Dan's Recent Trip to Wine Country - Notes

I visited several wineries in Napa and Sonoma valley and would like to share my thoughts and experiences with you.

• Beringer in Napa Valley- we popped in with no appointment and they were outstanding. We sampled the Beringer Private reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 06 and 05 vintage side by side both were good but for my palate the 05 had more complexity and a much longer finish than the 06.
• We also stopped by PeJu and I did not like the reception or the wines and I’llleave it at that.
  
• The two wines we had appointments in Napa were : Caymus vineyards and Silver Oak. Both are outstanding producers of wine in the region. At Caymus we tasted o6 zinfandel with wonderful viscosity big boysenberry fruit, good acidity, nice well balanced wine. 07 cabernet both the estate and the special selection with the deep ruby red color but refined and elegant tannins and it was hard not to beg for more.
  
• At Silver Oak we tasted the wine of the trip! We had an 01 cab there that was hands down the best even better then the Caymus Special selection.
  
• We stayed at Alexander Valley winery in of course Alexander Valley. This part of Sonoma is God’s country and the drive is beautiful! We visited some small under the radar screen wineries. First off we popped in to Sausal and there I discovered that Cabernet rules but the old vine Zin can dance the dance too.
  
• Next we stopped at Stryker vineyards, they are in the process of finishing a new facility that is beautiful with an open floor to ceiling tasting room that takes advantage of the roiling hill sides of Alexander valley. The wines there were ok not as good as the others.
• Robert Young however was the best in the bunch but there prices are a bit higher . They produce several single vineyard Cabernets and even though they are more pricey than their neighbors they are cheaper than many in Napa valley.