Read Holland Pinot Noir “Deep End” 2018
Snappy, bright cherry and raspberry pre-breathing soon turns to summer-ripe red cherries and raspberries, cherry liqueur, black truffle, black tea, dried red rose petals and minerally earthiness. The wine gets richer and more layered as the wine hangs out in the glass…gets better over 5+ hours of ample air exposure. Medium bodied, high intensity, youthful […]
Onward Pétillant Naturel Rosé of Pinot Noir 2018
Rusty orange color like Provence Rosé. Spicy, savory aroma of cherry skins, ruby grapefruit zest, arugula and pomegranate. Tasty, non-fruity flavors of dry herbs de Provence, red apples, spiced cherry, crushed almonds and cherry pit. Delicious non-fruity flavors, textured and multi-dimensional. Not your fruity, easy going bottle of bubbles…this is a sparkling wine for grown-ups. […]
Onward Pinot Noir “Cerise” 2013
Multi-layered, intense and light on its feet, the 2013 Onward Cerise Pinot Noir has a bright, lighter red color, smells of griottes (fancy for wild red cherries), rose-scented candle wax, nutmeg and pretty French oak. The flavors go in the same direction with raspberry, floral incense, dried orange peel and black tea sneaking in there. […]
Navarro Rosé of Pinot Noir 2019
On the light and delicate side of Rosé wine with light wild red cherry, pink rose petals and mandarin orange smells and flavors. The light, transparent color will please the army of Rosé drinkers who judge by color. And the flavor is in line with the look: very dry, shining acidity and subtle flavor. On […]
Navarro Pinot Noir Anderson Valley 2018
Pretty, cool-climate Pinot Noir, light and refreshing with an element of intensity. Wild red cherries, crisp raspberries, black tea, garden thyme. Lightly framed by French oak – I don’t know but it tastes like a very low amount of new oak used, which is good. This would make a perfect by the glass pour at […]
Navarro Cluster Select Late Harvest Riesling
Botrytis-heavy, late harvest grapes from Navarro’s vineyards harvested primarily for their dry Riesling. Honeyed green apple, lemon-lime, mandarin orange, lemon verbena. High sugar, high glycerine, core of acidity to support the wine. This is a mouthful of fun. Navarro also bottles this wine in 750 ML bottles and sell it for $70. I base my […]
A Great Case of Navarro Wine
This is Season 1, Chapter 6 of Dan The Wine Man, a feature written for The Napa Valley Register and other media outlets. My angles are 1) Anyone can drink unique, delicious wines and I’ll show you how, and 2) I include guidance on how to find the wines I recommend. It’s 4-6 wines each […]
Frog’s Leap Rosé 2017
Stalwart Napa winery gets Carignane (92%) and Valdiguie (8%) to make their purposeful Rosé. “Provencal style,” in the words of Frog’s Leap founder, owner and co-winemaker John Williams. This has a light orange/brick red color then gentle aromas of lavender, strawberry, thyme, orange tea and crushed white peppercorns. Taste is more of the same, falling […]
SOMM BLANC “Old Vines” 2015
Somm Blanc is 80% Sauvignon Blanc from “Lolonis Vineyard” Redwood Valley (organic, very old vines) and 20% Semillon from “Yount Mill Vineyard” Yountville, Napa Valley (also organic and old vine). Half oak barrel, half steel barrel ferment, light skin contact, lees-stirred. It’s “Bordeaux-Style” winemaking. This is fantastic – fruit flavors of grapefruit, pear skins and […]
