Napa fine wines to try this autumn – William Kelley
The Napa Valley’s transformation from rural backwater to viticultural Shangri-La in a mere half century is an all-American success story, writes William Kelley, who picks out a selection of his favourite fine wines to try.
This article first appeared in Decanter magazine’s California supplement 2017. It is currently on Decanter.com as part of a sponsored campaign with the California Wine Institute.
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In the 1960s, Napa Valley could count only a handful of wineries, but today it’s home to 475. Many enjoy international markets and reputations, being sought-after the world over.
Prosperity has followed: every year, Napa Valley wine contributes $50 billion to the United States’ economy – a figure that’s greater than the GDP of Croatia. By any metric, then, Napa is thriving.
Even success stories, however, require periodic reinvention.
The wine market’s demographics are changing, with millennials now consuming more wine than any other generation, while the baby boomers that fuelled the Valley’s 20th-century efflorescence are spending less as they age.
New wine drinkers increasingly prioritise originality and authenticity in what they drink, meaning that Napa will have to compete for their attention with rivals from elsewhere.
There really would be no sense in altering what is proving to still be a winning formula. We’re unlikely to witness a wholesale reimagining of Napa Cabernet of the kind recently wrought in California Pinot Noir and epitomised by the In Pursuit of Balance movement.
But the valley is undeniably evolving.
That’s reflected in new emphases: elegance and balance are back in fashion, even if the wines themselves are slower to change.
To generalise: high ripeness is still the order of the day, but new oak is now far more carefully controlled. The terroir philosophy has been adopted writ large, as an ever multiplying roster of single-vineyard bottlings testify.
But perhaps most importantly, Napa Valley’s collective conversation, once dominated by cult Cabernet, has moved on.
‘Napa is no longer a monoculture,’ concludes veteran winemaker Cathy Corison, ‘and that’s a good thing.’
More California wines here
William Kelley’s Napa fine wines to try
Stony Hill, Chardonnay, Napa Valley, California, USA, 2012
94
Still a very youthful wine. Notes of crisp lemon, lime, tart melon and iodine precede a broad, textural palate with wonderful cut and energy; structurally this has more in common with a red wine than it does with a typical Napa Chardonnay.
2012
Stony HillNapa Valley
Screaming Eagle, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Oakville, California, USA, 2014
A perfumed bouquet of crushed cassis, violet, woodsmoke and incipient truffle introduces a rich, layered and superbly pure wine. It has fine-grained tannins, juicy acidity...
2014
Screaming EagleNapa Valley
Corison, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California, USA, 2014
Another classic from Cathy Corison, the 2014 Cabernet displays a pretty bouquet of black cherry, petroleum jelly, cocoa nib and dried rose. On the palate...
2014
CorisonNapa Valley
Heitz Cellar, Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California, USA, 2012
The just-released vintage of Martha's Vineyard is another youthful classic from Heitz, bursting with notes of black cherry, mint chocolate, cigar box and spice. On...
2012
Heitz CellarNapa Valley
Dunn Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain, California, USA, 2012
95
A rich, brooding bouquet of blackberry, tar, truffle and mint leads into a full-bodied, layered wine with a wonderful core of ripe fruit and comparatively supple tannins by the standards of this typically reserved cuvée.
2012
Dunn VineyardsNapa Valley
Eisele Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California, USA, 2013
95
A deep-pitched bouquet of fresh red-black fruit, deep soil tones and floral top notes introduces a youthfully primary wine with a refined, three-dimensional tannic structure and signature Eisele minerality. The first wine produced 'from berry to bottle' by the Pinault regime is thus a great success, with notably superior barrel integration to some of its predecessors. The vineyard is now front-and-centre: on the label, and in the bottle.
2013
Eisele VineyardNapa Valley
Harlan Estate, Napa Valley, California, USA, 1996
Aromas of ripe plum, cassis, tar, woodsmoke, cocoa powder and espresso roast introduce a powerful, fine-grained wine with a chassis of richly extracted tannin, underpinned...
1996
Harlan EstateNapa Valley
MacDonald, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Oakville, California, USA, 2011
95
The MacDonald brothers’ 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon from their vineyard in the heart of To Kalon is an exceptional wine, and one of the best of the vintage. Endowed with a classical and highly refined tannic structure, after lengthy decanting the wine bursts from the glass in a blaze of juicy cherry and blackberry, with nuances of black truffle, graphite and menthol. Firm at the core and nicely balanced at this early stage in its evolution, I expect this bottling to develop beautifully in the cellar.
2011
MacDonaldNapa Valley
Philip Togni Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain, California, USA, 2012
While the 2012 vintage tended to produce open-knit, fruit-driven wines, the Togni family has rendered something more serious: a bouquet of sweet cassis, black cherry,...
2012
Philip Togni VineyardNapa Valley
Di Costanzo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Coombsville, California, USA, 2013
Notes of black cherry, menthol, cedar and subtle clove introduce a brooding, layered wine, framed by a chassis of fine but firm tannins—bursting with earthy...
2013
Di CostanzoNapa Valley
Promontory, Napa Valley, California, USA, 2010
93
Scents of rich fruit compote – strawberry, blackberry, cherry – mingle with notes of anise, cedar and mountain laurel, the preface to a juicy, firmly tannic wine with serious structure and mid-palate. The second vintage of Promontory is quite a firm, powerful wine.
2010
PromontoryNapa Valley
Calder Wine Company, Charbono, Napa Valley, California, USA, 2013
89
Sweet red-black fruits, herbs and spice lead into a juicy, medium-bodied wine with vibrant acidity and light tannins. Once mistaken for Barbera, the kinship is more than superficial. Deliciously quaffable – and at a mere 12.1% quaffing is not punished.
2013
Calder Wine CompanyNapa Valley
