Napa - September 15
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[Silver Oak]
[Plumpjack]
[Beringer]
Plumpjack
We decided to pop over to Plumpjack because it was along the same road as Silver Oak. We've eaten at the restaurant (had a great time!) and visited the wine shop in Cow Hollow so we figured we'd check out the winery for kicks. We tasted the 2000 Chardonnay (chablis style. very light, not oaky), the cabernet, and the merlot. I thought they were okay, a bit rough, and definitely overpriced. There are a lot of other very good buys out there for the $35-$40 a bottle they were asking. The person working the tasting bar was not particularly friendly either. Not a great experience so I don't think I'd ever bother to return.
We were both a little zonked, so we took a nap in the park in St. Helena. Very relaxing. Then we headed over to Beringer, to which neither of us had been in some time. We headed straight for the reserve tasting room. Tried many different things including the 1998 Reserve Chardonnay, the 1999 Sbragia Limited Release Chardonnay, 1996 Howell Mountain Cabernet Franc, 1996 Howell Mountain Merlot, 1997 Private Reserve Cabernet, Nightingale botrytised semillon/sauvignon blanc dessert wine, and a port.
The Reserve Chardonnay was good, but a little disappointing compared to the Sbragia (93 rating in wine spectator, top rated chardonnay) and especially to this killer bottle of 1997 Reserve Chardonnay we had earlier in the week. Again, it was good, but thin. I ended up purchasing 4 bottles of the Sbragia. All were bore a Beringer familal resemblence to each other and typically oaky california chardonnay.
The Cab Franc ($80) and Merlot ($100) were quite good, but just too pricey for me to justify purchase. For me to spend that kind of money, I'm buying a big, chewy cabernet. The Reserve Cab was tasty and suprisingly smooth to me. Drinkable, although I'm sure age will benefit it. I bought two (hoping to do a vertical on these sometime in the future) and Andrea picked up a bottle as well.
Lastly, we tasted some after dinner drinks. We tried the Nightingale which I found to be very drinkable and reasonably priced at $30 (less 20% with wine club membership), so I bought 2 bottles. We both thought the port was funky and neither one of us liked it.
[Silver Oak]
[Plumpjack]
[Beringer]
