Napa Day 3 grand finale with Mike Smith- Myriad, Tamber Bey, Quivet, 12C

I posted a little of this on the other thread but it deserves it’s own thread. Our final visit of the Napa portion of our trip was with Mike and Leah Smith. I just can’t say enough about what great folks Mike and Leah are. Mike is the most generous wine geek I’ve every met. While he is a heck of a wine maker at heart he just loves wine and loves to share wine. We met at Tamber Bey and sat behind the beautiful home to taste through all of Mike’s wines.

No notes so this is all from memory from a very long day.

07 Merlot- Chocolate, black fruit. Smooth and silky. Very approachable. Good to very good.
06 Deux Chevaux Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon- what a great QPR. Good to very good. Black fruit, cassis solid cab. Very approachable. Bought it.
06 Tamber Bey Oakville CS- Wow, really elegant wine. Again very approachable at this point but this is one to develop a bit and see where it’s going. Sweet black fruit, cassis framed by silky tannins and acidity. Very balanced. Total package. Great wine.
07 Deux Chevaux Vineyard Rabicano- BDX blend of CS, Merlot, Franc and Petit Verdot all coming from the DC Oakville vineyard. This was the first vintage for these vines and this was a real interesting wine. Good to very good. Would have liked to have spent more time with it but we were powering through a bunch of wines since we were running a bit behind. The group really liked it and it will be interesting to see where this goes as the vines develop.
07 Quivet- Ripe, lush juicy cab. Very good. A bit one dimentional though when compared to Mike’s other cabs. Hedonistic but not over the top.
07 12C- Wow, loved it. Beckstoffer Georges 3rd vineyard. Ripe and lush but with a bit more structure and overall balance. Very much the total package. Great.
Mike and Leah were kind enough to join us for dinner so off to Bottega. We got lucky and ended up in the wine room. We were kind of loud so it was lucky for the other diners as well. Food and service were outstanding. I highly recommend going. As usual Mike was extremly generous and also brought some wines from his personal cellar. We started with a small production Rose Champagne. Wow, I need to drink more of this stuff. After a day of tasting it just wakes up your entire mouth. Loved it. Got find out what it was called again.

Myriad 07 Beckstoffer Dr Crane- OMG Great ! We had barrel tasted the Dr Crane with Mike the first time we met him in 07. The wine is terrific. Total package. Ripe and silky with enough tannins and acidity to really balance everything out. Great match with the short ribs.
Myriad 06 Spring Mountain- really nice. Best showing yet of this wine. Black and red fruit. Tannins are starting to integrate. Nice structure and balance. Went very well with the food. I’ll be in no rush to drink the ones at home but with a decant can be enjoyed now.
Mike also had a 1967 and 1998 Barbesco. I’ve never had a 40 yr Italian. It almost looked like a rose. It smelled of flowers and was just silk. Incredible wine The 98 was identical in flavor profile with quite a bit more tannin and structure. Great wine as well and just unbelievable to compare the 2.
What a way to end the Napa portion of our trip. Mike and Leah are just great folks and a blast to hang with. I joined the Myriad list after our first visit in 07 simply based on Mike’s passion. It’s great to see him doing well and all the hard work paying off. Tamber Bey is also a great place to visit and should be on your radar.

My favorites of his from this visit:
07 Myriad Dr Crane
07 12 C
06 Tamber Bey Oakville
06 Myriad Spring Mountain
07 Quivet Kenefick

Great write-up Fred, thanks. I’ll be meeting up with Mike this week as well, sounds like a good time is in store.

Phillip- you’ll have a great time. Make sure to leave yourself plenty of time. Where are you meeting him ?

I totally agree. Mike and Leah were just about the most cordial host and hostess we’ve ever met out there. We already have a dinner date with them at Cindy’s on our next trip.
I may have to move the trip up a year!!! [berserker.gif]

Fred –

It was nice to meet you and I’m sorry that I couldn’t crash that Bottega party. I was stuck at the winery long past your visit and 4:00 A.M. came awful quick.

Great notes – thanks for sharing!

Hey Will,
Thanks for seeking us out. Hope all goes well with the rest of harvest. We did have a great time. All of Mike’s wines are showing really well.

Phil- how was your trip ?