Napa: May 15, 2012 (200 Level)

May 15, 2012 Itinerary
(Napa East)

Number of wineries: 7
Average rating: 4.29
Wine Route Rating: Moderate (200)
Highlight of the day: Shafer (4.56). I was wary of the hefty tasting fee ($45) prior to the visit, but it was 100% worth it.

Notes: A lot of wineries (7 in about 5 hours) make this route not for the faint of heart. The one lone appointment -- Shafer -- turned out to be the highlight of the day. This stop combined with some higher-end focused wineries (PlumpJack, Cliff Lede, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars) make this a "200-level" route.

	Location	Start Time	Stop Time	Reservation?	Notes
	PlumpJack (4.25)	12:15	12:45	Not Needed	A chance to sample both PlumpJack and CADE wines. Decent experience but not a must-stop. The view and room at CADE is superior
	Piña (4.19)	12:50	1:10	Not Needed	Better Cabs than I was expecting in a rustic barrel room
	Cliff Lede (4.38)	1:15	1:55	Not Needed	An experience I suspect varies quite a bit, but a stop that was great for me. 7 wines tried (there are 3 listed on the tasting menu) with a relaxed atmosphere and friendly staff
	Shafer (4.69)	2:00	3:15		I was nearly scared away by the $45 tasting fee but it was worth every penny. Classy seated tasting of some very good wines.
	Pine Ridge (4.00)	3:20	3:45	Not Needed	Fairly standard bar tasting of some decent wines. Nothing spectacular.
	Stag's Leap Wine Cellars (4.31)	3:55	4:30	Not Needed	Better than expected across the board. Flexible on the wines they tasted and some really good Cabernet in a nice setting.
	Clos Du Val (4.06)	4:35	5:00	Not Needed	Friendly people and pretty good wine, but not amazing.
	Dinner at Oenotri (4.25)	7:15	8:30		Homemade pasta, wood-fired pizza, and farm-to-table fresh ingredients. Gives Bottega a run for its money, and its food may be better…

Route:

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Map:

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Oenotri (4.25)

http://oenotri.com/

Open: 11:30am - 2:30pm for lunch, 5:30-9:30 for dinner. Open late on Fridays and Saturdays for pizza and drinks

Reservation required? No, but recommended. Click below to reserve a table:

Menu: http://oenotri.com/index.php/menu/

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2012 (May 15, 2012 Itinerary)

Directions:

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The Meal:

When Steph and I were in wine country in April, there was one restaurant everyone asked us if we had been to: Oenotri. We weren't able to work it in to the April schedule, but when I returned during my mini retirement in May, it was the first place I scheduled for dinner.

Like many restaurants in the area, Oenotri embraces farm-to-table. To further their quest for ultimate freshness and local ingredients, chefs Tyler Rodde and Curtis Di Fede have launched their own 4-acre culinary garden from which they source much of the produce used in the restaurant. The menu changes daily and focuses on the freshest local products available. The restaurant makes every effort to replicate authentic Italian cooking, right down to the pizzas baked in a 100-percent wood-burning oven imported from Italy.

I arrived at Oenotri embarrassingly late, having confused my reservation time. After killing time taking notes for the blog, alone in Fuller Park and buzzed from my day of tasting, I leisurely made my way over to the restaurant, thankful that no parents had called the cops to report a strange looking man with glazed eyes and a laptop lounging around in the park. Arriving at Oenotri comfortably early for my 7:15 reservation, I was not-so-nicely informed that the reservation was for 6:45 and they would see what they could do. There were several open tables, but I assume those were being held for more responsible patrons than me. I waited for around 20 minutes and was eventually seated.

The Oenotri menu features wood-fired pizzas, often ordered as a starter for the table, antipasti, fresh pastas, and a few select secondi. Most dishes are smaller and set up to allow you to try multiple items on your visit. With so many options to choose from and only my gullet to fill, I elected to try a pizza and a pasta and take the leftovers home. For the pizza I tried a traditional Margherita pizza and added delicious Calabrian peppers. For my pasta I went with freshly made Bucatini pasta carbonnara, tossed with black pepper, egg, and (unmentioned in the menu) onion. Both were quite good and definitely had me excited to try more items on a future visit.

