Chateau Boswell (4.69)

http://chateauboswell.com/

Open: By appointment

Appt required? Yes

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2014

Directions:

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Tasting:

I came across Chateau Boswell the old fashioned way: by scouring the Napa Map. At this point I’ve been to well over half of the wineries on the main highways, and so I’m constantly looking for interesting places that are either off the beaten path or that have eluded me on previous trips. I took a glance at Chateau Boswell’s website and it looked like a good fit, and so I called to make an appointment.

According to the website, people interested in visiting should contact Matt Simpson. Wait a second…I know that name! Matt used to work at Larkmead several years ago around the time I first became a wine club member, and he was always great to taste with. I booked the appointment and let Matt know I thought I knew him. Sure enough, it was the same guy.

Meredith and I arrived for our 12:30pm tasting and were greeted in the parking lot by Matt. He gave us a brief history of the property and walked us through the production area into a domed circular room inside their cave used for tastings. Matt talks fast, knows a ton about wine and more about French wine than the average Californian, and he had plenty to talk to us about regarding the wines and the winery.

Chateau Boswell has two lines of wine – those under the Chateau Boswell label and those under their Jacquelynn label. It was with a Jacquelynn wine that we started. The Jacquelynn Cuvee White was a well-made refreshing wine as summer approached in Napa, and one that both Meredith and I thought was good but not amazing. We then moved on to a side-by-side tasting of two fantastic Chardonnays: the 2009 Dutton Ranch Sebastopol Vineyard Chard and the 2009 “The Voyage” Chardonnay. Both came from the Russian River Valley and the same vintage, but each presented a different approach to Chardonnay.

Matt posed a question before we tried the wines, something along the lines of “Do you prefer a hearty opulence or a refined elegance?” He presented the Sebastopol as a bigger, meatier Chardonnay and The Voyage as a softer, more elegant version. Where Sebastopol is a single vineyard Chard, The Voyage is a blend of five Russian River vineyards from which Chateau Boswell sources fruit: Dutton Ranch House Block, Morelli, Rued, Ritchie and Sebastopol. To be honest, I thought both wines were excellent, with my preference barely swaying toward The Voyage. However, given a different food pairing or mood, I could definitely see myself choosing the Sebastopol. The easy solution? Just buy both!

Meredith at work following the tasting

There was just one more wine to try, but it was stellar: the 2009 Chateau Boswell Estate Reserve Cabernet. One of the better Cabernets I had on my visit to wine country in May, I loved this wine and expect it to age well for years. At $125, it’s not cheap, but I think it’s worth it. Although they are extremely low-production (only 102 cases of Estate Reserve Cab produced, for example), Chateau Boswell did have some library vintages available for purchase as well. It’s well documented on this site how much I love 2007 Napa Cab (although 2009 I’m finding to be close behind). Matt waffled, but it didn’t take much convincing for him to round me up a couple of bottles of the ’07 to go with my ’09.

Overall, really high quality wine and an enjoyable tasting experience at Chateua Boswell. According to their website, they charge a steep $40 tasting fee, but they do it the right way – if you purchase any wine, the entire fee is waived. No limits to hit, no awkward extra charges to leave a bad taste in your mouth. The tasting experience is used to sell wine, as it should be. This final expression of doing things right sealed their position in the upper echelon of tasting rooms I’ve been to. Well done, Matt, and well done Chateua Boswell!

Recommended wine: Both Chardonnays we tried and the Reserve Cab were all top notch.

Ratings (out of 5):

WINE	5.00	TASTING ROOM	4.75
ATMOSPHERE	5.00	VALUE	4.00
OVERALL		4.69

Pride (4.88)

http://www.pridewines.com/

Open: Daily. Tastings scheduled at 10:30am, 11:15am, 12:00pm, 12:45pm, 1:30pm, and 2:15pm

Appt required? Yes

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2011

Directions:

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Tasting:

Years ago, I made my first trip up Spring Mountain Road. As a birthday gift to myself, I rented a Porsche Boxster from San Francisco for the day trip to Napa (what? Only a single day?). I bring this up because the thing I remember the most from the day wasn't the wine or the wineries; it was speeding up and down Spring Mountain Road in that car. The two tasting stops we made back in 2004 at Pride and Schweiger were fine, but not memorable enough to get me back up on Spring Mountain.

