Napa Heavyweights Come on Sturdy With 2019: Weekly Tasting Report (Sept 14-20)

A few of Napa Valley’s best wine producers dominate this weekly report, and rightly so, contemplating the chances for sterling reds within the 2019 classic from America’s most well-known wine area. The classic was the second nice one in a row following the exquisitely formidable 2018, which made structured but refined reds. If producers watched their grape yields in 2019 and didn’t go for high-octane wines, they made targeted and fruity reds with attractive depth and depth with out being heavy. In addition they have pure and vivid fruit that Napa delivers so splendidly from quite a lot of one of the best winery areas and websites.

“The 2019 is excessive power and has extra focus within the wines however related depth to 2018,” stated Andy Erickson, one of many high consulting enologists in Napa, who together with his spouse,  Annie, made some implausible wines of their vineyard in Coombsville. “The 2018 made reds which can be very broad whereas 2019s are laser-focused. The good high quality is just like each other. Yields have been good in each years.”

Erickson’s Favia Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Coombsville 2019 is a rare younger cabernet with such purity and freshness on the similar time. It highlights the rising reputation of Coombsville in current vintages, which is among the coolest in Napa as a result of its southern location and nearness to the bay. I proceed to name it the Pauillac of Napa due to this in addition to the cabernets that include a great deal of blue fruits, graphite and freshness on the palate.

Nevertheless, it was a wine from Erickson’s gig with Constellation Manufacturers, the wine conglomerate that owns Robert Mondavi Vineyards, Schrader and a part of Opus One, that delivered an ideal, 100-point wine.

The To Kalon Winery Co. is the brainchild of Constellation and was launched to emphasise that Constellation is the largest proprietor of what some contemplate one of the best vineyards in Napa Valley, and the USA for that matter. The formation of the corporate was additionally a authorized transfer made to underline that Constellation owns the model “To Kalon.”

Constellation owns about 550 acres of the To Kalon Winery, together with the most important a part of one of the best parcels, out of the almost 680 acres in whole. “They stated that I might choose one of the best components of To Kalon to make the wines,” Erickson solely half joked. “How might I say no?

His first launch of his good pink, the To Kalon Winery Co. Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Oakville H.W.C. To Kalon Winery 2019, is a small-production bottling of a particular parcel of To Kalon and it actually is exclusive. It’s the essence of Napa cabernet and has a stability and purity with an infinite end.

In the meantime, rockstar winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown additionally made an ideal wine with the second launch from Schrader that comes from a heritage clone of To Kalon cabernet sauvignon and is produced in tiny portions. I can’t keep in mind tasting something like this single-parcel providing, which has unbelievable depth and seamless tannins in addition to seductive aromas of unique fruits. It’s crunchy and never jammy.

“Each time I style it, it exhibits this uniquely unique fruit character,” Brown stated in the course of the tasting. He stated that the massal-selected clone of cab was developed from the Seventies and a few of the finest cuttings used for the good Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Personal Reserves of the time.

There are many different high Napa reds from different nice winemakers, corresponding to Vine Hill Ranch, Shafer Vineyards, Dalla Valle and Helen Kiplinger, to take a look at on this report, along with a whole bunch of different reds and whites, so see the tasting notes beneath.

READ MORE: TOP 100 WINES OF THE USA 2021

THE FLIP SIDE OF AUSTRIA

After spending a full week of tasting targeted on the wines that the world most intently associates with Austria (dry whites from gruner veltliner and riesling grapes) Senior Editor Stuart Pigott headed south to discover the numerous different sides of Austrian wine.

In Styria, or the Steiermark in Austrian German, Stuart was fortunate to be supplied a experience in a light-weight plane by Reinhard Muster of the Muster-Gamlitz vineyard, which enabled him to get an summary of this area’s undulating hill nation and the alternating vineyards, forest and fields. It’s an extremely inexperienced panorama due to the considerable rainfall that comes from the Adriatic aspect of the Mediterranean.

“There’s no gruner veltliner in Styria and little riesling besides within the Kitzeck sub-area, the place Wohlmuth exhibits what the grape can do there,” Stuart stated. “The actual star of Styria is sauvignon blanc, and the main winemakers have now actually mastered it.”

No wine exhibits that extra dramatically than the Tement Sauvignon Blanc Südsteiermark Ried Zieregg Vinothek Reserve 2019, which not solely has gigantic focus and chalky freshness, however can also be one of the best dry white from this grape we ever have tasted from Styria or wherever else in Austria.

“Armin and Monika Tement run one in all Styria’s high wineries, but in addition look out for the best-rated wines from Gross, Lackner-Tinnacher and others,” Stuart commented. “With their grapefruit and natural character they style completely completely different from New Zealand, South Africa and even the wines from the grape’s homeland within the Loire and Bordeaux.”

In Burgenland in addition to the Leithaberg and Eisenberg areas of Austria, it’s the pink wines of the 2019 and 2020 vintages that basically stand out, significantly these from the blaufrankisch grape. The 2019s are a bit richer and extra structured, the 2020s very fragrant and stylish.

“Though Moric as soon as once more surprised me with a row of wines which have all of the spice and vibrancy we anticipate from this Austro-Hungarian grape, a number of different producers, like Schuster in Burgenland plus Sommer in Leithaberg, additionally wowed me with their new wines,” Stuart stated. Scroll down to seek out them.

READ MORE: TOP 100 VALUE WINES OF 2021

The most effective of the Eisenberg wines have been these of Wachter-Wiesler and the star amongst them is the spectacularly recent and mineral Wachter-Wiesler Blaufränkisch Eisenberg Ried Weinberg Reserve 2019.”

Burgenland additionally impressed with some wonderful chardonnays from Kollwentz, with the gigantically concentrated Kolwentz Chardonnay Burgenland Gloria 2020 gaining our highest-ever ranking for an Austrian wine from this grape.

Final, however not least, 2019 was a wonderful classic for the dessert wines from the Kracher vineyard in Illmitz on the japanese shore of Lake Neusiedlersee. “The Kracher Welschriesling Burgenland Trockenbeerenauslese Nummer 6 2019 might be one of the best wine Gerhard Kracher ever made,” was Stuart’s evaluation.

– James Suckling, Editor/Chairman; Stuart Pigott, Senior Editor