Chappellet (4.63)






Open: Tastings at 10am and 3pm; Tours and tastings at 11am and 1pm

Appt required? Yes

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2012 (April 16, 2012 Itinerary)

Directions:

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Tasting:
If you’re planning to journey up Sage Canyon Rd. to Chappellet, take paper directions with you. We made our first trip to the winery with some friends and all the directional arrogance of the internet generation. It wasn’t long, though, before none of us had service, our GPS was worthless, and we had to find things the old fashioned way. If there’s a sign for Chappellet along Sage Canyon, none of the four of us ever saw it. However, there is row of silver mailboxes and one says “Pritchard Hill”. Knowing that Pritchard Hill is the location of the winery as well as the designation of their flagship blend, we took a chance and turned there.

A lengthy winding mountain road carries cars to the top of Pritchard Hill and eventually the winery. All winery functions – from the full winemaking process to barrel storage to winery operations -- are conducted inside a large geodesic structure unlike any other I’ve been in during trips to the Napa Valley. We’d come to learn later in our visit that the Chappellet logo – 3 triangles connecting to form what looks like a pyramid – is in fact modeled on the aerial view of the main winery building. We walked up a shaded gravel path to this structure and entered a small front alcove where we signed in and awaited the start to our tasting.

Before long, our host, Jonathan, came out to greet us. Joining the four in our group was a single wine club member named Alex, a fortuitous stroke of luck since wine club typically equals peak service (and extra pours!). Jonathan walked us inside the main room of the building. The ceiling towered 50 feet over our heads, and rows of barreled wines stacked four high filled the space. We sidled over to a tasting table set up between the barrels and racks of Chappellet’s library wines, with bottles of every vintage of their Signature Cabernet since the original in 1968.

The temperature in the dome was a crisp 58 degrees or so for the wine, which given the height of the ceiling and size of the room must cost a fortune to maintain. Jonathan acknowledged as much and said that the winery is in the process of digging a cave for more practical storage of their barreled wine. As a nod to visitor comfort, a coat rack of lightweight parkas rested in the corner in case anyone got chilly during our 75 minute tasting experience.

A typical tasting at Chappellet consists of 4 wines: their Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Signature Cabernet, and Pritchard Hill Cabernet. Having wine club member Alex as part of the group also allowed us to try a couple of club-only wines, their 2009 Cabernet Franc and 2009 Petite Sirah. For me, the two whites were both good, but also not mind-blowing. The Chenin Blanc had been on hiatus for a few years, but they replanted and have begun producing it once again. The Chardonnay was good but also something that is distributed fairly widely.

The next three wines we tried were all very good. At $49/bottle, I thought the 2009 Signature Cabernet was very fairly priced, and in a different situation I would have left with some. Given that I can get it at Binny’s Bevergae Depot in Chicago, though, I passed on carrying some home. Next Jonathan poured us a delicious sample from one of Chappellet’s signature black Pritchard Hill bottles. “Mmm…the Pritchard Hill is pretty great, huh?” I said to Steph. Lo and behold, it was actually our first bonus taste in my glass, the 2009 Cabernet Franc. Given I thought it tasted good enough to be the $135 Pritchard Hill, at $65 this seemed like a great bargain. We followed it with what was in fact the 2009 Pritchard Hill, and it was outstanding. If this wine was somewhere in the $95 range, I think it would fly off the shelf. At $135, it’s still probably worth a bottle at some point in your life, but only one. We wrapped up the tasting with the 2009 Petite Sirah which was solid but unexceptional.

Throughout the tasting, Wine Club Alex shared his impressions of the winery. A wine club member for 12 years, he was a big fan and was able to speak even more thoroughly about the winery than our host Jonathan (no knock on Jonathan – he was more than adequate with his knowledge and information). It was fun to get the perspective from someone not working for the winery (although he may as well have been given his positive passion for Chappellet and its wine) who had been visiting and drinking their wines over a long period of time. I picked Alex’s brain on things like aging ability of the different Cabernets (he thought the Signature Cab usually hit its sweet spot around 8-10 years from vintage), his wine preferences (he loved the Signature Cab given the price point difference from the Pritchard Hill), and consistency of the wines (far more consistent now than they were in the 90s).

The $25 tasting fee was charged despite the purchase of a few bottles. If I’m only buying two bottles, I don’t have a problem with this, but I didn’t see anywhere any sort of opportunity to have the tasting fee refunded -- I think if I bought a case they still would have charged me for the tasting. Given the experience and the quality of the wine (we did get a hefty pour of the Pritchard Hill), I think it’s worth the money. But with how attractively priced all of their wines are (save the Pritchard Hill), it seemed a bit out of character of the rest of the winery. The building is interesting and the tasting experience well put together. Combine that with some very good wines at a good price and this is definitely a stop I’d recommend.

The view from up on Pritchard Hill

Recommended wine: If you can get your hands on the 2009 Cabernet Franc, do so -- it's great. The Pritchard Hill is definitely worth trying at least once in your life, and the Signature Cabernet is a great value at its price point.

Ratings (out of 5):


WINE
4.50
TASTING ROOM
5.00

ATMOSPHERE
4.50
VALUE
4.50

OVERALL
4.63

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