So Todd, a five year anniversary calls for wood? Are you tasting and touring or choosing the vineyard you are buying for her? That story might work and then you can be a vintner.
Silver Oak, then?
You bet. I’ve got $64 in my wallet so people know I’m serious when I go to buy my vineyard for her.
Have notes (don’t expect much from them) on all the wines but those at Raymond, and I’ll post them later, but just some quick notes:
The Bubbles and Caviar tasting that Rimple puts together at Davies Vineyards is AWESOME - he’s put together some fantastic pairings, and the entire lineup of sparkling wines was truly great. I think Schramsburg really nails the Rosés, in particular, but their extended lees wines show some genuine top-notch quality as well. Seriously, for a special trip in Napa/Sonoma, book this expensive tasting - 90-120 minutes, at $130 per person - you won’t be disappointed. It’s really unique and incredibly well done.
Had a great tasting with Will Segui, along with Berserker Bud Carey and his wife, who quickly befriended Jen and they had their own little conversations throughout. Even though Will said ‘oh for Christ’s sake’ when I got my notes out, I took them, just to be uber-cool. The big shocker wine was the Herb Lamb Cabernet, but everything (other than the '16 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, which I felt was sweet and flabby) was incredible. Then we moved into William and Mary, which I wasn’t able to try at Falltacular because apparently someone poured themselves 22oz pours 3 times in a row. WOW that’s fantastic juice (the Cabs), and the Proprietary Blend was a beautiful wine as well. Guess we got a sneak preview of that. Had a quick sample of some wine that Will said was classified as ‘smoke tainted’ and I couldn’t get any hint of it, so that’s a real shame it has to be sold as bulk juice now. Damn laws.
Mending Wall, with Amy, was another fun experience - notes forthcoming, but I loved everything other than the Petit Sirah, which I felt was approachable (and is current release/young) - that, to me, means it’s spoofalated a bit, as PS shouldn’t be that easy to drink that young.
Raymond was full of laughs, of course, and we were treated to a tasting in the library room. The Diamond Mountain cab and Generations (which they call ‘Gen’, thus Jen was hooked in name only) were our favorites, but the Estate Cab wasn’t all that shabby either, and through my tastings all day I preferred every mountain fruited cab over valley. Generations '15 is a gorgeous, chewy, tannin-filled monster, and I loved it.
Notes to come for those who care - probably best to just read Frank and Brig’s from their trip last weekend, but at least I’ll help my post count a little, so I can finally start catching up to Ken V and others.
Today is Silver Oak’s release party - which, I found out on Facebook, is our own Nate Weis’ FIRST vintage! Dinner at Torc tonight.
BEST Meal we have had in Napa in years…
Happy Anniversary!
Be prepared to wade through a sea of people at Silver Oak who will unprompted tell you each and every vintage they have in their cellar…
Bruce
While deciding on where to eat one evening I asked some locals about 2B1S and was told to avoid it. Different strokes I guess.
Happy anniversary Todd and Jen. As for recommendations and opinions, I’ve found that every restaurant (except perhaps FL) can have a good night or bad night, and good dish or bad dish. Had a great dinner years ago in the bar at Redd. Have had several good meals at Bistro Jeanty (but it has been a while). Had a bad experience (service wise) at Farmstead which everyone seems to love… My favorite (affordable) restaurant in the Napa area was Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen which just closed.
ENJOY SILVER OAK!
I have had 3 very good meals there. Also, no corkage on Napa / Sonoma wines.
Damn it Jim, I’m just a doctor!
Sorry, grumpy old man…that didn’t happen, not once. Met some lovely people, and both Jen and I ran into college friends, which is crazy - what are the chances?
Congratulations to Nate - the '14 is without a doubt spot on with the style that Silver Oak AV has been over the last few years. I’m sure he’s proud, which he should be.
Maybe they just want to keep you away?
Mission accomplished!
Curious what you thought of Torc … I was there on Friday night, and had the Steak Rossini with the black truffles. Thought it was one of the better meals out I’ve had in a long time. Also appreciated that they had a couple good half-bottles on their list.
Would definitely go back on my next visit.
Happy Anniversary!
We loved Torc - will be posting notes to complete the trip later on, but great food, great service. More details on a later post in this thread - I did look at the Steak Rossini…maybe I missed out!
As far as I know, there are no laws related to smoke taint, cork taint, Brett or any other wine taint forcing wineries to sell wine as bulk. If certain compounds/chemicals are above legal limits they have to be treated before being sold as bottled wine (VA, SO2) but nothing relating to bulk wine. As far as bottled wine, only those compounds with legal limits are checked. Anybody can bottle corked wine, wine with Brett or wine with smoke taint. A lot of Anderson Valley producers created labels in 2008 specifically for smoke tainted wines that they then sold for lower than normal prices since there isn’t much of a bulk market for smoke tainted wines.