On my second trip up Spring Mountain, seven years after the first, the tasting experience at Pride was 100% different. Granted, I was in a Kia Soul in 2011 (this is how we roll) instead of a Porsche Boxster, but even if I was in the Boxster I would have remembered fondly my trip to Pride and already been planning another. In 2004, we tasted in a small room that could accommodate a maximum of 6-8 people. It was a bar tasting, and I believe we tried 3 wines. Since then, Pride has built a brand new tasting room and completely revamped their tasting experience. We started in the tasting room with two white wines: their Chardonnay, a good balance of oakey butteriness with crisp fruit and their famous Viognier, which has been served at White House dinners for the last 7-8 years. Jason, our host, mentioned that Michelle Obama had good things to say about the wine, and while Michelle and I don’t always see eye-to-eye, I can appreciate her taste in wine. This one was good enough to make me break my vow of “no white wine purchases on the trip.”

Where tasting at the old Pride would have continued at the bar, here’s where things now got interesting. We took our glasses of Viognier and walked around the corner to a quick map of the property, Jason showed us the different vineyards and soil types that Pride has over hundreds of acres on the mountain. All of the wine from the vineyards is picked and barreled separately, and only at the end is it blended together to produce the final product.

We then took a stroll from the tasting room a short distance, crossed the Sonoma-Napa county line, and entered the Pride Mountain caves. We were joined by two ladies who I was worried were going to be a disaster (they opened up the tasting with “we saw you in the 'Spectator' and just had to come visit!”) but turned out to be amusing companions on our short journey. Once in the caves, we stopped at a barrel where a few bottles of Pride Mountain Merlot rested. I remembered the Merlot fondly from my previous visit, and the taste of the current vintage confirmed those memories. We continued down a branch of the cave, and the ladies peppered Jason with questions. “Are the candles there for a special reason?” they asked, to which Jason coolly replied, “Yes, for a very special reason…AMBIANCE” which prompted a discussion of birds in mine shafts and how the cave air was completely safe. Jason grabbed a wine thief from a spot in the caves. Barrel tasting? Nice!

We tried two separate Cabernets from the barrel, one of which was fruit-forward with light tannins and one of which was nearly the opposite, with heavy tannins and much less fruit. He explained how the different vineyards we examined on the map produce significantly different wines, and noted how blending the two Cabernets we tried could produce a much more balanced wine. He put his suggestion to the test by pouring a taste of blended Cabernet from the bottle, and what do you know -- he was right!

After a quick look at the great view from Pride Mountain, we returned to the tasting room to conclude our tasting. The overall experience far exceeded my expectations from my first visit and was as enjoyable as any other tasting of my most recent trip. Pride’s wines stand up to almost anyone’s, the atmosphere was friendly and low-key, and the wine prices are fair. I would highly recommend a stop for anyone looking for a great tasting experience. If I have one regret, it's that we didn't build in enough time to enjoy a picnic lunch at one of Pride’s many secluded picnic areas. Overall, this is a top-notch stop.

Recommended wine:Everything we tasted was legitimately good, but the Viognier, the Merlot, and the Cabernet were all outstanding.

Ratings (out of 5):

WINE	4.75	TASTING ROOM	5.00
ATMOSPHERE	5.00	VALUE	4.75
OVERALL		4.88

Robert Young (4.63)

http://www.ryew.com/

Open 10:00 to 4:30

Appt required? No

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2011

Directions:

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Tasting:

The beautiful Robert Young estate house overlooks their small tasting room and distribution center. Robert Young typically produces fewer than 1000 cases of each wine, and so it's certainly a limited production. DOn't be fooled by the rocks that they got, though -- they're still Robbie from the block. Robert Young does all production on site in a large white barn-like structure. The tiny tasting room is attached to the production facility -- you can see it in on the right in the picture below. Inside the tasting room, 4-6 guests can taste comfortably. They will also sometimes do sit-down tastings outside for wine club members.

At our first trip to Robert Young, we tried a flight of Chardonnay ('05, '06, and '07), a Merlot, a flight of their Scion Cabernet ('03, '04, and '05), and finished with their Red Winery Road Cabernet blend. The staff was incredibly friendly and unpretentious.

We returned a few years later and tasted again with Jeff Noel. A former Robert Young employee, Herman, was also in the tasting room kibitzing with Jeff, and so we got a great perspective on how things truly worked at Robert Young. Herman had left for greener pastures at a different, larger winery, but you could tell the time away made him truly appreciate the craft and time that goes into RY wines.

For our second trip through, Jeff upped the Chardonnay flight to four wines ('06, '07, '08, and '09), we again tried the '07 Merlot (which was far better than I remembered), and finished with the '05, '06, and '07 Scion Cabernet. The winery temporarily stopped production on Red Winery Road (my previous favorite) given some low fruit yields and quality issues, so that wasn't available the second time through, but I was assured it will be back!

