Please Bring Me My Wine

On occasion, Joe Canal’s staff members are able to go on trips to meet the producers of the items that we sell. Whether we travel to the great wine regions, or any other location, the trips are educational, great for team-building, and, of course, they’re fun. Oh, bonus points for knowing what song lyrics were used in the title of this post.

Kevin Saunders, Wine Manager at Lawrenceville, recently visited Napa and Sonoma on just such a trip with other Joe Canal's team members. Here's his report:

We arrived safely in San Francisco, heading out to one of my favorite places in the country: Napa Valley. We stopped quickly to check into our hotel, then we hit the road again. Our first stop was the William Hill Estate Winery, which consists of 200 plus acres. Their primary focus is Cabernet and Chardonnay, as well as Sauvignon Blanc. We started off by tasting the 2014 Sauvignon Blanc, with its beautiful bouquet of mango, cut grass and kiwi. We learned that some of the locals refer to Sauvignon Blanc as breakfast wine. Next on the list was a 2013 Chardonnay from Carneros, a rich and lush wine with butterscotch and pineapple with sweet oak on the finish. That was one of the best that they produce. Then it was on to their 2012 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, which was my favorite.We were then treated to an amazing lunch, during which they poured their Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

Next stop was the Louis Martini Winery. They mainly produce red wines, and what a job they do. Louis Martini came to America at age 13 and became deeply interested in the wine business. He went back to Italy to obtain a wine certificate, earning a perfect score on the exam. Upon returning to the US, he began making wine for churches, medicinal purposes and, of course, his personal use. We started out tasting the 2014 Rose, which was wonderful. The 2011 Monte Rosso, a blend of Zinfandel, Petite Syrah and Petit Verdot, was an amazing wine, produced from 150 year old vines. We finished off the tasting with their Sonoma and Napa Valley Cabernets. These are the wines they are known for, and are both excellent. Those two wines are also available in our stores.

We then traveled over to J Vineyards & Winery They are best known for their sparkling wines, but they also produce some lovely Pinot Noir. Judy Jordan, from the Jordan family, founded this winery. We started off with their rose and worked thru to the brut. The wines are clean and crisp. I was really impressed with the 2013 Russian River Pinot Noir, displaying intense aromas and flavors of raspberry, strawberry and cola.

Next on our agenda was the MacMurray Ranch Winery, with it's sprawling 1500 acres. TV actor Fred MacMurray purchased the property in 1941, before selling it to Gallo in 1996. This place was truly special. The tasting room was in an old barn, which had redwood trees on both sides of the entrance. One of my favorite spots on the entire trip was a place they called High Vineyard, which sits above the Russian River. There, we tasted a 2012 Napa Valley Chardonnay, a Pinot Gris and a fantastic Pinot Noir from the Russian River appellation.

Darioush

We had some time to ourselves the next day, so we decided to visit Darioush. This is as opulent a winery as you can find. Darioush Khaled is a true rags to riches story. He defected to the US as a young boy and started selling fruit and cheese on the roadside in Southern California. He eventually grew that into a supermarket chain. We had the royal treatment here, from tasting their amazing wines to seeing Mr. Khaled's private wine cellar, consisting of some 8000 bottles. The one wine that did it for me was a dessert wine, which takes 5 years to produce. This was made for his wife, since it was her favorite.

The last two days of our trip were spent going from winery to winery. Our first stop was at Ferrari-Carano, with a spectacular European style chateau as the tasting room. The grounds on this property were something to see. We tasted their 2013 Sonoma Chardonnay and 2012 Russian River Chardonnay. I really enjoyed the latter one, with its rich hazelnut and butterscotch flavors. We then moved onto to the Cabernet. I felt that the 2013 Reserve Cabernet was a standout. Lovely dark blueberry and blackberry flavors, with some earthiness on the finish. This resembled a Bordeaux wine. The last wine we tasted was their dessert wine, called Eldorado Noir, and it's only available at the winery. This was unlike anything I'd ever tasted, with intense aromas and flavors of raisin, blackberry, honey and licorice. Just WOW!

Next, we were off to the Simi Winery, founded in 1876 by Italian brothers Giuseppe and Pietro Simi. They started out in San Francisco, and then moved to Healdsburg in 1881. We were treated to a delicious lunch, where we tasted several of their wines. The one that I enjoyed the most was the 2012 Simi Landslide Cabernet, with its big, intense flavors of dark chocolate, crushed almonds, cassis and ripe blueberry.

Chateau St. Jean

The team at Chateau St. Jean had a private tasting table for us, with food to pair. All of the wines we tasted were from their private cellar. We started with an outstanding 2012 Private Reserve Chardonnay, displaying elegant flavors of crushed nuts, pear, and caramel glazed apples. We then tasted a 2013 Pinot Noir which also showed well. The meal was finished off with some of their old Cabernet's. Unfortunately, all of these wines are only sold at the winery.

Our final stop was at Gloria Ferrar Caves & Vineyards. While they're known for their sparkling wines, they also produce some amazing Pinot Noir. We were treated to some cheese and nuts while sitting on the patio, which had breathtaking views of the property. One of the wines I really enjoyed was their 2013 Carneros Reserve Pinot Noir. It was a beautiful, lush wine with deep dark cherry, raspberry and sandalwood flavors. I actually purchased 2 bottles.

I highly recommend a visit to Napa and Sonoma, whether you're into wines or not. These beautiful and amazing places should be on your bucket list.