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