A few thoughts on my second visit to Robert Young. First, the '05 Scion had aged beautifully. The extra time in the bottle on the '05 turned this from a good wine to a great wine for me, and I was excited to see the evolution of the wine. Second, you really can't beat the friendliness and atmosphere at Robert Young. Tasting with Jeff Noel reminded me a lot of tasting with another Jeff -- of Frank Family Vineyards -- but the Frank Family Jeff circa 2001 before Frank Family started hanging banners on their winery sign touting their ability to drum up votes in a magazine poll ("#1 Napa Valley Tasting Room!"). I loved Frank Family in those days, and I'm happy I can once again have a small winery experience on par with what FFV used to be. Robert Young is showing no signs of exploding in size the way FFV did, and I couldn't be happier about it.

Recommended wine: The Chardonnay was smooth and buttery, with a hint of acidity on the finish in the younger vintages, but very consistent year-to-year. The Merlot was respectable (better than respectable the second time around), and the Cabernet was very good. My favorite wine was the Red Winery Road blend. This wine, dominated by Cabernet Franc but with healthy additions of Cabernet and Merlot had a smooth, delicious mouth feel and great flavor. This was the "wine of the day" of those that I tasted across 4 wineries the first trip. The '05 Scion may have taken this honor on my second trip.

Ratings (out of 5):

WINE	4.75	TASTING ROOM	4.25
ATMOSPHERE	5.00	VALUE	4.50
OVERALL		4.63

Frank Family Vineyards (4.56)

http://www.frankfamilyvineyards.com/

Open 10:00 to 5:00

Appt required? No (only groups of 8 or more)

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2009

Directions:

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Tasting:
"Tasting is always free at Frank, and you get A LOT". That's how this entry used to start. In recent years, however, the commercial bug has bitten Frank Family, and the experience is a shadow of its former self. Starting in 2008 they opened up a new tasting room that now provides far more space and doesn't promote a constant wariness in visitors that the roof may collapse any minute (like the old structure!). After allowing for even more traffic, they also saw a reasonable revenue opportunity and have started charging for tastings as well.

Despite the new tasting room, the structure of the tasting still remains somewhat consistent with their tried and true formula from the old building. They start you with a taste of of three champagnes that they still make on the premises (and yes, it is called champagne at Frank Family, not sparkling wine -- they never signed the petition). You move on to the back room, where you'll get to sample their Chardonnay (or, “liquid crème brulee” as they like to call it). They serve this white wine at room temperature so as not to mask its elegant flavors and silky butteriness. From there, you'll typically get to sample 3-4 red wines, including their Zinfandel, Cabernet, and sometimes (if you're lucky) a Reserve Pinot Noir or a Reserve Cabernet.

Frank Family continues to produce some quality wine, but I miss what they used to be. A giant banner now hangs outside of the winery declaring it the "#1 Rated Winery in Napa", tour buses constantly frequent the winery, and I feel like what once was my hidden gem has sold out to The Man! But hey, it's a business, and if I was in their shoes I would try to sell as much wine as I could as well. The downside is that the standard tasting experience has suffered as a result of the commercialism. The individual attention and conversations you could have in the past more often get lost among the throngs of people that they can now accommodate, and, more importantly, the types of people they now encourage (bachelorette parties, tour buses, and people looking first to drink and second to taste). My hope is that they're keeping production levels close to constant and, most importantly, keeping quality where it has always been, but there aren't many mass producers of high-end wine.

There is, of course, always the opportunity to still have a private tasting with Dennis. Dennis Zablosky runs private tastings for Frank Family and has since the early days of the winery. Dennis loves his wine, and knows ten times more about wine, food and Napa Valley than I ever will. He'll pour you anything they produce if he identifies you as a serious buyer, and he's a great reference for places to eat and other wineries to try. He does have a weakness, however: pretty girls are Dennis's kryptonite. Bring a pretty 20-something into Dennis's office, and suddenly he's twice as friendly, the size of his pours doubles, your experience is improved and Dennis's day is made. He's responsible for my first trip to Elyse and, more importantly (since I never would have stumbled on it otherwise), Bremer. If you're serious about wine (and buying a case or more), talk to the winery about a private tasting with Dennis.

Recommended wine: Everything is good, but the Chardonnay is very unique and one of my favorites for the price ($32.50/bottle; it compares favorably to Miner's Wild Yeast Chardonnay which retails for $50/bottle), and the regular Cab and Zinfandel are solid. As the winery has become more commercial, the reserve wines (Reserve Cab, Reserve Zin, Reserve Pinot) are the direction I would encourage you to go.

Ratings (out of 5):

WINE	4.50	TASTING ROOM	4.75
ATMOSPHERE	4.50	VALUE	4.50
OVERALL		4.56