Taken while I waited for 20 minutes to be seated.  Note the open tables

The restaurant sports an open kitchen with a full-length hanging pot rack, an average-sized dining room, and a small outdoor dining area. They were heavy on team-based service, with no fewer than five servers waiting on me during my short meal. The service was attentive, almost to the point of obnoxiousness. They seemed overly eager to box my leftover pizza and asked me at least three times, the first time while I was still actively eating. I don't know if they couldn't wait to get rid of me (likely) or were just overly anxious to please, but either way their failure to pick up on some straightforward dining clues ("He's chewing -- do you think he's finished? I'm gonna ask him") detracted a bit from the ambiance. That being said, I'd rather have overattentive service than absentee waiters, so I can't fault them too much.

Oenotri does take themselves quite seriously. One local who lives around the corner later told me that they refuse to take to-go orders for their pizzas. Because of his proximity, he had a special dispensation, but most patrons are forced to eat the pizza there. Traditional Italian pizza gets worse very quickly once it leaves the hot wood-fired oven, but that's still pretty extreme.

Overall, the freshness and the quality of the food was outstanding. Oenotri is like a smaller, more pretentious version of Bottega. The food is comparable -- maybe even better at Oenotri -- but where Bottega has just the right blend of class and casualness, Oenotri is a bit too uptight. Prices are in the mid-teens for most pastas, pizzas, and antipasti, with secondi priced in the mid-twenties -- fairly reasonable for the area and for the farm-to-table freshness of the food. I would definitely recommend Oenotri if you're staying in Napa and have a hankering for some great, fresh Italian food, and especially if you have at least four people with whom you can share a number of different dishes. The food is definitely worth a stop, and if they can loosen up a bit, this could be an elite dining destination in Napa.

Recommended food:The pizza was good -- not quite Rosso-good, but close, and superior to Redd Wood. The pasta was incredibly fresh.

Ratings (out of 5):

FOOD	4.75	SERVICE	4.25
ATMOSPHERE	4.00	VALUE	4.00
OVERALL		4.25

Clos Du Val (4.06)

http://www.closduval.com

Open: 10am-5pm

Appt required? No

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2012 (May 15, 2012 Itinerary)

Directions:

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Tasting:

Clos Du Val was the last stop of the day for me on a recent trip out to Napa. I’d been to the winery once before and remembered it fondly as having good but not great wines and a very friendly tasting staff. It turned out that seven years later, not much had changed.

The winery sits in the Stag's Leap District on the southern end of the Silverado Trail and features a classic Tuscan feel, including an ivy-covered building and several Italian Cypress trees (or "penis trees" as Steph and I like to call them). The staff at Clos Du Val warmly welcomed me to the tasting room and explained my tasting options. They offered two $15 tastings: a “Harvest Whites” tasting of a Sauvignon Blanc, Rose, and two Chardonnays as well as a “Current Releases” tasting of their white blend Ariadne, plus their Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Cabernet. They also featured a “Reserve Reds” tasting of four wines for $30. Naturally, I went for the Reserve.

Before we started out we went off-script, something I always appreciate. My host poured me a side-by-side taste of the 2009 Pinot Noir against the 2008 Reserve Pinot Noir, the first wine on my reserve list. I found the reserve to be better, but not significantly, but neither wine blew me away. I then tried the 2008 Three Graces Red, a Bordeaux blend only sold at the winery. Again, a good wine, but not amazing for me. Then things got fairly interesting with not one, not two, but three Cabs. We started with the standard 2008 Cabernet, but quickly followed it with perhaps my favorite wine of the stop up until that point, the 2007 Cabernet. The final wine was a treat: a 1997 Reserve Cabernet. By the time I got into wine, most of the 1997s were gone, and so my opportunities to try this famous Napa vintage have been sparse. It was an excellent wine and the best of the stop, but was it more than twice as good as the 2007 ($175 vs. $80 for the 2007)? Probably not, and realistically neither wine was superior to others I’d tried in that price range.

I debated, but whether due to a lack of confidence in my palate late in the day or a desire to try to “be good” and curtail my wine buying on the trip, I left paying only the tasting fee. The tasting room staff were gracious and polite, and the pretentiousness you often encounter along the Silverado Trail was nowhere to be found. The wines were quite good, but also quite expensive. Like Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, this is a solid stop for people who enjoy big red wines and want the opportunity to try a number of well-made Cabs. The wines didn’t leave enough of an impression for me to bring them home, but perhaps they will for you.

Recommended wine: The Cabs were my favorite, particularly the 2007 and 1997, but neither lived up to its price tag.

