 2007 Limited Release Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Artesa 2007 Foss Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Of all the trips that Kara and I have taken to the Napa Valley, this one easily tops them all.
What Dr. Jan is probably more well-known for is his Stagecoach Vineyard, which he started building in his backyard in 1995. Nestled in between Pritchard Hill and Atlas Peak, this rugged vineyard is home to some of the most sought after fruit in Napa Valley. Today, Dr. Jan sells his grapes to over 70 other wineries (including heavy hitters like; Alpha Omega, Caymus, Duckhorn, and Hess Collection).
When Kara called up the Krupps that Saturday morning to tell them that we were in the area, they invited us over to get a tour of their iconic vineyard and to taste their fantastic wine.
After we arrived at the Krupp house around five o’clock, we took a moment to soak in the beautiful view from their back patio…
The Krupp Brothers Vineyard with Stagecoach Vineyard extending for 1100 acres in the background.
We then jumped into the car to drive back into the Stagecoach Vineyard before the sun would get a chance to set over our tour…
After a fantastic morning traveling North to visit Del Dotto and Cornerstone Cellars, we spent the majority of our afternoon in the Napa Valley working our way through the Oak Knoll and Stags Leap districts.
We pondered the blend of grapes in their Quandary White Wine.
We gushed over their Cabernet Franc.
We also enjoyed the decorations.
It’s been said that Trefethen is haunted.
Not being one to tempt the spirits, we drove over to our next stop…
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. No ghosts here. Just good wine.
At Stag’s Leap, they don’t play. They gave us separate glasses for each of the wines we were about to taste.
They even put wine in the glasses!
While all of the wines were fantastic, we very impressed by the 2009 CASK23 Cabernet Sauvignon…
Fresh from the decanter.
I would have loved to take this one home… and I am still considering buying this one.
Does anyone have two hundred bucks I can borrow?
Stay Rad,
Jeff
Be sure to check out the next installment of Napa Fun Time, where Jeff and Kara visit some family friends for a guided tour of the world-renowned Stagecoach Vineyard.
After spending the morning in the wine cave at Del Dotto in Napa, Kara and I headed North on the 29 to the Cornerstone Cellars tasting room in Yountville.
Cornerstone Cellars
Upon arrival, we met up with managing partner, blogger, and all around great guy, Craig Camp, who hosted us in a tasting of their current releases…
Stepping Stone 2011 North Coast White Rocks: A dry white blend of Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer, the White Rocks brings flavors of subtle grassy notes and pineapple. There’s a good acid and weight to this. 87
Stepping Stone 2010 Napa Valley Riesling: Nose of honey suckle and minerality. There’s a good medium light weight to this bone dry white. 87
Cornerstone Oregon 2010 Willamette Valley Chardonnay: Toasty nose of lemon and vanilla. There’s a good, creamy mouthfeel that is complimented by a balanced lemon acidity. I love this wine. 91
Cornerstone Cellars 2010 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc: Pretty nose of papaya and peach. Good lime flavored acidity and subtle grassy notes. 90
Stepping Stone 2010 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir: A nice, light Pinot Noir that smells of pepper and strawberries. On the palate, the pepper spice is balanced with hints of cola, cranberry, and leather. This is some good stuff. 90+
Cornerstone Oregon 2009 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir: Toasty nose of tomatoes and cherries are complimented by the taste of cola, cherries, sassafras, and cranberries. There is a great balance to this wine. 91+
Cornerstone Cellars 2009 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: Dark burgundy in color, this wine has a pretty nose of strawberry and black fruits. This Cabernet has some fantastic structure with its smooth, chalky tannins. The wine has plenty of pretty black fruit, and a long finish of black olives (which may be due to the 5% Merlot blended into the wine). I’m a fan. 92
Cornerstone Cellars 2008 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon: This wine is hella dark. It has a pretty nose of menthol and dried cherries. On the palate, it is all tannin, acid, and spice. This is definitely and age-worthy cab. Craig also poured us a splash of the 2006 to show how it ages. The wine will definitely showcase some herb notes and the tannins pull back over the next few years. This is a great wine. 92+
Cornerstone Cellars 2009 The Cornerstone Red Wine: This is THEE wine that showcases what good fruit and good winemaking can do in Napa Valley. This wine features 95% Cabernet Sauvignon from the famed Oakville Station/To Kalon Vineyard in Oakville, along with equal parts Cabernet Franc and Merlot. The wine is dark red, verging on black. It features a nose of strawberry shortcake and boysenberries. The palate has great fruit of blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and plum. There is a nice long acid, good green notes of bell pepper, and chalky, bike tire-like tannins. This a fantastic wine. It has the chops to go toe-to-toe with some of Napa’s finest. 93
Before we took off, Craig brought out some Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from To Kalon for us to sample…
Yum!
The next time you’re in the Napa Valley, you’ve gotta check out Cornerstone.
From the outside, the Del Dotto tasting room is very unassuming…
Once inside the tasting room, it’s easy to see that this is a classy joint. Upon check-in, we were served a tasty pour of the Del Dotto 2010 Cinghiale Vineyard Chardonnay. Class in a glass.
Our host explained to us at the beginning of our tour that Del Dotto likes to focus not just on showcasing the vineyards which grow the wines, but also the oak in which the wine was aged.
Here he is showing off the different toast levels of a wine barrel.
Next, we took a stroll into the cave to do some barrel tasting.
Into the cave…
Our host did a great job of showcasing the types of wines that were popular among members of the tour. We mainly focussed on Cabernet Sauvignon in both American and French Oak barrels.
The Wine Thief. I’ve gotta get me one of those.
Here’s a cool looking oak barrel with hecka grooves carved in to add more layers of flavor to the wine. Our hoast called this one a “barrel on steroids”.
The wine was fantastic, but the highlight has to be the fact that you get to throw your wine up against the wall of the cave when you’re done.
Hey wall. Meet my wine.
The Del Dotto tour is one of the funnest, and most informative, tours I’ve ever experienced in Napa.
This was definitely a great way to start the day.
You’ve gotta visit the cave, man.
Stay Rad,
Jeff
Be sure to tune in to the next installment of Napa Fun Time, when Jeff and Kara visit the tasting room of Cornerstone Cellars in downtown Yountville.
Stay Rad 