2006 Twomey Merlot

As readers of this blog know, I am not the world's biggest fan of merlot.  However, there are two exceptions:  Northstar and Twomey.

I first tried Twomey Merlot when we were in Napa a few years back for the Silver Oak Cabernet release party.  Twomey is a Silver Oak label.

This is really a great wine.  I rarely find it on wine lists but happened upon it today at Perry's Steakhouse in Dallas.  My dad - the merlot fan - really loved it.

If you like merlot, you will LOVE this wine.  If you think you're not a merlot drinker but love red wine, give this a try.  I bet you'll like it.  

Tasting notes:

Grapes for our Twomey Merlot come exclusively from our Soda Canyon Ranch in southeastern Napa Valley. This vineyard’s rolling hills of volcanic soils are tightly planted with French Merlot clones, selected for their low yield of small, intensely flavored berries. In this mild climate, tempered by cool breezes and morning fog, Merlot ripens slowly and develops a rich black-fruit character and extraordinary complexity.


Price: $50

Heitz Cellars 2007 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Lunch with the family today at Perry's Steakhouse in Dallas.  You typically can't go wrong with either a 2007 Napa Cab or Heitz Cellars so this was a win-win bottle.  My brother had never had a Heitz Cellars wine and he was really impressed.  This is a great wine and well worth the price.  The perfect wine with a nice filet. 

From the winemaker:

Tasting Notes: Our 2007 Napa Valley Cabernet is a stunning wine from the popular 2007 vintage. Unquestionably a Heitz Wine Cellars cabernet, this is a classic wine of finesse and elegance – beautiful now and structured to age gracefully for years to come.

The rich varietal aroma leads to delicious flavors of dark cherry with notes of spicy plum. A generous core of cabernet fruit is nicely integrated with refreshing acidity and just the right touch of oak. This wine is silky in texture, building momentum as it crosses the palate to a lovely, lingering finish.  

Price: $45-50

Monticello Vineyards 2009 Jefferson Cuvee Cabernet

Received a bottle of Corley Family Monticello Cab from a friend for Christmas.  This label is from the 2008 but we actually drank the 2009 over the holidays.  It was a very good every day wine.  

I was not familiar with this winery so it was great to discover something new!  I was surprised to find such a smooth wine given the age.  Here are the tasting notes from the winemaker:

This wine has nice dark notes on the nose and palate. The aromas start with nice smoky berry aromas and open up further with coffee and dark chocolate. On the palate the wine is big and full bodied yet it displays a wonderful level of balance and elegance. The tannins are nicely refined and frame the wines generous mid-palate very well. The finish is medium long and has nice lingering effect.

Drink Now through 2022.

Price range - $30-40

Guenoc

We had a fantastic dinner at Mitchell's Steakhouse in Columbus, Ohio.  It was really top notch.  After a magnum of Stag's Leap Cab, the Sommelier suggested this fantastic wine.  It was a huge hit with all the red wine drinkers at the table.  This is the second Lake County area wine I've fallen in love with during the past year.  

It's produced by Langtry Estate & Vineyard.  Here are the tasting notes from the winery:

The 2006 Guenoc Lake County Meritage Red is a complex blend of the classic Bordeaux varietals. The wine is intense in color, with aromas of cas- sis, spice and leather. Full-bodied and luscious on the palate with layers of plum, black cherry and chocolate. The ripe tannins give way to a smooth finish. Pair the Meritage with rack of lamb, grilled steak, and full flavored cheeses. 


Only 859 cases of the 2006 vintage were produced.  

Palmaz Vineyards

One of the most beautiful and interesting vineyards we've ever visited was Palmaz Vineyards.

Here's a little history off the Palmaz website:

The Palmazes bought a forgotten stone winery, a fine old house badly in need of renovation, and acres of land that had once produced fine Napa wines. The little valley had been the site of Cedar Knoll Vineyard and Winery, founded in 1881 by Henry Hagen, one of Napa Valley's pioneer winemakers.

Henry Hagen produced wines that garnered many awards, including a silver medal at the Paris Exposition of 1889. During that era, Cedar Knoll was one of Napa's premier wineries. The vineyards survived the Wine Country’s phylloxera infestation in the 1890s, but Prohibition was fatal. The winery fell into disrepair and the vineyards lay fallow for nearly eighty years.

Today, the vineyards are burgeoning, the restored Hagen house is a family home 
again, and the winery has been reinvented.


Brad was our tour guide through the underground cave of Palmaz.  Here's the description from the website of this one-of-a-kind winemaking facility:

Palmaz Vineyards' winemaking and aging takes place within the living rock of Mount George, in a flawlessly engineered maze of tunnels and lofty domes. The height of the wine cave is equivalent to an 18-storey building, providing the vertical range needed for true gravity-flow winemaking. Thus, the wine is never subjected to the violent agitation of pumping, which can change the wine’s intra-molecular structure. This gentle treatment allows the finest nuances of flavor to develop naturally—the result is a complex, elegant wine.

