This doesn’t help. Is the person golfing you?
It’s Dan Berger, in his spare time he enjoys soccering, chessing, and basketballing.
Why is he whining about wine?
Keefe Family Wines makes a Napa Valley Cabernet around 12% (with no water addition.) The Cabernet is from a small vineyard near Oak Knoll. Their 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon is 12.9% and their 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon is 11.9%. I’ve tasted both and was extremely impressed. He has more info on his website: Shop Our Wines
Full Disclosure: The winemaker is a personal friend.
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I was surprised to see an offer for 2019 Lynch Bages that was considerably cheaper than the vast majority of cabs I tasted while in Napa last week.
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Thanks for posting this. I have not heard of them. Definitely going to try them. Do you know if he accepts visitors?
You’re very welcome! Brian is a great guy. He’s got some cool stuff in the pipeline right now. A 2021 Alder Springs Merlot is forthcoming, along with both Cabernet and Cabernet Sauvignon from the Santa Cruz Mountains in 2022. I’m sure he would love to host you. DM me your info and I’ll have him get in touch.
Your last point is an interesting one and I think that comes down more to philosophy and theoretical concepts than anything else.
If grapes come in at a potential alcohol of 14.5% and are watered back to a potential alcohol 13.8%, there may be very little difference if any in terms of flavors. If they come in at a potential alcohol of 15 or 15 and a 1/2 percent, things are bound to be very very different. Print a. So we need to make sure we’re talking apples and oranges here.
And a small acid add prior to fermentation beginning will truly not be noticeable at all in the finished wine. It would be very very difficult to perceive it differently than a wine that had 1/2 g/l more natural acid at picking. The same would not be true with a much larger add
Cheers.
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I didn’t think clicking the thank button was enough, but thank you for bravely fighting this fight with me.
I would be inclined to agree also except for all the great older Dunns I have had give me major pause…
Obviously, you have not been reading that many of my posts. I have visited California wineries a number of times and like traditionally made California Cabernet. I have been drinking California wines for many, many years starting with wineries like BV Private Reserve, Inglenook Cask, Sterling and Chappellet starting in the 1970s. The wineries whose wines I have drunk most Cabernet from over the last 10-15 years probably are Ridge, Montelena, Togni, Dunn, etc., and I also like Cabernets from Mount Eden and Stony Hill. I do not like most modern styled wines whether from California, Bordeaux, Toro or Priorat. Some of my favorite Cabs from the 70s and 80s came from Joseph Phelps, but I sold all my Phelps from the 90s after if was clear from tasting them that they had gone to the dark side.
I am sorry if I came off rude, but I thought this board was for discussion of ideas and frankly I disagree with your point. If you want to read only posts from people who agree with you, please stop reading further.
IMHO, if Stony Hill and Mount Eden are not convincing other wineries to make more traditionally styled wines (and my sense is that we are losing the battle even further, not gaining ground, as wineries like Mayacamas and Stony Hill have been sold in recent years). I just don’t think wineries making tiny quantities of wine where the wine is not available to the general public (including MacDonald) is something that would be relevant in an article written to a broader audience than to the people on this board. Starting threads on this board for tiny production wines makes sense. People on this board will search out and wines made in a style they like, even when the quantities are tiny. I do so all the time, but more with Burgundies.
But, the general public, seriously? I am in a wine tasting group at my country club for people who like wine but are not geeks. We have different wineries or distributors come to pour wines each month. The most popular winery with the bulk of the group (and the one where the club sells the most wines) is Jackson Family Estates. I understand that the one time the person who runs the group (who is in the trade) showed German wines at a group tasting one person liked them - I was out of town so this was told to me by the guy in the trade, who actually was very disappointed because he loves German wines and worked for a time when he was younger at wineries in Germany and Austria. Would they be interested in small production wines made in a traditional style. Maybe, if you poured it for them - I have even gotten a couple of people to like Burgundy - but to name them and tell the people that they are great, but you will never be able to try them??? Really???
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I mean Napa is mostly the anti-afwe. This year, the only mailing lists I ordered from in Napa were Once & Future, Bedrock, Elyse, Frog’s Leap, William & Mary, Detert, and Beta. That is about a fourth of what I was getting a few years ago. Also, many of those aren’t really cab sauv…
I thought it was you who reacted badly about a year ago when I said that the UK perception of Napa was poor value for money, Howard?
Bordeaux is a far better QPR than Napa these days. There are a ton of very high quality, reliable second growths in the $150-200 range with track records for aging, and just more good classed growths than you can count in the $50-100 range. If you want a more Napa over the top style you have many options in right bank wines between $50-150
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I can see myself trending this way with pricing going up. There’s a price point where most of us just aren’t comfortable crossing and a lot of Napa is heading that way. I still buy Napa cab but I am buying less of it than I used to.
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It’s a crazy world we live in. The greatest bargains in wine right now seem to come from Champagne and Bordeaux.
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I doubt it. I think most wines today are overpriced (other than certain German wines and maybe a few others).
Link?
Champagne seems to be working hard to test this. Prices keep going up.
It is funny to think that the symbol of luxury and hedonism, champagne, is now so relatively affordable, with so many truly excellent growers in a wide array of styles at prices from $40 to $100. And more, of course. It is champagne after all.
While certainly true of the big houses (cf. Taittinger) and culty growers (cf. Ulysse Collin) I think there’s plentiful value to be found in Champagne. Mousse Fils, Jose Dhondt, Larmandier-Bernier, Paul Bara, Charles Dufour are all recent purchases of mine for noticeably less coin than the typical fancy Napa Cab
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