Ratings (out of 5):

WINE	4.00	TASTING ROOM	4.25
ATMOSPHERE	4.50	VALUE	3.50
OVERALL		4.06

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars (4.31)

http://www.cask23.com/

Open: 10:00am-4:30pm

Appt required? No

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2012 (May 15, 2012 Itinerary)

Directions:

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Tasting:

We follow up a lesson in disastrous branding from Behrens Family Winery (or Erna Schein, or Behrens & Hitchcock) with review of one half of a pair of wineries that wrote the book on protracted legal battles over naming rights. Many people probably know that there is a Stags Leap AVA in Napa Valley; fewer probably realize that there are two wineries called Stags Leap: Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and Stags’ Leap Winery (note the apostrophes). Both laid claim to the name and it ended up in court. When the judge threatened to forbid BOTH from using any variation of the name “Stags Leap”, they settled on the subtle apostrophe variation.

Really?  This is as different as it gets, huh?

The similarities don’t stop with the name, though, and if you always thought they were the same winery, no one would blame you. Their labels are both white with a pencil-sketch stag either standing (SLWC) or leaping (SLW). I mean, take a look at the logo on the right and the one at the top of the post. Are you kidding me? Why wouldn't you think these were the same winery, or at least operated by the same company? Stags’ Leap Winery makes my go-to Petite Sirah from Napa Valley, a wine that is consistently delicious especially with a nice juicy steak. Our visit today, however, is to Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, famous for big Cabs like the Fay and Cask 23.

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars (SLWC) offers two standard tasting options: a “Napa Valley Collection Tasting Flight” featuring their entry-level wines, and an “Estate Collection Tasting Flight” focused on their single vineyard Arcadia Chardonnay and their three big estate Cabs: the Fay, S.L.V., and Cask 23. The tasting room is set amid trees and buried into a hillside, giving it a Hobbit-esque feel. I strolled in a bit before 4pm (closing time is 4:30) and got things going on the Estate Collection Flight. Naturally, though I wanted to be difficult:

“Would I be able to swap in the Artemis Cab for the Arcadia Chardonnay?” I asked.

“Absolutely,” replied my host. We were off to a good start.

I tried the Artemis, Fay, S.L.V., and Cask 23 and found all to be solid wines. The Artemis was good, but I found all of the others to be well above average. To top things off, my new pal behind the bar poured me a taste of their “Block 1” Cab, a Club-only reserve Cab that was delicious. With the ready availability of all of their wines at Binny’s (at least those that non-club members like me could purchase) and the hefty price tags (they were really good, but not $195 good), I elected to leave without purchasing anything but the tasting. There was one more treat in store.

“I think the tasting’s supposed to be $30, but I’ll just charge you $20.”

No idea why, but I wasn’t going to argue with him. Considering the Fay, S.L.V., and Cask 23 retail for $95, $125, and a whopping $195 respectively, the tasting was already a decent bargain at $30. Instead, I think his generosity just earned his winery some bonus atmosphere points! Nicely done, sir!

SLWC is an easy, accessible stop right along the Silverado Trail and a place I’d recommend for Cab lovers. It has a bit of a commercial feel, but the grounds are nice, the room spacious, and the staff was friendly and overly accommodating. A solid experience.

Recommended wine:The Fay and S.L.V. were both quite tasty, and if you ever have the opportunity to try the Cask 23, TAKE IT.

Ratings (out of 5):

WINE	4.50	TASTING ROOM	4.25
ATMOSPHERE	4.75	VALUE	3.75
OVERALL		4.31

Behrens Family Winery (4.13)

http://behrensfamilywinery.com/

Open: By appointment only

Appt required? Yes

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2012

Directions:

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Tasting:
Behrens Family came recommended to me by a friend and seemed like a good fit after a stop at Pride on our Spring Mountain Day. Behrens has gone through a lot of change over the past few years that led to some confusing and misguided branding that has overshadowed some pretty solid wine. The winery opened in 1993 under the name Behrens and Hitchcock until Bob Hitchcock, who was the financial partner in the relationship, wanted to retire and sell in 2005. Bob Hitchcock wanted compensation to use his name as it was an established brand while Les Behrens refused to pay for the right to use his own name. When no agreement could be made, Les and his wife decided to name the winery after his mother, Erna Shein. Despite its catchy ring and complete lack of relation to the the old name, the new name surprisingly didn’t go over too well in the marketplace as it confused consumers and industry participants who still used the B&H name. More recently with the 2009 vintage, the winery was renamed again as Behrens Family Winery. In case that doesn't seem confusing enough, fear not: a couple of wines are still produced under the Behrens & Hitchcock brand as well. The other signature feature of Behrens wines are the labels. Any single vineyard production gets the classic yellow Behrens Family Winery label, while all the blends feature a modern American art piece as the label.

