09 Jul AWC visits the Napa Valley!
AWC Visits the Napa Valley – Day 1
In late-June and early-July, we were dealing with a nasty heat wave in Southeast Washington State. So AWC planned a wine escapade to California during the days following the July 4th weekend. What a great decision! As a bonus, we made plans to join our good friends Rachel & Oliver. They traveled from the heart of the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Our main focus was 3-days of wine tasting and gourmet food consumption. That’s what happens when AWC visits the Napa Valley! Because of the Pandemic, the entire 3-day itinerary was reserved well in advance.
On day one it started with breakfast at Grace’s Table in downtown Napa. Along the way we saw the Wine Spectator – Napa Offices. Next, we would experience four Napa Valley tastings and have dinner at Farmstead at Long Meadows Ranch. A favorite place of ours from past visits. The Tasting rooms included Cosentino, Faust, Lewelling/Hayfork, and Clif Family Wines. Breakfast was absolutely delicious. The tastings were very unique and certainly offered great representations of the various Napa terroirs. And dinner was really amazing – everything we anticipated it to be. Read on for a breakdown of our wine and culinary experiences.
Cosentino Winery
Our first stop was Cosentino Winery. Located in Yountville right off the St. Helena Highway, the grounds and tasting room were beautiful. When AWC visits the Napa Valley, this is what we look for. The outdoor patio area was immaculate with a waterfall and large fireplace. Cosentino was started in the very early 80’s with their first wine release in 1981. They offered a nice variety of whites and reds, but today our group would focus on the Red Flight. What really amazed us was the pricing of the wines. Such great quality for very reasonable non-Napa price points!
The 2018 Sangiovese Rosé was a nice start to acclimate our palates. Next we tasted the 2018 Reserve Zinfandel followed by the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon. The Cab included small amounts of Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. The 2018 Poet (Meritage) consisted of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot, and 3% Malbec. This wine was the highlight of the Red Flight for me. For the finale, we were given the opportunity to taste their non-vintage Dessert Cuvée. At 18.5% abv, this delicious wine was smooth, not viscous, but emanating sweet aromatics and decadent flavors. This was the wine for me, to pair with a nice cigar. We took this wine home to AWC’s Corporate Headquarters in the great Northwest! I also scored a logo’d, stemmed wine glass for my collection.
Faust Haus & the PACT
Our 2nd stop of the day was Faust Haus. Multiple tasting rooms are contained within this remodeled Victorian mansion. The grounds surrounding the mansion are simply gorgeous. Sitting on a hill with an amazing view of the Napa Valley, Faust focuses on crafting wines that express the soil, climate and vines of the Combsville Estate Vineyard. They offer two different wine labels – Faust and The PACT. As we walked up to the Faust Haus we were greeted by our Host, Mr. Nabil Scherief. He promptly handed us glasses of the 2019 Faust Sauvignon Blanc. Crisp and refreshing, we posed for some pix and then made our way into our private tasting venue.
Nabil made us comfortable and then took us through the history of the Mansion and of Faust wines. Along the way, he treated us like royalty, providing small boxes filled with hors d’oeuvres. This tends to happen when AWC visits the Napa Valley! The pours were generous and the lineup was quite impressive. We chose a Reds-only tasting that included 4 wines and a bonus 5th wine.
The Faust 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon spent approximately 20 months in a combination of new and used French oak. The Hour 2016 red blend (Syrah, Malbec, Merlot) was very nice. It exhibited baked blue and black fruit and had a layered and smooth finish. The final two wines were tasted side-by-side and were 100% varietal wines. The PACT 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon was sourced from lower altitude vines. While quite approachable, it’s still young and needs more bottle aging. Our bonus wine was The Lure – 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon. Sourced from higher altitude vines this wine exhibited maturity and complexity and was quite nice to sample. My wine of choice was The Hour, and we went home with a bottle of this delicious blend.
