The Academy Awards Of Wine

Premiere Napa

The closest thing the wine world in Napa has to the film world’s Academy Awards in Hollywood is called “Premiere Napa Valley.” Ironically, both events occur on the same weekend with “Premiere Napa” this past Saturday and then the Academy awards of course on Sunday. The analogy isn’t perfect since one event is strictly an awards ceremony and the other event is a charity auction but the similarities include:

Premiere Napa Valley is the largest annual gathering of the most influential individuals at the highest level of California collector wines (cult winemakers including Screaming Eagle’s Andy Erickson pouring his own Realm Cellars, legendary winery owners including both Mondavi brothers, and renowned critics such as James Laube of the Wine Spectator). The most fun aspect of Premiere Napa is the opportunity to rub shoulders with the most talented ‘up and coming’ wine talents as well as the world famous luminaries while tasting their best wines (favorites listed below) all before noon a Saturday morning.

Similar to the Oscars, Premiere Napa is a very private, invitation-only event. The venue is the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in the heart of Napa Valley. Having attended both Premiere Napa and the Oscars, I can assure you the food (and wine of course) is tastier in Napa! After savoring barrel samples of the finest new Cabernets (preview tastings of 2007 vintage this year) attendees rise to the CIA’s test kitchens and nosh on the student chefs’ most accomplished cuisine. Believe me, nothing tastes better than a plate full of gnocchi and roast beef after drinking Cabernet for 2 hours!
The last similarity to the Academy Awards is that Premiere Napa ends with perhaps the most high drama in the collector wine world. The auction is an annual barometer of which winery’s “stock” is high this year as well as which undiscovered winemaker is most likely to achieve the coveted “cult” winemaker status (and salary). The final tally on each winery’s barrel lot value is seen as not just a testament to the quality of their next vintage release but also the overall popularity of the brand. This year, there was a particularly tense air as the auction began due to the extreme consumer market uncertainties. Several big name wineries (names withheld to protect the ‘innocent’) barrel lots sold for a mere fraction of their closing price years ago while a few new names achieved bids reminiscent of Napa’s boom days in the late 1990’s.

GENERAL COMMENT ON TASTING:

The wines we tasted (95% of the barrel lots were Cabernet or Cab. blends) fell into three camps:

- Exquisitely balanced with a galaxy of sensuous fruit carefully melded together with plush tannins to age a decade plus (this describes most of the wines listed below)

- Extremely tight tannins and way too young to even form an opinion about the potential journey ahead. This list (undisclosed) includes many big, big, big name wines that surprised me by their intensity at this point. I hope they will evolve gracefully with a bit more time

- Disappointing wines that were either thin, overly vegetal, downright funky, or just completely uninspiring. The particularly disappointing aspect for these wineries is that, for the most part, Premiere Napa is seen as an opportunity to “put your best foot forward” so this list (undisclosed!) included a few former favorites that made me pause as I think about the ability for these wineries to maintain their lofty reputations in the years to come.

Favorite Wines sampled at Premiere Napa on 2/21/2009 include:

NEW DISCOVERIES (not ranked)
Ovid
Chateau Boswell
Realm
Continuum
Hewitt
Hourglass

OLD FAVORITES (that continue to impress!)
Plumpjack
Lewis
Cliff Lede
Vineyard 29
Quintessa/Faust

Pahlmeyer Pinot Noir: Cultish Pinot, Half The Price.

Pahlmeyer Pinot Noir

One of the silver linings of this current economic downturn is that formerly inaccessible collector wines are now available in small allocations. A marvelous example is the rare new Pahlmeyer Pinot Noir which we originally rated 94 points when tasting the pre-release sample (fyi, Parker did, too).  We popped a cork last Friday and now believe this wine is well on the way to a 96+ rating within the next 2 years. Paired with a grilled pork chop at Nopa restaurant in San Francisco this wine was easily a 95+ point experience.

At $94/bottle, the Pahlmeyer 2006 Pinot Noir is not exactly “cheap” but trust us when we say that it is comparable in quality to the oh so ’Culty’ best vintages of Kistler and Marcassin which both trade for more than double Pahlmeyer’s price. We’ve been fortunate to sample Kistler and Marcassin each vintage as well as Williams Selyem, Kosta Browne, Sea Smoke and other highly rated Pinots. We can assure you that this Pahlmeyer bottling is on par and will surpass many of those highly sought after wines this vintage. Tasting notes below!

THE WINE INSIDERS “CLASSIC 95″ RATING (updated 2/09):
“This is a flamboyant, sexy effort displaying a voluptuous texture, and ripe spicy cherry, cranberry, and creamy strawberry fruit intermixed with creamy liqueur characteristics. The most succulent new Pinot we’ve sampled in a while, it is impossible to resist NOW (after decanting 1/2 hour) and will age well for 3 – 5 years, peaking around 2012 in our estimate! 95+ points now and perhaps 96 points in just a few years.”

BUY: Pahlmeyer Pinot Noir 2006