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We used to buy the Realm Falstaff, a mostly CF blend. I always loved it. We also bought Pott's CF. They are pricey but very good. Doesn't Keenan make a good CF from Spring Mountain? There are some other producers I remember enjoying as well but will have to check my notes when I get home (I'm an hour from Napa this week and have no plans to go there...it hurts my soul)

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Provenance makes a good one as well.

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BSD,

Did you order any Quilceda? I was offered Galitzine and Palengat but didn't see the regular offering. Also, what about 2012 Seven Stones (Pott), worth getting?

A2

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The good news: An ideal seasonno frosts, a mild spring and summer and a tranquil fall.

The bad news: The biggest challenge was finding space for all the grapes.

Picking started: Aug. 6 for sparkling wine; Sept. 10 for still wine

Promising grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon shined brightest, but everything prospered, from Merlot to Zinfandel to Chardonnay.

Analysis: Winemakers in Napa Valley were not only elated by the quality and quantity of the 2012 harvest, but a few see a level of excellence that supersedes past vintages, going back decades. "2012 will be a new high-water mark for Napa and California," said Chuck Wagner of Caymus, who celebrated his 40th harvest in Rutherford. "I'd say that it is likely that many vintners have made their best wines ever." Celia Welch of Corra echoed that sentiment. "The vines appeared so beautifully balanced that even some veteran growers were fooled by the size of the crop load. If the vintage presented a challenge, it was one of logistics," she said, as in, "where can we put all of the fruit above and beyond what we had planned for?"

No growing season is easy, but 2012 presented few challenges. A mild spring led to a good fruit set. Summer and fall brought warm temperatures, but no heat waves. All the fruit enjoyed a long, slow ripening. Early indications are that Cabernets will be dark, rich and ageworthy, inviting comparisons with 2001, 2002 and 2007. "The saturation of color is amazing; the wines are almost black," said Jeff Ames of Rudius and Tor. "The Bordeaux varieties are all heavy with tannins but it is sweet tannins and not drying at all."

"Skins appeared to be pretty thick so I'm guessing it will be a high-structure year even with the bigger crop," said Thomas Brown, owner of Rivers Marie and winemaker for a dozen wineries, including Outpost and Schrader. "The one thing we know for sure is there will be plenty of wine for everyonea really nice change after the last two years."

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The good news: An ideal seasondry conditions and a long, sunny summer.

The bad news: Sugar levels soared, but patient growers could produce balanced fruit.

Picking started: Aug. 9

Promising grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon shined brightest, but everything excelled, from reds to whites.

Analysis: Assessing harvests is a process that extends from the actual picking, to fermentations, to barrel aging and then selectionseparating the best lots from lesser ones. But so far, Napa Valley winemakers are unanimous in their enthusiasm for the just-finished 2013 harvest, a drought year and worthy, if not superior, successor to 2012.

Josh Wadaman, winemaker at Lewis, described a largely uneventful, early harvest marked by warm weather and no threat of rain. "The challenge of 2013 was to be patient and weigh the pursuit of ripeness versus the reality of increasingly high sugars." In essence, he said, "vintage '13 broke conventional thinking and certainly our conventional planning, but I think we are going to see wines with great personality as a result." At this stage, with rich midpalates and muscular tannins, "the wines seem bigger and more concentrated than in 2012."

Laurie Hook, winemaker at Beringer Vineyards, said 2013 had plenty of surprises, even if quality is very high. "We had a lot of mountain Cabernet ready before our Cabernet [on] the valley [floor]," she said. "Cabernet Franc on Howell Mountain, often the very last fruit we pick, was ready before the early-ripening Merlot on the same ranch, and a number of blocks really outperformed themselves."

Harvest was the earliest in more than 25 years, said Hook, running from Aug. 9 through Oct. 22. "Quality across the board was outstanding. The whites are bright, vibrant and balanced. The Indian summer provided ideal weather to finish up harvest allowing us to pick each block at peak flavor levels and phenolic maturity. The color in the red varieties was over the top and the season allowed us to match that with rich ripe tannins, the result being big reds with a lot of opulence and complexity."

"The fruit was amazingly clean," said Jeff Ames, winemaker for Rudius and Tor. "The clean fruit allowed for some more whole-cluster fermentations on the Syrah, Grenache and Mourvdre-based wines, which I always like for the spice."

Vintners are divided on which of the past two vintages is superior. "I prefer the quality [of 2013] to 2012," said Aaron Pott of Pott wines. "The wines are more dense and rich and the tannins are more ripe. It is more of a bountiful 'California'-style harvest with abundant richness and density."

"For 2013 I can honestly say it was the best raw material I have ever seen," said Thomas Brown, owner of Rivers Marie and a consulting winemaker for several top wineries. "Given how cooperative the weather was, you could basically achieve anything you wanted from the grapes this year."

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The good news: 2014 was a dream vintage, with quality along the lines of 2012 and 2013.

The bad news: Not much to complain about, though drought conditions and small crop size did prove to be minor irritants.

Picking started: Everything was ready to go in early- to mid-August, even Cabernet Sauvignon, which usually ripens much later.

Promising grapes: Cabernet took center stage, but all grapesincluding Chardonnay, Merlot, Syrah and Zinfandeland regions fared well, under ideal weather conditions.

Analysis: Napa Valley's harvest was unusually early this year, not surprising given the state's ongoing drought, which was so extreme that the cover crops in many vineyards never took hold. Substantial rain in late February and early March relieved most of the stress and set up the vines for a vigorous start. "Early" was the key word all season, from budbreak to veraison to harvest. Thankfully, the hotter months proved milder than most expected.

Summer weather was perfect for the grapes, said Elias Fernandez of Shafer Vineyards. "We didn't see any extremes or surprisesno 100 F days, no humidity trouble to speak of, no sunburn. We enjoyed a lot of days in the 90s, with somewhat warmer nights than the year previous, more often in the 60s than the 50s. Everything just rocked along beautifully."

Andy Erickson of Favia recalled this being the earliest harvest on record for him, with picking beginning in St. Helena Aug. 19. "But the quality of the fruit was outstanding," he said. "Dark color, intense aromatics, great fruit character. I told my team to forget the calendar and to get into sampling and tasting vineyards in earnest. Overall, I'd say we were two to three weeks earlier than last year for most vineyards, and with above-average yields."

Quality seems to be excellent, according to Erickson and other vintners. "I'd say the vintage is somewhere between 2012 and 2013, with 2013 being the darkest, most powerful wines I've seen in Napa, and 2012 not far behind, but with softer, more luscious tannins," said Erickson. "2014 at this point seems to be darker and a bit more concentrated than 2012s, but perhaps with some earlier appeal than the tightly packed wines of 2013."

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