Krysten and I were able to squeeze in with another party of 4 for our tasting at 1:30. We arrived to find a small production facility and 2 vintage mobile homes that would prove to be our tasting room. Suddenly it made sense why they were sticklers about the number of people allowed at the tasting. The mobile homes were a different touch for sure, but it was a little disappointing to be crammed in a small mobile home when the weather was in the high 70’s and the view off the side of Spring Mountain was nothing short of spectacular. Oh well.

After some dilly-dallying outside, we made our way into one of the mobile homes (the other is actually being used by Relic Winery until their tasting room is built off Silverado Trail) and commenced with the tasting. We had been told to pencil in an hour and a half but that proved far too light of an estimate. Behrens produces a lot of different blends and there is much to be said about each, so our leisurely tasting went well over 2 hours. Part of this was our fault as we didn’t stress the need to be elsewhere on a given schedule. I thought the pace was a little slow and Krysten started dragging a bit after an hour or so. Our host Robin had been with Behrens for a long time and was friendly, knowledgeable, and clearly passionate about the wine.

As I mentioned, Behrens produces a lot of wine, up to 14 different bottlings in any given year. Les Behrens takes a mad-scientist approach to some of these blends that sometimes go against traditional wine making. This approach can be summed up with a bottling called “Everything but the Kitchen Sink” that we did not taste, but the same can be said about the Saint Fume, which was the first BFW selection on our tasting menu. Our tasting consisted of 6 Behrens wines plus a bonus of 2 wines produces under the Zeitgeist label (in case you were starting to think you understood BFW's branding), which is owned by Jen Williams who also happens to be the winemaker at Spottswoode.

'09 Labor of Love

The 6 wines under the Behrens label ran the gamut from just okay to outstanding. Behrens has no estate fruit so they're forced to buy everything they produce. For our tasting, we sampled (deep breath): ’09 BFW Sainte Fumee (also known as the “Angel of Meat” due to the painting on the label) which was a blend of Syrah, Grenache, Cincault, Tempranillo, Petit Sirah, and Petit Verdot; ’09 BFW Spare Me Cabernet which was made of spare barrels from 7 different vineyards; the ’08 B&H The Heavyweight (same 7 vineyards as the Spare Me but better grapes - 80% cab, 10% merlot, and 10% cab franc); ’09 BFW Crowley Cabernet (single-vineyard from York Creek on Spring Mountain); ’09 BFW Labor of Love which was a Cab Franc blend (67% cab franc, 20% cab sauv, 13% petit verdot) from the prestigious Martinez Vineyard on Pritchard Hill; and the BFW Kick Ranch Vineyard Petit Sirah. If that wasn’t enough, we started with the ’09 Zeitgeist Trousseau Gris which comes from the only Trousseau Gris vineyard in North America (a more floral version of a Pinot Gris) and mixed in the ’09 Zeitgeist Cabernet which comes from the Stagecoach Vineyard, the Anomoly Vineyard in St. Helena, and Coombsville.

The Saint Fume and Spare Me Cab were just okay, the Heavyweight was a little better, but then the Zeitgest Cab, BFW Crowley Cab, Kick Ranch Petit, and Labor of Love were all great to outstanding. The Labor of Love was definitely a Top 2 wine of my entire trip. Prices seem to be reasonable starting at $50 and topping out at $95 for the Labor of Love although the first couple wines at $50/bottle seemed very overpriced while the the Labor of Love seemed like a relative bargain at $95. The Zeitgeist Cab was also reasonably priced at $60/bottle.

Overall, despite the slow tasting pace, this was an interesting stop and is worth the trip up Spring Mountain. I think there was an advertised $25 tasting fee but this was not charged with purchase. The tasting room is a little cramped in the mobile home, especially with 6 tasters, so I would have preferred to take advantage of the weather and view, but the wine made up for it.

Recommended wine: The ’09 Labor of Love and ’09 Zeitgeist cab were my two favorites, although I also took home a bottle of the Kick Ranch Petit Sirah.

Ratings (out of 5):

WINE	4.50	TASTING ROOM	3.50
ATMOSPHERE	4.25	VALUE	4.25
OVERALL		4.13

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