Total Wine & More

~ Our blog for all things wine, beer, spirits, cigars … and more!

Total Wine & More

Tag Archives: Kapscandy

California Wine Experience 2013: Day Five

21 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by totalwineandmore in California Wine Experience 2013, Wine

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Beaucanon Estate, Blankiet Estate, Corley Family Vineyards, Kapscandy, Moone Tsai, Napa Valley, ROY Estate, Rutherford Ranch Winery

beaucanon-vineyard-viewUp bright and early, we headed to our first stop at Beaucanon Estate. The de Coninck family has a long winemaking history in Bordeaux, they own the St Émilion Grand Cru Classé estate Château Canon. In essence, Beaucanon is the family’s Napa outpost located in the southwestern part of Napa Valley. Every time I taste their wines I’m impressed – dollar for dollar the Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon are best-in-class. We enjoyed a sunny stroll through their vineyards, tasted some wines in their garden with proprietor Louis de Coninck, it was an excellent way to start our day!

monticello_wine_viewThen it was a short drive to Monticello Vineyards which is located in Napa Valley’s Oak Knoll District, a family owned winery since its inception. Founder Jay Corley and his two sons were on hand to greet and take us through their wines. In the 1960’s Jay lived in Virginia and became fascinated with Thomas Jefferson and his passion for wine, so when Jay had the chance to purchase some vineyards in Napa Valley, he jumped at the opportunity and built a replica of Thomas Jefferson’s house in Charlottesville, Virginia, aka., Monticello. Under the shade of umbrellas, the Corley family explained their farming and winemaking philosophies and the style they strive to achieve in their wines. To cap the visit, Jay Corley donned a colonial style coat and a powdered wig to take some pictures with the team!

It was then off to lunch with two of our most important winery partners – Rutherford Ranch Winery and Arroyo Secco Vineyards. These folks are the teams behind the Muirwood and Dominican Oaks brands, two of our top selling customer favorites. The team took us through their newest releases, including Cuboid out of a box, which was fun!  They provided an incredible lineup of food; succulent heirloom tomatoes and local burrata cheese, deviled eggs, grilled steak and chicken, all were all delicious.

The rest of the afternoon was packed with visits to some of the most elite wineries in Napa Valley. These intensely passionate producers are protective of every cluster, every grape, from budding to bottling. Nothing but perfection is allowed in these wineries. The production areas are impeccably clean, fermentation tanks are custom-made for specific blocks in the vineyard, and they have sorting tables that require up to 20 people to separate every grape and remove every stem jack painstakingly by hand.

Cyrus Hazzard (L) and Lou Kapcsándy

Cyrus Hazzard (L) and Lou Kapcsándy

A stop to see Lou and Louis Kapcsándy was first on the list. Lou took our team through the vineyards while explaining his winemaking philosophy – Lou is a firm believer that if you don’t get outstanding grapes, you can’t make top quality wine. He poured his rosé first for us, then the Endre (his second label) and then the Grand Vin 2009. The Endre Cabernet was superb – something that you can drink now while the Grand Vin ages (although it’s super tasty now too!). The winery was immaculate, Lou is a perfectionist and it shows in his wines.

From left: Claude and Katherine Blankiet with Cyrus Hazzard

From left: Claude and Katherine Blankiet with Cyrus Hazzard

Next, the group split into two, with one headed to ROY Estate and the other headed to Blankiet Estate – since I had tasted the ROY wines on Monday, I elected to be on the bus to Blankiet. I have been a huge fan of Claude Blanket’s wines for years, even before I started with Total Wine & More I was purchasing his wines off his mailing list. Nestled on the western hills of the town of Yountville. Right behind Dominus Winery, owners Claude and Catherine greeted us, sharing the story of how they started Blankiet. They took us to the top of the hill behind the winery to show us how differing soils, sun exposure and canopy management are important for each site and grape variety. Back down at the winery in the fermentation room, we tasted through their three wines, the Prince of Hearts, Rive Droite (Right Bank) and Paradise Hills Proprietary Red. The 2006 Paradise Hills Proprietary Red was stunning, featuring rich notes of forest floor, well integrated oak flavors/aromas and dark cherries and espresso aromas – you can drink the Proprietary Red now or age it for at least 20 years more. What amazing people and amazing wine, Claude and Catherine were truly gracious hosts, I can’t wait for my next trip back here.

Larry and Mary Anne Tsai

Larry and Mary Anne Tsai

The last stop of the day (which last year featured the most amazing lunch we had the entire trip) was down to Coombsville with Larry and Mary Anne Tsai – proprietors of Moone Tsai. They greeted us with a glass of Sonoma Coast Chardonnay and some delicious hors d’ oeuvres – Niman Ranch bacon fritters, soufflé Gruyère cheese puffs, and grilled Point Reyes oysters with sweet Thai flavors. Those Gruyère cheese puffs were perfectly paired with the Chardonnay. After a quick tour of the caves we sat down for dinner where each course paired with one of Moone Tsai’s wines – their Napa Valley Chardonnay, Howell Mountain Red, Napa Valley Cabernet and Cor Leonis Cabernet were all served. The boneless sterling short ribs with buttermilk mashed potatoes were delicious, and a perfect pairing with the Napa Valley Cabernet. Larry and Marry Anne Tsai were tremendous hosts as always and provided the best meal of the week so far – Thank you, Mary Ann and Larry!

Well, that was another memorable day in wine country, and another amazing lineup of producers!

Cheers,

Cyrus

California Wine Experience: Day Six

14 Tuesday Aug 2012

Posted by totalwineandmore in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Blankiet, Cardiac Hill, Hestan, Jemrose, Kapscandy, Napa Valley, Wine

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**

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • June 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • May 2018
  • January 2018
  • September 2017
  • July 2017
  • March 2017
  • December 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • November 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • February 2012
  • October 2011
  • September 2011

Categories

  • & More
  • American Craft Beer Week
  • Anniversary
  • Beer
  • Bow Tie Diaries
  • Brunch
  • California Trip 2012
  • California Wine Experience 2013
  • Champagne
  • Cider
  • Class
  • Cocktails
  • Earth Day
  • Educational Class
  • father's day
  • Food
  • Galentine's Day
  • Gifts
  • Grand Opening
  • Grand Openings
  • holiday
    • Cinco de Mayo
  • Independence Day
  • Intern Jean-Hubert
  • Interviews
  • Live
  • Memorial Day
  • Miscellaneous
  • New Product
  • New Year's Eve
  • Promotions
  • Recipe
  • Seltzer
  • Spirits
    • Gin
    • Rum
    • Tequila
    • Vodka
    • Whiskey
  • St. Patrick's Day
  • summer entertaining
  • Tailgating
  • Tastings and events
  • Thanksgiving
  • Total Discovery Exclusive Content
  • Uncategorized
  • Valentine's Day
  • VinExpo
  • Vinitaly
  • Wine

Meta

  • Log in

Powered by WordPress.com.

 

Loading Comments...