Cakebread Cellars

This past weekend, my manager, Karen, was in town. She lives in Texas and manages a staff covering the West. Ostensibly, she was there to observe and assist me in training Kaizen Facilitators (hey, if you don't know, you just aren't cool.) However, she flew in early so we could spend some quality time reviewing wines AND my performance. Works for me! Cakebread happens to be one of my favorite places to take guests, as they have a really snappy tasting program. They split visitors into small groups of 4-6 tasters and take them either to a private tasting area or (as we did on this visit) on a tour of the property with stops at various locations for tastings.

It turns out that Karen and her S.O. once were wine club members at Cakebread, and Karen was not only interested in visiting, she was thinking of joining the wine club again. As it turns out, we both ended up joining the wine club.

What we tasted:
2009 Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley
This was my least favorite wine of the day. Starting with a softer nose of lemon and apple, the front of the wine had that almost tinny flavor that I really despise. It was served slightly too warm, which was odd, because it was quite cool in the room where it was poured. The warmth of the wine, in my opinion, made it nearly impossible to taste. In any event, the wine did progress to soft flavors of guava, grapefruit, and lemon mid-palate, and had a smooth, delicate finish with hints of melon and kiwi. I gave it 6 out of 10 points, and would be willing to try it if served colder, but did not want to buy it based on what I tasted.

2009 Chardonnay, Napa Valley
This was an interesting, atypical Chardonnay for Napa. The wine started with a lovely medium-bodied nose of apple, white peach and spicy oak. The front of the wine was smooth and full-bodied, bursting with flavors of peach, apple, with hints of mineral. The mid-palate brought in that wonderful spicy oak from the nose, and the finish was smooth and well-balanced, with lingering notes of spicy oak and peach. I loved this wine and gave it 9 out of 10 points.

2009 Chardonnay Reserve, Carneros, Napa Valley
This wine was very different in style to the one we tasted prior to this. It was much more in the style of a Napa Chardonnay. The nose was full-bodied and rich with scents of melon, apple, peach, and toasted oak. The front of the wine was creamy and smooth, with flavors of apple, melon, peach and mineral notes. The mid-palate brought in a punch of that creamy toasty oak, and the finish was smooth and creamy with lingering notes of oak, yeast, and gingery spice. I loved this as much as the earlier wine, for very different reasons, and gave this 9 out of 10 points as well.

2007 Merlot, Napa Valley
This was a very nice example of classic Napa Merlot (I really hate the movie Sideways for killing interest in merlot.) The nose was a bit soft for my taste, with notes of dark plum and cherry. The front of the wine was quite fruity, picking up flavors of dark plum and cherry, with herbaceous and oaky notes. The mid-palate brought stronger oaky and briar flavors, with hints of minerals. The finish was smooth and rather mild, with some lingering notes of minerals and oak. I gave this a 7 out of 10 points, as I would have liked more  of the herbaceous notes up front and more of a lingering finish. Very smooth, though.

2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
The wine started with a medium-bodied nose of smoky oak, cassis, and blackberry. The front of the wine had lush, layered flavors of blackberry, oak, leather, and black tea. The mid-palate was nicely complex, with more of the oak and black tea flavors, and changed substantially over the tasting. The finish was long and had very nicely rounded tannins, and lingering oak and spice flavors. I thought this would age quite well for another  five years. I gave it 8 out of 10 points, and was astonished at how much better this Cab was than the last one I tasted at Cakebread.

2007 Syrah, Carneros, Napa Valley
If you've read my other posts, you know Syrah is not one of my favorite varietals. I typically find the sour notes in the wine overwhelm the finer points, and I can always tell when Syrah has been used in blended wines. This wine, however, was a revelation of what Syrah can be in the hands of an accomplished vintner. The nose was heavenly, with deep rich notes of cassis and blackberry, mocha, violets, and anise. The front of the wine had lusciously layered flavors of blackberry, cassis, and anise that changed over the tasting, indicating a lovely refinement. The mid-palate had lovely notes of roasted coffee, toasted oak and briar, and these were carried into the smooth finish. These flavors lingered long on the palate and changed and developed over time. There was only a hint of sourness that nicely balanced all the other flavors. By far, my favorite Syrah ever - 10 out of 10 points! Hurrah for Syrah!