Apocalypse Vino

Holy crap. We may have overdone it yesterday.


Don't bother to count. That's 27 bottles. In one day. Only the second of five days in Napa. Hell.

With our lonely bottle of Opus One from Monday, that puts us 8 away from capacity, checking three cases onto the plane. We may have to leave our clothes behind.

Actually, budget will cut off long before that, so we definitely have to cut back on how much we purchase for the next few days. But damn, we have some good wine to look forward to.

We started our day at the Canyon Cafe, a diner-style joint across the street from the hotel that doesn't hold a candle to our beloved Millbrae Pancake House. Then on up Hwy 29 into Oakville, where Francis Ford Coppola's Rubicon Estate is located.


Rubicon was the last of our planned big-guy tours, and had a few surprises in store. See, my main reason for going was Coppola's film career. Anyone who's tried the widely available Coppola wine knows it's not worth going out of your way to taste. But I knew that Rubicon had a small museum of Coppola movie memorabilia on site, so off we went.

I also knew that Coppola had recently changed the name of this winery from Niebaum-Coppola (splitting the title with founder Gustave Niebaum) to Rubicon, but didn't know this was one way of thinning the crowds that flocked to the place for reasons other than the wine. That also meant removing the movie memorabilia. There's still a few displays on the Coppolas, family history and awards and such, plus a big exhibit of magic lanterns and zoetropes, the precursors to motion pictures, but most of the stuff is gone (except for this Tucker, the car whose maker Coppola bio-picced.

The other, more pleasant surprise was that the famous, readily-available Coppola wines have nothing to do with this winery. They're made at a second winery in Geyserville, about an hour away, which also now houses the memorabilia (so a visit is planned for Saturday before heading back to SF - happy endings all around). Rubicon makes higher-end Reserves and the less higher-end Sofia sparkling wines. The tasting flight consisted of their citrusy 2005 Captain's Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, redolent of grapefruit (we picked up 2 bottles); a lightly flavored but pleasant 2005 Captain's Reserve Pinot Noir; a tasty 2004 Captain's Reserve Syrah (2 bottles); a big, bold 2004 CASK Cab Sauv (2 bottles); and their flagship, the 2003 Rubicon, a more subtle but not quite impressive enough (maybe with age) Bordeaux blend.

Next up was the much smaller Cakebread Cellars, which I'd heard good things about, though we weren't quite so impressed with the flight they offered. The tasting started with their 2006 Sauvignon Blanc, after which we moved into a barrel room to complete the roster: a 2005 Napa Valley Chardonnay, a 2004 Carneros Pinot Noir, a 2004 Napa Valley Merlot, the 2005 Rubaiyat, and a 2004 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. The only thing we walked away with was the Rubaiyat - albeit 4 bottles. It's a red mutt blended from several varietals and vineyards but which has a meaty, smoky flavor that I can't wait to pair with some BBQ. It's a flat-out drinking wine that won't age at all, but it's gonna be delicious the next time we get to the Rib Crib.

Oh, a brief word on pictures: there won't be many here. After Rubicon we got down to some serious tasting and neglected the camera. We'll try to do better on our trip to the Russian River Valley today.

After Cakebread there's a whole line of wineries right next to one another up the road, so we just worked our way along. We next stopped at Sequoia Grove, a nice room in a wood barn surrounded by a small copse of redwoods and currently undergoing renovations. They had two flights, a Current Release and a Premium Release - we did both (sharing, of course). I forgot to take a copy of the flights, but I know what we came home with: 2 bottles of their 2005 Carneros Napa Valley Chardonnay (their only white, and delicious) and 3 each of their 2002 and 2o03 Rutherford Reserve Cabernets.

After that came St. Supery, which we'd heard decent things about, and they have a self-guided tour which includes a sniffing station, which we thought might help develop our feel for aromas, but good goddamn we weren't prepared for the wines we got. Their Limited Edition flight lists 9 wines, from which you get to taste 4 of your choice for 20 bucks. We started with their 2005 Virtu, a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon which the server referred to as "white wine for red wine drinkers." It was toasty and crisp, with a loooong, creamy finish. We bought two bottles. Then the 2003 Elu, a blend of 75% Cab Sauv with smaller quantities of Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cab Franc and Malbec, which was good though not as mind-blowing as some of the others. After that came the 2004 Rutherford Cab Sauv, an amazing chocolaty concoction - we bought two bottles. We ended with the fantastic 2002 Dollarhide Ranch Cabernet, which we were ecstatic about - until the server slipped us a taste of the 2000 vintage. I thought Jenn was going to pass out from giddiness. We bought two bottles, with the promise of another to come - we joined St. Supery's wine club, which is rare in that they'll deliver to New Jersey, so Jenn will get a bottle of their wine once every other month at work. I just hope they make it home to me.

After that we stopped in at Beaulieu Vineyards, the well-known BV which is available pretty much anywhere, and did their Reserve flight. The five we tasted were the 2004 Carneros Reserve Pinot Noir, 2003 Dulcet Reserve, 2003 Tapestry Reserve, and 2002 and 2003 Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernets. Not bad - the Dulcet and two Cabernets were all quite nice - but the bar had just been set impossibly high.

We next wound up at Franciscan, a small place with nice grounds and a high-ceilinged tasting room full of stained glass. We did their Napa Valley Limited Edition flight - a 2006 Rose (I have a hard time believing I'd ever get excited over a Rose), their 2005 Cuvee Sauvage, a soft, lemony 100% Chardonnay (we bought two bottles), a 2004 Syrah and their signature 2003 Magnificat, a Meritage blend that didn't particularly excite. I did ask for an extra tasting, of their 2003 Mt. Veeder Reserve red blend, which was quite good - and we picked up a bottle.

After that I was feeling pretty loaded. Jenn had gone a bit goofy after St. Supery, from the booze and the sheer wine pleasure, so had been cooling it after sobering up a bit on the leisurely self-guided tour. So I'd been doing the bulk of the tasting since, so was getting along quite nicely by this point, especially since we hadn't stopped for lunch. So we hit V. Sattui, a winery and deli thronged with people (they were the only place open past five after all), where we picked up a bit of food and sat for a bit at their picnic tables. I ventured back in afterwards to delve in for one last tasting, but their five-page menu and densely-packed tasting bar were a bit overwhelming to me in my addled state, so I turned right back around and we went back to the room to prep for dinner (the best we've had this trip, btw - a casually elegant place called Hurley's in the New Hope-ish - but with more wine - town of Yountville).