We will be dining at Press in a couple of weeks and I’d like a bit of help with the list. I am definitely competent enough to make a decision on my own, but there are a lot of wines here that I’m totally unfamiliar with. I’m mostly looking for help with red, but if there are some notable whites I’m all ears.
I don’t want anything older than 1990. We’re planning on having some of the Flannery beef so if the wine is too soft it will get lost but I also don’t want a wine that will overpower the food.
I’m a Cab Franc geek but I’m not too aware of the Francs they offer.
The Stony Hill Rieslings caught my eye but the markup is insane on all of the older Stony Hill stuff. When we were wine shopping in Napa last March we found older bottles hovering around $50.
Being in the industry I’m very sensitive to markups. While the older stuff definitely has a premium I’m seeing lots of reasonably priced wine, especially for a high profile steakhouse right on 29.
Nolan - I looked it over for you, and I think the following wines might be ones you might want to research - I think they represent good producers at good prices:
2008 Abiouness Pinot Hudson $65 Roy Piper and I had this a few weeks ago and enjoyed it
2004 and 2006 Corison regular (not Kronos) Cab
2009 Keever Cab
2009 Round Pond Cab
There are a bunch of Jones Family on there - Mike Pobega knows their label in and out - do a cut and paste and ask for his help
But there is absolutely no question in my mind what I would take the opportunity to have: 1985 Groth at $225, or the 1984 at $165.
Having dined a bunch in Napa, Healdsburg, and in other wine regions in the US, I’m not accustomed to seeing 200-300% markups, which I found all over this list, especially among the Tognis and bigger named wines. I find that one of the perks of dining in wine country is that the markups for local wines tend to be significantly lower than what I see in Dallas. I don’t think that’s the case for many of the wines on the list. There are some gems, for sure, but the Cabernet section was a huge let down to me.
Leslie Rudd is first and foremost a business man out to make some coin. That list is full of big name, big gun CA Cabs and blends that Pappa’s Steakhouse priced…if not more.
My wife and I went to Press in November, and honestly found it to be one of the most memorable meals of the year. It was relatively quite that night, which I think helped, the food was exactly what we wanted and the somms and staff were fantastic. We drank a 98 Corison Napa, that I found delightful and well worth the cost. I don’t usually drink cali wines, so maybe I’m less in tune to the pricing, but found their list to have lots of choices I would be interested to try, with age, at prices in line with my expectations.
Not to be rude to anyone, but going to top end restaurants in high end touristy places, then complaining about the markup seems silly.
Given that Nolan has already decided to eat there, and to purchase wine off the list, it is what it is. I almost always bring wine and pay whatever they want for corkage, but that was not not the premise of the original post, so…
I’m not married to buying wine off the list, but I’ll be flying in the day we eat there which will limit the time I have to let a wine settle if I bring it from home and limit the time I have to shop for a wine to bring.
Some things on the list that I’m considering are…
2005 Alienor Grand Vin (know nothing about this wine but it caught my eye)
1998 Araujo Eisele Vineyard Syrah
2009 Wind Gap Syrah
1998 Corison
1993 La Jota Howell Mountain
The three Pott 2008s looked interesting
Any vintage of Ritchie Creek
1993 Snowden
There are a handful of sub-$100 cabs that had some favorable CT reviews, but I wouldn’t use them solely for the purpose of guiding my decision. Looks like corkage is $25 for the first two bottles. Not bad. If we end up having more time I might do some shopping before we eat.
It’s a great list! Given you want to be under $200 and no older than 1990, might consider the 2007 Swanson Alexis ($125)! Have had it several times, and it is a beautiful well made wine. If not the style your seeking, might consider the Togni Cabernets. Several in the mid-$100s that should drink very well.