Tag Archives: Jemrose

California Wine Experience: Day Six

14 Tuesday Aug 2012

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So I left the team on Saturday and had a packed day of visiting wineries on my own!  During the meet and greet Monday night I made some great connections with some of the producers who kindly invited me to come back at the end of the week to visit and learn more about them.  This day was much more my pace – only four wineries to visit.  The agenda:  Blankiet & Kapcsandy in Yountville, Hestan in Wooden Valley and finally Jemrose in Bennett Valley.  The whole mission of this day was for it to be a scouting trip for some upcoming video shoots. (Look for those here on our blog in the upcoming months!)

On my way out to the first stop I picked up my good friend Michael, fellow wine connoisseur and expert on the Napa Valley wine region, to keep me company and be my guide.

First stop was at Blankiet and the owner, Claude, was patiently waiting for us when we arrived at the winery. I forgot how traffic can be on a Saturday so we were a little late.  I had been here once before and as before, I was stunned with his facility.  His quest for perfection and nothing less was evident in his facility.  He has fermentation tanks tailored to each block of his property and beautiful caves.  It was so clean you could practically eat off the floor – not that I would attempt to!  We got to walk in the vineyards, visit his tasting room and spend some time with Claude.  I’m really looking forward to this shoot, truly one of the greats in Napa Valley.

Then it was off to Kapcsandy to visit with Lou.  Lou owns one of the most well-known vineyards in Napa, State Lane.  For those that don’t know, this was one of the key components in the Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon for many years.  Lou actually owns several 9 litre bottles of the original 1976 Beringer State Lane single vineyard!

As with Blankiet, Kapcsandy was all about perfection both in the cultivation and in the winemaking process.  Lou gave us a great tour of his facility and vineyards. After setting the tone with his amazing sorting equipment and describing the process of selection, it was no surprise that the wines were amazing.  He broke down his vineyard into specific blocks using NASA to actually plot out the proper height of the vines to protect his precious fruit!  Being here for harvest next month will be an amazing experience.

We also got to peek into his wine cellar which was truly one of the most amazing collections I’ve seen.  He showed off a few of his most prized bottles, including a 1905 Lafite which is over 100 years old and I’m betting still amazing.   Look for a video in the future with Lou and his cellar!  Also, check out the Kapscandy story. It was truly an amazing journey for this family and a lesson on how to succeed in the land of opportunity with hard work and determination.

Next we went out to Hestan in Wooden Valley.  The plan was to take a look at the vineyards with the vineyard manager Angel and look for some good spots to film.  We got more than we thought we would, including some quality time with owner Stanley Cheng who was at home in is house that overlooks the vineyards.

He was an extremely gracious host whose passion for wine and his specific vineyards were evident throughout the visit.  We also had the chance to walk through his cellar as well, another amazing collection.  It is one of the most scenic vineyard sites I have ever visited.

The final stop was to visit to visit Jim Mack at Jemrose.  Jim is the owner of one of the greatest vineyards in California for Syrah, Cardiac Hill.  He took us on a tour of the vineyards, pointing out each of the single varietal wines by vineyard. Let me tell you, looking at the Cardiac Hill Vineyard, I have a better understanding of how it earned its name.  After the vineyard tour, Jim took us into his “man cave” for a tasting. As funny as it seems, we hadn’t had a single glass of wine all day up until this point!  Jim opened up two vintages of his Syrah (‘06 & ‘09) to compare, his 2010 Viognier, 2007 Grenache and a bottle of the Carlisle 2009 Cardiac Hill.

The 2010 Viognier hit the spot after a hot day in the vineyards and the 2009 Jemrose Cardiac Hill Syrah was as I remembered it the other day, fantastic!  Jim gave us the rest of the bottles to take home and finish with dinner, which was a very kind gesture. All the wines were really outstanding, so we definitely accepted them with great pleasure.

Claude, Lou, Stanley and Jim – Thanks for your gracious hospitality! Stay tuned in the next couple of months to see video from this outstanding tour of Napa Valley.

Cheers,

Cyrus

***Check out more photos from all of the wineries we’ve visited on flickr: California Wine Experience 2012**

California Wine Experience: Day Five

13 Monday Aug 2012

Posted by in California Trip 2012

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We had a little later start to the day … 8:30am on the bus.  Today’s agenda:  Bevan & Jemrose in Santa Rosa, Martin Ray in Russian River, DeLoach in Russian River, Fritz in Dry Creek and Truett Hurst in Dry Creek.  This change in pace should be fun; from Cabernet and Merlot based wines to Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Zinfandel!

