Napa Valley Wine Library | Cabernets from Historic Alluvial Fans of the Mayacamas

It felt like a very august gathering–with six super prestigious winemakers in the house, and the "house" being Inglenook, which is about the closest Napa Valley comes to the Smithsonian. 

The Napa Valley Wine Library's annual wine seminar is, by all accounts, one of the most memorable of the year, directed by a nonprofit group whose mission, as moderator Tegan Passalaqua mentioned in his opening remarks, is to "preserve and disseminate information regarding viticulture, enology and wine lore."

It seemed only fitting that Inglenook, easily the most historic winery in Napa, was the host and that the topic this year was "Historic Alluvial Fans of the Mayacamas in the AVA’s of Oakville, Rutherford & St. Helena." 

Too often tastings center on commercial impulses, promoting an AVA or a specific winery. The Napa Valley Wine Library's event was especially appreciated for its noncommercial purpose, curated purely for educational pleasure and lore.

The Lineup

Of the six wines selected, four were from certified organic vineyards. (Vine Hill Ranch is not certified but is said to farm organically. I am not certain about what used at Scarecrow.) 

Each winemaker or vintner gave a brief synopsis of their winery's history. The sequence was from south to north. Attendees were not guided on tasting notes and left, mercifully, to just enjoy the wines on their own. And what joys they were.

A delicious steak lunch followed, paired with an outstanding salad that led the guests at my table to ask who catered the event. Afterwards, the group was invited to stand outside on a knoll and look back at the Coppola's former historic home and the vineyards at the back of the estate.

Here is the lineup of presenters and their wines.

VHR - Bruce Phillips, Owner & Vintner
2021 Oakville Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon
Françoise Peschon, Winemaker
946 cases, 14.8% ABV

MACDONALD - Graeme MacDonald, Owner & Winemaker
2021 Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon
525 cases, 14.5% ABV

Scarecrow - Celia Welch, Winemaker
2021 Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon
1,600 cases, 14.5% ABV

Inglenook - Jonathan Tyer, Associate Winemaker
2021 Rutherford “Rubicon”
4,250 cases, 14.2% ABV

Corison - Cathy Corison, Owner & Winemaker
2021 St. Helena Cabernet Sauvignon
1,800 cases, 13.6% ABV

Spottswoode - Aron Weinkauf, Vineyard Manager & Winemaker
2021 St. Helena Family Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon
3,730 cases; 13.6% ABV

WINE NOTES

I have written about a number of these wines (Corison, MacDonald, Spottswoode) over the years for Slow Wine USA, but it was a revelation to taste them all side by side in one seated tasting with the winemakers present and introducing the sites. 

One wine in particular really stood out for me and that was MacDonald's. The site (which I have visited courtesy of the MacDonalds when writing about them for Slow Wine) is one of the most thrilling, especially when you look at the terrain above. It's clear that this area is the beneficiary of the biggest rock slide, with richly divergent minerals and soils that cascaded down the Mayacamas. To think it was a cherry orchard...one wants to try those cherries. 

Graeme MacDonald shared that, back in the day, the grapes, sold to Mondavi, were 90 percent of its reserve blend.

While all of the wines and the winemaker were extraordinary, for me this particular wine is a standout for those minerals. You could taste that "one was not like the others." I hope I am attributing that correctly to these rocks. 

My Notes

Alas I am not an artist at heart (though I did direct 50 films for Apple) so I don't make tasting notes with little fruits on them. In fact, although I do write tasting notes (hundreds and hundreds of them for publication in Slow Wine Guide), I somewhat resent them, as I think they are reductionist in the extreme. (Forgive me, wine educators.) To me, personally, the taste of wine is not something you can actually pin down, as wine changes, and the context changes, etc. etc., but wine writers as a profession are required to write them. I look forward to the day when we have a better way to describe wine. (Perhaps AI will come up with something). 

I did take notes, but, to reassure you, I usually record audio at events, so I don't have to rely solely on the hodge podge of jottings you see here below, but I kind of like them on paper. Maybe someday I will frame this up just for fun.

The event made me want to run to the St. Helena Library wine books room, which has the Galloni maps of each winery in each AVA. 

The backside of Inglenook, from the knoll at the rear of the winery, on a beautiful fall day, showing the alluvial fans on the estate.

Tegan Passalaqua, moderator

There are so many facets of wine to enjoy. Many thanks to the Napa Valley Wine Library for having this annual seminar. May it continue.