I haven’t done a write up on a new winery in quite a long time. Most of my recent notes have been about Barolo but Napa was our original love and still makes up about 32% of our cellar. I’ve searched the site and have found very little on LMR so figured I’d share our recent impressions. First a little background on how we got to know the wines. We squeezed in a quick short trip in Napa last October. We didn’t do a lot of tastings but had a few wineries we wanted to catch up with. Myriad, Frogs Leap, Di Costanzo. The thread last year about the purchase of Stony Hill caught my eye and I was hoping we might get a chance to taste LMR wines while we were in town. We had lunch at Farmstead the day after a great tasting at Frog’s Leap. We had some time afterward and did a tasting in the Farmstead general store. I remember we liked the wines quite a bit and we signed up for the wine club.
We opened a few of their 2014 Napa cabs last year and enjoyed them quite a bit. They’re made in a style that I really prefer these days. A bit lower in alcohol and less new oak but plenty of bright Napa fruit and a solid value around $50. We didn’t try any of the Rutherford Estate wines until this past week for New Years celebrating. LMR owns 74 acres in Rutherford slightly west of Frog’s Leap on the east side of 29. 2013 was the inaugural vintage for the Rutherford Estate wines. I have the 13 Cab but felt like 2014 wines would be in a better spot right now. On NYE we opened the 14 Rutherford Merlot and yesterday the 14 Rutherford Cab. Both of the wines were excellent. Really bright nose of plum and dark cherry fruit that was expressive and somewhat floral. Both showed notes of currant, plum, dark fruit and slight notes of cocoa. The Merlot was a touch finer and just a beautiful well made wine. It sees 25% new oak and is 13.5% alcohol. The Cabernet was classic in style with 50% new oak and also 13.5 alc. It has a bit more heft than the merlot but still medium body in weight with darker fruit tones. Both wines are really expressive and showed great on their own and with food which is key for me. We drank the Merlot very quickly so couldn’t follow it for too long but the Cab developed beautifully over a 2 hour decant. It has terrific mid palate expression with fine tannin that leads to a nice and persistent finish. We really liked the Merlot but loved the Cabernet.
What appealed to us was how bright the fruit and flavor was but no feeling of over extraction or manipulation. Just plenty of fresh Napa fruit framed with a careful use of oak. Another plus was no green bell pepper or unripe flavors which I’ve found in some lower alc wines. The real key was how much we enjoyed with and without food. We drink a lot less Napa wines these days but LMR will be one we continue to purchase and add to the cellar. For those interested both wines cost $68 if your a member of their club. They also hold the wines back a bit to give them more time to age. We hope to do an estate visit later this year to try the rest of the line up as they also make Anderson Valley Pinot and Mountain wines from their Mayacamas Estate.
Plenty of info to find on their website https://www.longmeadowranch.com/. No affiliation other than a new fan.
Cheers