I think this will be the last post of the year for me, yet the first that I have ever made from an airliner - hence the title. I’m enroute to NY on Virgin and Google is offering free inflight WiFi till the 15th. Decided to take advantage of it! A year ago, I couldn’t have anticipated the opportunities and challenges I would experience in 2009. Most of the year was spent looking for a new job and that came to reality in September when I joined Martinelli Winery as their Director of Commerce and Social Media. 

During the interim I developed a new website, brought Lulu Roberts on board as Coordinator, created a platform for winemakers to post their own blogs and actually had a booth at Pinot Days (Thanks Steve R.) Additionally I had the chance to attend more than my share of wine events throughout the state. Free time was a luxury I hadn’t had in a while. One of the benefits was being able to visit with winemakers whenever our schedules permitted allowing me to taste lots of wine at a very early stage - typically months before you would read about it elsewhere. That has always been one of the backbones of what I try to offer - emerging wines and producers.

I recently had the chance to look over the most recent issue of Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate Issue 186 highlighting his reviews of California wine, specifically from Napa Valley. It is always enlightening to compare notes with someone like Parker, who I know professionally and have a great deal of respect for. It turned out there were about a dozen wines that we both tasted.  I only report this because of the similar ratings we came about independent of each other.  

All Wine Advocate scores (WA) are from Issue 186, 12/22/2009, except as noted. Dates in bold indicate date appearing in this blog, ex: BLACKBIRD VINEYARDS, October 2, 2009

BLACKBIRD VINEYARDS, October 2, 2009

2006 Contrarian; WA92, DW92

2007 Contrarian; WA94, DW91

2006 Illustration; WA91, DW93

2007 Illustration; WA92, DW92

2006 Paramour; WA88, DW93

2007 Paramour; WA93+, DW90

BUCCELLA, May 7, 2009 (2006), December 19, 2009 (2007)

2006 Cabernet Sauvignon; WA95, DW95 

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon; WA96, DW96

CHAPPELLET, December 5, 2008

2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill Estate Vineyard (PHEV); WA96, DW 97

CORRA, June 18, 2009

2006 Cabernet Sauvignon; (WA89-91) tasted from barrel 10/08, released 3/09, DW97

I would have liked to see a followup tasting of this wine by Parker after it was bottled.

SCARECROW, March 23, 2009

2006 Cabernet Sauvignon; WA94+ (tasted 10/08, released 3/09), DW96 

WOLF FAMILY, May 22, 2009

2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, Estate; WA92, DW96

2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Phaedrus; WA90+, DW91

With only a couple exceptions on the wines we both tasted our ratings are within less than two points, which is my threshold of repeatability. To my readers who have found value in what I have written over the years, I promise to keep it up. I have been putting the Top25 list together over the last few weeks and publication will not happen till I return from vacation in early 2010. 

Be sure to check out the wine excursion page and contact me if you are planning a trip to Northern California wine country in 2010 and want your trip to be extraordinary. There are some exciting plans that will come together in the Fall. But come anytime and enjoy the all year winter rates, one more time!

Happy holidays and New Year

Doug Wilder

If you have been reading my posts for the last year, you may recall the notes I wrote on the 2006 vintage of Buccella Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon from a private tasting with proprietor, Bill Deem and winemaker, Chris Justin in late spring. During that time, I also tasted barrel samples of 2007 wines, including the Cuvee Katrina Eileen. Bill commented that I was the first writer to taste all of the wines together. 

The 2006 vintage was one of transition for the winery, with Celia Welch replacing Mark Herold as consulting winemaker. With her track record of excellence at every turn, I wasn’t disappointed by the results; a pair of 95 ratings for the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. I found the 2007 barrels equally impressive - with only the Cabernet Sauvignon showing any reticence at that stage. Because I had tasted virtually every vintage from the beginning, I wasn’t concerned how the wine would be showing when released.  I asked Bill to let me know when the vintage would be ready and he promised to send me samples. In mid November, I opened a box delivered to my office and was happy to see a full set of the three 2007 Buccella bottlings to be considered in the Top25 List of 2009. I needed to wait a couple weeks before I accumulated more samples of Napa bordeaux varietals to combine in a competitive flight (which happened this week).

2007 Buccella Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley; DW 96 

14.6% Alcohol, 1110 cases produced, $150.00

This is the wine that started it all in the 2002 vintage resulting in a seamless progression of excellence year after year. 

Aromas: Sandalwood, toast, blackberry, tar, graphite, dark cherry and hints of orange or clementine skins

Palate: Shows a firm entry with shadings of stone fruits, mineral and licorice. Given some airing, the structure got even more intense - offering coffee and blackberry

Impression: As noted previously, the wine is very much in infancy but showing more dimension than in the spring. Don’t touch until 2015

2007 Buccella Merlot Napa Valley; DW 96

14.7% alcohol, 330 cases, blended with 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, $75.00

The third consecutive vintage of excellent Merlot from Buccella leaves the taster wanting very little.

Aromas: Superb integration of seamless cherry, mineral and cocoa with hints of  sweet herbs and yellow stone fruits

Palate: Mocha, blackberry, plum, cherry are all nicely interleaved together

Impression: With all of the forward fruit quality, there is also a good measure of acidity that emerges after an hour or two with air. Decanting for 20-30 minutes is recommended to show this wine at its most dazzling

2007 Buccella Cabernet Sauvignon Cuvee Katrina Eileen; DW 95

14.8% alcohol, 106 cases produced, $225.00

Named for Bill and Alicia’s daughter, it is the newest and most expensive addition to the Buccella

Aromas: A beautiful, supple nose of sandalwood, salt, pure blackberry and currant showing plenty of depth

Palate: Enormously lush on the palate with flavors of plum, fig, spicy blackberry and cherry with delicate hints of herb, chocolate and graphite

Impression:  Vibrant acidity provides a sturdy framework for this lushly textured canvas

All wines are available at Buccella.

Just recently I came across a listing at Alawine.com that showed my blog ranked #20 in the list of networked blogs. I was surprised and happy to just be on the list. And then a funny thing happened after I posted about it on Facebook, I started moving up the rankings, getting as high as #8. Within a few days though the site reset the rankings to zero and after a few weeks now find the blog ranked a pretty solid #5.

The whole concept of “voting” for a particular blog is a mystery that escapes me as how to do it. A few mouse clicks are all it takes. Try it out if you have the time.