I would just like to say that y'all suck.

I am a very fortunate person. At dinner tonight with old friends,they opened a 1937 Chateau d'Yquem.







We also had a 1999 Yquem. Check out the difference in color.



We also opened this beauty:



What a night!

Some quick Napa notes (nothing formal)

Thursday

We arrived in Wine country and stopped to see one of the two men behind MacDonald, Alex MacDonald. His brother wasn't able to join but Alex welcomed us in and made us feel at home in their cottage in the To Kalon vineyard. We visited with them about a year ago so he showed us the property to see what they had done since we left, and to taste the 2013 cab. For those unfamiliar with MacDonald, they own about 15 acres in To Kalon and for years they've sold all fruit to Mondavi for the special bottlings (more on Mondavi at the end of this writeup). But then came along the young brothers, who realized they had something special and started buying some grapes from the family at market prices. It was an instant success with the 2010 release and they aren't looking back.

They have 3 sets of vines: the 60 year old vines, 40 year old vines, and 20 year old vines, each planted by a MacDonald from a past generation. Now it is their turn, and new vines will be planted in a small area by the cottage. It was raining so we walked the 60 year old vineyard and listened to stories (history of Opus One who has vineyards across the gravel road from the cottage was interesting and how the initial wines were too good so Mondavi took those grapes and then Opus fell off...also how they planted too close to get more yield at the expense of quality) and farming talk. Such a great time but there was wine to be tasted...

And oh was it good! The '13 is easily the best they've made and was my favorite cabernet of the trip. Luscious, full, round, and layers and layers of flavor. I'm pretty damn fortunate to be on this list and I'll savor every last drop that I can enjoy!

Sixty year old MacDonald vine:



Sixty year old vineyard with Honeybee the Dog sniffing around:



Dinner was black truffle rissoto at Bouchon: no wine.


Friday

The day started off with Model Bakey English Muffins (a must when out west) and then on to a morning tasting with Mike Smith of Myriad/Quivet. Mike had mentioned that his Quivet partners from out east would be there tasting with us and through chance, so would Mr and the future Mrs Aggiejumper.

We started off with the '14 Quivet syrahs and some of the Pellet and Kenefick cabs from '13 out of the bottle. We then moved back to the barrel room for some more fun. We tasted some '14 cabs, a zin for the McGaugh family label, and then a taste of the '14 Dr Crane Reserve, which was outstanding. It was good to see Mike and the time spent chatting with everyone there was loads of fun.

Wine barrels:


Next up was a visit with Roy Piper. Knowing that the Aggiejumpers didn't have another appointment until 2:00, I asked Roy if they could join us. Roy, being the great person that he is, didn't hesitate to open his doors to them. Roy makes one wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon with fruit from Moulds Vineyard and George III. The '13 was beautiful. Great mouthfeel, fruit, and balance. We tasted some decanted wine out of the glass and then gave the decanter a vigorous swirl to open it up even more, and it was singing! He then poured the '10 which had different proportions of vineyards in it for a very different, yet still very good, cab. Tasting with Roy are so unique. It's you and the owner/winemaker/salesman. Anything is on the table. When we were there he had received an email from a wine publication asking to taste his wines that very day and he was scrambling to figure out how to accommodate them, as he didn't have any more bottles at that office. It was fun to be part of it. We talked for quite some time about everything in general and finally had to leave to get ready for dinner.

Wine at dinner was a half bottle of 2000 Saint Chamant champagne and 2013 Kistler Chardonnay from Vine Hill Vineyard in Russian River Valley.

No pics from Roy's tasting.

Dinner menu:



Saturday

Just one tasting: Realm.

We met Diedier at the caves at Ch Boswell and proceeded down to the tasting area amongst the barrels. They were out of the '13s at the caves (dammit) so we tasted the 2010 To Kalon and Farella cabs. We also tasted an '09 Falstaff (70% Cab Franc). Diedier told us lots of stories and we just BS'ed for a while. Then we walked over the the '14 To Kalon barrel. Wow! What a wine. I have a feeling this will be a good one. But wait, there's more. Realm just started acquiring fruit from the Houyi vineyard on Pritchard Hill so we pulled some out of that barrel. That should be a great wine, too. As we were about to head back to the table, our host (in the finest of French accents) said "*****it, let's taste the Absurd" and I didn't resist. This was amazing, truly amazing. I'll put it up there with the MacDonald from this trip. I can't wait to taste it out of the bottle someday.

Dinner was steak frites with the 2007 Realm Dr. Crane cab.

Realm tasting area:


I wish I could have come home with this barrel:



We drove up to Dr Crane vineyard for a pic:


Then we drove into the To Kalon vineyard (Beckstoffer area, not Mondavi) just east of MacDonald's home.



At that point we thought we were done. Our plan was to drive south to a friends house to taste Yquem (see earlier post). But after tasting some Beckstoffer To Kalon from Realm, and MacDonald's To Kalon, I wanted to know what Mondavi's To Kalon tasted like. As Alex MacDonald told me, it's a big vineyard and not every cab with its name is of great quality. Beckstoffer owns some land above an ancient creek so the soil and rocks there are prefect for growing vines. But the Mondavi area is vast. For purely academic purposes, I talked my wife into the visit.

Ugh. My mistake.

Mondavi has two "To Kalon" wines, the To Kalon from vines near the winery (not available for tasting but available for $300/btl) and a Reserve wine from To Kalon which is made from grapes all over, which we tasted. It was a good wine if it cost $20-25, but not $100+ which is what they charge. It didn't have the complexity, length, or depth as better wines from the area. Like I said, it was academic. At least the tasting was comped. (The I block Sauv Blanc was good but not $100 good and the 2001 Sauternes style wine wasn't bad...they poured heavy. My wife and I just had 2-3 sips of each and dumped the rest).

After a quick stop at a buddy's house to pick up wine to take home, the Napa component of the trip was complete it was off to the magical Sauternes dinner.