Girl's Lunch* @ Taylor's Refresher in St. Helena
Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 14:34 
* Girl’s Lunch is becoming somewhat of a biennial tradition in the valley, hosted by six women in the wine industry as an informal, intimate introduction to the summer and recent releases.
A couple years ago, this group hosted an afternoon of wine, food and bocce in Yountville and launched a fun tradition to get us in the spirit of summer. sommeliers, retailers, and at least one blogger ;) were invited to this year’s event in St. Helena at the very popular Taylor’s Refresher.
A few of the wineries have changed but we had a very nice lineup from Patz & Hall, Abigail Adams, Viader, Orin Swift, Buehler and Jelly Jar to choose from. Staying true to my new diet, I ate the fish tacos (delicious) and avoided the french fries and burgers. The first wine I tried was Beth Adams’ 2008 Abi Blanc, a 100% Viognier from Amador County that showed very pretty crispness and matched the tacos well. Another bright star was the Patz & Hall 2007 Pinot Noir Jenkins Ranch, Russian River Valley brought by proprietor, Anne Moses. This is the second time I have had this wine in the last several weeks, and it was extraordinary. I also tasted a pair of wines from Viader, poured by Janet Viader (below); the 2005 Proprietary Red, and 2005 DARE Cabernet Franc. These are two of the wines I actually decided to review from the tasting. The other was the 2007 Orin Swift The Prisoner
2005 Viader Red Wine Napa Valley; DW 92
14% alcohol, 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Cabernet Franc
Aromas: chocolate, prune and currant with hints of tobacco
Palate: smooth and ripe on entry with a slightly firm mid-palate leading into a supple dark berry finish enhanced by nicely textured chocolate.
Impression:This provides a nice value for an upscale wine dedicated to special meals.
2005 Viader Cabernet Franc DARE Napa Valley; DW 91
14.5% alcohol, Stagecoach Vineyard, and Viader Estate
Aromas: smooth and densely-packed berries, plum and pepper touched with a hint of smoke
Palate: shows some chewy dark fruits initially, giving way to sun-warmed plum and boysenberry. Nice structure
Impression: I’m hard pressed to find another Napa Cab Franc that delivers the value found here
As pointed out by psoals in comments, suggested retail for the wines from Viader above are $90.00 and $40.00 respectively
2007 Orin Swift Red Wine, The Prisoner Napa Valley; DW 95
15.2% alcohol, 50% Zinfandel, 24% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Syrah, 9% Petite Sirah,2% Charbono, 1% Grenache
David Phinney started this brand in the early part of the century, somewhere I have a picture of him making the delivery of the first few cases of The Prisoner. He has done something remarkable by scaling the production exponentially from what he started with and still creating memorable wines that still sell out. Plus he remains one of the nicest guys in the valley.
Factoid: Lulu enjoys this wine so much, she actually appeared at a party as a bottle of The Prisoner! You will need to ask her for details…
Aromas: macerated red raspberry, boysenberry with bits of violet and sage thrown in
Palate: the mouth feel is silky and round with no roughness in spite of the alcohol. Coffee, blackberry, a creamy mocha and Santa Rosa plum component lead into a long finish
Impression: Always a wine to be on the lookout for. An outstanding wine for the price.
patz & hall, prisoner, viader 
Reader Comments (2)
I think you have the Viader prices a little off. Website lists the Cab Franc as 40, and the Cab at 90. I think they still offer solid value's at those price points however.
Thanks, You are likely correct on that, the prices listed in the material at the tasting were wholesale. I will correct in my copy :)