Lewelling Vineyards & Hayfork Wine Company
Tasting #3 occurred at a small, family-owned and operated winery – Lewelling Vineyards. They recently started a second label under the name of Hayfork Wine Company. The actual vineyards have a long history in St. Helena and a reputation for producing outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon fruit. Thanks to John Lewelling. Now years later, the Wight brothers (Doug, Dave and Alan) are operating the vineyards and making the wine. They are direct descendents of John Lewelling. More recently, Haley Wight (Doug’s daughter) has now become the head-winemaker. And boy can she make some amazing wines! With a total production of around 2500 cases per year, they are indeed a small winery.
Regardless of their size, I contend that they can compete with any of the big wineries and win. They don’t produce a long list of wines. Instead, they focus on hand-crafted Cabernet Sauvignon. But they craft exquisite wines of high quality and at very nice prices. Our group at the end of our 3-day experience all agreed. Lewelling/Hayfork offered the best wines at great prices above all other tasting rooms we experienced. It was just unfortunate that they were sold out of most of the Cabs we tasted. Our tasting started with the 2020 Hayfork Rosé of Charbono. It was refreshing and delicious, especially since the A/C had gone out on a triple-digit summer day in the Napa Valley! No worries, we were in for a treat.
Amazing things happen when AWC visits the Napa Valley
After tasting the 2018 Lewelling Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon our eyes were popping out of our heads. It spent 20 months in mostly new French oak and while young it was exceptional. The 2018 Wight Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon was liked getting hit with a Mike Tyson right-hook. A knockout. The descriptive terms – elegant, complex, layered, and opulent all come to mind. We couldn’t believe it was a 2018! Finally, we tasted the 2018 Hayfork (Lewelling Ranch) Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine was also quite delicious and was the ONLY wine available for purchase, so we did. We had no choice. We will not be left behind. Thank you Haley and the Wight brothers for doing what you do. This is what wine should be like. This is the reason why AWC visits the Napa Valley!
Clif Family Wines
Our final wine tasting stop of the day was just across the parking lot at Clif Family Wines. While this tasting room doesn’t have your typical Napa Valley historical pedigree, it offers a ton of wines. It also offers a variety of food products and healthy snacks. These are these places we love when AWC visits the Napa Valley. Winemaker Laura Barrett however, brings all the credentials and experience one would desire. She crafts a wide array of white and red wines sourced from all over the Napa and Sonoma Valleys.
Instead of doing a full tasting, we opted to order a glass pour of one of their reds. Today we chose the 2016 Croquet Vineyard Estate Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from Howell Mountain. This 100% Cab spent 20 months in mostly new French oak barrels. It was very tasty with a dark inky color and offered aromatics of vanilla and cigar. On the palate it offered ripe, baked dark and red fruit with hints of spice. The finish was soft and lingering, and it left you wanting more. Unfortunately we had to leave sooner than we would have liked. Our dinner was about to be served!
Dinner at Farmstead – Long Meadows Ranch
When AWC visits the Napa Valley, it’s not just for the wine, it’s for the food as well! On a past visit, my wife and I fell in love with Farmstead at Long Meadows Ranch. Located in St. Helena, it is an awesome place to eat. High quality cuisine in a great atmosphere, for a great price. Sometimes I emulate King Henry VIII. On this day, I ate like him. We ordered the Mexican style street corn and the grass-fed beef meatballs to start. But wait! There’s more. We also tried the shaved Iberian ham (imported from Spain) on pieces of cantaloupe. It was really good. My wife recalled her passion for their Margarita over rocks, so she ordered one.
For our main entrées I ordered the grass-fed cheeseburger with a fried egg, bacon and avocado. My wife ordered the wild king salmon and really enjoyed that plate. With dinner we also ordered some cheddar biscuits with honey butter. A great compliment to anything when you’re starving! For dessert our friends shared a plate of powdered donut-like pillows with sides of sorbet and warm chocolate sauce for dipping. What a great way to feast and end our 1st day of wine tasting! Stay tuned for Day 2…
