The Sexiest Cab Ever.

After a magical day in the Valley we (My dad, sister and I) made a final stop to see my friend Rick at Vine Cliff. As our nice tour and tour and lovely tasting came to an end I elegantly proposed that we continue the party by unveiling a bottle of 2006 Talley Estate Pinot (sorry mom!). Enough said - we knew that there was going to be some hedonistic wine consumption to follow.

After enjoying some Talley with Black Truffle Double Cream Brie and a trip to downtown Napa for some Tapas and a bit of Portuguese Still Red from Dao, we paced back home and thats when things got good. Shortly after we arrived back at the house Rick says decisively, "Do you want to taste the sexiest cab I've ever tried?" I was excited.

He walked out onto the back patio with a beautiful dark bottle. The label bore no text but instead, a wood-cut print of a decrepit widower holding a hunting dog in his lap. The bottle was opened and I was about to taste something truly special, the 2006 Erna Schein Cemetery Cabernet Sauvignon.

The first thing I noticed about this majestic wine is that it had a viscosity that I had never encountered before in a still wine. The liquid seemed to cling to the glass from the bottom up in an amoeba like fashion instead of dripping down with the usual legs. The nose provided a pungent blast of silky, almost jammy red fruit liqueurs and a sweet mocha note that I have never experienced so prevalently in any other wine.

Sip after sip the rich, heavy fruit flavors, raspberry liqueur, dulce de leche, and sweet mocha reverborated sublimity in my mouth. On several occasions a childish laugh escaped me on account of how phenomenal and astonishing was the wine in my glass. The only thing that eased my formidable hangover the next morning was the taste of the Erna Schein in my mouth that lasted well over 12 hours. This wine is a masterpiece and is perfect for an anniversary, celebration, or a reunion with a good friend. If you can find this wine, buy it; at approximately $70 on release the ride is worth the price of entry.

http://www.ernaschein.com/

Harvest and Tasting at Failla in Napa

After a lovely family dinner celebration of my grandmothers 75th birthday I had the opportunity to leave the peninsula and head north for Napa. In the short amount of time I spent there (18 waking hours or so) I got to help usher in the grapes for a wine that was considered by Wine and Spirits magazine #1 in the world in a prior vintage, taste said wine, as well as several other spectacular releases, and enjoy what might be the most magical bottle of wine I've every come across, in the company of a good friend. Hence, this article (and the following one) will be devoted to my one day/night stand with the Napa Valley and the subsequent realization of why everyone likes that place so much.

Through a fortunate series of events (thanks Maureen!) I was put in contact with the Failla winery and promptly given the opportunity to help with the delivery/sorting of what I would later find out was the 2009 Phoenix Ranch Syrah. Failla is the personal label of Turley and Neyers winemaker Ehren Jordan. As if that wasn't privelge enough, I was even more excited to find out that Jordan trained under famed Northern Rhone winemaker Jean Luc Colombo and focused on traditional style Burgundy and Northern Rhone style wines. After all, a good deal of my senior thesis was devoted to breaking down these regions (a copy of which you can find here). Anyway, myself and the rest of the harvest crew unloaded, sorted, and transferred the 8 tons of syrah into open top fermenters on the glorified driveway where the operations go down.

The wines themselves are pretty special. If your looking for varietal representation and terroir Failla is worth checking out. I tasted their entire line of current releases: a chardonnay, viognier, 5 pinot's and the aforementioned syrah. The 2007 Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir, 2006 Peay Pinot Noir and 2006 Estate Syrah.

My thoughts on the current releases:

07 Keefer Ranch: This was the most decidedly new world of the reds. If you haven't yet heard 2007 is being considered the best Pinot Noir vintage California has ever seen. This pinot did not upset. Big fruit, plenty of earth and lots of complexity however a little time will do this one good.

06 Peay: My favorite of the pinot line. The peay just screams Nuit-Saint-Georges - delicate and nuanced with pretty red fruit and floral character and a faint carrot/beet earthiness that makes this wine the epitome of elegance. If you like to get nerdy about Pinot as I do, this is definitely a wine to seek out.

06 Syrah: After helping with the 09 vintage I was excited to give the touted 06 a try. Without a doubt this has become my favorite California syrah, period. Northern Rhone all the way, Dark fruit, Leather, Tobacco, Black Olives, Pepper with huge body and solid aging potential. Super delicious.

Failla is a cool place. Low key, not pretentious, serious winemaking for serious wine drinkers. I highly recommend checking it out.

www.faillawines.com