Taste of Napa Valley
The Napa Valley Vintners Association annual wine expo.
By Joel M. Fisher with Sara Fisher-Chapin
In Los Angeles, it's the season for red-carpet award ceremonies and rain-induced traffic jams. Thankfully, it's also the season for a major local wine expo. The Napa Valley Vintners Association recently hosted its annual Taste of Napa Valley. More than 70 Northern California wineries descended upon Nick and Stef's Steakhouse in downtown Los Angeles to showcase their latest and greatest wares.
The place was wall-to-wall wine talent.
Viader Vineyards
One of my favorite stops was
Viader Winery's booth. Delia Viader has been exploring new blends and grape varietals to great effect. The
2002 Viader Proprietary Blend ($90) is a 51% Cabernet Sauvignon 49% Cabernet Franc mix. Its blackberry and blueberry tones are enriched with hints of chocolate, leather and earth. The finish is complex and firm. I think the bottle should age beautifully for at least another decade, if not longer. Another find was the
2002 Viader Syrah ($60). A pleasurable Australian Shiraz/Rhone Valley Syrah clone, the end result combines the characteristic peppery spices and red berries of the former and the delicate notes of the latter.
Over at the
Merryvale booth, the winery offered up its
2002 Cabernet Sauvignon, Beckstoffer Vineyard ($60), which is aged for 18 months in new French oak barrels. This intense, powerful and quite purple wine is a hefty 14.5% alcohol. The
Terraces Crulls featured their
2002 Cabernet Sauvignon ($48) and
2003 Zinfandel ($25). The Cabernet is claret-style, displaying a strong but balanced structure. The Zinfandel possessed an attractive aroma on the nose and distinctive flavor on the palate.
I strolled over to California winemaking legend Bill Hill. Formerly the owner and winemaker of the William Hill Winery, he began Bighorn Cellars in 1994 with the goal of crafting limited quantities of artisan wines. I tasted his 2003 Merlot, Broken Rock Vineyard ($30). The new oak barrels added strong levels of vanilla, spice and cedar to an already full-bodied wine. I bet this bottle would accompany food nicely.