For 2017 I think it will be up to the customer to trust producers to not bottle any wine that may be tainted. A lot of wineries are classifying all wines picked after the fires started as smoke tainted even if they are not tainted due to the public perception that a wine from 2017 from Napa WILL have smoke taint irregardless of the fact. There are also some wineries who will be selling treated wines that do not show any apparent sign of smoke taint so again, up to the consumer to trust producers won’t put out a flawed product. There are some places in Napa that picked 100% of fruit after the fires started and had ZERO smoke taint due to favorable winds keeping the smoke out of the area and being about as far away from the fires and still be in Napa as you could (Howell Mountain for example) so they will be fighting the stigma that ALL 2017 wines are tainted.
Bruce is that grumpy old man 
Free corkage for Napa or Sonoma wines…
HIGHLY recommend it…
31 Flavors…
Now for the notes! I rarely take notes anymore because 1) I’m lazy and 2) I suck at it, but for this trip, I felt I should…
First of all, we did the bubbles and caviar tasting ($130 each - pricey, but worth it, given the amount of caviar you get and the range of higher end Schramsberg sparklers) and as I said earlier in this thread, it’s such a great program. Rimple put together some fantastic pairings - extremely well thought out and well-executed.
2012 Schramsberg Brut Rose (from Magnum) - great start to the day, for sure - beautiful, rich mouthfeel with cheek-filling mousse texture, great balance of fruit with just the right amount of sweetness, great finish. Not sure why this is a ‘reception wine’ as it’s quite excellent, deserves a place on the tasting, in my opinion!
The wines were served in groups of two, and Rimple had us sample the caviar first, then had specific suggestions on what to put together from the platter for each of the wines.
2012 Schramsberg Schwarze Vineyards - Carneros fruit, 100% Chardonnay, fruit typically goes into J. Schram but this vintage they wanted it as standalone. Super bright and crisp, explosive in both brightness and bubbles, citrus-focused, green apple, fleshes out a LOT when brought to room temperature, losing a lot of the brightness in its character, but gaining weight as well.
2009 Schramsberg J. Schram - 90% Chardonnay/10% Pinot Noir, definitely richer style - you can tell the extended time on lees compared to the Schwarze, lemon curd, apple tart (baked apple), fuller mouthfeel, yeasty, clean and balanced finish.
2014 Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs - floral nose, massive blast of very fine bubbles, rich, love the mouthfeel of this wine, red apple (sweet), bright red berry
2009 Schramsberg Reserve - beautiful nose, sweet stone fruit, complex, sweeter fruit than prior wines, more integrated overall, showing its extended aging, beautiful - surprisingly Champagne-like overall
2014 Schramsberg Querencia Brut Rose - Shy nose, great bubbles on this one, full of life, red strawberry, clean finish, silky yet lively with bubbles. Jen’s favorite of the flight thus far (until the next one…) and a quick note on this wine: proceeds to go the Jack L. Davies Fund which supports agricultural and preservation efforts in the area, and also funds (I believe it was 4?) scholarships for local high school students entering ANY field of study that relates to wine - marketing, viticulture, etc.
2009 Schramsberg J. Schram Rose - best of the impressive flight, frankly. Gorgeous, very rich in character, sweet strawberry, perfect level of sweetness, well-balanced, seems to be in a fantastic place right now, so the extended aging did wonders for this wine. Enjoy!!
We had a little extra time for Rimple poured a few of the J. Davies reds for us. 2015 J. Davies Hudson Vineyard Pinot Noir - nose is interesting, not what I’d expect from Carneros with some rhubarb and cola qualities, but the palate fell flat for me - too sweet and a bit flabby, no acidic backbone. Pass.
2014 J. Davies ‘jd’ Diamond Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon - amazing nose, but many know I love my mountain fruit! Super bright nose, some baking spices, beautiful and expressive. Strong tannic structure, really chewy at this stage, nice sweet blue and red fruit. Some Malbec in this wine, delicious. Made for more immediate consumption, and ready to go.
2014 J. Davies Winfield Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon - smells sweet, tastes sweet, pass.
2014 J. Davies Red Cap Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain - 100% CS on this wine, very floral nose (lilac?), dusty tannins and finish, bright, sweet, silky and yet also lively acid on the palate, fruit on the sweeter side.
Lastly, a pic of us with Rimple! (and some of the spread)