Bevan and Jemrose met us at their custom crush facility at 9am.  Russell Bevan and Jim Mack met us at the entrance and we started off with the 2011 Jemrose Viognier.  We then split up into two groups, one with Russell and the other with Jim.  A little background on why these two were together – Jemrose was made by Michael Browne (of Kosta Browne) through the 2010 vintage and from the 2011 vintage moving forward Russell is now the winemaker.  This was an interesting tasting. Russell is a character!  You can really see the passion and pride for what he does and the wines he makes.  He “decanted” his wines in to large plastic pitchers which is funny considering the majority of his wines are $100+ per bottle.  Big, extracted wines from Napa, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc based, all of them.  He was really excited about his Franc wines and so was the team!  Jim Mack was pouring his three reds to the other group – Grenache, Syrah and a red blend of Syrah and Merlot. Jim’s passion for the Rhone varietals was evident. I think the 2009 Syrah gets my vote as best wine of the week thus far!  A few words about the custom crush facilities I think is important to know. This is how a LOT of wines are made.  The quality of wine made in places like this are every bit as good as those that are made in regular wineries.  In fact, this is usually where brands start until they grow big enough to build their own facility.

Then we headed out to Martin Ray Winery in the Russian River Valley.  Martin Ray is a really popular brand in our stores, so is Courtney Benham.  If you’re reading this and haven’t bought one in our stores yet, you should.  Courtney Benham and his brother started Blackstone many years ago, sold it and started up other projects.  These wines always represent great value in their respective price-points and the tasting before lunch proved that the upcoming vintages will deliver the same.  We had a few great treats here. Courtney Benham was on-hand and had arranged for a barrel maker to come and show us how to make a barrel! It was a really an amazing process. The man who did it was a true professional.   Another treat for the folks from the East Coast was the beer. The team at Martin Ray had searched high and low to bring us one of the most sought after beers in the US – Russian River Brewing Company’s Pliny the Elder.  There wasn’t just a few of them, there was plenty to go around.  Cameras and phones were out to take pictures of the fabled beer.  Lunch was fabulous. There was Tri-Tip Steak to pair with the Martin Ray Cabernets.  Courtney Benham and his team treated us like royalty. It was a great visit.

DeLoach Vineyards was the next stop, about 3 miles away but still in the Russian River Valley.  We were given a tour of the gardens and taught about what biodynamic farming is by both the winemaker and assistant winemaker.  They were a super low key and easy going team, jeans and tee shirt type folks, which made the staff feel right at home asking questions.  We then went into the tasting room and of course, tasted some wine!  We ran through the Sonoma Cuvee and DeLoach lines of Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs.  All were excellent wines. In between the Chard’s and Pinots they challenged our wine knowledge with a little quiz.  That has to be the hardest 5 question Burgundy quiz I’ve ever taken!  They sent us on our way with a San Francisco Favorite, It’s-It ice cream sandwiches!  If you don’t know what that is, it’s the best chocolate or vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two oatmeal cookies and dipped in chocolate.  Just what the doctor ordered on this hot day!

We then headed off to Dry Creek Valley to Fritz Winery.  The entire winery in underground and they had set up individual tasting stations for several producers from the area.  We had the opportunity to taste all the Fritz wines, Bella, Kachina, Jenner, Puccioni and Lost Canyon wines.  We were welcomed in the tasting room, given a glass and put to work.  The owners from each winery were behind their tables and excited to teach our team why their wines are special. They were all super friendly folks.

The final stop of the day was at Truett Hurst Winery, about 10 minutes away from Fritz in the heart of Dry Creek Valley.  The brothers welcomed us with their Rose and Sauvignon Blanc.  I was standing in the tasting room listening to what I though was a CD until I stepped outside into the gardens to see that they had brought in a band to play for us!  It was nice easy going Hawaiian style music paired with a great crisp Rose. I couldn’t ask for anything more except … a whole pig roasting on a spit, which was part of our meal!  It was another fabulous feast with fantastic folks, a great way to close out a hard day’s work tasting wine. 

Cheers,

Cyrus

***Check out more photos from all of the wineries we’ve visited on flickr: California Wine Experience 2012**