My wife (all of six weeks) and I were in Napa this past Saturday for the Phelps Insignia party (which was great, but maybe not as expansive as previous years given the constraints) and our second stop was a visit to Rivers-Marie to taste with Frank. I’ve only really been seriously into wine for the past three years, and Rivers-Marie was one of my first mailing lists, so I’m very excited that the tasting room is now open!
First some photos.
The tasting room is situated between the two buildings on site. The doors are glass and can be fully open which gives it nice airy feel.
There’s one long table in the middle and you taste facing a wall planter. The whole thing feels really upscale and modern. Much like the wine, the experience has great QPR 
We were able to go into the barrel room for a short amount of time, and the lens I brought couldn’t quite get wide enough so I didn’t really take anything resembling a good photo in there, but here are two
And finally, I didn’t notice this until we got home, but the reverse side of the tasting notes collateral has the color scheme from the labels of the varietal. As someone who worked at a print shop years ago, I appreciate the attention to detail.
We tasted through 5 2018s. Frank allowed us to have a semi-custom lineup in that we were asked what varietals we would like to focus on, if any. Considering the Cabs haven’t arrived yet I was very excited to try them alongside the others. The lineup was:
2018 Purrington Rued Chardonnay - Lots of fresh citrus, apricot, and tropical fruit on the nose. Really nice balance and not much noticeable oak.
2018 Occidental Ridge Pinot Noir - Darker fruits like ripe black cherry with nice minerality herbs on the palate
2018 Silver Eagle Pinot Noir - I think I have to agree with the official tasting notes on this one. Tobacco and floral notes with red fruit on the nose. More red fruit on the palate with a nice undertone of spice
2018 Panek Cabernet Sauvignon - I had the 2017 during the first part of quarantine and it was a bit fruit forward for me but still very good. The 2018 seems different. Dark fruit and graphite with cassis were the dominant notes in my mind
2018 Herb Lamb Cabernet Sauvignon - Frank said that a guest had once asked if “Herb Lamb” was a description of the wine. It is indeed really savory, with what my untrained nose smelled as green peppers or olives out of the glass. That combined with dark fruit and a nice savory backbone. The difference between this and the Panek has me excited to try all the different Cabs this year, as I could only get Panek and Napa last year.
I might be biased, but this experience was up there for me. Huge thanks to Will and Frank, and great job TRB and team. I hope to be able to make it back back very soon!
The 2018’s are fantastic.