45th Annual Tasting,
“A Selection of Cabernet Varieties from Napa Valley Appellations”

Most wineries are arranged in strict alphabetical order at wine tastings. This has been so at our Annual Tasting until the 45th when chairman Bob Long directed us to organize the wineries by appellation of the wine they poured and to arrange the appellations geographically in the Picnic Grove at Silverado Resort, Napa. On Sunday, August 12, over 1,200 Wine Library members made their way from Diamond Mountain south to Mount Veeder, around to Oak Knoll District and north, back to Calistoga, as they tasted the wines of 108 Napa Valley wineries. Most members enjoyed the new layout and were able to navigate thanks to a guide provided by the Wine Library and maps from Napa Valley Vintners Association.

86 wineries poured Cabernet Sauvignon: 63 poured their Cabernet Sauvignon from 2004 and 15 from 2003; four poured the 2002; three the 2001; and two the 2005. One winery poured its Meritage and 17 other wineries poured proprietary blends of Cabernet varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot or Petit Verdot), although four wineries are also members of the Meritage Society and could have poured a Meritage. Two wineries poured Merlot, two poured Cabernet Franc and one poured Petit Verdot. A list of all the wines poured follows this writeup.

Members came from as far away as North and South Carolina and as nearby as Napa. Wine clubs from Santa Cruz and Los Angeles have made the trip since 1978, although some of their members have been coming since 1972. Orinda was well represented, as well as Oakland, Sacramento and Berkeley and the Napa Valley. A group from the San Francisco restaurant Bacar came in the bright red lobster claw hats they’d been given at a lobster feed by John Sorenson for ZD Winery. Oak Knoll District showed lots of team spirit with great signage. We need to follow their example next year so all appellations are clearly marked.

What really sets this occasion apart is participation by winery principals. Driving to Silverado we followed a black pickup truck, license plate: SEDUCTN. Even without the O’s brushed on its doors, we knew it was the O’Briens (their proprietary red is “Seduction”). Throughout the afternoon, owners, many of them husbands and wives, and winemakers were on hand at over half the winery tables to talk about the wines they poured. Decanters were in wide use (oxygenation can benefit younger wines). More wineries had chosen banners and magnums over flowers for decoration this year although Oakville Ranch had a sunny bouquet of rudbeckia. At HdV an upended box filled with corks rather than a magnum spilled its contents across a table corner.

Bouchon Bakery donated 90 loaves of epi French bread baked just that afternoon in Yountville and it was gone in an hour. Raymond & Co. served ten artisan cheeses; fortunately, crackers provided by Silverado outlasted the bread. Crystal Geyser donated 22 cases of still and sparkling water and two of its Tejava which refreshed Wine Library members on what proved to be a fine Sunday afternoon, breezy, not too warm, and perfect for tasting the Cabernet varieties of Napa Valley donated by Napa Valley wineries.

Next year’s Annual Tasting will be held on Sunday, August 24, 2008 and will feature white wines from Napa Valley producers again arranged by appellation.

45th Annual Tasting Wines Poured:

