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2010 Premiere Napa

Whenever there is an opportunity to make a trip to the Napa Valley, I tend to make every excuse known to man to make it out of the store, and get up there. One of the best events Napa hosts is the Premiere Napa Valley wine auction. The top tier producers auction off special lots in their vineyards, to allow the buyer to claim their fame by being the only retailer to have possession of these special lots. Not only is the Premiere auction a wonderful event, but the entire valley has special events starting Thursday, and typically goes all the way through the weekend. The hardest part of the weekend was deciding which great tastings we have time for. This year, I was able to make it to the Oakville tasting, St.Helena tasting, Spring Mountain, and Pritchard Hill, all of which had many producers come out to show off their new vintages. I was fortunate enough to meet Bob and Anne Arns, the owners of Tournesol Winery, http://www.tournesolwine.com/ who were kind enough to let me stay at their guest house in Southeastern Napa. They are just releasing the first vintage of their Cab and Bordeaux style blend. A must watch on peoples’ radar for some wonderful new wines to come out of Napa. Another must watch for Rhone style wines coming out of Napa are the Keplinger wines. Winemaker Helen Kelpinger http://keplingerwines.com/ joined us on our first night at the guest house for a BBQ, and I was introduced to her line-up. Wow! She is a must watch on the radar as well. It was a great way to cap our first night in Napa.

During my trip, I was able to taste the new vintages from some of my favorite producers, including Darioush, Chappellet, Neal, Frank Family, Gargiulo, Honig, Robert Craig, Shafer, Tamber Bey, Fountainhead and The Terraces to name a few. The 2007 is a very exciting vintage that is starting to trickle out into the market. It has been compared to the great 1997 vintage. I had a wonderful tour of the Bond facility, and got to taste all five 2006 vineyards of BOND. What a show. The commitment to create some of the best cult wines to come out of Napa is explained and it definitely shows in the glass. Our last day in Napa was saved for some of the finest wines. A stop at Flora Springs showcased their current 2007’s and barrel tasting of their 2008’s. Amazing how well Flora Spring Cabs show straight out of the barrel, they are second to none in hospitality, and have another wonderful vintage to look forward to. After Flora Springs, we had the privilege of visiting Bret Lopez, owner of Scarecrow. He was kind enough to let us into his home, explain the history of Scarecrow, while sipping a bottle of his 2005. It all started to makes sense, and after being there for an hour, I realized what made Scarecrow stand out of a tough crowd to stand out of. With the oldest Cab vines in Napa, amazing vineyard management, and a winemaker like Celia Welch Masyczek, it’s no wonder Scarecrow is becoming one of the most sought after wines to come out of Napa.

I look forward to having these new discoveries brought into the store for your pleasure. Trips like these remind me of why I am in this always exciting business. These trips are important for me to stay in tune with what is new; keep current relationships strong, and build new relationships for not only the future of the wine industry, but the future of Red Carpet Wine.

Cheers,

Dan Krausz

Ray with Doug Margerum

Ray's Solvang Trip

Last week we did a two night trip to the Santa Barbara Wine Country. We stayed at our friends Jim and Sue’s new house in Solvang. We started with a visit to Margerum Wine Company where Doug and Brooks made a great lunch for us as we tasted through Doug’s wines. Also joining us at lunch was Chuck Carlson from Curtis Winery and Jeff Fischer from Habit Wine. We then went over to Andrew Murray Vineyards to say hi to Andrew and Jaymi. We did a blind wine tasting at the Wandering Dog Wine Bar in Solvang before dinner. Dinner was at the Brothers Restaurant at Mattei’s Tavern. The Brothers is our favorite restaurant in the area. The next day we had lunch at the Firestone Beer Taproom. Tasted some really good new brews on tap. Then off to Harrison Clarke Vineyards for a barrel tasting with Roger and wound up in his house sharing a bottle of wine. Another visit to a different wine bar in Solvang before ordering pizza for dinner. We finished our trip with breakfast at Café Quackenbush in Los Alamos.

Ray Wolkoff

Ready to roll out the red carpet (and use the red napkin): the barrel room just prior to the start of the barrel tasting at Premiere Napa Valley 2010.

Dan and David Dobbs with Jason Fisher of Fountainhead

Scarecrow with Bret Lopez

2010 Premiere Napa Crew

Ray with Andrew Murray

Ray & Karen with Roger Harrison

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