Non-buzz wineries

No, not wineries making non-alcoholic wines. I’m thinking of wineries that are well known but get no buzz on the bulletin boards and in tasting groups, don’t have waiting lists, have no collector’s cachet or “cool” factor to them, but that you like or admire and regularly buy and drink.

There are certain categories of wineries that seem to catch all the buzz: cult wines, wines with long waiting lists to buy, the new kids on the block, wines with big name winemakers and consultants, and then a few of the old standards that still maintain the cool factor (e.g. Montelena, Ridge) or at least have a few flagship wines that get discussed (e.g. Penfolds Grange and 60A, Caymus SS, Beringer PR, Mondavi Reserve, Phelps Insignia).

But what about the many well-known names out there that nobody talks about in these circles? Are there any fans out there of the mid and higher end bottlings produced by Kendall-Jackson, Kenwood, Freemark Abbey, Whitehall Lane, Chateau St. Michelle, Duckhorn, Columbia Crest, Whitehall Lane, Far Niente, Stag’s Leap, Seghesio, Niebaum-Coppola, Ferrari-Carano, Trefethen, Hess, Artesa, Chimney Rock, Silverado, Cakebread, etc.?

And I’m not talking about the inexpensive grocery store offerings from these wineries, but what they put out there as their more premium wines. Just to give one example, Kendall-Jackson makes a long list of premium wines, many from single vineyard sites in the mountains around Napa, which sell for $50-100. I wonder how good these are, and what style of wine they are.

[One of the reasons I ask is that I wonder how much different (or not different) the better wines from these wineries are than the ones that we usually discuss in places like this. Is our perspective of trends in premium wines warped because we just fixate on the collectors’ wines and wines that get high scores (or sometimes the extreme countercultural opposite end of the spectrum), but maybe some of these “non-buzz” wineries are still making good wines in different styles than the ones we always talk about.]

Anyone want to be uncool for one thread?

Have to say I’ve been enjoying the 1996 and 1997 Burgess Library Release wines that WTSO was selling a while back. Especially at $25 per, delivered.

Seghesio gets my vote. Great daily drinkers. No buzz.

The two California wineries that first came to mind for me are Navarro and Sojourn. In terms of Oregon and Washington wineries, the list would be very, very long.

+1

removed.

Probably the biggest one for me is Sanford. The 97 Sanford Sanford & Benedict Barrell Select pinot noir was the epiphany wine for me and my wife, the wine that started us on our journey to becoming wine lovers, so it’s partly sentimental.

But we still regularly drink Sanford pinots, especially the Sanford & Benedict but also the regular one and the La Rinconada, from the mid 1990s through the 2002 vintage (the last one before Richard Sanford’s exit), and they age so beautifully and are in such a balanced, graceful style.

After the breakup, our sympathies naturally went with the Sanfords and to their new Alma Rosa venture. And then when Sanford opened their glossy and ultracorporate Napa Valley looking tasting room in the middle of the La Rinconada vineyard, I assumed the worst.

But after several side-by-side visits to the two wineries (which are just a few miles down the road), my wife and I could not help but conclude that Sanford still makes excellent wines and much the better of the two, at least thus far. For all the David vs. Goliath stuff, it’s a powerful reminder of the importance of terroir and vineyards, and the vineyards owned by Sanford, particularly the S&B vineyard (the first pinot vineyard in Southern California, I think), are absolutely superb.

I’ll also second Seghesio. Their regular Sonoma zinfandel is amazing in its quality and consistency year after year, for such a large production wine, and they age very well also. I also love their Cal-Ital blend Omaggio (I just had a 1999 a few days ago, and it was terrific with much good life ahead), and their Venom 100% sangiovese wine, which I think is the best California sangiovese.

Smith-Madrone
Isenhower Cellars
Hogue Terrior series (I hear that these are not available outside of Washington)
Kiona
Barrage
Esefte
Darby
Alexandria Nicole
J Bookwalter

the k-j single vineyard chards are imho very good and very distinctive in character. the o7’s positively rock - piner hills, seco highlands, and camelot highlands.

conn creek. good wine for the $$ and they know the business. I was quite impressed with our tasting.

Fan of:

Mt. Veeder
Franciscan
Rosenblum
Hanzell
Ch. Ste. Michelle
Hogue
Saintsbury

Seghesio. Simply excellent old-vine Zin.

Jocelyn Lonen

Interesting topic, a couple of wineries come to mind, all close to our place in Carneros:

Domum - Wonderful Pinot, especially the 07’s. The 2007 Chardonnay is outstanding.
Mckenzie Mueller - Good wines across the board, really enjoy the Pinot Grigio.
Cuvaison - Behind Domaine Carneros, make some very nice SVD Pinots.
Mahoney Vineyards- Excellent Pinot at a very affordable price.

Paradigm

does Doisy Vedrines count?

I really enjoy many of Chateau St. Jean’s high-end bottlings, but do admit that I find it hard to pull the trigger because of price; they’re very nice wines, though.

Hug
Leal
Luna Beberide

+1

+1

And I’ll add:

Sineann
Frog’s Leap
Chappellet

I don’t think Failla gets any love around here.