• The fermentation dome is the world’s largest underground reinforced structure. It is 72’ in diameter and 54’ high.
• Temperature stays constant at 60 degrees and humidity at 75%, the perfect atmosphere for aging wine.
• The cave houses its own water treatment plant built to comply with strict conservation guidelines.
• Fermentation tanks rotate on a custom-designed carousel.

Our tasting menu included:

2009 Napa Valley Chardonnay "Amalia"

2007 Palmaz Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

2008 Palmaz Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

2010 Muscat Canelli "Florencia"

2007 Cedar Knoll Cabernet Sauvignon

All of the wine was outstanding.  We were big Cedar Knoll fans before visiting Palmaz.  In fact, I had purchased 1/2 of a case before Christmas.  

It was hard to decide which was more wonderful - the 2007 or the 2008 Palmaz Cab.

Brad was a delightful and funny host.  The entire tasting experience was top notch.  We sampled smoke salmon canapés with wasabi infused caviar, smoked duck wrapped in cream cheese with fig preserves, a variety of cheeses and a chocolate Cabernet truffle.  The Muscat was paired with a shortbread cookie with 

mango and marcona almond cream cheese.

Don't miss Palmaz on your next trip to Napa.  

Garguilo Vineyards

Gargiulo Vineyards is adjacent to the Screaming Eagle property so we were very excited to try their wines.

We sat on the patio overlooking the vineyards. It's a lovely place to hang out and drink exceptional wine.

We tasted the following:

2008 575 OVX G Major 7 Study Cabernet Sauvignon - 652 case production

2008 Money Road Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon - 982 case production

2008 Money Road Ranch Merlot

2009 Aprile Super Oakville Red - 934 case production (96% Sangiovese, 4% Cabernet)

All of the wine was spectacular but the G Major 7 was out of this world. This wine is so fabulous and in such demand that you are limited to purchasing 3 bottles. We were lucky they had a small amount left that we could buy. Needless to say, I'm jealously guarding the G Major 7 now resting comfortably in my wine refrigerator.

Here are the tasting notes:

G Major 7 Study Cabernet Sauvignon is blended from selected fruit off the 575 ovx vineyard and is named after a classic jazz guitar chord. Like its namesake, it is composed of four of the five classic Bordeaux varietals, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot and Merlot. G Major 7 is highly nuanced and provides a profound sense of elegance and complexity, changing with every swirl and sip. The nose reflects subtle floral notes, which develop into deep, crushed berry and earth flavors on the palate. Its tannins are refined and seamlessly integrated. The aging potential is 25 plus years.

• Oakville Appellation
• Single estate vineyard: 575 ovx
• Composition of the blend varies by vintage, but typically is: 85 percent Cabernet Sauvignon; 12 percent Cabernet Franc, 2 percent Petite Verdot, 1 percent Merlot
• Produced from four separate vineyard blocks in Eastern Oakville's red rocks
• 22 months in medium toast French barriques: 90 percent new

Pine Ridge Vineyards

We were in between appointments at Garguilo and Palmaz when we decided to stop by Pine Ridge Vineyards and taste their reds.

We tried the following:

2007 Pine Ridge Oakville Cabernet

2007 Pine Ridge Stag's Leap Cabernet

2007 Pine Ridge Howell Mountain Cabernet

2005 Pine Ridge Andrus Reserve

2007 Pine Ridge Fortis

Keep in mind that I had just left the amazing Garguilo so anything that wasn't awesome would likely taste terrible to me.

The Andrus Reserve and the Fortis were outstanding.

Here are the tasting notes on the Fortis. I definitely tasted the cherry:

Fortis presents the absolute pinnacle of richness and complexity. It displays an intense array of aromas including juicy plum, ripe blackberries and black currant balanced with baking spices, brown sugar and dark cocoa. The wine explodes on the palate with supple fruit notes of warm black cherry and cassis amid hints of espresso, toast and light vanilla that continues through the unrelenting finish. Firm tannins and a robust structure affirm the tremendous aging potential of this wine, which in its youth, would show best after decanting for at least one hour.

Varietal 77% Cabernet Sauvignon,
13% Petit Verdot, 8% Malbec, 1% Merlot, 1% Cabernet FrancAppellation: Napa Valley
Alcohol: 13.9%

Aging Potential: up to 15 years SRP: $140

Release Date: September 1, 2010

Here are the tasting notes on the 2005 Andrus Reserve, which is only available from the winery:


A luscious nose of blueberry pie, dark cherry and boysenberry fruit, enlivined with hints of red cinnamon and cigar box spice explodes out of the glass at first swirl. On the palate, the 2005 Andrus Reserve shows youthful tannins, firm and chewy, that support the rich black current, cherry-berry flavors all the way through a long finish accented with notes of vanilla, cream, brown butter and oak spice. Enjoy this wine now or cellar it for up to 15 years.