Arns
NV Cab 04
Astrale e Terra
AP Cab TBD
Atlas Peak
AP Claret 03
Baldacci Family Vineyards
SL Cab 04
Barnett Vineyards
SM Cab 04
Bialla Vineyards
AP Cab 04
Bighorn Cellars
Tu NVCab 03
Blackbird Vineyards
OK Proprietary Red 04
Boyd Family vineyards
OK Merlot 04
Broman Cellars
NV Cab 02
Buehler Vineyards
NV Cab 04
Burgess Cellars
NV Cab 04
Cain Vineyard and Winery
NV “Concept” 04
Calafia Cellars
SH Bordeaux Blend 04
Casa Nuestra Winery & Vineyards
SH NV Meritage 04
Caymus Vineyards
NV Cab 05
Ceja Vineyards
NV Cab 03
Chappellet Winery
NV Cab 04
Charles Krug Winery
Y Cab 04
Chateau Montelena Winery
C NV Cab 04
Chateau Potelle
MV Cab 04
Clos du Val
SL Cab 03
Cloud View Vineyards
NV Red Wine 04
Corison Winery
SH Cab 02
Crane Brothers
OK Cab 04
Cuvaison Estate Wines
MV Cab 04
Darioush
NV Cab 04
Duckhorn Vineyards
NV Cab 04
Dyer Vineyard
DM Cab 03
Ehlers Estate
SH Cab 04
Elan Vineyards
AP Cab 03
Faust
NV Cab 04
Fife Vineyards
SM Cab 03
Folie á Deux
SH Cab 04
Forman Vineyard
SH Cab 04
Frazier
Tu NV Cab 04
Freemark Abbey Winery
R Cab 04
Grgich Hills Estate
Y Cab 02
Groth Vineyard and Winery
O Cab 04
Gustavo Thrace
R Cab 04
HdV
LC “Belle Cousine” 04
Hartwell Vineyards
SL Cab 03
Heitz Wine Cellars
SH Petit Verdot 05
Hendry
Tu NV Cab 04
hope & grace Winery
SH Cab 04
J. Davies Vineyards
DM Cab 04
Jocelyn Lonen Winery
AP Cab 04
Judd’s Hill
SL “Estate” 01 NV Cab 04
Keenan Winery
SM Cab Franc 04
Lamborn Family Vineyards
C NV Cab 04
Lang & Reed
NV “Right Bank” 04
Long Meadow Ranch Winery
NV Cab 03
Madonna Estate
LC Cab 01
Markham Vineyards
NV Merlot 04
Miner Family Vineyards
O Cab 04
Monticello Vineyards
Y Cab 04
Moss Creek Winery
NV Cab 01; NV Cab Franc 04
Napa Cellars
O Cab 04
Neal Family Vineyards
HM Cab 04
Newton Vineyards
SM “The Puzzle” 02
Oakville Ranch Vineyards
O Cab 04
O’Brien Estate
OK “Seduction” 04
Pahlmeyer
NV Proprietary Red 04
Paradigm
O Cab 03
Peju
R Cab 04
Piña
HM Cab 04
Pine Ridge Winery
SL Cab 04
Pride Mountain Vineyards
NV Cab 04
Prix Vineyards
NV “Melange” 04
Reverie on Diamond Mountain
DM Cab 04
Robert Foley Vineyards
NV Claret 04
Robert Pecota Winery
C NV Cab 03
Robert Sinskey Vineyards
LC Cab 04
Rocca Family Vineyard
Y Cab 03
Rombauer Vineyards
NV Cab 04
Rutherford Ranch Winery
>NV Cab 05
St. Clement Vineyards
NV Cab 04
Saddleback Cellars
NV Cab 04
Seavey Vineyard
SH Cab 04
Seps Estate, Storybook Mountain Vineyards
C NV Cab 04
Shafer Vineyards
SL “One Point Five” 04
Signorello Vineyards
Tu NV Cab 04
Snowden Vineyards
NV Cab 04
Spottswoode Family Estate
SH Cab 04
Spring Mountain Vineyard
SM “Elivette” 04
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars
SL Cab 03
Sullivan Vineyards
R Cab 04
Summers Estate Wines
C NV Cab 04
Swanson Vineyards and Winery
O Cab 04
Terra Valentine
SM Cab 04
The Terraces
R Cab 04
Trefethen Family Vineyards
OK Cab 04
Tres Sabores
R Cab 04
Trinchero Family Estates
SH Cab 04
Truchard Vineyards
LC Cab 04
V. Sattui Winery
SH Cab 04
Venge Vineyards
O Cab 04
Viader Vineyards
HM “Viader” 04
Vin Roc
AP Cab 04
Vincent Arroyo Winery
C NV Cab 05
Vinoce
MV Proprietary Red 04
Von Strasser Winery
DM Cab 04
White Cottage Ranch
HM Cab 04
White Rock Vineyards
NV Cab 03
Whitehall Lane Winery
NV Cab 03
Wing Canyon Vineyard
MV Cab 03
ZD Wines
NV Cab 04
  • C =Calistoga, pending
  • HM= Howell Mountain
  • SH= St. Helena
  • R = Rutherford
  • O = Oakville
  • Y = Yountville
  • OK= Oak Knoll
  • SL= Stags Leap
  • AP= Atlas Peak
  • Tu= Tulocay, pending
  • LC= Los Carneros
  • MV= Mount Veeder
  • NV= Napa Valley
  • SM= Spring Mountain
  • DM= Diamond Mountain