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