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Open: By appointment
Appt required? Yes
Last barlinwine.com visit: 2013
Directions:
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Tasting:
When Stephanie and I visited wine country in April, we happened to have back-to-back tastings with a couple on Howell Mountain at O’Shaughnessy and Outpost. We chatted about hidden gems, and they glowingly recommended Relic. I’d never heard of them prior to that visit, but two other people we encountered on that trip also brought them up. Clearly this was a place I needed to try.
With limited information about tasting with them on their website (Where are they? When are they open? I don’t know!), I dropped Annette Summersett a note to get the scoop and see if she was available to meet us before we left. She didn’t have an opening in April, but when I came back in May, Relic was the first appointment I made.
Because the woman at Keenan couldn’t wait to be rid of me, I arrived early for my 1pm appointment. Luckily, Annette was ready for me and just finishing opening up the bottles we would taste. Relic conducts tastings in one of the vintage mobile homes parked on the Behrens Family property. My thought mirrored what Bob Thomas wrote in his barlinwine.com review of Behrens: why cram into an old crappy mobile home when the weather is perfect and the view off the side of the mountain is amazing? In retrospect, I should have asked Annette if she would mind tasting outside at one of the picnic tables, but instead we stuck with the inside tasting.
The tasting started with one of Relic's Kashaya Pinot Noir. This Sonoma Coast Pinot was a wine I thought was well made but not one that necessarily eclipsed its competition from the same area in my cellar. After that, though, things were awesome. I sampled the Ritual, a blend primarily made up of Mourvedre (47%) that was smooth, perfectly balanced, and delicious. The 2009 Old Vines Petite Sirah was really good, and we closed the tasting with the Artefact, a fantastic Cabernet that for the vintage I tried (2009) contained a healthy dose (19%) of Cab Franc for the first time. While I liked the Pinot, I thought all three of the other wines were excellent.
Up to this point, I hadn’t seen a price sheet, so I curbed my enthusiasm. After hoping earlier in the day that Fisher would be a great bargain location and instead finding myself disappointed when everything was approaching or in the triple digits, I prepared myself for the same at Relic. Instead, all wines were well under $100, and I thought all of the wines were great bargains. The Artefact was fantastic for a $75 Cab, the Petite Sirah ($52) was far superior to other Petites I’d had on this trip and in line or below the prices charged by its inferior competition. I thought The Ritual was a steal for $48. A case was clearly coming home with me.
When you factor in the quality, value, and atmosphere, Relic was a great find. I wasn’t thrilled with the mobile home setting, but that’s literally the only knock I had. Annette did reveal that they are building a tasting room in Napa that should be open within the year. Once they move in there, Relic would score out as well as almost any other winery I've visited. Very highly recommended.
When Stephanie and I visited wine country in April, we happened to have back-to-back tastings with a couple on Howell Mountain at O’Shaughnessy and Outpost. We chatted about hidden gems, and they glowingly recommended Relic. I’d never heard of them prior to that visit, but two other people we encountered on that trip also brought them up. Clearly this was a place I needed to try.With limited information about tasting with them on their website (Where are they? When are they open? I don’t know!), I dropped Annette Summersett a note to get the scoop and see if she was available to meet us before we left. She didn’t have an opening in April, but when I came back in May, Relic was the first appointment I made.
Because the woman at Keenan couldn’t wait to be rid of me, I arrived early for my 1pm appointment. Luckily, Annette was ready for me and just finishing opening up the bottles we would taste. Relic conducts tastings in one of the vintage mobile homes parked on the Behrens Family property. My thought mirrored what Bob Thomas wrote in his barlinwine.com review of Behrens: why cram into an old crappy mobile home when the weather is perfect and the view off the side of the mountain is amazing? In retrospect, I should have asked Annette if she would mind tasting outside at one of the picnic tables, but instead we stuck with the inside tasting.
The tasting started with one of Relic's Kashaya Pinot Noir. This Sonoma Coast Pinot was a wine I thought was well made but not one that necessarily eclipsed its competition from the same area in my cellar. After that, though, things were awesome. I sampled the Ritual, a blend primarily made up of Mourvedre (47%) that was smooth, perfectly balanced, and delicious. The 2009 Old Vines Petite Sirah was really good, and we closed the tasting with the Artefact, a fantastic Cabernet that for the vintage I tried (2009) contained a healthy dose (19%) of Cab Franc for the first time. While I liked the Pinot, I thought all three of the other wines were excellent.Up to this point, I hadn’t seen a price sheet, so I curbed my enthusiasm. After hoping earlier in the day that Fisher would be a great bargain location and instead finding myself disappointed when everything was approaching or in the triple digits, I prepared myself for the same at Relic. Instead, all wines were well under $100, and I thought all of the wines were great bargains. The Artefact was fantastic for a $75 Cab, the Petite Sirah ($52) was far superior to other Petites I’d had on this trip and in line or below the prices charged by its inferior competition. I thought The Ritual was a steal for $48. A case was clearly coming home with me.
When you factor in the quality, value, and atmosphere, Relic was a great find. I wasn’t thrilled with the mobile home setting, but that’s literally the only knock I had. Annette did reveal that they are building a tasting room in Napa that should be open within the year. Once they move in there, Relic would score out as well as almost any other winery I've visited. Very highly recommended.
Recommended wine: Everything! Really not a bad wine in the bunch, other than a so-so Pinot Noir. Everything else is recommended.
Ratings (out of 5):
 WINE | 4.75 |  TASTING ROOM | 3.50 |
 ATMOSPHERE | 5.00 |  VALUE | 5.00 |
 OVERALL | 4.56 | ||
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