Darioush

Last weekend I made another visit to Darioush in the Napa Valley, this time for a sit-down "table-side" tasting. A flat panel tv in our corner of the tasting room showed a video of the field crew harvesting the grapes at night - common practice here in California where fall days can be too hot for harvesting. I think this is such a great process - the field crew works all night and then by 7am the day shift gets to work sorting the grapes and getting the juice into tanks. I'm sure in many parts of the world (warmer climates mostly) this type of shift work is done; in the Finger Lakes it didn't really make sense for us, especially since it could get pretty cold on those fall nights.

Greg, our server, was very knowledgable about the wines and the valley. Darioush wines are made from 90% estate grapes (from vineyards they own) and 10% from vineyards that are leased over multi-year agreements. Owning your own grapes or at least leasing them is important, because it allows you to have control in the vineyard, where wine is born. Knowing the land and the vines gives you a leg up when it comes time to make harvesting decisions. The wines tasted were not far from the lineup I had on my first visit there almost a year ago - Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. The Cab is their flagship wine and I had tasted the 2007 in March and loved it. This time I got to taste the 2006 next to the 2008 (2007 is sold out because it got great ratings and everyone went crazy for it). The 2006 was obviously smoother, with a silky texture and long finish, but the 2008 had tons more fruit and was much more exciting. The tannins were still gripping but you could imagine how a couple years in the cellar would really do this wine well.

Thanks again to Ryan and Greg for their impeccable service and attention! I highly recommend a visit to Darioush.

Take a Napa

It's been raining since I got to San Francisco, which I really cannot complain about since New York just got another snowstorm. I thought maybe if I went up to Napa the weather would be better, but it was the same, rainy and gray with flooded vineyards. They get most of their rain in winter (and early spring apparently), and then the rest of the year will be sunny. Part of my quest for what's next involves sampling the region's wines. After all, how can I determine which winery I would want to work for if I haven't sampled their wines?

First I went to Darioush, which looks like a Persian palace. Impeccable customer service awaits as you view their stainless steel tanks overlaying a blue tile floor and press pad overlooking their estate vineyards. Despite the lavish decoration, you can still see a working winery. Here I learned that a lot of wineries in Napa harvest at night, when the grapes have cooled off from the intense sun. Darioush then sorts the grapes first thing in the morning, first the clusters as they go into the crusher/de-stemmer and then the individual berries as they come out. Their 2009 Viognier was floral and pretty, with good acidity. I was surprised by the alcohol - 14.8% - because I didn't really notice it. I really enjoyed their 2008 Russian River Pinot Noir, which had some great spice overlaying the cherry and tobacco notes. It had good body and structure but a comfortable lightness. The 2007 Merlot was very bright, with raspberry and baking spice flavors. The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon was the best of the tasting - remember that I normally don't like young Cabs, but I loved this one! It was so smooth, with delicious blueberry, currant, chocolate and spice, balanced by great acidity. This is their best seller and their largest production at the winery with 7,000-10,000 cases made per year. It goes for $80 a bottle!

At Signorello, their wines are nicely balanced and elegant. They spend a lot of time in the vineyard, keeping yields low, allowing a small amount of fruit to battle for nutrients. They have 42 acres and produce only 5500 cases. I'd probably want to cellar most of the reds for a few years. The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon was my favorite, smooth with chewy cocoa and spice and nice acidity and tannin.

My last stop was Far Niente, where I toured the property, which includes an acre of underground caves where they store their wine in barrels. It is the perfect temperature and humidity for wine storage and aging. They only make two wines, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. We had 2 Cabs, one from 2000 and one from 2008. I liked the older one better, but the 2008 had some great fruit and spice, with good grip from the tannin; I could see how it would age well. They also have another label called Dolce, which is a sweet Sauternes-like dessert wine made from Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. This was a beautiful wine. They did a great wine and cheese pairing, which was a really nice way to finish the rainy day.

Chardonnay is Queen and Cabernet Sauvignon is King out here, so my education of these two wines continues...